[ColoradoTree]

We've been flirting with disaster at center back all qualifying cycle, and it finally bit us.  Some of that is bad luck--John Brooks is still injured--but some was coaching--playing the disappointing Gonzalez-Besler combo instead of putting in Geoff Cameron. 

There are plenty of failures up and down the development pipeline.  But I'm not educated enough to comment on what needs to change at that level, aside from reducing the negative impacts of pay-to-play on development/travel teams.  (It's an undeniable barrier of entry to stronger developmental tracks, and while there is some money set aside to ease that burden on poorer families, something is wrong when the percentage of Latino players in NCAA soccer is drastically lower than the percentage of Latino players at youth levels.) 

What does seem apparent is that this team was significantly more talented than the players from Trinidad & Tobago, but nonetheless failed to play with any kind of fire or intensity until the second half, and even then failed to sustain that level of urgency for very long.  (To clarify an earlier point in this thread, there are 3 MLS players on the T&T team, but two of them, Minnesota's Kevin Molino and Colorado's Mekeil Williams, didn't even play, and the third, Seattle's Joevin Jones, only came on in the 72nd minute.  So, for 72 minutes, there was no T&T player on that T&T team that plays high-level club soccer.)  That lack of urgency is what's most appalling in the moment, and while plenty of players shoulder blame for that, there is no one person more responsible for that lack of urgency than Bruce Arena.  His contract was only set to run through the 2018 World Cup anyway, so his tenure is effectively done, but I'm still surprised we didn't see a Kiffin-style tarmac firing.  This was likely the most humiliating result in U.S. soccer history, taking expectations, the size of the stage, and the talent levels of both teams into account.  Sunil Gulati failing to respond to that with immediate, swift action is mind-boggling.  To respond to this epic failure with equanimity and a pledge not to overreact misjudges the moment entirely.  Gulati's tenure is up in the spring anyway, so perhaps he bows out, but when the failure is this monumental, the bloodletting that follows should be substantial. 

And lest you think I'm letting the players off the hook, I'm not.  Pulisic and Yedlin aside, the effort in this match was dreadful, and it's now abundantly clear that the veteran core of this team for the last several years is going to move on, likely forcibly.  Tim Howard has been a step slow for over a year now, and we've likely seen his last competitive international appearance.  Clint Dempsey was (quite rightly) reduced to a super-sub role later this cycle, and he's likely out, too.  (Not their last caps--they can expect, and rightly deserve, some farewell friendlies next year--but their last meaningful caps.)  As has been noted in this thread, there are promising young players coming up, and we should expect not only qualification in 2022, but a respectable tournament run as well.  This was a forest fire, and while they can be devastating, they also clear the way for new growth to emerge.  If U.S. Soccer learns that lesson well and our trajectory for 2022 and beyond is improved, then good can come of this.  If U.S. Soccer is content to merely make tweaks, however, then we will continue to be middling as a soccer power. 

[ColoradoTree]

We've been flirting with disaster at center back all qualifying cycle, and it finally bit us.  Some of that is bad luck--John Brooks is still injured--but some was coaching--playing the disappointing Gonzalez-Besler combo instead of putting in Geoff Cameron. 

There are plenty of failures up and down the development pipeline.  But I'm not educated enough to comment on what needs to change at that level, aside from reducing the negative impacts of pay-to-play on development/travel teams.  (It's an undeniable barrier of entry to stronger developmental tracks, and while there is some money set aside to ease that burden on poorer families, something is wrong when the percentage of Latino players in NCAA soccer is drastically lower than the percentage of Latino players at youth levels.) 

What does seem apparent is that this team was significantly more talented than the players from Trinidad & Tobago, but nonetheless failed to play with any kind of fire or intensity until the second half, and even then failed to sustain that level of urgency for very long.  (To clarify an earlier point in this thread, there are 3 MLS players on the T&T team, but two of them, Minnesota's Kevin Molino and Colorado's Mekeil Williams, didn't even play, and the third, Seattle's Joevin Jones, only came on in the 72nd minute.  So, for 72 minutes, there was no T&T player on that T&T team that plays high-level club soccer.)  That lack of urgency is what's most appalling in the moment, and while plenty of players shoulder blame for that, there is no one person more responsible for that lack of urgency than Bruce Arena.  His contract was only set to run through the 2018 World Cup anyway, so his tenure is effectively done, but I'm still surprised we didn't see a Kiffin-style tarmac firing.  This was likely the most humiliating result in U.S. soccer history, taking expectations, the size of the stage, and the talent levels of both teams into account.  Sunil Gulati failing to respond to that with immediate, swift action is mind-boggling.  To respond to this epic failure with equanimity and a pledge not to overreact misjudges the moment entirely.  Gulati's tenure is up in the spring anyway, so perhaps he bows out, but when the failure is this monumental, the bloodletting that follows should be substantial. 

And lest you think I'm letting the players off the hook, I'm not.  Pulisic and Yedlin aside, the effort in this match was dreadful, and it's now abundantly clear that the veteran core of this team for the last several years is going to move on, likely forcibly.  Tim Howard has been a step slow for over a year now, and we've likely seen his last competitive international appearance.  Clint Dempsey was (quite rightly) reduced to a super-sub role later this cycle, and he's likely out, too.  (Not their last caps--they can expect, and rightly deserve, some farewell friendlies next year--but their last meaningful caps.)  As has been noted in this thread, there are promising young players coming up, and we should expect not only qualification in 2022, but a respectable tournament run as well.  This was a forest fire, and while they can be devastating, they also clear the way for new growth to emerge.  If U.S. Soccer learns that lesson well and our trajectory for 2022 and beyond is improved, then good can come of this.  If U.S. Soccer is content to merely make tweaks, however, then we will continue to be middling as a soccer power.