Top Stories

USMNT must learn from mistakes of failed World Cup

If you’ve been following the U.S. Men’s National Team for the last few years, Tuesday’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup isn’t a total surprise.

The steps that were taken since the round of 16 loss to Belgium in Brazil set the USMNT up for failure in the long term.

There’s a myriad of issues you could point at from keeping Jurgen Klinsmann around after Brazil for another World Cup cycle to not giving enough chances to the new generation of stars that goes far beyond Christian Pulisic.

No matter what you think the main problem with U.S. Soccer is right now, we can all agree change has to be made.

The easy answers are ones we can all agree on. Bruce Arena’s time is done as manager, and Sunil Gulati’s seat is hotter than it ever has been. The older generation of players including Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley and others most likely won’t play a meaningful game in red, white and blue ever again.

With the way the new generation of stars led by Pulisic are playing, the look toward 2022 actually seems like it could be a fun ride, but the core hopefully traveling to Qatar that could feature Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent, Tyler Adams and many more has to learn from the mistakes made in the last few years.

The one thing missing from the American setup, especially in the debilitating Hexagonal round losses to Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago was the trademark fight the USMNT has shown over the past few decades. In the past, you could count on the effort and hard working attitude to at least keep the Americans in games, but that didn’t even show up in two of the most important games in the Hex, and you could argue the same mindset started to creep into the team’s psyche under Klinsmann in the 2015 Gold Cup and Copa America Centenario.

You could also argue that there was another psychological issue entering the Hexagonal round and Gold Cups as well. The thought that the USMNT could just advance off pure talent alone has evaporated during this World Cup cycle. Thanks to the growth of MLS and its investment in North American talent and the improved dearth of players across the region, qualifying for the World Cup was never going to be easy this time around and some may have taken qualification for granted.

You can’t just show up in Columbus and assume you’re going to beat your biggest rival or march into Trinidad and Tobago and know you’re going to beat the worst team in Hex. The talent gap has closed significantly where every competitive CONCACAF match has to be taken with full seriousness.

Whoever the next manager is, and we’ll debate who that actually will be quite often in the near future, also has to learn from this cycle’s mistakes in terms of development and personnel selection.

Klinsmann was never willing to bring in players he left in exile, and even Arena struggled to find the right mix at times. Even though he won the 2017 Gold Cup with an experimental side, Arena stuck with most of his veterans in September and October.

Of the players eligible for selection on Tuesday night, 13 were over the age of 30 and only four were 24 or younger. Outside of the experimental side at this summer’s Gold Cup, the roster was always tilted toward the older group of players.

Development has always been a tricky issue in the U.S. Soccer sphere and it will continue to be a hot button topic with five years until the next World Cup. But no matter where the young talent comes from, whether it be from MLS academies or from European clubs, it has to be given the opportunity to flourish and come together on the big stage.

Only a few players were able to have that luxury in the last four years. Bobby Wood, DeAndre Yedlin, John Brooks, Jordan Morris and of course the wonderboy himself Pulisic were thrown into the fire without hesitation, but that’s an incredibly small, yet successful, sample size. Imagine if you had the chance to develop a dozen or more players like that. We’ll never know if they’d thrive under Klinsmann or Arena, or if they were even good enough to play at the international level because most weren’t given a fair shake.

You could go into a further litany of issues that were apparent in the last few years with the USMNT program that foreshadowed this unfortunate day, but all the USMNT can do now is learn from past mistakes, get better as an organization and push forward toward 2022 with the hunger that escaped the red, white and blue after Brazil.

Comments

  1. Wow, apparently for what I read here, if MB had not played at all we would be going to Russia. Wow, and Antigoal gets a pass, even making it to the next WC. A guy whose heart sunk to his feet yesterday, who looked like a deer in headlights. I agree that MB has been disappointing of late, specially with his back passing, but to give Antigoal a pass is reckless. That guy should be the first one to never ever again wear a US jersey. Maybe he can make a one time switch to Haiti.

    I truly, truly truly feel sorry for Pulisic not going to the WC.

    I don’t know what else he’s done, but culprit number one is Gulati for hiring Klinsman for the second cycle and then for hiring Arena to replace Klinsman. Culprit number two is Klinsman for taking us down the path of destruction. And culprit number three, Bruce Arena for for nailing the coffin shut. Then, and only then, can you start blaming players.

    Finally, this whole debacle started when Klinsman and Gulatui left Landon Donovan out for the 2014 WC in Brazil.

    Reply
  2. 1. USSF Leadership. Focus on the “MEN” (“MEN” bring the money into USSF), not on mexico getting more friendlies than USNT because strengthen mexico & not the USNT.

    2. Someone like Bielsa or Peckerman to build youth into more attacking style & aggressive mindset, focus less on “boys” system, & “winning with style” like Gold Cup 2013.

