No head coach wants the focus to be on them heading into critical knockout games. Yet, that situation couldn’t be avoided for Mauricio Pochettino ahead of the U.S. men’s national team’s Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal against Costa Rica.
Early on Saturday, a report from Ireland suggested that Pochettino had interviewed for the Brentford managerial position, which the club’s former set-piece coach Keith Andrews has since filled. However, according to Pochettino himself and multiple sources, the Premier League club never reached out, let alone proceeded with an interview.
“This club never contacted me,” Pochettino told . “I never talked to them.”
Previously a coach with Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Espanyol, Pochettino signed with the USMNT in September 2024 with the goal of leading the team through the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
While he could feasibly have been a candidate for Brentford as they looked to fill the vacancy left by Thomas Frank’s appointment at Tottenham, the Premier League side would have needed to go through U.S. Soccer to engage in talks if they wanted to pursue his services.
