so now we know the man who has taken over the USA national team job is the man who has coached espanol Southampton Tottenham PSG Chelsea and of course it's one maricio portino I just wonder how that is going down in the United States portino is a man for the USA named the new head coach of the United States Brian T Smith is talk sports us correspondent we know you Mr Smith good morning to you it's great to be back with with you guys and and get into all the spons I got to say real quickly every time I take a a cab in the city they're they're always listening to this show like every single time I'm I'm going to the airport whatever and and it's it's on and I'm just like is that and it's every single time it's actually become like a running thing like yeah you guys are the that's good to hear show for the cath to my right he's the National Treasure isn't he um Brian portino takes over your United States men's team first off you're a massive soccer fan football fan are you having it thumbs up 100% thumbs up if you are in the United States of America and you are a soccer football you are you you you are a soccer fan you're getting into it you only follow it during the World Cup you really don't like whatever it is 100% thumbs up from an American standpoint what's what's different which we're going to get into the other standpoint the other view but from a United States from a US MNT absolute 100% they had to do something they had to have change his success working with young players developing young players his inter you know he has what they need can he deliver in the World Cup because it is a huge huge World Cup 2026 in America it'll be the biggest soccer moment in American history that is a huge platform for him but right now it's it's a win for for usmnt does does MIT I I like portino I've known him for years but is he taking this job in your belief Brian because nothing else is around that takes his fancy we I mean let's let's just be transparent we were just starting to get into this during during the break he what I love about this is Chelsea is absolutely a disaster right now I mean they they are just on fire like you cannot open the paper you can't go on social media you can't listen to talk sport without something's happening with Chelsea and his departure partly led to to this Clash that's going on that was just reported in the times yesterday sure so now he's getting this bump but yeah what was he going to get over here what was open for him would he had to wait you guys know this way better than I do I always defer to the experts but was he going to have to wait for something else to open did he feel like at this point in his career when he had done PSG he had done Chelsea that this would be the the next bump for him I can't answer that question it's a very interesting move for somebody who just two years ago was the perfect hire for Chelsea exactly so I go back to to the square root of goal Simon yeah after Chelsea there wasn't much movement for well I mean look first and foremost the world doesn't start beginning and end in the Premier League so he had an embarrassment of riches he could have looked across he could have looked across at La Liga he could looked across at Syria R there were other leagues that he can manage in so there would have been opportunities from Richard poino because he comes with a reputation and people would have felt that the removal of him from Chelsea was a bad move it's created a division between one of the shareholders inside the football club that appointed him in the first blues and ultimately that pettino was getting it together and starting to impress upon Chelsea this broke busted flush of a football club the way they should play him going to America I can see it in some resp respects and not in others from a footballing decision the beneficiaries primarily of this are the brand Association of pochettino this Elite not in my view but in lots of people's view European manager going to the US national side taking over from Greg Balter a player a manager that I know because he played for me at Palace a very decent fell yeah but it gives a different Focus but the level of American soccer at this moment in time is quite some way off both in their domestic League and in their International League they've got recognizable players in there players that have played are playing in the UK that have played in the UK like pulic and REE and you've got the kid up Fulham Robinson um and a few other players that we recognize well when we played the US in the World Cup in Qatar as England we got played off the park quite frankly so and given that I've been over there recently and seen the scale of opportunity I'm not surprised that the project can be sold to him because 2020 this is not 1994 or whenever the World Cup was held in the US right this is a whole different set of rules but nonetheless do you see this is a big job the USA job right now well the difficulty for US soccer is that you've got all these challenges coming left right and Center you've got the the domestic leagues being challenged by the fact that certain people want to see English football played over there and I don't think US soccer particularly wants that because he wants to develop its own game I think you've got uh competing against these brand established sports that are part of the identity of America which is the NFL the NBA and Major League Baseball and so it's punching its way into that you've got bcast deals that are worth $250 million a year as opposed to 10 11 billion that the NFL is getting from its broadcast deal so it's got all those challenges but the way that you shine light on it you bring People Like Beckham you bring people like Messi and when I was in Miami it's a phenomenon Messi is there's a shrine to this fell it's a museum it's a commercial take on but it's a is a museum there so I'm not surprised that the project can be sold to him but as a football in project for Maro poino as a league manager it's a step backwards you think it's a step backward Danny well I'm a big fan of poino and and I agree with you I think it's an amazing appointment for USA but I I worry for him in the fact that I know how much he loves the day-to-day coaching and you talk about his strengths being developing players and most players improving under him which we saw massively at Tottenham and hugely at Chelsea as the season went on very hard to do that paradic you know you do that by being with them day in day out and you get stimulated by that and the problem is he's got not just the quality he's working with but there's a ceiling to where they can go against the compe you see that's a great point so what so following on what Danny said staying there Brian poino in charge of the USA host nation 2026 my point is any will he get bored with it what what's the minimum expectation of PO on pochettino's USA I mean you at least have to reach knockout right I mean yeah that would be yeah you your you at least have to get there uh because my biggest problem and I completely agree with you is he can do I mean he he could he can do it he's going to go in and he's going to be the big cheese he's going to have the experience and hey I I know how to do this but he's not have his hands on the players enough but number two like they don't have the talent in itself you just start matching them up against Latin America against against England against Europe they can't cut it so how far can he take them what is the expectation over there and then when you're hosting those games it is completely different if he can make a run it will take over that country he will become you you will know his name throughout the United States of America in 2026 if they make a run but if he disappoints all of a sudden he's hurting himself for the rest of his career this is the US national side they've got a credible draw against the Brazilians oh they've got some talented players they' Got Talented players in there they could have a good tournament any team it' be fascinating to ascertain why pochettino takes this appointment because there may be a lot more beneath the Bonnet as to the reasons why who knows Beckham goes over the football gets a bloody franchise you never know what the seed Capital poo is going into America for all of a sudden the fell comes out the you national team is owning the next franchise off the of the expansion p is well intention guy he's a good guy and and the reality is he will feel that his influence won't just be in the first team it'll just filter down and he'll look at it as a bigger thing and he'll feel that his impact maybe could be wider than just one the first well he's got the USA gig and well done to him Brian before you go and we can't let you go without asking who won it Trump trump or Harris I woke up uh I watched it all last night I woke up this morning uh I'm not sure that I can take a side I I will I'm going I'm going to say this overall a disaster just I'm just I I'm inspired by Sports I'm inspired by Premier League I'm inspired by the NFL I'm inspired you know being in here having fun talking about about Postino taking over usmt I am not inspired by the US presidential candidates I actually think it's more interesting uh you know over here they have a lot of work to do on both sides I'm not going to I'm not going to pick one it was not a great debate you could get job in the UN my friend well done Brian T Smith thank you for joining us portino gets USA job it's 30 Jim White and Simon Jordan Monday to Friday mornings from 10: on a.m. on da via the talk sport app and on your smart speaker talk sport