THE UNITED STATES national team camp continues with a cloud of uncertainty as head coach Mauricio Pochettino now appears set to take the Manchester United job. It would send the team into a winter with another coaching search, and a potentially new direction.

The likelihood that Pochettino was going to last the entire cycle through the 2030 World Cup always seemed small. Completing the cycle would have kept him outside the club side of the game for six years and by that time, he potentially would have lost his stature as one of the world’s great coaches.

For any manager in his prime years as a coach, such as Pochettino, the club game offers so much more. The games are consistent and every year there is something to aim for. For national teams, especially those outside of Europe, there is the World Cup and maybe a nice tournament midcycle such as the Copa America. The Gold Cup, the CONCACAF Nations League, and CONCACAF World Cup qualifying are simply not the same.

Enter Manchester United. One of the biggest clubs in the world is now in hard times. Michael Carrick is not working out and the club is now in the relegation zone in mid-November.

This is a great stage for Pochettino. For his first season at United, success will be defined simply by survival. Despite all the struggles, that should be a very easy job. He is not under pressure to qualify for Europe or win silverware. He just needs to help move United up a few spots in the table.

After that, the pressure will come for Pochettino. But for the first 10 months, he will have the benefit of time. At one of the biggest clubs in the world, managers rarely have such a luxury.

Pochettino’s legacy on the U.S. national team will be a separate discussion (likely once it becomes official), but the short answer is that it is mixed. The loss to Belgium at the World Cup was very, very ugly. But his player evaluation and aggressiveness to break apart the existing core was important. The team was stagnating and needed work.

The Task At Hand

The more pressing matters right now involve U.S. Soccer and how prepared it is for such a change. The federation should not need this to be a long and drawn-out coaching search. Communication with Pochettino should have been ongoing since the World Cup. During the negotiations for his extension and even afterward, there should have been an understanding that Pochettino was always going to be entertaining offers for jobs.

U.S. Soccer should have been keeping an contingency plans at all times over which coaches were available and what its budget would be.

If the money sources are there and lined up to fund another high-profile coach, Pep Guardiola will likely be the target. The question is whether he still needs time off – as he said after he left Manchester City. But the key is that U.S. Soccer can be flexible with a start date as it is the beginning of the cycle. He also might be more inclined to return in an international setting where camps and games are far more limited.

Roberto Martinez and Thierry Henry are two names that have been mentioned in the past and who should continue to be on the list. Henry was the assistant to Martinez as the Belgian national team coach – so the pairing could work together.

Internally, BJ Callaghan will win the MLS Coach of the Year and was an interim manager in the past. There is also the possibility new U.S. Olympic coach Steve Cherundolo could be quickly promoted.

Expect things to move very quickly.