The development of the 'American Messi'

The relegation zone: The issue with Abby Wambach's rhetoric

U.S. Soccer has an Abby Wambach problem. The World Cup winner and international soccer’s most prolific goal scorer—male or female—made headlines again last week not for her scoring prowess, but for her off the pitch conduct. In a very poignant and candid interview with the New York Times, Wambach valiantly discussed battling alcohol and painkiller abuse and depression while coming to terms with the end of her marriage and career. The problem with the interview came when was she asked about her previous criticism of the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) Coach Jürgen Klinsmann and his use of so-called “dual-nationals”—players with multiple passports who are eligible to represent both the U.S. and other nations at the international level. Previously, in an interview with Bill Simmons late last year, she criticized Klinsmann for bringing in “foreign guys” to play for the USMNT, specifically naming Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones. Her comments caused an uproar in many U.S. soccer circles, and for good reason. Both of the players she mentioned have American passports and are the sons of American servicemen who were stationed in Germany, not to mention Johnson and Jones are standout players for the US.
After keeping mostly quiet since those comments, she doubled down on her criticism of dual nationals in the USMNT in her interview with the Times, this time attacking the players directly instead of just Jürgen. She insinuated that dual nationals took the easy way out in choosing to play for the U.S., stating, “to me that just feels like they weren’t able to make it for their country and earn a living, so they’re coming here.”
She went on to question both their “killer instinct” and how much they “love their country”, this time calling out Norwegian-American Mix Diskerud.
Wambach is well within her right to criticize Klinsmann (and, for my money, levels some very fair criticisms on other issues), but on the issue of dual-nationals, not only is she dead-wrong, she is downright irresponsible. First and foremost, the claim that dual national players could not “earn a living” playing for their countries, so they settled for the USMNT is factually incorrect. Comparing U.S. national team duty and earning a livelihood is an apples-to-oranges comparison in that the former makes up a small portion of a player’s time and income. Further, both Johnson and John Brooks, arguably the USMNT’s best players currently and both German-Americans, play at elite clubs in the German Bundesliga; likewise, Jones spent the vast majority of his career in Germany before moving to Major League Soccer, as did Diskerud with his native Norway.
More troubling though is the fact that probably the U.S.’s greatest player of all time, men’s or women’s, and undoubtedly a role model, is openly questioning the patriotism and commitment of American players who have chosen to represent the stars and stripes at the international level. Many of the dual-nationals subject to Wambach’s criticisms are the sons of American servicemen who have seen firsthand what dedication to the country she claims to love means. To claim that John Brooks, who has both his family’s native Illinois and his native Berlin tattooed on his arms, or Julian Green, who was born in Tampa and raised in Germany, don’t love this country because they have dual citizenship is frankly little more than thinly veiled xenophobia. They pull on the U.S. kit and, to use the famous platitude, shed blood and sweat for this country, the same as Wambach.
While Wambach is not alone in her sentiments (U.S. legend Landon Donovan and former USMNT manager Bruce Arena have made similar comments), she has been the most outspoken critic. In the midst of a presidential election characterized by ugly, bigoted and xenophobic rhetoric, it falls on role models like Wambach to elevate the level of discourse rather than reinforce such divides. It’s a privilege to represent the U.S. on the international stage at any level, and to not only belittle the efforts Jones, Johnson, Brooks and others have made to do so, but to openly question their love of this country brings unnecessary division to sport, the sole thing that brings together Americans of all beliefs.
Soccer itself is unique in that its fan base is exceptionally young and diverse. Wambach needs to be more responsible with her rhetoric and seek to unify, rather than divide, U.S. Soccer at a time when the program can serve as a model of inclusion for a divided country.

The relegation zone: Is it time to clean house at the U.S. Men's National Team?

