(Photo credit: Troy Wayrynen)

U.S. men's national team players expressed support and gratitude for Mauricio Pochettino, who was reportedly finalizing a deal to manage iconic Premier League side Manchester United on Thursday.

Pochettino, 54, had agreed to remain with the U.S. national team through the 2030 World Cup cycle after leading the Americans to the round of 16 in July.

However, he had left open the possibility of coaching in the Premier League in the future. And that opportunity came sooner than expected as Manchester United began looking to replace manager Michael Carrick amid the club's worst-ever start to a Premier League season.

Reports of Pochettino emerging as Manchester United's primary focus intensified in recent days, and Carrick was officially sacked on Thursday.

Pochettino was hired to coach the USMNT in September 2024 and will leave with a 21-12-2 record in 35 matches.

'He's just created a great foundation and a great base for this team,' midfielder Sebastian Berhalter said at U.S. Soccer's training center Thursday. 'I think we all know what we're expected, and we're always working 100%. We're always fighting, doing the little things to make sure we're representing this country in the right way.'

'He really instilled that in us, even though he's an Argentinian coach, he made us even more proud to be American.'

That served as strong praise from Berhalter, whose father, Gregg Berhalter, was fired by the USMNT two months before Pochettino was hired. Sebastian Berhalter had not appeared for the USMNT to that point, but has since emerged as a core member of the squad, including playing in all five World Cup matches.

'I can't thank him enough,' Berhalter said.

Berhalter was sitting next to star forward Folarin Balogun, who led the U.S. with three goals in four World Cup appearances.

'If I had to vote, I would like to keep things the way they are,' Balogun said. 'I think things have been working well. We have a clear playing style -- whenever you have a top coach, you'd want him to stay.

'It's a no-brainer.'

The attention now turns to who will succeed Pochettino, who quickly became revered despite spending just more than two years leading the USMNT.

'That news kind of got sprung on all of us, like the rest of the world,' USMNT defender Antonee Robinson said Tuesday. 'Similar things happened in the past, happened at the World Cup, where huge teams lose their manager and they start looking at possible candidates.'

Pochettino chose to re-sign with the USMNT, saying he was inspired by 'the energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here.'

A little more than three months later, Pochettino is departing to tackle a dream job, but he leaves with high praise from many of his players.

'It speaks volumes of who he is as a person and as a coach,' Berhalter said. 'I think he's already set a good foundation, and regardless, we have that. And we're going to keep doing that.'

Pochettino is still expected to coach the U.S. in two upcoming CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal matches against Haiti in Miami on Saturday and in Cincinnati on Tuesday.

'For us to have a manager who's linked with those sorts of jobs means we're very lucky and we're working with a top-class manager,' Robinson said. 'But that never seems to leak into the work we do. He's very much focused on getting the best out of the team and getting these two wins in the Nations League.

'And we'll be on the same page as that.'

--Field Level Media