The US men’s national soccer team exits the World Cup facing significant vacancies within its leadership structure. Mauricio Pochettino’s future remains uncertain as his contract, partially funded by wealthy benefactors, concludes with the end of the tournament. Additionally, in April, Matt Crocker stepped down from his position as sporting director to accept a similar role in Saudi Arabia.
Despite these critical vacancies, resolutions may not come quickly.
“We are going to take a break after the World Cup and rest and recuperate,”
US Soccer chief executive JT Batson stated during a media roundtable when questioned about Pochettino’s situation.
I didn’t get to do too much resting and recuperating, but we’re excited about the discussions. [Pochettino and his staff] have been active about long-term planning. As a recent example, [they] were active in our discussions with Steve [Cherundolo] around the U-23 role. We’re feeling good about where we are overall, and we’re looking forward to the discussions.
Regarding the vacancy left by Crocker, Batson emphasized the federation’s workforce of over 600 individuals striving to achieve their overarching goals, rather than relying solely on a single executive.
Both Batson and USSF chief operating officer Dan Helfrich, who participated in the roundtable discussion, refrained from providing details on whether a new sporting director would be part of the anticipated hires.
“I didn’t get to do too much resting and recuperating, but we’re excited about the discussions. [Pochettino and his staff] have been active about long-term planning. As a recent example, [they] were active in our discussions with Steve [Cherundolo] around the U-23 role. We’re feeling good about where we are overall, and we’re looking forward to the discussions.”
Helfrich remarked.
As we are talking about and making strategic choices, we have [vice-president of sporting] Oguchi Onyewu and [head of development] Barry Pauwels and [head of women’s youth development] Tracey Kevins and Emma Hayes who are part of the discussions we’re having, both about near-term choices and about longer-term structure.“We feel confident we have a great team, and that great team has soccer expertise from deep within the American system and soccer expertise from other parts of the world,” Helfrich added.
