Mauricio Pochettino has spent most of his coaching career at clubs where the smallest details matter.
At Southampton, he introduced himself to English football with an aggressive, high-pressing style.
At Tottenham, he built one of the Premier League’s most exciting teams, developed young players, reached a Champions League final, and made Spurs feel like a serious European side.
Later came Paris Saint-Germain, where he managed some of the biggest names in the sport, and Chelsea, where results were uneven but the idea of Pochettino as a demanding, tactical coach remained.
Now, Pochettino is in charge of the USMNT, the team he is expected to lead into the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
Before that tournament, the U.S. are playing preparation friendlies to test the squad, build rhythm and give Pochettino a clearer idea of what needs fixing.
One of those games came against Senegal in Charlotte, a strong opponent and a useful measuring stick for where the team stands.
The U.S. started the match well. Sergino Dest scored early to make it 1-0, and Christian Pulisic doubled the lead in the 20th minute. At 2-0, the Americans had control of the game, but Pochettino still had things he wanted to correct.
During the first-half hydration break in the 24th minute, Pochettino gathered the USMNT players near the sideline.
An assistant stood next to him, holding open a MacBook. Pochettino crouched beside it, pointed at the screen, and walked the players through a tactical point in real time.
Around him, the first 11, Matt Turner, Sergino Dest, Tyler Adams, Antonee Robinson, Gio Reyna, Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream, Sebastian Berhalter, Alex Freeman and Mark McKenzie leaned in to hear what Pochettino was telling them.
After the match, Mark McKenzie laughed about the scene and admitted it was new to him. “It was a new one for sure,” he said.
But McKenzie also said the break was useful. It gave the players a chance to breathe, reset, and fine-tune details in their press, defensive transitions, or whatever else Pochettino wanted corrected.
Pochettino’s explanation was simple,“The players need to feel, but they also need to see,” he said after the game.
For him, the laptop was not a stunt, but a way to show the players specific actions from the match and make the correction clearer in real time.
He also said he has used this kind of on-the-spot video analysis since 2009, when he first became a manager at Espanyol.
But seeing it happen on the sideline, mid-match, with a MacBook and not even an iPad, along with players gathered around like they were being shown a class presentation, made it impossible not to laugh. It looked like Pochettino had stopped the game to show the team a tactics tutorial, and fans did not let it go unnoticed.
Some joked that Pochettino put in a prompt for Claude and asked to explain tactics.
CLAUDE YOURE A WORLD CLASS ASSISTANT MANAGER FORMULATE A GAMEPLAN TO PROTECT A TWO GOAL LEAD, MAKE NO MISTAKES pic.twitter.com/B14YtFDaZC
— Rob Usry (@RobUsry) May 31, 2026
While some said that he was asking the squad how to export a pdf.
BUT HOW DO YOU EXPORT AS PDF?!? pic.twitter.com/UyXCm3lpet
— Evan Raimist (@evanraimist) May 31, 2026
A few fans even said that it is a product placement ad for Apple.
Great free ad for Apple 🍎 pic.twitter.com/uWU0TUd1Xv
— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) May 31, 2026
Some, looking at the seriousness, joked that ‘it’s coming home’ referring to the World Cup trophy.
yeah it’s coming home pic.twitter.com/9kul95pCg2
— ًًً (@_captainpulisic) May 31, 2026
However, it might have been said prematurely, as the rest of the match was not a simple cruise as they expected after going 2 up in 20 minutes.
Senegal made the game much more uncomfortable as Sadio Mane scored just before halftime, then struck again after the break to make it 2-2.
The U.S. had to respond, and Folarin Balogun eventually scored the winner, giving them a 3-2 victory. It was a useful World Cup prep match: a strong start, some defensive problems, and enough pressure to give Pochettino plenty to review afterwards.
