Bielsa talks a beautiful game as he scores the fewest manager clichés
AI analysis crowns Uruguay’s Marcelo Bielsa as the tournament's most original communicator, with the lowest xC score according to Sinch’s Expected Cliché Tracker
Stockholm, July 24, 2026 – Spain may have lifted the tournament trophy, but Marcelo Bielsa has taken the crown as football’s most authentic manager. AI analysis of 396 press conferences from 48 managers found that Bielsa recorded an average 6xC per appearance, the best score of the tournament, making him the manager with the lowest cliché count overall. Uruguay’s manager beat Spain’s World Cup winner, Luis de la Fuenta, who averaged 45xC, a whopping 7 times Bielsa’s xC rate, and well above the tournament’s average of 36.
The AI-powered xC Tracker, which monitors the cliché count of each manager in their pre and post- match press conferences, tracked across six languages, to reveal the top five communications champions and losers:
Most original communicators
| Rank | Manager | Country | Average xC |
| 1 | Marcelo Bielsa | Uruguay | 6 |
| 2 | Dick Advocaat | Curaçao | 15 |
| 3 | Fabio Cannavaro | Uzbekistan | 20 |
| 4 | Murat Yakin | Switzerland | 22 |
| 5 | Graham Arnold | Iraq | 22 |
Most clichéd managers
| Rank | Manager | Country | Average xC |
| 1 | Tony Popović | Australia | 60 |
| 2 | Gustavo Alfaro | Paraguay | 59 |
| 3 | Pedro Leitão Brito (Bubista) | Cape Verde | 55 |
| 4 | Thomas Tuchel | England | 51 |
| 5 | Vincenzo Montella | Turkey | 50 |
Source: Sinch
The most common clichés
At the tournament’s close, the most popular clichés include:
| Rank | Phrase | Number of managers who used the cliché | Number of times the cliché used in manager press conferences |
| 1 | ‘We respect every opponent’ | 9 | 15 |
| 2 | ‘We focus on what we can control’ | 9 | 11 |
| 3 | ‘We know our qualities’ | 6 | 9 |
| 4 | ‘We have to adapt to the conditions’ | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | ‘The country is behind us’ | 5 | 7 |
Source: Sinch
The final four
While the final four managers demonstrated a variety of communication styles, with some prioritising tactics over character and mentality, overall, as the pressure mounted throughout the tournament, the average xC also increased. Average xC scores rose from 28 at the end of the group stage to 36 at the final.
Despite De la Fuente netting out as one of the competition’s more cliché-heavy coaches, he followed a recognisable pattern, returning repeatedly to ‘the process’ and the importance of the collective. ‘It’s a process’ was his most used cliché of the tournament with ‘work, work, work’ coming in a close second.
England may have had their best World Cup finish in sixty years, but Tuchel ended the tournament as one of the most clichéd managers with an average xC of 51 as his pre and post-match press conferences focused on heart and mentality.
In contrast, Argentina’s Scaloni and France’s Deschamps prioritised tactical talk, landing respective scores of 31 and 28xC.
Robert Gerstmann, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Sinch, said:
“The pressures facing international football managers are unique, but the communication challenge isn't. Whether leading a national team, a global business or a political party, pressure regularly shapes how we communicate. While the likes of Bielsa make original communication look easy, when the stakes are highest, many leaders naturally gravitate towards familiar phrases that feel safe and hard to scrutinise.
“The coaches who have stood out throughout this tournament aren't necessarily the funniest or most charismatic, they are the ones who have explained their decisions with clarity, no matter the outcome.
“For us at Sinch, this is more than a football story. It's a reminder that when the pressure is on, the brands and leaders that earn attention are usually those that communicate with clarity rather than relying on familiar scripts.”
Methodology
The xC Tracker – powered by Sinch – analyses every coach press conference at the 2026 World Cup, measuring responses against a 205-phrase dictionary of football clichés across six languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Arabic.
Each phrase was verified by native-speaking editors and only included if it appeared repeatedly across major tournament press conferences, could apply regardless of result, and would be recognized by fans as a familiar football fallback.
The AI detects exact matches, variations and paraphrased responses, while each phrase is assigned a cliché score from 3–10 based on how overused it is. References to religion, personal hardship or condolences are excluded from analysis. For further real time data analysis, please find Sinch’s xC tracker here.
For more information, please contact:
Fredrik Hallstan
Director Corporate Communications
E-mail: [email protected]
