Manchester United’s new manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted that the decision to leave the United States national team had been extremely difficult for him. The Argentine coach said he regretted parting ways with the American team, but accepted the offer from the “Red Devils” because such an opportunity does not come around often in a coach’s career.
Earlier on Friday, Old Trafford officially announced that they had reached an agreement with Pochettino for him to take charge of the team from November 18. Thus, the upcoming matches against Haiti in the CONCACAF Nations League playoffs will be his last in charge of the United States national team.
At the press conference ahead of the away game against Haiti, the Argentine struggled to hide his emotions and admitted that this was the toughest decision of his professional career to date.
“It’s difficult for me to speak now. I’m too emotional. This was a difficult decision because it is the toughest one of my entire career,” Pochettino told reporters.
He stressed that in professional football, decisions sometimes have to be made that are linked to personal ambitions and opportunities for development.
“But we are professionals and we try to make our dreams come true,” added the coach, who was unable to hide his emotion.
Pochettino also revealed that despite his recent contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation running until 2030, everyone within the organization understood the reasons behind his choice.
“It is true that I recently signed a contract until 2030, but the people at the U.S. Soccer Federation understand that opportunities like this do not come around very often in life. You can’t turn down Manchester United,” said the Argentine.