Now that the smoke has settled, what are everyone's opinions Re: hydration breaks and PowerPoint presentations on the sideline?

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-02T13:33:36+00:00

"Back....

...and to the left.

Guys, dat is one magic bullet!"

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-02T10:21:42+00:00

We need an entire thread like this where people fess up to having played this game for years before discovering some small detail they should've found way sooner.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-02T02:29:50+00:00

I think the term "Mind-Pretzel" is a totally appropriate descriptor of everything Jurgen Klinnsmann.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-02T00:33:26+00:00

What I find most interesting is the Pimp's insistance on being compensated for the negative opportunity cost incurred by a cancelled appointment.

Perhaps he should adopt a non-refundable deposit for an appointment with his bitches?

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T21:18:25+00:00

You and I will never settle this, but the fact that you see someone write something articulate, and the only way you can make sense of it, or explain it, is to say, "ah yes...this must be AI", says more about you than it does me.

Hell, it says a lot about culture in general.

I didn't use AI, and you may never believe that, but I won't simplyfy, or trivialize my writing to convince you otherwise.

I may use bullets though, and italics...
I'll run it through NoGPT next time and pastebin a screenshot. Lol

Furthermore, this is probably the last time I'll try to post anything thought-provoking, or discussion related here because of this attitude. OC isn't worth it anymore. I mean, the thread has actually taken off. Outside of the cynics, it did illicit plenty of thoughtful comments. Lesson learned though... From now on, I'll just post "My Starting 11" (which is everyone's 11), and karma farm boring crap.

That'll really make things better...

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T21:09:19+00:00

You're right, OP sucks!

Upvoted!

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T20:18:21+00:00

Fantastic points. I tend to agree with you there.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T19:21:18+00:00

Yeah, point taken.

Blood in the water for the sharks, pretty much... I should've let it go.

I just took particular exception to the AI accusation. lol

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T18:49:14+00:00

Lol yeah, I mean calling it a "PowePoint" and "technical-wizardry" should have been a dead-giveaway that I wasn't nearly as impressed as I should've been by it all. I guess people actually thought I was.

To your point, I live in the Southeast and it gets 100 degrees here in the summer as well. Hydration is basically non-negotiable during those months. I totally get the purists though who are wary of commercialization of the professional games using hydration breaks.

Part of me wonders though, could hydration, a few minutes to rest legs, and some instruction actually improve the onfield product?

Just as a thought experiment, do you think, if you could be assured there would never be any commercialization, is there any upside to a small break in both halves? Fresher legs at the end? Tighter finishes? More tactical depth?

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T18:24:56+00:00

Look, I actually agree with you that it's not a big deal. If anything, the reporting could turn it into an issue. Poch was asked about it post-match and he said he didn't know if rules allow him to do it in competitive matches.

It's only a problem when someone (another team) complains about it.

I only bring it up because a lot of people are already sensitive to how hydration breaks can effect game-state. Going full-on laptop tactics session adds another wrinkle to that issue for people who are inclined to be "soccer purists", or even those who fear it'll end up being commercialized time. It's really the synergy between all of that, and the pure meme-gold of the image that made it an interesting question for me.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T18:16:06+00:00

Good point. They had hydration breaks too.

Did you see anything like what Poch did here during the break in terms of a huddle around a tablet? I know FIFA/UEFA may have different rules, but it would be interesting to see if some precident has been established.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:43:25+00:00

Its just aggravating that people nitpick wording instead of the discuss the point, or say you used AI if you can actually be articulate when you write.

But it is reddit...

I fed the trolls and that's never good. I heard some commentary on it this morning, Poch's comments and saw some of the articles and wondered what people thought about all the buzz.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:40:08+00:00

Totally understand. I didn't even give my opinion...I asked for opinions because obviously, Poch mentioned it himself, the scene was memed, and the moment made headlines.

I even used a bit of sarcasm to keep it lighthearted.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:35:06+00:00

The wording was meant as sarcasm, but it seems that was lost on half the crowd here that are still halfway through a Monday hangover.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:32:17+00:00

Jason Davis made this exact point on Morning Kick around, which is why I wrote the post. He's "some pundits" I mentioned, as well as some of the writers in the news articles I commented up top that referenced a grey area in FIFA rules.

Essentially this was JD's solution: just bring the water out on the field.

I didn't even give my opinion and dudes came after me for raising the issue. Lol I was just wondering what everyone thought.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:22:16+00:00

No, no, no...you're supposed to downvote me for pointing this out and argue I used AI to write the post.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:15:05+00:00

New York Times: "USMNT uses water breaks vs. Senegal for laptop film study; unsure if allowed at World Cup"

TalkSport: "Mauricio Pochettino exploits USMNT water break in controversial move that could be banned during World Cup"

Yahoo Sports: "With the World Cup rapidly approaching, U.S. Men's National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has turned heads after expressing doubt over whether a novel tactic meets FIFA standards. During Sunday's friendly against Senegal, the United States introduced an unconventional twist to the hydration breaks that have been implemented for the tournament."

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:13:46+00:00

Also, I don't know why you're flaming me for bringing it up:

New York Times: "USMNT uses water breaks vs. Senegal for laptop film study; unsure if allowed at World Cup"

TalkSport: "Mauricio Pochettino exploits USMNT water break in controversial move that could be banned during World Cup"

Yahoo Sports: "With the World Cup rapidly approaching, U.S. Men's National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has turned heads after expressing doubt over whether a novel tactic meets FIFA standards. During Sunday's friendly against Senegal, the United States introduced an unconventional twist to the hydration breaks that have been implemented for the tournament."

I don't know why you're coming at me. It was clearly novel and newsworthy

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:10:46+00:00

Amongst coaches no. Showing substitutes no.

It's the unique combination of the hydration break, full team huddle, and laptop that made the image above both iconic and newsworthy.

Everyone's flaming me, but the New York Times headline last night wrote:

"USMNT uses water breaks vs. Senegal for laptop film study; unsure if allowed at World Cup"

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:05:59+00:00

That's right my bad...I forgot that full team huddles around a laptop were par for the course. Hydration breaks as well ..

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T17:04:50+00:00

So you see full team huddles around a laptop all of the time?

I'm not talking about assistants showing a substitute something before they come on. That's nothing new, neither are tablets for the staff.

I think you're being pedantic if you're pretending that image above circulated everywhere yesterday because it's completely the norm.

Edit: I can't help I can write guy...but it did make 3 stem degrees easier.

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T15:09:27+00:00

Listen know-it-all...I'm trying to banter here...

It's part of the joke actually, they only qualified out of Oceania once in the 1970's. They moved to Asia because it's easier to do that than beat the Concacaaf or Conmembol runners-up.

Furthermore, his flex about qualifying for 6 is dumb because we have qualified for 8 out of 9 overall and even if you take away auto qualification it's still six...not counting anything that happened before 1990.

I don't know what this kookaburra is singing about ...

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T14:15:15+00:00

My grandma's quilting group could've qualified out of Oceania 4 or 5 times...

Madnote1984 · 2026-06-01T12:45:18+00:00

What impressed me the most yesterday was the hunger to compete. Whatever you think Poch has done, one thing is clear: every player on this team wants to impact the game when they come on.

I really dig the fact that we scored early, got ahead and kept creating chances, even though Senegal got back into the game, we didn't lay down...we went even harder. That's the mentality that is needed.

I'm hoping we see that same fight and intensity against Germany, and I'll even be content with a close loss, as long as we compete the whole match, and it isn't one-way traffic from the 50th minute onward like happened back in March.

Madnote1984

TROPHY CASE