FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — News on Thursday that U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino met with AC Milan about its manager vacancy a week before the start of World Cup training camp is exactly what U.S. Soccer signed up for when it hired a big-name coach to a short-term contract that expires immediately after the World Cup.It is also certainly not what U.S. Soccer hoped for. Surely, the federation wanted to avoid this kind of news right before a home World Cup, even if this kind of discourse for a manager with stature comes with the territory.But two things can be true. Just like it can be true that meeting with Milan does not mean Pochettino isn’t focused and committed for this summer and that taking that meeting is an ill-timed and undesired distraction ahead of the tournament.Pochettino and U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson are right to point out that these types of conversations are completely normal in professional soccer. And, as Batson claimed Thursday, if you hire high-level people, they are going to be in demand and recruited by outside entities.So in terms of expectations, U.S. Soccer leadership knew it would get this kind of speculation when it hired Pochettino to coach the U.S. in a once-in-a-generation home World Cup. And it’s not new compared to the last 21 months in which Pochettino has been in charge. He has been linked with jobs at Manchester United, Tottenham and Real Madrid at different times during his short tenure. Just go ahead and AC Milan to the list.Pochettino indicated that his experience as a manager at so many different clubs, many of those years in high demand, has more than prepared him to deal with interest from one job while staying locked in on another. And the fact that Pochettino’s contract is so close to expiring was only going to add to this type of rumor mill — and to legitimate interest and recruitment.