Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Leander Schaerlaeckens

The USMNT’s quest for World Cup glory is currency in the attention economy

The U.S. soccer team huddles with coach Mauricio Pochettino and staff on a grass pitch
The US face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 32 on Wednesday evening. Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

It took Mauricio Pochettino a little while to understand that he had accepted an innately vibes-based job.

If club soccer boils down to managers exerting control and fitting their players into an intricate system, buttressed by cutting-edge tactics, ultra-modern analytics and first-in-class sports science, international soccer demands a different job entirely. And it tends to take long-time club coaches who are managing in the international game for the first time a bit to catch on to the difference.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.