Mauricio Pochettino thinks MLS calendar change…
CHESTER, Pa. — When requested about MLS altering its calendar to align with the standard European season, Mauricio Pochettino’s response didn’t depart room for interpretation.
“Well done and congratulations,” the USMNT coach said Friday, the day before his staff confronted Paraguay just exterior of Philadelphia. “Fantastic, I think. Great decision.”
The vote to flip the MLS calendar — which historically has run, in essence, congruent to the MLB season, with the yr beginning in late winter/early spring and working through late in the autumn, as opposed to European leagues, which go from late August through May — was finally pushed through this week.
Though the calendar change gained’t occur in time for the 2026 World Cup and seemingly will lead to some climate points for groups in the league’s northernmost cities, MLS’ oddball calendar has hamstrung the league in the past.
It’s out of sync with European switch home windows and worldwide home windows constructed to coincide with the European schedule — for instance, the current worldwide break is going on amid the MLS playoffs, which takes some wind out of the league’s sails.
Mauricio Pochettino addresses reporters during an October 2024 press convention AP
To full the swap, MLS will play a 2026 season as regular, then a shortened “transition season” in early 2027 before going full bore with the new format for a 2027-28 season.
The new calendar will see the season start in July, take a winter break from November to February, then decide back up again in March before concluding in May.
Center back Tim Ream, who spent 13 seasons in England before returning to MLS’ Charlotte F.C. in 2024, called the change “necessary.”
“I think to line up better with, around the world, transfers, the way those work, I think it’s a good thing,” Ream said. “There’s still a good number of things that have to be ironed out. I think it’s good for the league.”
Ream famous more of an “edge” around the USMNT than in the run-up to its last major competitors, the 2024 Copa America.
Defender Tim Ream is pictured during a September 2025 match. Imagn Images
“I think there was probably too much of a comfort [before Copa],” Ream said. “There’s definitely more, not an edge in a nervous, anxiety way, but players are playing with more of an edge.”
Pochettino said he would like to deliver his meant 26-man roster for the World Cup to camp in May and call in replacements in the event of injury as opposed to having a bigger group in camp and whittling it down.
“To be involved, then to go home, I think is [a] more cruel situation than if you call and say we need you because something wrong happened or some player is injured,” Pochettino said.
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