If there was an identity that defined American soccer in the post-1998 to pre-Jurgen Klinsmann era it could be described as a mix of being compact defensively, fast on the counter, good at goalkeeping, tall on set pieces and generally a little chaotic. Those teams valued fighting for each other and seemingly could beat world class teams thanks to heart and energy. Thanks to that, they emerged with some historic victories for the program.
The Klinsmann era marked a change where the identity was discarded in favor of wanting to have a style. It was based on possession or attacking or having studied our culture and having the players challenge themselves on the highest level – choose your fighter. Surprisingly, it came together pretty well for a while but when it fell apart it did so catastrophically.
Then this happened in an attempt to get back to good feelings and the pre-Jurgen glory days.
Those days didn’t come back and after taking on an abrasive and at times combative high-profile international manager, the USA shifted gears and went with Gregg Berhalter. His idea was to have a style along with the good vibes of the teams that he played for and others that came after and had those historic victories. He also had a message, say it with me: Change. The. Way. The. World. Looks. At. American. Soccer.
He may very well have succeeded. The reputation of the USMNT during the “we beat Spain in the Confederations Cup” times was something along the lines of – a team that can win, pull off upsets and needs to be respected but relies on athleticism more so than technical ability. Missing the World Cup in 2018 may have knocked the USA down a level but the most technically gifted group of players to emerge for the squad at least raised expectations.
Some wins against Mexico in international tournaments and a brave if not underwhelming run in the 2022 World Cup at least gave some hope that those expectations might not be totally unreasonable. After all, a draw against England isn’t nothing and getting out of a tough group is a notable achievement.
It may not have been enough for many nations to bring a manager back to its national team for another World Cup run, but eventually it was for the US Soccer Federation. There were doubts and even another manager was strongly considered, but Gregg Berhalter returned for the vibes apparently.
The vibes were good and that’s important, teams need cohesion and at the very least the boys fought for each other. They also struggled on the field to put together decent performances against good teams. Notably, when Berhalter returned the team lost badly to Germany and never seemed to be in the game, got trounced by Colombia, and managed a draw with Brazil which was a high point. Outside of Concacaf, whatever the USA is doing had not been nearly successful enough to positively Change. The. Way. The. World. Looks. At. American. Soccer.
Hosting the Copa America gave the USMNT a chance to reach that goal. It was also an opportunity to set the stage and make a statement before the World Cup in two short years. That has all been wasted and with the most talented group of players ever with the team. Still, after being eliminated from a tournament held on home field, the world surely looks at American soccer differently.
