UPDATE: Another former Tottenham Hotspur manager, Ange Postecoglou, has since been appointed Nottingham Forest’s new manager.
Monday’s surprising news that Nottingham Forest have sacked manager Nuno Espirito Santo carries even more interest for United States men’s national team fans.
USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino has been mentioned by Sky Sports as a person of interest as Forest look to fill their coaching vacuum ahead of this month’s Europa League action.
BREAKING — Nuno Espirito Santo fired by Nottingham Forest
Sky Sports says that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis and advisor Edu Gaspar are admirers of Pochettino, Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Fulham’s Marco Silva, and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
Ironically, Espirito Santo had a too-short stint as Tottenham Hotspur boss a couple of years after Jose Mourinho replaced Pochettino at that North London hot seat.
Could Mauricio Pochettino leave the USMNT before the World Cup?
Pochettino has come under fire recently as the USMNT have stumbled in recent months with a home World Cup set for next summer. It’s unlikely that Pochettino would be removed from the position given the financials of his contract, but it would be intriguing how the federation would react to an approach from a Premier League club.
The Argentine manager was also plenty prickly when speaking about critics of his USMNT regime on Monday, and spoke as someone dedicated to getting the Americans into the knockout rounds.
“You are damaging your country and damaging your players,” Pochettino said Monday, via Doug McIntyre. “We need to be positive. We need to be all together, because the country deserves that we are all on one side trying to help arrive at the World Cup in the best condition and be competitive, to do something that makes our fans proud.”
“If people sometimes want to talk about bull—-, they can talk about bull—,” he said. “To be critical is one thing, because I like the critics when you say things that are right. But when it’s criticism for criticism?
Pochettino raised eyebrows in March when he mentioned his hope that he could one day return to Tottenham Hotspur, and the Yanks soon lost to Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals and then to Canada in the third-place game.
The USMNT is coming off another substandard performance against a good opponent in South Korea, and Pochettino has been criticized in some corners for his squad selection. And there have been rumors of discontent with captain Christian Pulisic for how the AC Milan star handled his decision not to play for Pochettino this summer.
Where could U.S. Soccer turn in a theoretical situation like this?
The first name to be bandied about would probably be Jose Mourinho, but the recently-removed Fenerbahce boss would take a combustible time at the federation into cartoon land.
Jurgen Klopp would also be a short-term dream. The Liverpool boss is now working for Red Bull’s football operation, and that business has its links to MLS. Klopp is an admirer of Christian Pulisic to boot.
The MLS season ends soon and several bosses with USMNT playing resumes could be open to the move. The Yanks wouldn’t have to upset an MLS apple cart if they were to speak to Peter Vermes, who is no longer at Sporting KC and could’ve been a USMNT boss ages ago.
LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo and LA Galaxy leader Greg Vanney are among a bevy of MLS-based coaches would would certainly be mentioned with an opening.
