Mauricio Pochettino was introduced as USMNT manager, and both Pep Guardiola and Tata Martino shared their thoughts on the hire.
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USMNT hire Mauricio PochettinoMan City's Pep Guardiola comments on hiringInter Miami's Tata Martino praises Argentine managersWHAT HAPPENED?
Mauricio Pochettino had his first press conference as manager of the U.S mens national team Friday, and it's sparked conversation from around the footballing world. Notably, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Inter Miami manager Tata Martino both commented on the hiring.
Martino and Pochettino are both Argentine, and Guardiola and Pochettino had previously faced off multiple times in the English Premier League when he was manager of both Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur.
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boss praised Pochettino, and is expecting him to achieve great heights. Martino is of the belief that Argentine managers are some of the best in the world, and holds the now-USMNT boss to that standard, too.
"The Argentine coaches, the Argentine school [of thought for football], not only in the players, is dominant in the world. We were trained in an environment that requires being almost like a boy scout, ready for everything. It gives us a different strength," Martino said Friday of Pochettino.
GettyWHAT GUARDIOLA SAID
"I wish him and the USA — I have friends there — the best of luck," Guardiola said of Pochettino on Friday. "I know he's a top-class manager, an experienced manager."
The duo have clashed on the touchline 25 times over the course of their managerial careers, but the City boss has bested him more often than not. In total, Guardiola has a 14-7-4 (wins, draws, losses) record against the Argentine. However, the Spaniard holds Pochettino to the highest regard, and has praised him for accepting a job in a market he deems to be "fascinating."
"The USA is fascinating to try to build a project for many years and being able to get the national team to the next step," Guardiola said. "The potential with the USA is there for the amount of people and sports and so on. If he has decided it's because it's the best for him."
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR POCHETTINO?
The U.S. manager will have his first match this October as the teams plays in a pair of international friendlies. He will step onto the touchline for the first time against Panama on Oct. 12 and then against U.S. rivals Mexico on Oct. 16.
