Mauricio Pochettino

“Plenty of other countries play only three this window. I think it’s a big risk, because from tomorrow there isn’t any time to rest, lots of travel too. We weren’t involved in that planning. We understand it’s a big risk, lots of players bring from preseason or early season in Europe and lots of MLS players are in a crucial moment at MLS,”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-25 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino criticized the decision to schedule four US games during the international window, calling it a big risk.

“Maybe I regret not having been more involved,”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino expressed regret about his lack of involvement in the decision to overturn Folarin Balogun's red card at the World Cup.

“where many times we have that emotional intelligence – [we know] that energy can change things. I think that energy changed the minute that happened. And by then, the game is played under different parameters, and that match was never a match where I believe the tactics, strategy, or selection of players would have changed the course of what happened during the game.”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino argued that the negative energy from the Balogun affair changed the match against Belgium beyond what tactics could fix.

“That’s something we’ve talked about internally,”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino suggested the group involved in US Soccer's efforts to get Balogun on the field was too large for his liking.

“As a football person,”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino suggested the backlash surrounding the Balogun situation contributed to the US loss to Belgium.

“I think that these types of things have to be managed under a much more limited structure, a structure where decisions have to be made by very few people, where very few people manage these types of things. [Those decisions] should be strictly sporting and common sense, beyond whether a rule or a committee can say one thing or another.”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino argued that such situations should be managed by very few people under a strictly sporting and common-sense structure.

“In the situation that later generated all of the negativity afterwards. Maybe I regret not having been more inside of that decision making process. I wasn’t involved in that decision, to overturn the red card. As a football person, I understand everything … Beyond whether we were right or not [about the call on the field], I think nobody understood how it happened.”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-24 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino elaborated on his regret over not being part of the decision-making process to overturn Balogun's red card.

“In the moment I didn’t understand the criticisms well, but now with time, I can see that you have to learn from mistakes and I think at times the things that happen in a tournament have to stay there,”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-25 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino echoed his earlier sentiments in comments to reporters in Orlando ahead of the USMNT match against Peru.

“I’d have preferred to have much more space between games to help the guys grow in the way we want for the future.”

Mauricio Pochettino · said 2026-09-25 · reported 2026-09-25

Pochettino said he would have preferred more spacing between games to help the team develop.