American soccer media, I’ve got news: Mauricio Pochettino is probably playing you.
The main story out of the United States men’s national team’s 3-2 defeat to Turkey in both teams’ Group D finale was the oversensitive behavior of the Argentine manager in response to reasonable questioning about how he handled the dead rubber game.
And while numerous pundits came out of it downright concerned about Pochettino’s temperament, the smart money is that this was an act — and a convincing one — from someone who knows that if you’re going to have to deal with the press, you might as well use them.
To review, Pochettino made nine changes to his starting XI from the group that earned a 2-0, group-clinching victory over Australia. He brought four regulars off the bench for the final stages, in which the Americans conceded a winning goal deep in stoppage time to a Turkish side that knew it was heading home following the match.
Afterward, he encountered some even-keeled questions looking for his insight on individual performances and team depth.
And yet he took offense — or at least appeared to — following most of the queries, complaining that he and his group weren’t given enough credit for their accomplishment of winning the group with a game to spare.
In the aftermath, some pundits were left downright worried about Pochettino’s state of mind. Which would be fair if his behavior was more in keeping most of his other actions.
But this is someone who generally likes to talk, both about his team and his other adventures in global football management, and is unafraid to take bold stands (on sporting issues, anyway).
And further, consider the other media environments he has worked in at Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
While there are some deeply talented and prolific American soccer reporters, there’s just no comparing that beat for those at some of the world’s largest club sides when it comes to pressure and criticism. That Pochettino was more liked than not as most of those jobs is evidence that he knows very well how to handle brutal cross examination, let alone the milder version he encounters as the American boss.
So why raise a fuss? Because he came to the media room looking for a fight and to make the conversation about him, believing it would ultimately help his team during the pressure cooker that is a home World Cup.
He knows that every moment journalists spend discussing a coach — especially one who, in Pochettino’s case, is very secure in his career — is a moment not spent focusing on the minutiae of the performances of individual players.
Right now, the American media isn’t talking about whether an injury-prone Christian Pulisic can play 90 minutes when it matters, or why the defense continues to give up too many goals, or the eerily lengthy losing streak against European opposition. (It just so happens that Bosnia and Herzegovina, the USMNT’s round of 32 opponents, are European.)
They’re discussing Pochettino’s puzzling bluster, and basically daring his players to come to his defense the only can: by giving another exceptional performance on the field when it actually matters.
