I don’t know if I’ll be able to say everything I want with words that express exactly what I want them to say. But I’ll try it anyways.
I’m incredibly proud of this team. The young men that took the field against the world’s best were able to capture the imagination of the country. They had us dreaming what it would be like to be a country completely bought in to soccer as the premier sport. They had us dreaming what it would be like to regularly compete against the Virgil van Dijk’s and Lionel Messi’s of the world. Pulisic and others helped us experience a long-held dream to have an American star at the World Cup.
I think it hurts because we know as die-hard fans of this sport what it could have meant to get to a quarter-final against the greatest player of all time just four years prior to hosting the tournament. After the dust settles I think that’s what will hurt the most - the face that we didn’t do damage to the reputation of US Soccer, but we didn’t necessarily advance the domestic reputation either.
Certainly I can see on the global stage US Soccer has arrived and I genuinely think that fact can’t be disputed. From every corner of the respected sports media from Europe to Asia sang the praises of Gregg Berhalter and the USMNT. This squad was not seen as a naive bunch of athletes who happened to kick a ball. This squad was respected by their opponents as excellent footballers and in the end that bit us.
The USMNT walked a fine line between confidence and arrogance going into the match against the Netherlands and to be honest our players strayed too far into the latter. It’s a good lesson to take - one that should help us in 2026.
Where does USMNT go from here then?
Well, I think first things first is to decide the future of Gregg Berhalter. In the average fan’s opinion Gregg should not continue and I don’t think he will. Everything I am hearing from trusted sources is that he prefers to be back in a club environment working with players day-to-day. I think that will suit him and I personally will give him a positive send-off.
Aside from the obvious benefits of Gregg’s player recruitment and team-building, he didn’t embarrass US Soccer at the World Cup and I genuinely think that’s an important part of his legacy which will be fresh on our minds. Yes we could have and arguably should have done better in the loss to the Netherlands but you can’t tell me that Tyler Adams and Sergino Dest missing their player-marks was Gregg’s fault.
If Gregg does leave this team, then I think whoever comes in must have international coaching pedigree. I think Roberto Martinez makes a lot of sense. The United States Soccer Federation should go for broke and use all resources available to bring in the best coaching staff available for 2026. If we want to keep it to a domestic coach I think Jesse Marsch is the obvious choice, but Steven Cherundolo or Jim Curtin could make a lot of sense as dark-horse candidates.
After Gregg’s future is decided we need to re-evaluate the player pool and utilize the upcoming 2023 Youth World Cups to develop the core of this team. The 2024 olympics should also be used as a test run for our best possible U23 squad.
The USSF should also do everything in their power to gain entry to the 2024 Copa America and play the highest level of competition in International friendlies available. The team that lost to the Netherlands was an olympic eligible team. 8 players were 23 years old or younger. The experience from the 2022 World Cup will be important, but we need to harness the power of pressure from these other tournaments before 2026.
I know for me the red, white, and blue haze of US Soccer has dissipated a bit but the World Cup is still going on! Next summer the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand, the U20 and U17 World Cups will be held, and the 2024 Olympics is right around the corner.
If anything, this is only the end of the beginning. I’m still ridiculously excited about this group going forward and my love for this sport has never been stronger.
I have to go back to my real job today and take my eyes off Doha for a bit, but It’s Called Soccer will be here. In the next few days we will post-mortem this USA World Cup run, judge Gregg Berhalter’s tenure as USMNT head coach, and look ahead at the young crop of players for 2026. I hope to see you there!
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I’ve also started a tiktok and instagram which I would really appreciate you following!
A year ago, I was high on Roberto Martinez. However, after watching Belgium, I've soured on him. Sure, Belgium's stars are at the twilight of their careers. But, tactically, I don't think that Martinez made any difference. And, he certainly didn't have control in the locker room. Considering the talent that Belgium has had over the last decade, his Top 3 finish just wasn't good enough.
Aside from having to go do my real job today, you summed it up perfectly for me