NEW YORK — In the 20 months before the 2026 World Cup, Mauricio Pochettino will gather the U.S. men’s national soccer team at training camps to shape the roster, create bonds, implement tactical changes and restore confidence in a program that lost its way this summer.
On the surface, it seems like ample time. And in the context of all his past coaching assignments — Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, among them — it is a long runway to complete a project.
But the 52-year-old Argentine, renowned for his expertise in club soccer over 15 years, is no longer on the league circuit, where the work is all-consuming, the matches come rapidly and the offseason passes in the blink of an eye.