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US Soccer CEO JT Batson spoke at a roundtable about the future of the program on Thursday in Georgia.Photograph: Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
The US men’s national team leaves the World Cup with some considerable gaps in their organizational chart. Mauricio Pochettino’s future is undetermined as his contract – funded in part by billionaire donors – ends with the conclusion of this tournament. In April, Matt Crocker resigned from his role as sporting director to take a similar position with Saudi Arabia.
Despite these crucial positions being open, there may not be resolutions for some time.
“We are going to take a break after the World Cup and rest and recuperate,” US Soccer chief executive JT Batson said at a roundtable with media on Thursday when asked about Pochettino. “I didn’t get to do too much resting and recuperating, but we’re excited about the discussions. [Pochettino and his staff] have been active about long-term planning. As a recent example, [they] were active in our discussions with Steve [Cherundolo] around the U-23 role. We’re feeling good about where we are overall, and we’re looking forward to the discussions.”
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As for Crocker’s abdicated role, Batson cited a federation workforce of more than “600 people” working toward achieving their ultimate aims, rather than one figurehead executive.
Both Batson and USSF chief operating officer Dan Helfrich, who was also at the roundtable, declined to clarify whether another sporting director would be among “a number” of impending hires.
“We feel confident we have a great team, and that great team has soccer expertise from deep within the American system and soccer expertise from other parts of the world,” Helfrich said. “As we are talking about and making strategic choices, we have [vice-president of sporting] Oguchi Onyewu and [head of development] Barry Pauwels and [head of women’s youth development] Tracey Kevins and Emma Hayes who are part of the discussions we’re having, both about near-term choices and about longer-term structure.
“I anticipate, in the months to come, there’s a little more clarity on structure, but the fundamentals of the team are there.”
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