Mauricio Pochettino extension risks repeating mistakes for USMNT

The reality is, the USMNT's own free-flowing 4-1 performance against Paraguay to open the group stage looks a lot more like the exception than the rule in hindsight, and extending Pochettino risks merely repeating the mistakes that saw them crash out in the Round of 16.

No backup plan

One trend became startlingly clear over the course of the United States' World Cup: The team's success largely depended on Christian Pulisic's performance, and Pochettino clearly didn't have a backup plan for when the star man wasn't on his A-game.

Naturally, it's hard for Pulisic to put on a good performance when he's not on the pitch. The winger spent an alarming amount of time on the sidelines over the course of the tournament.

The United States already led 3-0 when Pulisic was subbed off with injury the first time against Paraguay. Sure, the Stars and Stripes were able to cobble together a 2-0 win over a less-than-stellar Australia without the winger. But a 3-2 loss to a struggling Turkish side in which the hobbled Pulisic only featured as a substitute should have been the first major warning. Instead, Pochettino continued banking on the AC Milan man, and the rest is history. 

The fact that Pulisic got injured against Belgium by kicking another player in the leg, not the other way around, would seem to suggest that he still wasn't 100% to start the match, all the more reason for a coach to anticipate issues and draft up alternative strategies. But Pochettino held firm, and the only goal the USMNT could muster against the Red Devils came on a free kick that Pulisic created with a forward pass to Folarin Balogun. With their golden boy gone, the nation's best hopes fell flat.

Pulisic will be 31 in 2030, likely starting to leave his prime years behind and surely not becoming any more durable than he is right now. If Pochettino rolls up to Madrid in four years' time with no better plans than Gregg Berhalter could piece together before him, Americans should not get their hopes up for taking the soccer world by storm any time soon.