Getty Image / Carlos Sipán/Eurasia Sport Images
The USMNT failed to make it out of the group state in Copa America despite (1) being favored to win their group and (2) being the host nation. It’s a truly embarrassing result but ultimately it’s what USMNT fans have come to accept after years of mediocrity and failure.
We could spend hours dissecting the reasons that the Men’s National Team failed to advance and the fault wasn’t entirely their own. The red card against Panama and horrible calls by the refs didn’t do them any favors but ultimately they had to go out and score goals and win their games which they failed to do and now they get to watch from home while an investigation is opened to determine if Gregg Berhalter should keep his job.
Current Canadian men’s national team manager and former USMNT player and MLS star Jesse Marsch was asked about the USMNT’s result. Given that he’s the Canadian National Team manager that’s where the bulk of his focus us at but as a former USMNT player and a red blooded American, he had some steam to let off about his country coming up short once again.
Jesse Marsch said: “I would love to say I’m just focused on what we’re doing here in Canada, but obviously, I’m paying attention, as always, to the US men’s national team and like you, I’m sad. I’m disappointed by the performances, by the lack of discipline. There’s a lot of things that I think we’ve tried to be about, about the game in the US, and we’ve always believed in this group of players.”
Marsch continued, saying “Because I’m not there every day, I don’t have my finger on the pulse of exactly what’s going on but, certainly, it’s not what we had expected before this tournament. And somehow, they’ve got to come up with solutions.”
His comments on video can be seen here around the 22:20 mark:
Discussing Canada now and their chances vs. Venezuela on #FOXSoccerNOWhttps://t.co/Jy1I0zD8bL
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2024
The USMNT has two years to get it together. They have arguably their most talented roster in the history of the men’s squad and will be the World Cup host nation in 2026.
Will US Soccer make the right decision and sack Gregg Berhalter? I have zero faith they’ll make the right decision. Nor do I have any faith that Berhalter will do right by fans and step down.