Thoughts on America’s Run at the World Cup
At the end of the day, America has a long way to go before it can expect its men’s team to reach the semi-final or final of the World Cup.
Over the course of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, I managed to watch all of America’s matches, as well as roughly two dozen other matches involving Manchester City (ManCity) players, which is my favorite soccer team. I typically catch all of ManCity’s matches no matter which league it involves. I even managed to catch the ManCity versus Liverpool Caraboa Cup match today on vacation internationally:-) I also listen to many of Bayern Munich’s matches over the course of a Bundesliga season. Finally, I played soccer for twenty-one years, coached another seventeen seasons, and hold a U.S. Soccer coaching license. Thus, these thoughts come from a long-time soccer player, coach, and fan.
On the positive side, the U.S. team advanced father than I expected, playing strong matches against Wales and England. I thought the obvious stars on the team were Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest, Josh Sargent, and goalie Matt Turner. It was too bad Sargent got injured, as his presence on the pitch impacted how teams could defend against the United States. Pulisic showed why he is a starter in the Premier League even though his play in the Premier League tends to be less impressive than what he showed at the World Cup.
Though I had no real exposure to Dest before the World Cup, within minutes of the first match against Wales, he stood out for his runs, speed, and defensive prowess. I wasn’t surprised to learn that he grew up in the Netherlands within the Ajax system. He plays like a Dutch player because he is Dutch. The U.S. is lucky to have him on the roster.
Lastly, other than Tim Ream, the U.S. team is very young, with most starters and substitutes under 25-years old. Of the fifteen players I recall seeing in the World Cup, thirteen play in Europe, so hopefully the superior competition and training they are getting in Europe will improve their skills in the coming years.
On the negative side, I noticed three big problems with the U.S. team at the World Cup. It is surprising these problems persist despite three decades passing since the founding of Major League Soccer in America and the 1994 World Cup in which the United States committed to becoming a soccer powerhouse. U.S. Soccer simply should be better by now.
And, let me dispel the notorious excuse that America would be better if our best athletes didn’t opt for other, more popular sports like football, basketball, and baseball, which partially explains why the U.S. Women’s soccer team is a powerhouse given the scarcity of professional options for women. I get the urge to imagine LeBron James in the goal, with speed demons Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey, and Dalvin Cook as forwards along with creative geniuses like Steph Curry, Trey Turner, and Patrick Mahomes in the midfield and Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, Trevon Diggs, and Micah Parsons on defense. Had these men grown up playing soccer given their raw athleticism, the U.S. Men’s team certainly would be hard to beat.
Yet, two examples illustrate why this excuse just doesn’t hold water: Croatia and Morocco. Croatia has under four million people and Morocco is a country of 37 million people. America contains over 331 million, or 83 times more people than Croatia and nine times more people than Morocco. Both of those countries, however, manage to form highly competitive teams that made runs into the semi-finals of the World Cup. Croatia made the World Cup Final in 2018. So, while America’s best athletes do opt for other sports, there simply must be twenty-five men somewhere in the 331 million people who will rise to the level to compete with the world’s best players.
The fact that thirty years after America last hosted the World Cup it hasn’t produced a top-notch team indicates it isn’t a who problem, but what and how problems. By what, I believe America’s problem is what structures are in place to identify top kids, funnel them into the right training programs, and get them facing top competition day-in, day-out. I watched first-hand how players are disbursed across countless clubs in city-after-city, instead of one club or program pooling the top players. Many of the coaches involved are little more than locals who played Division II or III soccer in college then went into coaching for extra money. The structure simply results in talented kids moving to other sports. When my daughter made the Olympic Development Program in Ohio, I thought it would be a tremendous experience that was adequately resourced with top trainers. The reality was so stunningly unimpressive she opted not even to try out the next year.
By how, I think the issue is how our players train from recreation league through the U.S. national team. You spend any time traveling in Europe or Central America, you see soccer pitches everywhere. In my wealthy suburb outside Columbus, beautiful, well-manicured baseball fields are everywhere. If there are soccer fields, they are uneven, torn-up messes. If America’s top fifty cities each had a Grand Park complex north of Indianapolis, soccer would draw more kids.
When it comes to training, something is missing, as our players at the highest levels simply lack fundamental skills. Let me give three examples.
First, in the aggregate, the U.S. men’s soccer skills just aren’t where they need to be to truly make a deep run at the World Cup. The best example of this deficiency came from Antonee Robinson. With killer speed, he should be a bigger threat, but his trapping skills are just atrocious. Ball-after-ball played to him resulted in a trap that put the ball four-to-five feet away from him, thereby allowing the opposing team to steal the ball or position themselves to stop his attack. Robinson wasn’t the only American who needed to spend more time honing his trapping skills. Watch any Premier League match and see how every player on the pitch traps long balls right to their feet from their foot, thigh, or chest. Controlling the game requires control of the ball. We don’t do that.
Next, we lack midfielders with both the field vision and skills to thread balls into empty spaces for forwards to make runs and score. Pulisic sometimes makes beautiful passes, but he doesn’t do it enough and can’t do it alone. Soccer is simply too technical today to lack a through-ball capability. Without such a capability, opponents can play more aggressively on defense and create breakaway chances on offense. Again, spend two hours watching Kevin de Bruyne for ManCity or Neymar for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). They not only “see” the field at a level most players don’t, but they possess the skills to put balls where forwards need them to be to score. U.S. players seem to lack the vision so try to force too many balls that go nowhere, get intercepted, or go out of bounds.
Finally, to win matches today at the World Cup level, you need one of two capabilities: the ability to possess the ball for long stretches to break down opponents to score (see Brazil or ManCity) or a forward with the keen instinct to always be at the right place to score when the opportunity presents itself (see Kylian Mbappe of PSG/France and Erling Haaland of ManCity). After thirty years, the U.S. team lacks the ability to possess or a forward who smells opportunity. As noted above, we lose possession via poor trapping or forced passes and, though Sargent and Timothy Weah show promise, neither are goal-scoring machines.
At the end of the day, America has a long way to go before it can expect its men’s team to reach the semi-final or final of the World Cup. Winning the World Cup is a whole level higher. When countries rich in soccer history fail to qualify (Italy), escape group play (Germany), or hadn’t won a World Cup in 36 years (Argentina) or ever (Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal), we need to be realistic about what Americans should hope for. If America can make it to the semi-finals, we will safely be able to say U.S. soccer has finally arrived. Until then, we have lots of challenges to overcome.