The media is swarming with rumors about Mauricio Pochettino’s future as the manager of the USMNT. The uncertainty is palpable. Will he stay? Will he go? It feels exactly like my relationship with my internet service provider: constant buffering, empty promises, and a deep sense of underlying dread.
A Fragile Ecosystem
Building a national team requires stability. You know what else requires stability? Trying to stream a 144p Twitch feed of someone playing Minecraft, but my router keeps dropping the signal. Pochettino is trying to implement a high-pressing tactical system, and I am just trying to ping a server. We are both failing miserably.
The Dread of the Unknown
If Poch leaves, who takes over? Who will fix my router? The structural integrity of American soccer and my studio apartment are both hanging by a remarkably thin, frayed thread. I am going to curl up in a ball until someone fixes the midfield pivot and my ethernet cable.
