USMNT Coach Mauricio Pochettino Not Convinced by VAR Ahead of World Cup

Beyond the pressure of performance and results, Pochettino will have to navigate a modern game he’s clearly frustrated with. 

He recently admitted on 'The Overlap' that he finds VAR "annoying," yet he's now tasked with leading the U.S. into a tournament where technology and video reviews have more power and responsibility than ever before.

Mauricio Pochettino Believes VAR is Hurting Soccer

Speaking on how the nature of the sport is shifting due to the heavy reliance on video replays and technology based officiating, Pochettino noted that the game looks nothing like it did during his playing days.

“Today, the technology, I think what we are seeing with VAR, is affecting the game in a completely different way than when we were players. It's annoying me a little bit, the VAR, because I think it's changing our game. It's changing the way that we also educate our young kids in that game," he said.

Pochettino also touched on the cultural shift he sees happening to the sport, especially as he moves into the American market where the line between sports and entertainment is often blurred. 

"That game is special because it's completely different to others. It's not an entertainment game. It's a very competitive game. But we are now forcing that unbelievable sport to become an entertainment game, and that is what I hate, because I am seeing now in America that entertainment games, American football, basketball, hockey, are entertaining. But football [soccer] is not an entertainment game. It's a competitive game, and that is what we are forcing it to change into."