USMNT at an All Time Low

By: Steven Silver

Something blew my mind yesterday, and I wasn’t expecting it. After my live stream yesterday, I wandered over to my neighbors house, and rewatched the match (I have a solid soccer relationship with my neighbor. Call it a soccer bromance). Midway through the first half, he started explaining the plot to the Lord of the Rings television series, which is apparently a thing. That’s how far out of the loop I am when it comes to relatively new television series’. Anyways, midway through the first half, as he was explaining the plot, I turned to him and asked if he lost interest in the match. He turned to me and said “They’re not taking it seriously, why should I?”

It was a brilliant statement, and it happened to be true. The United States Men’s National Team were playing like crap at the time, and it didn’t just start at the opening whistle. This was the USMNT’s first opportunity to right the wrongs set with their disaster at this summer’s Copa America. But instead of being the hammer to Canada’s nail, the USMNT spent the afternoon going through the motions. That’s a problem. But this problem isn’t new. This goes back aways. Back before Mikey Varas was named interim manager. Back before the entire fan base decided to wait with bated breath until that moment comes, and Mauricio Pochettino saves us from a World Cup disaster. No, this goes back further. It probably supersedes the botched hiring of Jesse Marsch, back to the decision to hire Gregg Berhalter in the first place. I do give GGG his flowers when it comes to bringing stability to the national team, but he also cultivated a soft environment where players grew entitled, and never had to worry about being challenged. Because of that decision to go from Jurgen Klinsmann to Greg Berhalter, we lost our way as a national team, and over time, we lost our identity.

I don’t know exactly when our identity crises happened, but since that moment, the USMNT has been lost in the woods. They’re not playing with passion or toughness. They’re not playing with that classic American arrogance (see Landon Donovan or better yet, Clint Dempsey) that once was the identity of the national team. Moreover, they’re not playing with any sense of urgency. We were witness to this over the summer during the Copa America when thanks to a horrible decision from Tim Weah, we went down a man to Panama. Instead of remaining cool, calm, and organized, the USMNT were disjointed. Panama equalized 15 minutes later. We lost that match, and in a must win situation vs. Uruguay, we lost that match too.

Not much has changed since then. Well, that’s not entirely true. It was because of those performances at Copa America the US Soccer federation made the decision to sack Gregg Berhalter. You would think that in itself would make the players reflect inwards and have some culpability, but that obviously did not happen. Instead, we got more of the same. God bless Mikey Varas. He’s just trying to hold the fort down until Pochettino relieves him of his interim duties. But this international window was botched the moment Varas made his goofy roster selections. It was all over the map. From taking four goal keepers to taking players who haven’t yet stepped on a pitch this season. Like Gregg Berhalter before him, Varas brought in players who he thought he could trust to win him a match or two. Varas should’ve known better than to put his faith into certain players who currently can’t be trusted.

My problem isn’t with Varas or the players, by the way. Maybe my problem is that I remember the cycles under Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley, and Jurgen Klinsmann. When it was mandatory for a player to be in top form coming into a national team camp. That was the baseline metric used for roster selection. Are you playing? Are you playing well? No? Then you’re not going to be apart of the camp. Those former managers set the standards for the national team, and it lit a fire under those players who missed out. And that’s where I think the problem lies. Our current star players are either taking the national team for granted, or they just don’t give damn.

It reminds me of the story former USMNT forward Charlie Davies once told us about the phone call he received from Bob Bradley. Bradley went on to congratulate Davies for earning a starting spot overseas, but that Davies wouldn’t be apart of the upcoming camp. When Davies asked why, Bradley said it’s because he wasn’t scoring goals. And that’s the standard right there. Isn’t it beautiful? I don’t care if they were a starter in the last camp, last World Cup, whatever. If you are not in form, you will not be apart of the national team camp. That would send a direct message to Flo Balogun, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, and Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic that their whiney, complacent attitudes will not fly under Pochettino. Either get your butt in gear, or get gone until you can come correct.

I don’t know what’s left to say except there is still time to turn this around. We are 641 days away until we kick off the 2026 World Cup here in these United States. In that remaining time, we have international windows in October and November, in March and June of 2025, a Gold Cup, and five more international windows before the big dance. Pochettino has more than enough time to set his standards, and form the identity that will shape this team. Hope is not lost. The results of our last six matches,  (1-4-1) not withstanding, won’t have me jumping off the ship. Pochettino isn’t a miracle worker, and we won’t start seeing that really solid Tottenham style Pochettino ball until next summer at the earliest. In the meantime, what we will see is whether or not these players care enough to put forth the maximum effort to give us fans a reason to care. I mean, if they don’t, why should we.

Steven Silver is the host of Stateside Footy on YouTube. You can find him on Twitter/X @Statessidefooty