Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he would have considered becoming the England manager after Gareth Southgate but the timing was not right.
In a wide-ranging interview with Telegraph Sport, the 53-year-old said instead that he had already accepted an offer to coach the United States until the end of next year’s World Cup, which they will host along with Canada and Mexico.
On a flying visit to London, Pochettino also discussed the prospect of an Argentine managing the Three Lions, explained why he wants to coach Tottenham Hotspur again and revealed the “pressure” he feels from US president Donald Trump to win the World Cup. He admitted what it would mean to him to gain permanent residence in the US, through a Green Card, too.
But first, given the timing, given how England is his “home”, given how popular he is in this country – what were the chances of him succeeding Southgate following the defeat by Spain in the final of last summer’s European Championship?
Would he, in fact, have considered an approach from the Football Association? “Yes, of course,” Pochettino says. “England is like my home now; this is my home. But it’s true that I am Argentine, always [that] can be controversial.”
‘I was always in the England job conversation’
The former Tottenham and Chelsea manager, who first moved to England in 2013 to coach Southampton, has long been both linked to the national team and shown an interest in them, going back to the last World Cup in Qatar when Southgate considered quitting.
“Before I was always appearing in the conversation because my relationship with a former president was Daniel [Levy, actually the Spurs chairman], and always he was telling me, no, that football is about timing,” Pochettino says. “I think when I arrived in the USA, the offer that we have, and we accept to go, there wasn’t another offer.”
Pochettino was appointed by the United States national team in early September in what was something of a coup for the ambitious World Cup hosts. Thomas Tuchel accepted the England job in mid-October after a recruitment process undertaken by the FA’s technical director John McDermott – who worked closely with Pochettino at Spurs – and who appeared keen to select a foreign manager.
“We keep a very good relationship,” Pochettino says of McDermott. “But I think the decision to start to search for a coach was after we signed [with the US]. We signed, and then they started the process. We were never involved.”
Would it have been a problem as an Argentine, given the history between the two countries? “That never happened, I was never put in that position,” Pochettino explains. “But I love England. I know the relationship between the people in England, English citizens and Argentine citizens is very good. Because we have very good things that link [us]. But, for sure, the history is there.
“And always [it] can be controversial, an Argentine guy defending the badge, the flag of England. I think it’s completely different to be here in the Premier League, involved in a club. But I think that is another thing. But because it never happened, it’s not a situation that we need to analyse.”
Manager has unfinished business with Spurs
Spurs, meanwhile, feels like unfinished business and, as he talks, it is evident how much the club still means to Pochettino and how much it hurts to have not won a trophy there, particularly losing the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool.
“I would like one day to come back. Not because of my ego, it’s because I would like one day to win with Tottenham,” Pochettino says.
“We were so close and it was so painful and then with Chelsea it was one year, very productive, but we spend nearly five and a half years there [at Tottenham] and we achieved to be in a Champions League [final], to fight for four years to be one of the contenders for the Premier League, when before the club was fighting for different things.”
With the club building a new stadium, Pochettino had agreed not to sign players for 18 months. He adds, honestly: “Also, I made mistakes, you know? But the good thing is when you are clever, you learn from your mistakes. It’s like when a relationship finishes. I feel empty. I feel so disappointed. With everyone but also with myself because I didn’t manage well [at times] and when that happens it’s part of my responsibility.
“I think now Tottenham is a club with an expectation to win because if you see the facilities – training ground or stadium – now you can see it is about winning trophies. That is why I would like one day to come back. But if that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”
Even so, Pochettino is clear that after Chelsea – whom he left by mutual consent after one season despite being “proud” of making “massive” progress in the last six months – he was ready for a different challenge. And that meant international football.
He says: “It was a bad thing to go out of Chelsea because, great club, and then of course the Premier League is the best league in the world. But in two years it’s a World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, [which] should be a great opportunity for us to make a break and then to come back to the clubs.”
So, clearly, he does not see a long-term future – for now – as a national team coach even if he says he could stay for “six months, one year, 10 years”. Rather like Tuchel, his focus is on the World Cup and what can be achieved with the US, who have made such significant strides after previously hosting the tournament in 1994, which led to the launch of Major League Soccer.
‘Trump likes to put pressure on!’
Naturally Pochettino feels – and wants – the pressure. “I was listening to a conversation between our president Donald Trump and [Fifa president] Gianni Infantino,” he explains. “The president asked: ‘can we win the World Cup?’ And Gianni said, ‘yes’. But I was disappointed with this answer! He should say: ‘You need to ask your great coach, Pochettino! Because for sure, he can give a better opinion’.
“By the way, I think the pressure is going to be there, because we are a host. And then it’s a country where the mentality is about winning. You know in sport, in everything that Americans are involved in, they want to win. That is the culture. It’s cultural. Of course, it’s going to be a pressure. But a welcome one. That means that we are going to feel the adrenaline that we need to feel.”
Trump’s knowledge of football and the World Cup may be a bit thin – he even claimed next year’s competition will be the first time it has been held in North America (forgetting Mexico 1970, 1986 and USA in 1994) – but he has already stated his country are in it to win it; however realistic that is for a nation ranked 16th in the world.
“I think we are creating a very good atmosphere. They know that it’s going to be massive pressure,” Pochettino says. “Of course now with our president that likes to put [on] pressure, that is going to be good. Yes, we are ready to deliver.”
Tuchel also faces scrutiny with England. “Always, the pressure is going to be there because England are one of the best national teams and I think today the squad is in the top three best squads in the world,” Pochettino says. “And of course, for Thomas, who is a winner, the challenge is to win… he is in a similar position where he is discovering things and he will learn because he is in a completely different world, being coach of the national team.”
‘USA was a country that was a mystery for me’
Pochettino and his staff, including long-time assistant Jesús Pérez, who is by his side, have embraced life in America.
“It’s exciting for too many reasons, not only the challenge on the pitch, that is of course the principle [one], but also the challenge to live and experience to know different culture, different people,” Pochettino says. “Always USA was a country that was a mystery for me. The people are completely different, you know. But I think there are many reasons that make us pay attention, then we listen to the offer, and the possibility to be there. We were so excited.”
First up, in terms of preparation, there is the Concacaf Nations League, with a semi-final against Panama this week and the US having won its three previous editions. Then in the summer they co-host the Gold Cup with Canada. Mexico, the only team to defeat Pochettino’s US side in his six games so far – he won the other five – are the holders.
If the US triumph it would raise Pochettino’s profile even further, although he admits he does not have celebrity status just yet.
“Not really, because still they didn’t give me the…como se dice [how do you say it]? The Green Card!” he says, laughing.
“We are waiting. The last time in Los Angeles, we were waiting one hour and a half in the queue! It was good, eh? I am not complaining, because if I complain, they are going to kill me! I am not complaining but I cannot feel this status. I will feel it if one day they give me the Green Card.”
If he wins the World Cup that will be a formality.
