Make New York Post a Preferred Source It was business as usual at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, Ga., where the U.S. men’s national team is conducting camp ahead of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti.
This comes as rumors have been swirling around head coach Mauricio Pochettino, linking him to a potential job with Manchester United as the successor to manager Michael Carrick, who has found himself on the hot seat amid an awful start to the Premier League season for the Red Devils.
While USMNT defender Antonee Robinson told reporters on Tuesday that the “news kind of got sprung on us like the rest of the world,” he indicated that it didn’t faze the group in Georgia.
“Similar things happened in the past, after the World Cup, where huge teams lose their manager and they start looking at possible candidates,” Robinson said. “For us to have a manager who’s linked with those sorts of jobs means we’re very lucky we’re working with a top-class manager, but that never seems to leak into the work that we do — whether it was the World Cup or whether it’s going to be this camp. All of that is sort of outside noise.
United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino gestures during an international friendly match against Canada at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn., Oct. 6, 2026. Getty Images “Nothing to do with him, he’s very much focused on getting the best out of the team and getting these two wins in the Nations League. We’ll be on the same page as that.”
Pochettino was at the training center on Tuesday and greeted the media, but did not address the reports about Manchester United.
U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone was also on the ground in Georgia on Tuesday, but did not comment on the situation either, Yahoo Sports reported.
The USMNT opened its November camp on Monday and will run through the end of the week, when Pochettino is scheduled to give his pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of the first leg of the quarterfinals, which is being played in Miami.
The second leg will take place next Tuesday in Cincinnati.
While the reports about the USMNT boss have become the biggest story in American soccer right now, Robinson said the players are used to dealing with such things.
Antonee Robinson of the USA plays during a World Cup match against Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. Getty Images “As soccer players, we are pretty used to sort of fast-changing environments and games coming pretty fast,” he said. “So we’re all very good at just focusing on the next task at hand, whether that’s the next session or the next game coming up. I don’t really look at him being linked with other jobs as, ‘Oh, this could be the last time he’s in front of me.’ It’s just focusing on we’ve got a game on the weekend and I’m going to do everything I can to be ready to play for him and how he wants us to play until told otherwise.
“It’s just working with what we’ve got until things change and I don’t really think it affects many of us, to be honest.”
While training took place in Georgia, reports continued to come out on Tuesday, indicating that Pochettino is interested in the Manchester United job. Man United is expected to fire Carrick as soon as Wednesday.
The Telegraph reported Tuesday that Pochettino is “keen” on the Manchester United job if a deal could be reached, but is in no rush to leave the USMNT.
Pochettino signed a four-year contract extension in August with U.S. Soccer to keep him in charge of the national team through the 2030 World Cup.
His contract reportedly includes a $10 million buyout clause.
