US Soccer has appointed Natasha Patel to lead analysis across its men’s, women’s and youth teams.
Patel, the highly-regarded assistant academy director at Championship club Southampton, will begin her role at the start of June ahead of a busy summer with the USMNT competing on home soil at Copa America, and the USWNT heading to Paris for July’s Olympic games. She previously worked as Southampton’s head of performance analysis and carried out the same role at New York Red Bulls in MLS.
Patel will be reunited with US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker, who was also previously at the English club as director of football between 2020 and 2023.
She joins with the federation set to host the 2026 World Cup in the U.S. and also preparing to open its first National Training Center the same year.
In an interview with the Training Ground Podcast in March, she said: “Any club, any organisation that I want to go into longer-term has to be aligned with my values and future ambitions.
“You give so much time and energy, I think you really want to be fully involved — and I’m all-in in everything I do.
“Hopefully that takes me to meeting more people and new experiences. You only get one life and I want to make sure I enjoy it and maximise it – with myself, but also my friends…
