On Tuesday night in the fifth and final round of World Cup Qualifiers, Omar Gonzalez, the U.S. Men’s center-back, scored an own-goal just 17 minutes into the match. Demoralizing as own-goals can be, his team’s response made it even worse: With the exception of 19-year old Christian Pulisic, the rest of the U.S. Men’s team spent the remainder of the match standing around and blaming each other.
The United States managed to lose 2-1, while out-possessing the lesser-regarded, bottom-of-the-bracket squad from Trinidad and Tobago.
The loss came as a shock, because with either a win or a draw the United States would have been assured passage to the World Cup in Russia. Even if the United States had lost, there was a chance they could have qualified based on goal differential (if Honduras and Panama both lost their qualifiers, too).
But in another sense, the loss shouldn’t have been terribly shocking. The bracket standings and American side’s recent loss against Costa Rica and tie with Honduras should have set off alarm bells for the squad. Instead, there seemed to be a sense of entitlement among the U.S. players, as though their place in the World Cup had been preordained.
The urgency the American side brought to the field, its movement on and off the ball, the pressure it imposed on its opposition—it’s hard to win when you play like that. As Landon Donovan explained, “the lack of urgency displayed” by the Americans was, “candidly . . . really hard to watch.”
He’s right. It was hard to watch. Take, for example, the second goal of the game, by unheralded Trinidad national Alvin Jones, who scored from nearly 30 yards out on Tim Howard’s back post.
????????????GOOOOAAAAL????????????Alvin Jones fires one off from Tobago, and #USMNT are down 2-0! #TRIvsUSA pic.twitter.com/S5f6Qa6GyS— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 11, 2017
Where was Jones’s American counterpart, pressuring him, denying him a shot on-goal? He was ball-watching. American midfielder Darlington Nagbe was caught out of position watching the play unfold, rather than taking part in it. There’s a good place for someone who plays like that. On the bench. Or better yet, in the stands.
The U.S. men have been in upheaval for almost a year. Last November coach Jurgen Klinsmann was fired after a 4-0 loss to Costa Rica. His successor, Bruce Arena, is no coaching novice. He has managed the U.S. side before, from 1998 to 2006. Before resuming the managerial mantle of the United States’ Men’s team, he coached the LA Galaxy and won five MLS cup titles.
As he comes back to the big chair, Arena should notice that the players who stand out play abroad. Deandre Yedlin plays at Newcastle and Christian Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund. The best of the older guard, Clint Dempsey and the now-retired Landon Donovan spent time in the Premier League at Fulham and Everton, playing against better competition than they could in the MLS. Pulisic was reared in the U.S. Development Academy Program, the most rigorous system available to American youth. (So was Donovan, in the program’s antecedent.) But at age 16, Pulisic moved to Germany for competitive play. (Donovan made a similar move at the same age, also going to Germany, but playing at Bayer Leverkusen.)
American players in their mid-teens face difficult choices, ones that are made earlier and institutionally, in other countries. Instead, promising American players have to choose between trials and “going pro”—in the U.S., Europe, Asia, or South America—or “play college ball.” The U.S. soccer establishment ought to be encouraging the best American youth to play abroad because it will enhance the prospects of a younger, stronger national side in future years.
As Landon Donovan said regarding Tuesday night’s game, the U.S. “got what [it] deserved.” Without the pressure of having to prepare for World Cup play, America now has several years to focus on finding and developing younger players. That’s cold comfort for American soccer fans; but for the time being, it’s the only game in town.
