Mauricio Pochettino and World Cup coaches cleared to use laptops during water breaks

Mauricio Pochettino and other national team head coaches have been given the green light to use laptops to provide their players with tactical instructions during water breaks at the World Cup.

Pochettino, the U.S. men’s national team head coach, took advantage of the first of two three-minute breaks during a friendly match against Senegal on Sunday night by gathering his players around a MacBook screen in the dugout.

This took place midway through the first half: analyst Alex Scott held the laptop in the palm of his hand while Pochettino pointed at the screen to highlight relevant video analysis.

However, after the match — the U.S. won 3-2 — Pochettino admitted he was unsure whether he would be allowed to provide similar instructions during the World Cup.

“We’ll see now in the World Cup if they can allow that, and how we are going to do that,” Pochettino told reporters at full time.

But the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport’s lawmakers, do not prevent a head coach from utilising electronic equipment during a match.

“The use of any form of electronic communication by team officials is permitted where it directly relates to player welfare or safety or for tactical/coaching reasons but only small, mobile, handheld equipment (e.g. microphone, headphone, earpiece, mobile phone/smartphone, smartwatch, tablet, laptop) may be used,” IFAB’s regulations state.

And FIFA sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that, as per the laws of the game, head coaches and other backroom staff can use laptops at all times.

This means they will not be stopping Pochettino — or others — from utilising the mandatory water breaks to show video footage to their players to help accompany any tactical instructions.

Players at the World Cup will, however, have to remain on the field during the hydration breaks, meaning they will be unable to step over the touchline to huddle around the laptop on the bench, as the U.S. team did with Pochettino on Sunday. But there are no laws that would prevent players from studying a laptop next to the touchline while remaining on the field.