Discontent was fairly visible among English fans when Thomas Tuchel was announced as their new head coach. Even though the Three Lions had hired the Swedish Sven-Göran Eriksson in the past, not many were impressed with the arrival of the non-English tactician. Does this mean the same happened in the United States when Argentinian boss Mauricio Pochettino was hired to lead the Stars and Stripes? Well, Antonee Robinson might have something to reveal.

Of course, Poch isn’t the first non-American to coach the U.S. men’s national team; Jurgen Klinsmann, although a naturalized U.S. citizen, is another example. The first-ever non-American to coach the U.S. men’s team since 1990 was the Serbian Bora Milutinović. Then again, despite the history of outsiders, USMNT was rather more inclined towards the opportunity to play under Poch. “I was really looking forward to it to be fair,” admitted Antonee Robinson.

“I think in terms of who was available to a point at that time I don’t think there were many better managers out there we could have got. His track records spoke for themselves so I was really looking forward to it,” admitted the left-back while speaking on The Overlap’s segment called It’s Called Soccer show co-hosted by Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, and Rebecca Lowe.

In fact, it wasn’t just the excitement among the players to play under the former Tottenham manager; even the fans were looking forward to welcoming the 52-year-old with open arms. “There wasn’t too much of an uproar in the States that I have seen, that it wasn’t an American manager, whereas here the opinions kind of split on whether England should be managed by an English manager and things like that, which everyone has their own opinion or is entitled to it.”

While the Three Lions are yet to meet their new manager Tuchel, the American boys already have had the meet and greet with Pochettino, having played the recent October window that ended in a 2-0 win and defeat against Panama and Mexico respectively. Then again, all that mattered to Robinson and his national teammates was their excitement to work with Mauricio.

“When I met him and we joined up with Camp, he seemed like a great guy and a good coach. So I’m hoping that we go on to be really successful together,” concluded Robinson, while sharing the optimism of the team to succeed.

Antonee Robinson wants the USMNT to ‘crack the whip’ under Mauricio Pochettino

The Fulham defender earlier urged his new USMNT manager to make the best out of the current situation in which the team is in. “We’ve [the team] got to embrace new ideas. We’ve got to have someone to come in and crack the whip a bit and make sure that he’s [Pochettino] getting the best out of us and that it’s a real competitive environment,” said Robinson.

Robinson emphasized the importance of maintaining balance, noting that the goal is to keep the experience enjoyable. He expressed the desire for the players to look forward to camp while ensuring it’s for the right reasons, ultimately showcasing that they are an elite team. No wonder he felt a remarkable change in the team from the first training session itself.

Either way, unlike England and Thomas Tuchel, looks like USMNT is grateful for having a foreign coach like Thomas Tuchel.