Colorado Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni sat at a press conference after a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City last month, his emotions clearly still running high, and responded to a question about his team being dominated statistically in the game.
His rant about “the human spirit,” punctuated by his fist pounding into the table, would quickly go viral in MLS circles, perceived and excoriated as an anti-statistics missive in an era in which analytics in soccer have become a valuable tool.
Looking beyond the message, however, it was the type of press conference that we too rarely see from coaches: a passionate, honest and unfiltered peek at the person leading a team.