Mauricio Pochettino has a habit of walking into football clubs and making people feel like anything is possible. He did it at Southampton, he did it at Tottenham, he even had people briefly believing PSG could be fun to watch. Now he has turned his attention to the United States national team and, according to reports from BBC Sport, he is doing the same thing all over again.
The Argentine manager has reportedly united both the players and the fanbase around a genuine belief that the USA can compete for the World Cup title on home soil in 2026. That is a bold claim, and it is worth being honest about what it actually means in practice. The United States have never won a World Cup, have never reached a final, and are hosting a tournament that will also feature Brazil, France, England, Germany, Argentina and about fifteen other nations who all fancy their chances. So let us not get completely carried away.
But here is the thing — belief matters more than people give it credit for. Teams that feel genuinely unified and backed by a roaring home crowd can do strange and wonderful things in tournament football. Just ask any fan who watched Greece win Euro 2004 or Iceland rattle England out of theirs. Home advantage combined with a manager who genuinely connects with his players is not something to laugh off.
Pochettino brings real credibility to the role. This is a man who nearly won the Champions League with Spurs, which as a Manchester United fan is painful to admit, but fair is fair. He knows how to build a team, he knows how to get the best from younger players, and he knows what a winning mentality looks like even if he has not always quite got over the finish line himself.
The USA have genuine talent coming through in their squad, and playing every game in front of a passionate home crowd could be the difference between a quarter-final exit and something much more interesting. Winning the whole thing is still a stretch, but stranger things have happened in football.
Let me know your thoughts.