    3. MLS’s needs changes like Chinese League: 4 or 5 International players on the field, & stop making American players DP’s, few American players are good enough to be DP’s.
    Also, MLS’s Calendar: MLS start too late & MLS season has a long pause.

    Remember, mexico hate us (USA) & proud to see the USNT being in World Cup.

    Reply
  3. If your ability to win is dependent on effort and hard work, you’re not going to get very far in international soccer.

    How many millions of youth players are playing the game in the US? And that’s the most skillful team we can produce? If so, I’m glad we lost because I’m tired of watching that garbage.

    US Soccer needs to look long and hard at player development in this country. And continually pushing the kids that were the best as 11-15 year olds through the system/DA is not the answer. Kids have an arc to their development. We want the best adult players possible, not the kids who were the best at 13 that are now adults.

    When USSF launched a U12 DA division, I almost lost my lunch. We need a wider net, not a drill down. We need to find a way to keep as many 18-20 year olds in the game as long possible to see who develops and not focus on looking at 11 year olds. Anyone who is a skillful, late bloomer gets cut prematurely here in the US.

    Reply
  4. MLS is the elephant in the room. The league has helped other CONCACAF nations develop players. But our best talent (Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Guzan) have regressed since coming home. To be the best, you’ve got to play with the best. Young U.S. prospects need to get to Europe, a la Pulisic. This is one thing Klinsmann was right about. Bruce Arena is an MLS guy, and it cost us in the end 🙁

    Reply
    • Clint is 34, Howard is 38, Guzan had already regressed in England. If you want to put that on Bradley sure but the others just aged out. Real question is why are we even looking to these guys as ot best?

      Reply
    • MLS should restrict rosters from having no more than 2 players from a Concacaf nations. the EPL does not allow non-european players except for guys that clearly raise the profile and level of the league. MLS does not need these concacaf players. There are plenty of Europeans and south Americans and Americans. Gloves off.

      Reply
      • If and when MLS imposes a foreign player limit on the game day roster, then clubs will naturally buy the best players (within their means), and only the best from CONCACAF will play, and not just above average ones (squad or depth players).

        To ensure they don’t replace average American players with above average CONCACAF players, impose a minimum salary, e.g, $200k, This will ensure they are not just getting any CONCACAF dude who can kick a ball and run fast.

    • The problem is almost all of the players who should be in their prime for this cycle (aged 24-28), failed to develop into USMNT first team players. Shea went to Europe couldn’t hack it. Neither could Mix. Injuries crushed a bunch like Gil, Gyau, AJ, and Gatt.

      You couldn’t even go pure youth (not that the coach was inclined to do it) because a bunch of them are not game fit because they aren’t getting minutes or haven’t gotten enough minutes (hydaman, Gooch, CCV, Green, Zaleam McKinney, wright, ect).

      Reply
  5. Many things are needed, but I especially want to see a real national system for youth development based on merit, not wealthy parentage.

    Reply
    • If you want to change pay to play, then you’ll need to get the government to open up child labor laws and let academies sell young players. Thats where the money comes from every where else in the world. Problem is how can you do that for just soccer and not open the door for other sports to do the same like basketball and football. The NCAA will make sure that never happens.

      Reply
      • @Jack, even if you changed those laws (never going to happen, for good reasons outside of soccer context) MLS is currently reluctant to allow players aged 20-24 to move on to bigger leagues unless it brings a major pr moment.

        US Soccer needs to work internally and find a way to reward independent development teams for placing kids on professional teams both in MLS or abroad. and the MLS as well.

  6. Arenas sucks… I called when they hired him… We need to clean house. Start calling in all the young guys in Europe. MLS players cant compete in the international level.

    Reply
  7. “The easy answers are ones we can all agree on. Bruce Arena’s time is done as manager, and Sunil Gulati’s seat is hotter than it ever has been. The older generation of players including Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley and others most likely won’t play a meaningful game in red, white and blue ever again.”

    If all this actually happens, including Gulati being replaced, I will start feeling some optimism again. Truth be told, I wasn’t that excited about an Arena-led squad going three and out next year- I had just hoped to see CP10 get a shot to break out on the biggest stage.

    Would love to see us make a SERIOUS effort to go after a coach like David Wagner. Someone with international pedigree, high level tactician/technician, yet one who understands the importance of how the US mentality has contributed to past success.

    Reply
  8. JK allowed youngsters like Green, Morris, Acosta, and Pulisic to come through. If they were good enough, age didn’t matter. He didn’t hinder their development but helped foster their transition to the senior team.

    Issue is over reliance on MLS veterans when there are better options but they weren’t called up due to MLS influence on USSF.

    1 or 2 veterans to carry on the team is enough. No need to load the team with old cheerleaders and taking spots away from promising youngsters.

    p.s. why the heck did the Panama – Costa Rica goal count ??? If US scored such a goal against T&T, people would be complaining to FIFA that US bribed CONCACAF.

    Never a dull moment in CONCACAF.

    Reply

Leave a Comment