Manchester City have been the dominant team of the past decade, claiming six of the last seven Premier League titles and becoming the first team to win four consecutive crowns.
Pep Guardiola’s team has crafted its reputation behind streaks of the triumphant kind, which makes his predicament of overseeing a stretch of increasing struggle all the more remarkable.
After a 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on the weekend, City has lost five straight games across all competitions. Guardiola had never seen anything like it during his time as a manager. He had never even lost three straight Premier League games.
That this recent spell falls when Guardiola has re-upped his contract, which was supposed to give confidence and security to the squad, adds another layer. Guardiola’s job isn’t at stake — not after all those seasons of glory — and City will be heavily favored to snap their skid on Tuesday against Feyenoord in the Champions League.
But it got us wondering whether the most prominent coaches in American soccer would survive similar downturns, albeit typically operating in different situations, with varying levels of expectation. How have coaches fared amid such slumps in American soccer? And what would it take for some of the highest-profile names in American soccer to get the sack?
Mauricio Pochettino, USMNT
Considering the United States men’s national team’s schedule over the next two years before the World Cup, it’s unlikely that even an improbable five-game losing streak would be enough for U.S. Soccer to walk away from its hefty investment in Pochettino.
Even a longer losing streak would stretch across months and avoid the sting attached to loss after loss stacked up in the congested club schedule.
There hasn’t been a five-game losing streak since 2007 — more on that below — but the U.S. went five games without a win in 2022, drawing with El Salvador, losing to Japan and drawing with Saudi Arabia in pre-World Cup friendlies and then opening up the tournament in Qatar with more draws against Wales and England. A win over Iran to advance to the knockouts all but ensured Gregg Berhalter would return as national team coach.
Berhalter losing three of five in 2019 was about as bad as it got in his tenure as the USMNT coach. The USMNT last lost five straight in 2007 under Bob Bradley, when a weakened squad lost all three group games at the Copa America in Venezuela before…