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Chronicle of an Embarrassment

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Chronicle of an Embarrassment




Synopsis:

The US Men's National team embarrassingly fails to qualify for a World Cup after seven consecutive appearances dating back to 1990.

Contents:

1. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing:"
2. "Our best athletes don't play soccer."
3.  American Exceptionalism.
4. Where is Tom Byer?
5. Economic Fallout.

1. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing:"





"There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing,” he argued. “Certainly, I think if our league continues to grow it benefits the national team program. We have some good players coming up. Nothing has to change. To make any kind of crazy changes I think would be foolish. We’re building a consistent professional league. We have players playing abroad of a certain quality. There’s enough there. There’s no excuses for us to not qualify for the World Cup." --- Bruce Arena, manager of the US Men's National Team, after the defeat to Panama last night, as quoted by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Mr. Arena concisely summed up all that is wrong with US men's soccer: The inability to see reality, over dependence on "our League" (MLS), and the lack of foresight to recognize that change is needed in how we coach, teach the game to boys at the youth level, and how the adult men play in the international milieu. Yes, let's place gender into this equation because much can be learned from the American women's approach to the sport of soccer. The main difference is they take the field expecting to win and the men expect not to lose. They play like Americans: Arrogant, in your face, take no prisoners, they expect to win, to dominate, to humiliate, and to the victor goes the spoils. Look at their trophy case: Four Gold Medals and Three World Cups, respectively.
2. "Our best athletes don't play soccer."




Panana qualified for the first time in its history for a men's World Cup. As did Iceland who may become a revelation at World Cup 2018 similar to their efforts at Euro 2016. The combined population of both small countries is about four million. Trinidad and Tobago was ranked 98th by ELO (I don't place much credence in FIFA's rating system), was already eliminated, and had won one previous game out of nine in the Hexagonal.

Iceland has no volunteer coaches at any level. The US fields over four million youth soccer players. And please let's not use the "our best athletes don't play soccer" worn-out excuse. 

Has Mr. Arena et al. ever studied the Icelandic youth development model? Has anyone in US Soccer ever sat down with their coaches to analyze how they are delivering results with such a small player pool? Iceland's population is 339,747 according to the CIA Fact Book as of July 2017. Their climate is not conducive to outdoor sports. Their winters are 20 hours a day long. Yet, they qualified for the last European Nations Cup and played convincingly. Now they are going to Russia and the US must be content to watch, rather than compete, against them.
3. American Exceptionalism:


Mr. Arena also famously said that Americans could learn nothing from European coaching. Our own American exceptionalism, which permeates many facets of US society ("We are the greatest. We are the best at everything. We can't learn from others.") directly impacts growth in the men's game on the international level. The US women don't have this problem. 

Panama's first goal last night by Blas Perez was another "Hand of God," and the Honduran goal against Mexico was a one in a thousand event. These could be used as excuses; however, the US was the captain of its own destiny last night. There were two results available: Win or Draw.





The US Men's program was not good enough during this World Cup qualification cycle. If you can't qualify from this weak region with three and one-half berths on the table, change is needed. Not the status quo. If you can only win three out of ten, despite Mexico only winning two in the last cycle and still going through, change is needed.

When you want to anoint the "Next Savior," this time in the incarnation of a young Christian Pulisic, and expect him to carry the piano as well as play it, your game plan is flawed. The product on the pitch is difficult to watch and to quote Henry Kissinger in 1986, "The US has never developed a style of play in soccer."

USSF President, Sunil Gulati, is too dependent upon MLS owners to dictate how to run the overall men's program. In defeat, he echoed Mr. Arena's statement that drastic change was not needed:
“So wholesale changes aren’t needed if the ball that hits off the post [from Clint Dempsey] goes in?” he said. “You don’t make wholesale changes based on the ball being two inches wide or two inches in." Quoted by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.
Should qualification rest upon one shot, late in the game, going in or not? That is a micro analytical viewpoint from a gifted economist, Professor Gulati. It is not a macro analysis of an entire qualification campaign by an expert in world football.

Professor Gulati is up for re-election next February. He needs to do the honorable thing and allow someone else to take the mantle. He has given much to US Soccer for many years although his recent project has failed.
4. Where is Tom Byer?





A name that few in the US mainstream have ever heard of, Coach Tom Byer, an American, developed a generation of Japanese boys and girls. He preaches a simple mantra: "Let the child play with a ball the size of his/her foot." He stresses the importance of a first-touch, comfort on/with the ball, and not athleticism. Now the Chinese have hired him to revolutionize their youth development process. 

But why isn't Mr. Byer's name, and more importantly his methodologies, discussed more in US soccer circles? American players clearly lack a comfort on the ball. The style of play by the men is seemingly always prefaced first with a look backward. The product is not compelling to watch with constant back passes, poorly organized defenses, an over-reliance on goalkeepers to save the day, a lack of decisiveness and an inability to dictate especially against lesser teams.

Mr. Byer has been interviewed many times on Beyond The Pitch. When asked about the US program, his response, and I will paraphrase, was "I approached stakeholders in the US game, sponsors, and others, and they did not want to listen."

Perhaps they will listen to him now. All they need to study is how well the Japanese women played at the last two World Cups.
5. Economic Fallout:





The economic fallout from the US men not participating in a World Cup is staggering. While many fans are once every four year supporters, Americans like to support their teams in international events. Despite many fans in the United States who support other national teams, Fox Sports, who holds English-language rights to the World Cup, will likely experience poor ratings compared to the last competition in Brazil. Telemundo, who hold Spanish-language rights in the United States, will not suffer the same type of impact since Mexico qualified, and their coverage is more international in nature.

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 Steve Amoia is a freelance writer and translator based in Washington, D.C. He is the publisher of World Football Commentaries since 2006 and published The Soccer Translator from 2008 to 2015. 
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