Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT rejection strategy isn't controversial, but the overblown reaction to it certainly is

The American press reacted to this strategy as if it were the cruelest thing he could've possibly done, calling it harsh and diabolical, and sharing the news with barely disguised disgust. Pochettino wasn't having any of it.

"I was a player," he said, incredulous. "When I didn't make the roster, I didn't want my to coach call me."

It's a fair point — one that only gets fairer the longer you sit with it. Who wants to hear bad news in an environment where they have to hold their composure? Who wants to deliver bad news — 29 times, as Pochettino would've had to cut his 55-man preliminary roster down to the final 26 — in those circumstances? Does any of that build trust, team spirit or confidence? Or does it just make everything harder?

"If I call, it's about myself," Pochettino pointed out. "I say I call, 'I'm very human, I'll call and give you an explanation.' That's bulls--t."

Anyone who has followed Pochettino's American adventure knows exactly why he feels the need to hammer the point home with such vigor. Pochettino has been clear, concise and unequivocal in his belief that respectful communication begins with knowing when to call and when to leave someone alone. The American soccer press doesn't share that belief. It is flabbergasted — and often outright offended — by his perceived lack of humanity. This particular communication-based rage cycle was not the media's first.

There is no right or wrong approach to informing a player he hasn't made a national team squad. There are only right and wrong intentions. Who has the purest intentions in this case: A coach who rightfully holds himself responsible for player welfare, or a media whose gleefully reported roster leak forced rejected players into the spotlight before they were ready for it?

There's nothing harsh or diabolical about clear communication between professionals. There's no bigger story hiding behind Pochettino's email communication strategy. There's just a coach, trying his best, delivering news informed by his own experience as a player, hounded by a media refusing to understand any of it.

Pochettino does care. But does the rest of the American soccer landscape care in turn?