Pre-match: 2024 Friendlies v Panama {Oct 12th} & Mexico {Oct 15th} (Poch's 1st Window)

"Thanks for being here" is fawning?

I'd like more investigative reporting out of all our journalists, but I think that's more resourcing than attitude. I'd also like to see more specific questions, but the journalists know that a detailed tactical discussion doesn't get clicks.

Most of the questions here I see demanding accountability are largely intended as insults because they certainly aren't questions that are going to be honestly answered. It's a press conference before a window even plays -- You ask why people were selected, you get an answer. If you want people to be accountable, you can bring up a point, but sometimes I feel like fans literally want a journalist to scream "liar!" What's the point in that?

I mean, really, what is there to hold Pochettino accountable to right now?

And if politeness gets me a better answer on a real question, who cares?

Our soccer press isn't great, but it's because of the level of investment and coverage. I actually think a lot of the individuals are pretty critical for straight reporters.

 

Exactly. Pochettino is a professional, with a track record of success. Fanbases, on the other hand (and this one at very least as much as the others) are stupid and toxic...

 

Yes, but it’s not either/or. When I say ‘adversarial’ I don’t mean ‘be a shrieking tabloid hack’, but as a consumer of soccer news I get little value out of the ‘aw shucks, I’m just happy to be here’ posture we get from the American soccer media. At the very least, you have to make the coach sweat a little, get him to give something up, make him work for praise, etc. It sets the tone for healthy respect, IMO. Judging by their output, most American soccer reporters are poorly sourced. Your subjects have to fear you at least a little bit, otherwise they won’t feel compelled to talk and will only do so when they’re using YOU.

Anyway, I’ve strayed off topic so I’ll leave it there.

 

speaking of straying, i seem to have landed on bigsanctimonious again- freaking woof.

we are all really lucky to have posters who tell us how to be good soccer fans.

 

These clowns never give it rest with their Klinsmann Derangement Syndrome issues.

 

I don’t think it’s true that most soccer writers in the US are poorly sourced as plenty of stories are broken. What is true is that no one’s daily beat is the USMNT.

 

Fear? No respect. Ask good questions not simple or dumb questions. When Parcels was the Cowboy coach he would answer a lot of questions with attitude but a few reporters got his respect by asking decent questions. Those reporters will get more chances to ask than those with gotchas.

 

The bigger source of dumb questions are more because the writers are asking for a quote for a story they've already mentally written targeted at their audience. Two of the Pochettino questions were about Diego Luna and Brenden Aaronson ... asked by a Spanish Language (and I presume Mexican) reporter and the Philly beat writer. They make sense for whatever they were doing but are really very specific questions for a brand new coach's first presser.

One of the more fawning questions was something like "With all the attackers scoring in Europe, how happy are you?" which reeks less of fawning and more of a guy trying to get a quote to stick in a piece already written in his head. Poch spun it around and focused on defense so it actually ended up being a good question, ironically.

A LOT of the postgame questions are clearly targeted at getting a quote for their article, which is usually 90% written by then.

 

I wonder if it has always been this way. Did say those covering the Yankees when Ruth and Mantle were there already have their story written and were looking for one quote?

 

In terms of stories, for sure. Had to make a physical print deadline!

Sports journalism has always been a bit of fluff. This idea that it is a very serious thing that needs to be checks and balances like political journalism is I think much more new. In the olden days, you had the beat writers and then a flowery columnist who mostly wrote positive stuff -- think Jim Murray and before that you had the Grantland Rices and Ring Lardners. In the 90s we started to get sports talk radio and you really got more of the negativity (well, outside of NYC, where I imagine it started earlier).

TBH, Yahoo! Sports might be the best investigative site ever in terms of sports, and the internet has allowed for a LOT more commentary and analysis that we'd ever see before.

There are questions that should be asked. But there's also a lot of questions people want asked that are basically insults that don't expect a real answer. "Why do you keep playing Cristian Roldan when he sucks?" What do you expect to get out of that? And when the question about Roldan gets asked, the answer is never believed by those who wanted the former.

The first question in this presser was on the goalkeepers. We got another on a lack of club play specifically for Turner (which Poch generalized). That seems about right to me. If you had asked "Why the hell is Zack Steffen called in when he's had a terrible xG-G" or whatever, I don't know that you get a better answer.

 

Not much to complain about with the squad. Personally, I don't see much in Trusty, but I will be ok.

I was generally fine with the 26 man squad in the summer, with the one complaint being that the lack of balance between squads in a summer with 2 major tournaments. It would have been much more useful for players #25 and #26 on the Copa America squad to be Roldan types rather than guys who mostly sat in the Copa America who would have started in Paris. This was something that Berhalter had gotten correct in 2022, despite the online tears. This is partially me taking advantage of hindsight here, as a 26 man squad is going to have quite a few players who don't play in a tournament with a group exit. But it is also me questioning USSF planning from 2-3 months ago, as it seemed like the federation was caught flat-footed on some of the unavailable Olympic players, that fans would have expected to have been available.

 

I think the problem is we suck. That explains a lot.

 

Having dealt with reporters in different contexts they often just need a quote to fill in a story that’s already been otherwise written.

 

If Nike wouldn't work out a deal with Adidas to give us 1994 throwbacks this summer, maybe the GKs could at least wear them?

 

Usually clear specific questions with a followup are better than “confrontational” ones if the goal is to learn more information or even to hold someone’s feet to the fire on a specific point. Unfortunately, I don’t think our press corps are as knowledgeable about the actual game to delve into much beyond player selection and incident.

I often find “confrontational” questioning to be grandstanding and people asking for it to be looking for someone to perform their emotional state. Basically is the goal to hold someone’s feet to the fire by requiring them to confront and possibly explain their shortcomings or is it theater.

 

Seems to cover about 99% of what’s posted on here too. Every thread seems to regress into posters preferred lineups, formations, or worst.... dumb lists of countless players ranked for every position.

 

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My own personal wish is a honeymoon period for coach and players which contains more positives and reserves the negatives for later on when a good case can be made that the manager is treading water or weighing down the team's progress. By honeymoon I mean that we should reserve criticism for "failure" until (at least) after the March window while sticking to "helpful" criticism in the interim.

I can't even write what I really think of the soccer media because I'd get banned. Let's just say they are the problem, not the solution.

 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41628223/usa-folarin-balogun-goal-injury-monaco

Have to assume Balogun will miss Poch's first Intl Window.... When he finally hits a rich vein of form. Brutal. Now we are missing four guys that would likely start in our best 11: Adams, Gio, Richards and Balogun. Frigging unreal. There are a lot of strikers on this roster... I wonder who would take his roster spot? We could use a winger. Koleosho... come on down.

 

Um Sergino Dest?

 

Adams, Gio, Richards, Balogun, Dest, and Weah who experienced pain during training.

 

Sports journalists are traditionally a de facto part of the PR network for the franchises they cover. Keeping interest up keeps people in jobs.

Political journalism is now explicitly promotional, moreso than sports journalism.

 

French media reporting that Tessmann has been called up to replace the injured Balogun.

I guess between Pepi, Sargent, and Wright, we probably did already have adequate cover at CF.

 

I should note, if we're going to call up Tessmann, one other option might have been Lennard Maloney, who is starting today for a top half of the table Heidenheim side in the Bundesliga. Maloney hasn't been called up since late last year.

 

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