Mauricio Pochettino's Most-Used Players at Every Team

Pochettino's love affair with attacking midfielders started in the exact same place that his management career got underway. At Espanyol, it was Joan Verdu who took centre-stage, as the Argentinian's side battled to stay afloat in La Liga.

The attacking star enjoyed some of the best form of his career under Pochettino's guidance, scoring 19 goals and assisting another 18 in 131 games in all competitions. Only Jordi Vinyals managed to drag a bette record out of the Spaniard, who showed the early signs of what Pochettino can do with attacking players.

He wasn't the only one to benefit, though. Luis Garcia - another attacking midfielder and centre-back Juan Forlin were also mainstays under the South American at Espanyol.

Southampton

Rickie Lambert

Make no mistake about it, Pochettino has always prioritised finding attacking stars who he can trust. And that will be music to the ears of Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha, three of Man United's recent transfer signings.

After Espanyol, Pochettino took the Premier League by storm at Southampton, taking the Saints to as high as eigth in the 2013/14 campaign.

Once again, an attacking player took his most-trusted role, with Rickie Lambert playing more games than anyone else at St Mary's during the manager's reign as the then-Southampton boss sought-out a clinical striker who could hold the ball up for midfield runners.

The forward didn't disappoint either, scoring 19 goals and assisting another 12 in just 55 games under Poch. Together with the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Lamert was crucial.

Tottenham Hotspur

Christian Eriksen

Just like it was Verdu at Espanyol, Pochettino's most-used player at Tottenham was an attacking midfielder in Christian Eriksen. The Dane became a cult hero at Spurs during the Argentine's reign, putting himself among the best creators that the Premier League had to offer at the time.

As Harry Kane commenced the long journey towards eventual Ballon d'Or stardom in 2026 by stealing the show at Spurs, Eriksen's role was crucial. And Pochettino knew it. By the time the pair split off, the former Spurs man had scored and assisted a combined 133 goals in 55 games.

"Christian is doing, in my few years, always an important player for us. He always steps up and I think he's this type of player who represents our philosophy."

In many ways, Eriksen was the orchestrator behind Pochettino's Spurs greatness. If Man United are to have any success, then they must find a player who can replicate the midfielder's quality under the former Tottenham manager.

Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe

The PSG spell will arguably the most disappointing of Pochettino's career. On paper, he had everything that a manager could ask for. He had the ultimate trio of attacking stars in Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. Many tipped them to replicate the success of Barcelona's famous MSN and that's why PSG's failure will still sting Pochettino to this day.

The Paris club set their sights on building their own Galacticos instead of focusing on balance. Eventually, it cost Pochettino his job as he failed to win the Champions League.

In more unfortunate fashion, that proved to be the final straw for PSG, who changed their transfer strategy under Luis Enrique and became back-to-back Champions League winners between 2025 and 2026.

With or without success, it should come as no surprise that Pochettino's most-used player during his time in France was Mbappe.

The forward scored 67 goals in 75 games - representing yet another striker who starred under the South American's guidance, with the Frenchman still ranked among the best strikers in world football. He may not be a Champions League winner, but Poch certainly knows how to platform goalscorers. Though it speaks volumes that neither Messi, one of the greatest football players of all time, nor Neymar rank inside the top five for appearances.

Chelsea

Conor Gallagher

Whilst his PSG spell can be summed up by Champions League failure, Pochettino's spell at Chelsea was disappointing for other reasons entirely. The South American decided to enter the turbulance of BlueCo's big-money spending, only to become one of many managers to fall short of expectations amid the chaos.

This time, he didn't fall back on an attacking midfielder or a star striker. Perhaps that's partly why Chelsea failed. Instead, it was the high-energy Conor Gallgher who made the most appearances under Pochettino.

For the first time, it was the manager's midfield that he trusted the most. In other sides, they've taken a more backstage role while the stars do the business going forward.

At Chelsea, however, Gallagher was asked to take control of a failing side, setting the tone of what was supposed to be a high-energy system. To no surprise, it took little time for cracks to appear as Poch lasted just 11 months at Stamford Bridge.

USMNT

Alex Freeman

Alex Freeman is the most surprising entry of the lot in this list. For the first time in his managerial career, Pochettino's most-used player was a defender during his spell in charge of USA. The former Chelsea boss decided to lean on fullback as he got back on track as a coach following a frustrating few years.

Meanwhile, Tim Ream, in his late 30s, played over 20 times for Pochettino, who had no concerns about the American's age. Even at the 2026 World Cup, the former Fulham man took his place amongst the most-trusted men in the squad.

So is that a sign of things to come? As Pochettino evolves, there is a chance that he looks to trust more experienced players and defenders at the start of a project rather than youthful exhuberance or attacking stars. If that is the case, then that should be good news for Man United's veteran defender, Harry Maguire.

What's more, it's also worth noting that Malick Tilman also played a large part. But for a brief blip at Chelsea, Pochettino has turned towards attacking midfielders throughout most of his managerial career. Up next, Bruno Fernandes, one of the best midfielders in the Premier League right now, awaits.