Why is the USMNT still awaiting confirmation on Pochettino?! | Morning Footy | CBS Sports

could see me. And then he switched up. Right? So as we mentioned, the Mauricio Pochettino assignment of the U.S. men's national team head coach yet to be made official. But have no fear, we are delighted to welcome in the man, hopefully in the know. Paul Tenorio is joining us. Good morning Paul. How are you. Good morning. I feel like Balagan was like, wait, you got updated on this thing? I haven't been updated at all. Know what's going on? All right. So I read something yesterday that there were reports that it could be announced this week, but again, it feels like we've been sort of hearing that since this announcement was made that he had agreed to become the next U.S. head coach. Paul, where are we at with this? What's the latest? Yeah, I think the best way to put it is that things are still on track. It's not like things have been pushed to the side, or there's been an issue or a hiccup or anything like that, you know, the news just got out in front of how far along how how advanced things were in terms of kind of getting the details done. And this wasn't a normal deal because of the situation with Chelsea. The fact that Pochettino had a mutual agreement termination agreement that usually comes with compensation, and that added a little wrinkle to this. But, you know, in all the conversations I've had this week of trying to figure out my life and everyone else's life of when is this announcement going to come? It feels like it is imminent and it's just a matter of days. I think what adds to the complicating factor now is the US men's national team is playing two games in the next few days, and so trying to time an announcement and getting those those final things done. When you have a game on Saturday in Kansas City and then another game in Cincinnati to follow, I think that adds another layer to this, but I would expect there to be an announcement. Again, this has changed like minute to minute sometimes, but I would expect an announcement to happen. I'd say even within this September window. Wow, Tenorio, we're going to have to do something at the Nations League like we did maybe a year and a half ago, bring you on at halftime of a competitive Nations League fixture. Yeah. Bump my Stegen. Maybe bump my segment. I waited at that stadium for three hours for Tenorio. Listen, I would imagine given how Chelsea is operating at the moment, that it's a decent amount of money. Is that the reality of the situation? Yeah, it's definitely it's definitely a decent chunk of change. I mean, look Pochettino's been one of the higher paid coaches in the world, you know, for several years now. I think that was consistent with what was happening at Chelsea. Certainly there was there's a difference in pay at the club level, at that level of the club level and the international level as well. So when you're being asked to walk away from a significant amount of money or there's a dispute over how much money you should be walking away from, you know, that takes some time to negotiate to figure out, and to kind of sort through that. And so, yeah, I mean, I think the fact that it's Mauricio Pochettino, the fact that it's Chelsea, the fact that he makes as much money as he does or he did with Chelsea, all of that adds to kind of the negotiation that took place, and then, you know, then once you finish with that part of it, you got to get to the lawyering part right. And you've got to get through the contracts and the agreements and they red line them and they go through all those different things and then when you get it to the right point, then it's about timing. When is the best point of time to have the announcement. So you know, again, I mean same as what you guys are saying. Like I feel like, you know, you keep checking in with sources, with different people asking, when is this going to happen? Is everything okay? And all you get back is like, yeah, things are fine. Things are moving. Don't worry, it's going to happen, but no real substantive like, okay, it's definitely going to happen on this day. We're going to make an announcement. We're not at that point yet. I just think that, you know, from what I've been told, from what I'm hearing, I would expect there to be some sort of announcement in the coming days. And I think, you know, the plan initially was for Pochettino, I think, to be in Kansas City, not necessarily coaching, but to be around the team. Obviously that hasn't happened, will he be in Cincinnati? That's another that's the next step, right? It's like, does this thing get done over the weekend? Is there an announcement that allows him to come and meet the team while they're in the US? I think there's a chance of that happening. Well, that was going to be my question is like, how close are we? Are we close enough that he will be watching this match or these matches coming up in these friendlies? Will he be watching with a notebook? You know, how closely is it? So you're saying you're pretty much sure that it's more than 90% of the way through? Yeah, I think I mean, look, I would say he's definitely watching with The Notebook, right? I think he's definitely doing his preparation or somebody next to him has got the notebook. He might be at a point in his career where he doesn't have to have the notebook anymore, yeah, I think I think we're we're substantive enough. We're far long enough in this process that it's a