Last night's Copa American Centenario match vs Argentina was, hands down, the worst US Men's National Team performance I've ever seen. There's usually no shame in losing to the number one ranked team in the world, but there is when you lose like that. It would have been a fairly easy pill to swallow had they given a good fight, performed the best they could, and given the rest of the world a good showing of who they are and what they can do.
But that's not what happened last night, not even close. After giving up a ridiculously early goal, they were clearly rattled and fearful of Messi(ah) and Argentina. They could hardly ever string together more than two passes, and kept giving the ball away cheaply and poorly. They looked like a rag-tag youth team competing against a professional team of grown-ups. They would have lost to anybody playing like that: San Marino, Faroe Islands, Barbados...much less Argentina. It was utterly embarrassing.
Worst of all, it was one of the worst possible times for such showing. Reaching the semi-final of Copa America was a big deal, and because it was big deal, the eyes of the world and non-soccer-fan Americans were on it. This was a chance to show the world—and fellow Americans who don't normally watch—that the USMNT can compete respectably with the world's best. Of course, the expectation was that Argentina would win as the world's highest ranked team. But with a good, admirable, gutsy performance, they could have won more respect and fans. Instead, they gave the worst performance possible and have probably done uncountable damage to America's soccer reputation around the world and turned off any prospective new fans for now.
Anyone unfamiliar with the team that saw that is going to think they're a bunch of amateur idiots who can't hang with the big boys and clearly don't know how to play. It's absolutely not true. Sure, we have a long way to go in our development, but we are much, much, much better than last night's performance. It's slow progress, but we are becoming more competitive on the world stage. The chances we could have upset Argentina were slim, but the capability was there. With expert tactics and a heroic performance, we were good enough to win. It hurt so deep to see it all go so wrong, knowing we are better than that and what it could now cost us in reputation.
The 3rd place match is another chance to give a good showing versus Columbia or Chile, but nowhere near as good an opportunity—with as many eyes on it—as the semi-final. Still, with a great performance they can do some decent damage control on perceptions. After that, what's done is done, and all the USMNT can do now is learn from it and grow.
I have no doubt the players will learn something from this, but I do doubt Klinsmann. He has repeatedly shown he doesn't know tactics, what his players best positions are, or what an appropriate and symbiotic line-up should be. His interviews and press conferences show an unbelievable stubbornness and inability to learn from mistakes. He dodges questions, provides asainine ethereal answers, hardly ever takes responsibility, and talks down to fans and media (with a jovial smile and demeanor, which makes it all the more insulting).
He does have his strengths: pushing the players harder than ever while also inspiring and encourgaing them, bringing great energy and notice to the team here and abroad, pushing development for the future with world-class insight, and giving us all hope that one day we'll be at the top level. Yet for all his strengths, it's hard to see significant progress, especially after a dismal 2015. And although he was a key part in revitalizing Germany, it's clear he had lots of help on and off the field, but especially on the field. Joachim Löw was the tacitcal mastermind with Klinsmann the HR mastermind. Without a Löw, he just doesn't know how to actually coach a team, implement tactics, or select a squad.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we're just still in the painful puberty phase of our development as a soccer nation. Maybe it's all uphill from here on out. Maybe Klinsmann does know what he's doing and is about to break through the wall and lead us to greatness in 2018. But I have my doubts with Klinsmann at the helm. I do hope I'm wrong.
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