Brief thoughts on loss
The USMNT lost 1-0 to Uruguay at Arrowhead last evening, ending their Copa América run in the group stage.
We’ve been hurtling toward this moment for more than a year. Last night in Kansas City the team got grouped, failed to do the bare minimum. It didn’t register as a shock by the end of it.
Gregg’s second cycle has been marked by missed opportunity, unearned comfortability, a corporate-concocted slogan, “Change Soccer in America Forever”, that never got off the ground.
Though as I pointed out in my June 9th treatise suggesting it was time to get rid of Gregg, the on-field performances aren’t entirely his fault. A few players require a mirror. One or two “stars” of the team took an on field vacation this summer. I don’t imagine Tim Weah was instructed to clock someone in the head.
But the lack of fire beneath their feet, playing time unpunished after poor performances, worrying quotes indicating they don’t see anything wrong, point toward a fundamental issue in rehiring a familiar ally as your coach.
As Carli Lloyd relayed on FOX Sports, reflecting on the trophies she won with the US Women, sometimes liking your coach too much is a bad thing: "We won championships and we hated our coaches. I'm not saying you have to hate your coach, but I question how comfortable it is inside that locker room."
The very real opportunity to change soccer in America forever has never been more clear. We’re co-hosting the 2026 World Cup in two years. The sport’s popularity already traverses an organic assent; the country’s hearts are for the taking.
But last night’s failure— which makes the US the first Copa América host to get grouped since this format launched 1993— lands a staggering blow on this team’s alleged pursuit of big things.
It’s time for a change.
Yet among last evening’s disappointments: the pernicious suspicion this federation won’t make one.
I’m juggling a few other projects today and, being a masochist, am just starting my first re-watch. More soon.
I mean the lost to Panama was the real issue I expected them to lose this match as Uruguay was always favorite to win the group.