Calm Down About the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team

In case you missed it, the U.S. Mens National Soccer Team crashed out in the group stage of the Copa America last week. It was a disappointing finish for a squad that had aspirations of going deep into the tournament as hosts. I think the time has come to replace Gregg Berhalter as coach. We replaced Jurgen Klinsmann not long after he finished fourth in this same tournament.

But, that's all.

What do I mean, "that's all!?" I mean I'm not going OMG OW OW USMNT IN TREMENDOUS PERIL LET'S TEAR OUT OUR HAIR AND TURN EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN, BURN IT ALL DOWN EMERGENCY EMERGENCY!!!!!

But that's how everyone on Twitter seems to be reacting.

I've been doomscrolling Twitter for over a decade, and I don't know what the heck has happened, but for the last year or so, there just seems to be a strong current of panicky overreaction to every adverse thing that happens, much more than ever before.

I don't think we were gnashing our teeth and rending our garments this hard when the men's team missed out entirely on the 2018 World Cup. That's much worse than not making the knockout stages in the Copa America, by the way.

To give another (brief, non-sports) example, politics. I follow a lot of Democratic types on Twitter, and so, so many of them are certain that the Democrats' only hope in the 2024 election is for Joe Biden to drop out.

In his debate performance, you would've thought that instead of stumbling over his words a lot, he was answering, "Dog ... peanut butter ... Mom ... (drools)" judging by the reaction of Democrats on Twitter.

These Biden-doomers imagine someone else at the top of the ticket would rally the electorate, but they're wrong. Most people, even most registered voters, are not particularly engaged, are comforted by incumbency, and replacing Biden at this late stage would make it less likely the Dems keep the White House, not more likely.

Back to the Yanks' soccer team. Here are more specific overreactions I have seen, and why I think they are overreactions.

* This team isn't tough enough. I don't even know where to start with this one.

It seems like an easy criticism to throw out that sounds big and bad, but doesn't need to be quantified with specifics.

What, were Americans avoiding tackles? Pitifully bracing for contact like a little kid about to get their ears pierced? Every player of the caliber of national selection, any country, is, ipso facto, tough enough.

* The team doesn't have enough domestic/MLS players. Canada has a ton, and look how well they're doing!

This one's hilarious. Sure, there's the benefit of convenience and not having to travel over oceans to go between club and country, and I would love a strong and competitive MLS that is on par with European leagues, but it's not, and it probably never will be.

If US players are playing in Europe, that means European teams, in their superior European leagues, want them. Because they're good. Better than MLS-level. Those are still the players we should want on our national team.

Canada has had a great run, but strongly benefitted from a markedly easier run of opponents, and the U.S. got some unlucky breaks against Panama. Every squad gets unlucky sometimes and we are still better than Canada on the pitch, make no mistake.

* We don't play nearly as many friendlies against top teams like we used to, thanks to less time to schedule them because of the CONCACAF Nations Cup. We need to schedule the heavyweights of the world a lot more often.

This is the most common, and the most credible, of the three what's-wrong-with-the-USMNT statements I see. But it's still wrong, or at least, overstated.

The CONCACAF Nations League is good and I don't wish for it to be blown up, or the USMNT no longer taking meaningful part in it, so that we can get more tough friendlies in.

As abstractly beneficial as it can be to play teams like Germany and Brazil a lot, that benefit is mitigated by the nature of the friendly. Teams use it to experiment and trial new players, and it's rare that teams will just straightforwardly play their best 11 and bust their ass to win the game.

This is particularly relevant when looking at it from Brazil or Germany's perspective. They just aren't going to be feeling "I must give everything I have to defeat the U.S. on this Thursday in November one-off match" and that's the sort of intensity people calling for these friendlies would need in order for the U.S. to get the most out of them.

Don't get me wrong, these are all professionals giving their best effort, but these matches are closer in vibe to NFL preseason games than they are NFL regular season games. If we want the best from other countries, it's going to have to come in important tournaments.

Again, I say all this even though I agree that Berhalter should get the axe. I simply think that a new coach might be able to get more out of this (pretty damn good and still quite young) group of players, perhaps both tactically and mentally, and the solution we need. That's all.

P.S. Not even an hour after I finish writing this and submit it to my editor, the news breaks that Gregg Berhalter has indeed been fired. They must've gotten an advance copy of my piece!

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