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Iconic Champions League-winning tactician Pep Guardiola is reportedly prepared to turn down any and all approaches from U.S. Soccer to take over the men's national team, as he remains "determined" to spend a year away from the game.
Guardiola brought his exhausting ten-year stint at the helm of Manchester City to a close last summer, delivering an emotional farewell after narrowly falling short of what would have been a seventh Premier League crown.
"I feel I will not have the energy every day, with expectations to fight for the title," the 55-year-old said at the time. "I know myself, I have that energy but I feel like I will not have [in the future]."
Six months after that departure, Guardiola was identified as the USMNT's primary target to succeed the departing Mauricio Pochettino. Having savored the experience of being guided by a high-profile coach with considerable standing in European club football, it was logical to pursue the most highly regarded manager currently without a club. The admiration, however, does not appear to be reciprocated.
While it has been suggested that Guardiola would be "open" to a conversation with U.S. Soccer, the former Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City manager is expected to "resist" any formal offer, according to The Telegraph.
Guardiola moved directly from three years in Germany with Bayern into his decade at City, channeling every waking hour into his relentless drive for success. By the end of a turbulent final stretch in Manchester, the Catalan was emerging from matches with scratch marks on his face, a testament to his anguish at what he had witnessed from the dugout.
A break from football was always on the cards, and it seems Guardiola intends to honor that commitment. For U.S. Soccer, the search must begin anew.
The USMNT's Other Manager Targets After Guardiola
Guardiola was always going to be a difficult target to land. After spending nearly two decades relentlessly competing for the sport's greatest honors, the prospect of a Concacaf Nations League campaign may have held limited appeal. There are, however, plenty of other names worth exploring.
Should the USMNT wish to pursue another high-profile European winner, names such as Roberto Martínez and Julian Nagelsmann could be worth considering. Both guided their nations at the most recent World Cup, with Martínez's Portugal exiting in the round of 16 to eventual champions Spain, while Nagelsmann's Germany crashed out a round earlier against Paraguay.
Thierry Henry has surfaced as a surprise candidate on the fringes of this group. A celebrated former player for Arsenal and Barcelona who already enjoys a high-profile presence in the U.S. as a football pundit, Henry also brings some coaching credentials. Brief stints at Monaco and CF Montréal preceded the former France international guiding his country's U-23 squad to the Olympic final on home soil in 2024, defeating the USMNT along the way.
Current U.S. U-23 head coach Steve Cherundolo is expected to oversee the December camp, though this appears to be a short-term arrangement before his attention returns to grooming the next generation for the Olympic Games in L.A.
• The Most Defining Moments of Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT Tenure—Good and Bad
U.S. Soccer has at least $10 million from Pochettino's buyout available to help finance a new hire. "Our supporters, our sponsors, our donors, our fans are very supportive around making sure that we have the resources to achieve our goals, including having a world-class coach," CEO JT Batson stated.
Such a lavish outlay may not be necessary if the U.S. sets its sights on New Jersey-born Real Sociedad manager Pellegrino Matarazzo, who guided the Basque club to Copa del Rey glory within just four months of taking charge last year.
B.J. Callaghan is another lower-profile option whose credentials deserve a closer look. Setting aside his record-breaking campaign with Nashville this year, Callaghan managed to claim the Concacaf Nations League title during his six-week interim spell with the USMNT—that's one more piece of silverware than Pochettino ever secured with the Stars and Stripes.