USMNT: The Song Remains the Same

Now that the dust has settled on the United States 2-1 loss to Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals Wednesday, it’s time to move on. Yes, in the immediacy of the defeat I titled it the “worst” loss of the Jurgen Klinsmann era on this very site. Waking up on Thursday, as bad as the loss was … not much has changed for the National Team program.

The same issues abound: how long can the team rely on Clint Dempsey for goals? Are John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado center backs for the future? Who is Michael Bradley’s best partner in the midfield? When will this team ever be able to play consistent possession soccer?

And yes, Internet soccer scribes such as myself continue to look for the U.S. Soccer version of the Philosopher’s Stone that will turn an above-average team into a combination of 1970 Brazil and 2010 Spain.

Sometimes it’s not exciting to say or write about, but the USMNT is what it is — a team that is good enough on any given day to beat just about anyone, but not great enough that it can roll out and avoid a loss to anyone. Compounding the situation is the U.S. is judged mostly like NCAA basketball teams, all that really matters is how it does in the NCAA tournament or in soccer’s case, the World Cup … which only comes around every four years.

Klinsmann owns two wins over Germany (in friendlies) along with a loss to the eventual 2014 Champions at the World Cup. The U.S. has beaten Italy, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Mexico in friendlies, but lost to France, Colombia, Brazil and three times to Belgium — including the 2014 World Cup Round of 16. To say these results are all over the map is an understatement.

Measuring tangible progress over three games every four years? That’s not exactly the wisest course of action, is it? But we do as fans anyway.

That’s why the 2002 World Cup is looked at through rose-colored glasses: few remember the 1-1-1 group stage (and South Korea’s great result vs. Portugal) since the Dos a Cero win vs. Mexico followed. The U.S. finished group play 1-1-1 in 2010 and 2014, bowing out in the Round of 16 each time. Five years ago in South Africa still feels somewhat underwhelming, while there’s a more positive spin about last year in Brazil since the team advanced from the so-called “Group of Death.”

And we can say with some certainty the USMNT is no closer or further away from winning a World Cup Thursday than it was the day before. All that really changed is that the U.S. will have to win a one-game playoff in October against the winner of Jamaica-Mexico if it wants to play in the 2017 Confederations Cup, i.e. one of the few chances the U.S. has to play the power soccer nations in a competitive setting.

Klinsmann’s status, too, will be questioned. If he follows up the Jamaica defeat with a loss in another knockout-type game, he might not be around for the Copa America centennial celebration next year. While it’s debatable whether or one person can change an entire soccer federation, critics of Klinsmann smell blood in the water.

Question Klinsmann’s tactical decision to drop the 4-4-2 formation for a 4-2-3-1 or to rely on 33-year-old Kyle Beckerman or turning to Alan Gordon for a goal in the second half, but outside of the stunning two goals Jamaica scored in quick succession the U.S. team played better than it did most of the Gold Cup. In actuality, it did the reverse of what it usually does: look mediocre and get results. In the second half, after Michael Bradley’s goal that made it 2-1, the team created plenty of chances and appeared on the doorstep of tying the game numerous times. That didn’t happen, as the fine line between success and failure in international soccer popped up again.

One of the hallmarks, if the only one, of the USMNT in the 21st Century is its uncanny ability to play rah-rah, heart-and-hustle soccer to the last minute, famously in the 2010 World Cup vs. Algeria, but even in lesser matches like snatching a 1-1 draw at Russia. Wednesday night, it didn’t happen and we go on with our lives.

Call this a Devil’s Advocate or weird way to look at things, but if you’re a USMNT fan you’re starved for games that matter most of the time. By failing to win the Gold Cup this month, Klinsmann & Co. set themselves up for a win or go home match in October on the eve of World Cup qualifying, which is … something.

Pull away from the immediacy of the loss to Jamaica it could be a lot worse, but as always with the USMNT it could be a whole lot better. Maybe the best course of action is to admit that from Klinsmann on down, nobody has easy, quick-fix answers. I’m not a betting man, but three years from now the players and (maybe) coaches will be different but the song will remain the same.