When a national team is defeated in the World Cup before expectations are met, there is traditionally an inquest. This consists of intense media & fan scrutiny of what happened. Inquests in Brazil & Germany are quite harsh to say the least.
Alexi Lalas is part of the problem and the sporting media (which should have known that a long time ago) is finally figuring it out. “Cultural factors” are also being cited. What’s meant by that is upper-middle class kids are the only ones who can afford to ‘pay to play’ in the US. It costs $20,000 and up per year for a kid to play on exclusive traveling teams & youth clubs which supposedly have the expertise & resources to teach kids how to play.
The best football players around the world typically grow up in poverty. They see football as a way out, it’s their life’s dream. In the US, soccer is mostly about getting an advantage for an already-privileged child. Sports academies are expensive. The rich kids aren’t so interested, it’s the upper middle class that dominates the strata of US soccer. Getting a NCAA scholarship is always a primary goal for the kids/parents in these families. No team spirit can be build with this failed model.
Soccer moms have yielded to identity politics, which only produces disappointing World Cup teams that are disjointed & whine too much. There’s no toughness or grit on these soccer teams, with too little football talent.
The USMNT needs a complete rebuild from the ground up. It’s going to have to start with a new manager. I don’t see Mauricio Pochettino wanting to stay when it’s time for him to go. He did a great job, but this position needs a long-term commitment to US soccer which I doubt Mauricio Pochettino is willing to make. He is Argentinian, with dual Spanish citizenship. This USMNT needs an American manager for a lot of reasons including name recognition, stability & trust.
The italicized paragraph below was written near the end of my last World Cup piece, and I’ll repeat it here:
If Mauricio Pochettino leaves as USMNT manager, my top replacement candidates are Landon Donovan & Carli Lloyd. If I’m the head of the US Soccer Federation, I’m getting those two in a room together and presenting this, “We need an American manager for the long-term. We understand there are serious issues at all our levels. Therefore the contract for USMNT manager will be through the 2034 World Cup. I would love to hear both your thoughts & ideas on this, so we can work it out together and pick the best person for the job.”
I also wrote earlier:
Carli Lloyd is there as an analyst to remind the US men that they have never won anything at the World Cup. She usually just sits there smiling, and it’s written all over her face. It’s great. Carli Lloyd was the linchpin in the second golden era of the USWNT with Alex Morgan & Megan Rapinoe that won two World Cups. The original Michelle Akers-Mia Hamm USWNT (1991-1999) won two World Cups also. Those are the great World Cup teams Americans remember with joy.
Landon Donovan needs to be offered the job out of respect. He’s our best men’s player ever, as far as players who can’t touch the ball with their hands go. He’s still loyal to the USMNT, but he’s not a cheerleader like Alexi Lalas. Landon Donovan knows the game well, and was a coach type of player. He has the qualities to be a great manager, but I’m not sure he wants to leave the broadcast booth to manage the USMNT. I sense he’s content with what he’s done & where he is.
This leads us to Carli Lloyd, who appears (to me) to be somewhat unfulfilled as a Fox analyst. I see her as the best candidate for USMNT manager. The men will play harder for her. I know I would. She has the resume as a winning player and understands the game. Player selection & tactical cohesion are the USMNT manager responsibilities. Carli Lloyd can probably do that better than anyone. This is a revolutionary idea. No other country in the world could consider this, but I believe it actually makes sense in the US.
Name recognition matters, and if the US Soccer Federation were to make this bold move, it would re-energize the USMNT at two minutes to midnight. This World Cup which began with so much promise, ended in disaster & humiliation for the USMNT. Never again can that be allowed to happen. That needs to be resolutely resolved, and it should be done while everyone is still watching the World Cup. Now is the time to act bravely & decisively in order to turn an embarrassing showing into an ultimate victory.
Carli Lloyd has the requisite resolve. She also had the vision to see the USMNT was walking into a buzz-saw after the Trump-FIFA red card intervention went public. She said it on Fox before the US-Belgium match, when just about every other American was still cheerleading the USMNT. An inquest should start with self-examination of the inquisitors– meaning the corporate media. What role did they play in this disappointment? Are they part of the problem?
A broader inquest needs to come from American football fans, and that’s what this is about. We lost badly because of all these issues which are so deeply woven into US soccer. There is no hope for recovery without massive wholesale changes in the entire US program. Carli Lloyd as USMNT manager sends that message. This doesn’t mean we replace men with women at every position, but instead it means we now judge things on merit. It’s based on respect and that is earned, not bought. If you can’t get on board with this, then you get left at the side of the road.
Freeloaders, carpetbaggers, and hangers-on need to be rooted out at all levels of US soccer, and qualified replacements need to be found. Gender, sexual orientation & race are of no matter. It’s about the game of football, which doesn’t value those distinctions, but only if you can play.
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