matter of when, not if anymore. And, you know, again, the US is playing a game in the coming days. If he's not going to be in Kansas City, if he is not going to be introduced in a press conference, I think it gets hard for him to be around the team and all of us are lingering around the team being like, hey, like, when are we going to talk to this guy? Is he a coach or what, you know, those types of things complicate it, but I would expect there to be an announcement and a press conference, you know, in the, in the coming days, I think is fair to say, and then the question would become, you know, do you do it around a game? Do you do it after a game? Do you do it before the next game? Like those are the types of things that logistically you have to figure during the game. During the game, I don't know if during the game is the ideal scenario. They, you know, like you alluded to, they went through that once during the Mexico game or I guess it happened kind of after the game when people finally got to talk about it. But I mean, these are friendlies, right? So if there is a chance where you can make this window kind of a bigger deal, right? Like you're coming off of a failure in the Copa America. It's a friendly against Canada. It's a friendly against New Zealand. The results aren't really going to matter, but in a way they do right because of the disappointment of the tournament. You want to have a positive performance. Well, maybe you can generate some excitement around this team. You know, with the games and with this announcement. Make it official, introduce Pochettino and it becomes a little bit more of kind of a celebratory window where you're moving things forward. Officially Paul, even though it's not official official yet, it hasn't been signed. Do you think Poch had some sort of influence on this roster that's playing in these friendlies? I don't think so. Everything I've been told is that Mike Alvarez and his staff were in charge of this roster, that they were the ones that were kind of going through the process. They had conversations with the players, they picked the team. Ultimately So, you know, this is a mike Harris team. I think, you know, the this roster is a little bit interesting, right? Because you have several players who are missing from injury. A few players who were asked or decided to stay with their club or the US soccer recognized that this is a situation where you should stay with your club, get some minutes, get comfortable, get fit, and I think that kind of narrowed the pool a little bit and allowed Mike Alvarez to kind of make some easier decisions and to bring in some new faces and say, okay, these are some guys who are battling for spots, and I don't think that's the worst thing in the world. If Pochettino is watching with his notebook like he knows he's got plenty of film. On what Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams have done with the US men's national team a little bit less on Aiden Morris and Johnny Cardoso, for example. So this is a good opportunity for those players to make an impression. Maybe not on Mikey O'Hara, but on the guy who's watching, you know, out of the picture right now and maybe in the picture in Cincinnati. Oh, God, I'm not going to lie, Paul. I'm nervous. Okay This whole delay has made me very nervous because I keep waiting for it to become official. And every day it it doesn't happen. So I'm looking to you for a little comfort, to ease the nerves a little bit. I mean, is worst case scenario, is there is there a scenario where this thing falls apart? I mean, I don't think so, but like, I'm the same as you, right? Like this is I was talking to somebody about this yesterday. Like, this is the kind of the downside of hiring a big name coach, right? Like things are going poorly at Manchester United. Pochettino is the second favorite and favorite in betting odds to replace Ten Hag. Right? Like that's the reality of having a coach like Pochettino. His name is going to be in the mix for these big jobs. And so yeah like I think you look at those results this thing is dragging out and you're like is this is this going to happen? Like is he waiting this out, you know, again, everything I've been told is things are on track. You know, things are moving forward. This is going to get done. But that's the new reality. I think it's a good thing ultimately, that you have a coach that gets connected to these bigger jobs. It's a positive thing. That means you're you've hired a coach that's in demand, but it adds this kind of layer of like, oh, are we going to be like this all the way through the World Cup? Like every time a club team struggles a big club, you're like, Pochettino going to go to, you know wherever I think I think this is the new reality, to be honest. I know this is unchartered territory for us. We're all just like what is happening, you know, it's like you're the, the, the high school crush. Exactly. And it's like is this really happening? Me definitely not the cool kids. Me to homecoming. You want to take me to prom? Oh my God, seriously, this is actually quite triggering. Paul Tenorio, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. Please keep us updated on anything and everything you hear. Okay. Yeah, I get to Kansas City on Thursday. I'm just going to be stalking U.S. soccer officials the whole time. Good job looking looking at their phones over their shoulders. Find any Argentinian restaurant or bakery and hang out