Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival at Manchester United is set to bring a historic change to the men’s first-team coaching staff, with several members of his United States backroom team following him to Old Trafford.
United announced that Pochettino would succeed Michael Carrick on 18 November after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation allowing him and his staff to leave at the end of the international break. The United States wrap up the window against Haiti in the second leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final.
According to The Guardian, Silvia Tuya Viñas will follow Pochettino to Old Trafford, becoming the first woman in Manchester United’s history to join the men’s first-team coaching staff.
The 46-year-old Spaniard specialises in sports science and physical conditioning. She previously taught at the National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia at the University of Barcelona and worked with Levante Badalona’s women’s team in Spain’s top flight.
Tuya joined Pochettino’s staff in October 2024, shortly after he took charge of the United States, and became the first woman officially registered as a member of the senior men’s national team coaching staff.
She oversaw strength and conditioning sessions and prepared players physically for matches. She remained on Pochettino’s staff through the 2026 World Cup, where the United States topped their group before reaching the last 16.
Pochettino is also expected to bring assistants Jesús Pérez and Miguel D’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jiménez and his son Sebastiano Pochettino, a sports science specialist.
The new staff will have just four days to prepare for their first match. United travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday, 22 November, in Pochettino’s first test on his return to the Premier League.
