USMNT - ‘23 and beyond

efil4stnias said
USSF press release this am. Has the entire Twitterverse piling on. lol

"....elevate US Soccers BRAND..."

thats all you need to know at this point. Its not about winning. Its about keeping just enough interest thru marketing to keep the youth soccer fields packed with paying parents for travel teams.

Im so cynical at this point that i dont care what happens any longer. The ONLY sport i played growing up - at the ridicule of so many in the mid/late 80s into 90s. Played select, ODP - and never ONCE had to pay a DIME. ( other than travel expenses )

other than pay to play, nothing has changed in 40 years. nothing. 5th rung of the sports ladder and it could have been so much more. But once USSF figured out how to monetize, it was all over.

!@$@# em all.

The press release is pathetic. "Industry leading organization". "Brand".

Is this Nike or a national team federation?

I dont want to make this overly wrought with hyperbole...

But I think this decision on Berhalter is an inflection point of soccer in this country. We are either choosing to push things forwards on the field or this is just a glorified MLS business venture. Its not even to be taken seriously anymore if they continue down this road. Just call in strictly MLS players and be done with it.

Peeing away this generation of players to go into a WC on home soil knowing full well how its going to play out, is just insane. Forget about the elite teams. We cant play with the semi elite teams. We cant get out of groups at regional tournaments. Berhalter is not capable to elevating this team or its players.

We dont even play with the grit we used to play with. We had less talent on the field, and we won the same tournaments. This generation hasnt done anything that US Soccer hasnt done in 30 years. Hell some of those teams did more. Klinsmann, with any bit of composure from Wondo wouldve potentially made the quarters in 14. Arena made the quarters in 02.

What has Berhalter done with better talent? Less.

USSF is fine with winning Nations League and a Gold Cup every now and then. Enough to keep their jobs and build a brand.