Alexi Lalas addresses prospect of Pep Guardiola taking over USMNT
· Yahoo Sports
After a decade in the hot seat at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola appears to be on his way out of Manchester City following their season finale against Aston Villa.
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Should these reports surrounding the 55-year-old Spaniard - which he has so far refused to discuss - prove accurate, then not only would City need to fill his enormous shoes, but it would also mean Guardiola may be available for a new challenge.
One avenue the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss, who has won 12 domestic league titles and three UEFA Champions Leagues as a manager, has yet to tackle is international management.
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Discussing Guardiola’s potential exit, which was first reported by the Daily Mail, U.S. Men’s National Team legend turned analyst Alexi Lalas floated the idea that perhaps the City icon could be a good fit to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine coach’s contract is up after the impending FIFA World Cup, and he is largely expected to depart the USMNT this summer.
When it comes to replacing Pochettino, Lalas commented on his ‘State of the Union’ podcast, “If it were to be someone like Pep, keep in mind that we're right back where we started with someone from an international perspective that has to go from, day in and day out, and that's a wonderful grind that a club coach becomes so familiar with two little pockets and days here. And that's a transition. That's not always easy.
“Now look, there's people out there that believe that Pep is a great coach, no matter what. And there's others that Pep is a great club coach, and we'll see if he's a great international coach.
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“But I do think that if Pep Guardiola is available and he's open to it, you would be dumb not to take that call and to sit down and to see how he thinks about these things.
“For all of his success and all of his intelligence when it comes to the game, he still has to apply it to a very, very different scenario, both in terms of being international, but also in terms of being a small team relative to the elites or a lesser team relative to the elites.
“And Pep has established his greatness, making great teams that much greater. And the U.S. is not a great team that he is falling into.”
The USMNT may not be amongst the world’s elite soccer nations at this time, but Lalas maintained that U.S. Soccer should “absolutely make that call,” suggesting, “You might even get that call.
“I mean, we know Pep famously took a sabbatical. Where'd he go? Went to the United States. Now, a lot of that was to kind of get away, and he's still going to be recognized because he's one of the most recognizable people in the world, but still not to the extent that other places here. So it might appeal to him.”