Former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted he misses life in the Premier League and hopes to return in the future, even as he focuses on leading the United States national team toward the 2026 World Cup.
Currently in charge of the USMNT, who will co-host the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico, Pochettino spoke candidly about his affection for English football and the challenges of his new international role.
“The Premier League is the best league in the world,” he told BBC Sport. “Of course I miss it. I’m very happy in America, but I’d love to return one day. It’s the most competitive league there is.”
Pochettino’s coaching résumé boasts impressive tenures at Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea, with a brief but successful spell at Paris Saint-Germain, where he lifted both the Ligue 1 title and the French Cup. Yet despite his reputation for developing teams and players, critics often point to the absence of major silverware during his time in England — something that still weighs on him.
Reflecting on his five years at Tottenham, where he guided the club to the 2019 Champions League final and a second-place Premier League finish in 2016–17, Pochettino admitted that coming so close to glory still lingers in his mind.
“We were so close at Tottenham — we almost touched it,” he said. “Winning the Premier League or the Champions League was something I really wanted to achieve.”
The Argentine remains in contact with Daniel Levy, the man who appointed and later dismissed him, and expressed surprise at the former chairman’s departure from Spurs in September after 24 years in charge.
“I was very surprised,” Pochettino said. “His legacy is amazing — what he did for the club, the new stadium, the structure. My relationship with him was always good, even after I left. He gave me the opportunity to manage one of the best clubs in the world with an incredible fanbase.”
Since taking charge of the United States in September 2024, Pochettino has faced a different kind of challenge. His side has won 11 of 20 matches, but defeats to Mexico (twice), Panama, Canada, Turkey, Switzerland, and South Korea have raised questions about consistency and adaptation.
Beyond results, the 53-year-old coach has reportedly encountered issues in reshaping the team’s mentality and navigating a unique sporting culture, where football — or “soccer,” as he is instructed to call it — competes for attention with other major American sports.
“The intensity is completely different,” he explained. “You only have a few days to prepare, then you play, and suddenly it’s over. After the international window, you wait months before you can work with them again. As a coach, that can feel empty — you want to keep developing things.”
The United States has reached the World Cup quarter-finals only once, back in 2002, and Pochettino is determined to push the team beyond that milestone. He sees promise in the growing influence of football in the country — particularly since Lionel Messi’s arrival in MLS in 2023, which has drawn new attention to the sport.
“Players like Messi inspire kids,” Pochettino said. “It’s not just basketball, American football, or baseball anymore — kids also want to play soccer.”
The coach has also challenged perceptions around what it means to adapt to American players, arguing that football’s essence transcends national boundaries.
“People say, ‘You need to understand the culture of the American player.’ I say, ‘No — I understand the culture of football.’ We need to bring that football culture to America. The language of football is universal — it doesn’t matter if you’re American, Brazilian, or English.”
After a year in charge, Pochettino believes tangible progress is being made — both in performances and in reshaping the team’s mindset.
“We’re building something,” he said. “We want players to understand that football has one culture — the culture of competing to win.”
As the 2026 World Cup draws closer, Pochettino’s mission is twofold: to establish the United States as a credible global force, and to prove that his unfinished business in the Premier League may yet have a final chapter.
