Playing For Pride: Arena Comments, Pochettino Response
The word of the day is "pride".
If you've been paying attention recently, you've probably heard this word a lot in the context of the state of the United States men's national team. After a face-plant-level failure at the Nations League finals in Los Angeles last month, a lot of what ails the USMNT has been chalked up to a distressing lack of enthusiasm on the part of the players while representing their country.
All of this makes me vaguely uncomfortable, particularly in the current political moment. It would be lovely to believe that the travails of the USMNT could be firmly delineated from the condition of the country in 2025, but I think that's pretty naive. Just ask Christian Pulisic.
When the door is opened to question a player's commitment to his national team, it doesn't feel too far away from questioning whether a player's origin is part of that lack of commitment. You don't need me to tell you that many players who count among the best USMNT-eligible players available didn't grow up in the United States. Maybe this generation of players is just too spoiled to live up to the standard for grit and determination set by their predecessors or, as some of the trollier elements of the fan base might suggest, their heart were never pure enough to begin with. As a thought, that's pretty gross.
It's obviously safer to drape the entire group, including those players with Americans accents like Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, etc., with accusations that they just don't care enough than to get specific about anyone in the dual-national portion of the roster.
That certainly seems to be the approach most of the USMNT alumni speaking on the topic want to take. Even those that don't have outlets like TV gigs, podcasts, or radio shows (and that's a big group) seem anxious to step out into the public sphere to drop their two cents into the "these kids just don't get it" bucket.
But "pride" is a slippery thing to pin down, another part of this discussion that makes me vaguely uncomfortable. Confirmation bias is real and when the team isn't winning, it's entirely too easy to chalk up that lack of success to an abstract concept like "mentality" based on nothing more than a desire to find a pat explanation. It costs nothing to throw out indictments when the only justification required is a few waves of the hand towards an ill-defined time when players really cared.
The latest installment in this drama involved an ex-coach of the USMNT (primed by two of his former players) and an oddly-timed 5-minute interview with Mauricio Pochettino posted to the US Soccer YouTube channel.
Here's the breakdown we did of this on Morning Kickaround this morning.
Arena's comment take the discussion in a slightly new direction, though it lines up with some of his longstanding opinions on the uniqueness of American soccer and the USMNT. Taking (gentle?) aim at Pochettino for maybe not understanding the American player mindset makes the "pride" issue less a generational one than one about the foreignness of the guy in charge. Or maybe it's both?
This is where we acknowledge the oft-repeated fact that no nation has won a World Cup with a foreigner at the helm of the national team. Never mind that every nation that owns a World Cup trophy is soccer-obsessed (something the United States very much is not), or that there's a big gap between where the United States men's national team is now and winning a world championship.
Maybe it's okay to ask a willing (and well paid) Argentinean to push the program forward if he's got something to offer? We can cross the "no foreign coach has ever led a country to a World Cup title" bridge when it's not longer too far off in the distance to even see.
Arena doesn't appear to think a foreign coach, even one who comes from a country known for an intense passion and pride among its national team players, can learn how to become an American player whisperer. That's despite the heavy presence of dual-nationals and worldly figures in the squad. Is there something innate in any soccer player who carries American citizenship that requires an extra level of understanding by the coach, or is Arena only thinking about those players who developed in places like Pennsylvania, Alabama, and New York? It's unclear.
As I said on the show, I don't think the Pochettino interview (which you can watch in its entirety here) dropped in direct response to Arena's comments on Unfiltered (which you can watch here if you want to get it from the source), but the timing is interesting.
Why is a notably short interview that looks like it was filmed in a hotel lobby with minimal production value coming out seven weeks before the Gold Cup? And why did Pochettino spend most of it—thanks to teed up questions from someone off-camera—talking about "attitude", "pride", and other such nebulous concepts?
The video description reads "Catching up with Mauricio Pochettino following the Gold Cup Draw", but that draw happened a week ago. It took that long to get up a 5-minute video in response to the Gold Cup draw that doesn't even mentioned a single group stage opponent drawn against Pochettino's team?
Someone at US Soccer felt it was important to have their highly paid foreign coach provide some assurance that he understands the concerns of the fans. This "interview", almost certainly done while Pochettino was on the road (maybe watching USMNT players abroad), is the result. I'm not sure its a great look.
I'll give Pochettino credit that he doesn't seem put off by the questions. When he speaks, particularly in English, he comes off as thoughtful and earnest. I'm still very hopeful he'll dial in the motivation part of the job and the "playing for pride" issue will fade away amidst a push for a Gold Cup title. The sooner this nonsense is behind the team, the better. The World Cup is...checks watch...414 days away.
AVISO! We're doing a live episode of The Best Soccer Show tonight (Wednesday, April 23) at 9 PM ET where Jared DuBois and I will talk about this topic and others. It's a blast to be part of the live show, so come on by. The podcast version will be out overnight.