To put it into perspective, Gregg Berhalter earned $2.2 million annually for managing the USMNT. Not to mention, he is most likely still on US Soccer’s books, as the now-sacked manager was fired before his contract expired in 2026.
Marcelo Bielsa is the Americas’ joint highest-paid manager currently, earning a reported $4 million to coach Uruguay. The obsessive manager is followed by Brazil’s Dorival Junior, who makes the same wage.
World Cup-winning coach Lionel Scaloni earns just $2.6 million and has won four major championships with Argentina. Mauricio Pochettino, the former Chelsea manager, made $13.2 million per reports in England before parting ways with the club and getting a hefty compensation package upon leaving.
Mauricio Pochettino: US Soccer Target
The numbers simply don’t add up. US Soccer has never paid a manager more than $4 million, so getting Mauricio Pochettino to leave European soccer for anything less than what he earned at Chelsea seems far-fetched.
Nonetheless, pundits in the United States are circling around Matt Crocker’s working relationship with the Argentine. Still, Pochettino is also reportedly a target for the England job and has a good standing with England FA’s technical director John McDermott, who was Tottenham’s academy chief while Pochettino was in charge of the first team.
US Soccer’s other reported target, Patrick Vieira, is reportedly a frontrunner to be the new Atlanta United head coach. So if the Pochettino rumors are true, US Soccer is in a tug-of-war with Atlanta United and England for their top two candidates.
One thing is certain: the September window will most likely be coached by U-20 manager Mikey Varas, a bit of news that came out minutes apart from the Pochettino story.
For US Soccer, it’s a numbers game right now, but who are they playing it with?