Dating back to World Cup qualifying matches in 2001, Columbus—Columbus, Ohio, of all places—has been the U.S. Men’s National Team’s (USMNT) fortress against archrivals Mexico, with four straight 2-0 wins against El Tri at Columbus Crew Stadium (now MAPFRE Stadium). So, when the USMNT learned that it would be playing Mexico in the first match of the Hexagonal, the final round of qualifying for World Cup 2018, it was only natural that it woul be in the state of Ohio.
Before the match last Friday, the banner unfurled by the American Outlaws, the team’s rowdy supporters group, paid homage to old and new, with the likeness of 18-year old wunderkind Christian Pulisic, stylized as the demon haunting Mexican fortunes, holding up two fingers on one hand and a big zero on the other—that famous Dos a Cero scoreline—over the tagline “Nightmares are Real.”
All good things come to an end though, as the US capitulated to the visiting Mexican side early, then again in the match’s dying minutes, after clawing back to make it one-all. The traveling Mexican support sang out “Dos a Uno, Dos a Uno” as the match ended, casting off 15 years of nightmares and history in Columbus. The 2-1 loss represented not just the end of Fortress Columbus, but also the team’s first World Cup qualifying loss to Mexico on US soil in over 40 years.
If a crushing 2-1 loss to the team’s most bitter rival wasn’t enough agony for one week, the USMNT then traveled to Costa Rica for the second match in the Hex on Tuesday night and were run off the pitch by a rampant Costa Rican side. Johan Venegas’ headed goal a minute from halftime broke the Yanks’ spirits and opened the floodgates for three more goals in the second half and a 4-0 thrashing.
Opening the Hex with two straight losses has left the USMNT adrift at the bottom of the qualifying group and desperately searching for answers. While losses to two of the region’s strongest sides is nothing to be ashamed of on paper, more alarming is how the squad looked without direction for long periods of those matches. The team has seemed generally rudderless for sometime now. Against this backdrop, it’s time for the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment to end as USMNT manager.
Klinsmann has no doubt brought the USMNT great success. His recruiting and scouting efforts have helped to restock the squad’s cabinet with talented youngsters like John Brooks, Lynden Gooch and the aforementioned Pulisic, and the team’s great escape from the “Group of Death” at the 2014 World Cup remains stuff of legend, overexaggerated as that squad’s performance may be. Despite that, Klinsmann has clearly lost the script with the team and it’s doubtful if he will find it again.
One of the selling points of Klinsmann has always been his ability as a motivator and man-manager. It’s those efforts of giving youth a chance and teasing out the best in players that inspires willingness in some players to charge through a brick wall for Klinsmann. The team’s matches in the last year or so have demonstrated that he no longer inspires that confidence in his players though, and if a motivator can no longer motivate, what good is he leading the USMNT?
This rift was on full display in Columbus last Friday, as Klinsmann made the puzzling decision to start the match in a 3-5-2 formation, playing an unfamiliar formation with three at the back against an incisive Mexican attack, leading to Mexican domination and an early goal. As a result, US captain Michael Bradley and ageless warrior Jermaine Jones, the two most vocal leaders in the field at the time, argued openly with Klinsmann about tactics during a stoppage. While the team reverted back into a familiar 4-4-2 formation after the confrontation, the damage was done and the rift between manager and players evident.
Perhaps more damning was the way that the US capitulated against Costa Rica after the half, going into the break just down a goal. The Yanks came out of the break looking listless and without desire in a vital match, showing just how little confidence Klinsmann inspires in his men.
Even the world’s best managers have a shelf life and it looks like Jurgen has reached his with the USMNT. His constant refusal to accept responsibility for puzzling tactical decisions and lackluster on field performance date well beyond the most recent losses (the Gold Cup debacle against Jamaica and CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico, both last year, come to mind). The USMNT doesn’t have another qualifier for nearly 4 months, a match against Honduras that is now a must-win. If he has truly lost the locker room, as it seems, the time is now to make a change and part ways with Jurgen Klinsmann.

The relegation zone

The development of the 'American Messi'

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

November 4, 2016

What were you doing at age 17? The answer is likely not nearly as impressive as pulling on the Borussia Dortmund kit and taking the field in front of the famed Yellow Wall and 80,000-plus Germans at the Signal Idurna Park, which is exactly what the latest American wunderkind Christian Pulisic has done over the last 10 months.

A Hershey, Pa. native, Pulisic was spotted by Germany’s perpetual second superpower, Borussia Dortmund (BVB), while playing for the U.S. Under-17 residency program, essentially an incubator for young U.S. talent. He then made the hop to Dortmund at age 16, where he promptly made a name for himself by scoring an eye-popping 10 goals and adding eight assists in just 15 matches with the BVB youth teams.

Pulisic’s strong performances earned him a call up to Thomas Tuchel’s first team last January. Since then, his career trajectory is best described as meteoric. Tuchel wasted no time in throwing Pulisic right into the fire, making his first two starts against Bayer Leverkeusen and in the “Revierderby” against bitter rivals FC Schalke, two of Germany’s strongest sides. He later became the youngest non-German ever to score in the top flight of German football at just 17 years old.

This season at just 18, Pulisic has cemented himself as a regular face in the Dortmund squad, tallying two goals and five assists in 10 matches across all competitions. Among those included a dizzying display of skill against reigning European champions, Real Madrid, where he darted past Danilo on the wing before charging into the Madrid penalty area to cross for the André Schürrle equalizer, snatching a precious Champions League point for the Black and Yellows.

All of this has the transfer rumor mill spinning already. Dortmund reportedly rejected an £11 million (roughly $14 million) bid for Pulisicfrom Liverpool in August, and that was before his superb start to this year’s campaign. Likewise, Barcelona—arguably the best team on Earth—is reported to be closely following Pulisic.

As enticing as it is to dream about American Messi donning the Barca kit and striding onto the pitch alongside actual Messi, Dortmund is undoubtedly the best place right now for Pulisic’s development. Dortmund is currently laden with talented youngsters (Emre Mor, Ousmane Dembélé, Julian Weigl) and manager Tuchel has shown a willingness to entrust young players like Pulisic with significant minutes. If he continues to get first-team action alongside the wealth of talent at Dortmund in one of the strongest leagues in the world, the sky is the limit (pardon the platitude).

Naturally, U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) fans are absolutely giddy. Pulisic represents the purest attacking talent the USMNT has seen since at least Landon Donovan, demonstrating incredible pace cutting in from the wing mixed with tremendous dribbling ability and pure football sense.

While the ridiculous technical ability draws the attention, his mental attributes are what set him apart. Pulisic plays with infectious confidence and fearlessness, highlighted by both the Madrid match and his performance last week against FC Ingolstadt, where he almost single-handedly erased a 3-1 deficit, providing the assist to draw BVB within a goal, then scoring the equalizer in stoppage time.

While there have been other ultra-hyped U.S. prospects in the last decade (Freddy Adu, anyone?), none have risen to such heights so quickly. Pulisic made his USMNT debut little more than seven months ago and already has nine appearances and two goals in World Cup qualifiers, making him the youngest player to score for the USMNT. The Pulisic hype-train is alive and well in US soccer circles.

With a looming date against archrivals Mexico in Columbus next weekend to kick off play in the Hexagonal, the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, Christian Pulisic has the stage to not just seize the mantle of the US’s next great hope, but to show that his time is now. Here’s to another famous “Dos a Cero” next Friday night.

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