Every journalist has a story of an interview going awry, the subject of a story becoming upset at a line of questioning, and I’m no different. In those cases, it’s usually clear that it’s the questioning that is the problem­—not the person asking the questions. But after New York City FC head coach Domenec Torrent cursed at me several times on Sunday, it was clear that I was the problem.



Before his tirade, Torrent had fielded several questions from other reporters asking about his decision to leave Jo-Inge Berget and Jonathan Lewis out of the 18-man roster when it seemed likely, given Atlanta’s one-goal advantage from the first leg, that NYCFC would need to attack in the second leg. Indeed, Atlanta’s aggregate lead was up to two by halftime in the return match. And yet Torrent made only a single substitution in the game, at halftime, replacing Yangel Herrera with Valentin Castellanos. Those of us in the media wanted to know how he felt...