U.S faces demons of its past at the 2019 Gold Cup

As the U.S Women’s National Team dominates their way through the group stages of the Women’s World Cup in France, looking every bit the dominant side they were picked to be, their male counterparts begin a tournament of their own with more questions than answers.  After two uninspiring losses in warm-up matches against Jamaica and Venezuela, the Gregg Berhalter-led USMNT faces an important litmus test in the form of the 2019 Gold Cup.

While it is still relatively early in Berhalter’s reign as manager of the Men’s National team, the team’s performance and momentum or lack thereof will have a significant impact on the future of where this team is headed.

 

Squad Selection

Maybe because the tournament seems to have a weighted importance due to the poor performances that have preceded it, Berhalter seems to have skewed to a more veteran squad selection for this year’s tournament.  While some of the stalwarts you would expect to see named to the 23 man squad are there in the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinnie and even Michael Bradley, there are some interesting names that aren’t here. 

There are some minor quibbles here and there with the roster selection (the exclusion of the currently in-form DC United keeper Bill Hamid being one of them), probably the most glaring omission seems to be the absence of forward Josh Sargent, as Berhalter has decided to go with a more veteran striker pairing of Jozy Altidore and Gyasi Zardes. Berhalter’s reasoning for choosing Zardes/Altidore over Sargent being that he felt were in better form than the young Werder Bremen striker.  

Berhalter’s justification for Sargent’s exclusion was his belief that Zardes and Altidore were in better form at the moment and thus deserving of inclusion.  While the judgement on form is subjective, the exclusion of Sargent, a player who is lauded as the attacking future of the USMNT, shows where the former Columbus Crew manager’s focus is: a fruitful Gold Cup run rather than development towards the 2022 World Cup.

If that is the justification for the decision, then it is well within reason to leave Sargent off of the roster.  However, with Sargent spending his time with the senior squad for an ultimately fruitless attempt to make the Gold Cup squad, he missed the opportunity to play for the U.S’ U-20 World Cup squad where he would have likely seen heavy opportunity against excellent competition.  Instead, a player that the national team should be counting on heavily in World Cup qualifying and beyond will have a pivotal summer off.

 

Pulisic, the USMNT’s new Captain America

 

 

This U.S Gold Cup run  will also mark the first major senior tournament that will feature Christian Pulisic as the out and out leader of the team.  With the likes of previous USMNT talismans like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan not on the roster for a major tournament for the first time in nearly 20 years and current players like Michael Bradley and Altidore on the downslope of their eras, this has most definitely become Pulisic’s squad to lead.  The recent Chelsea transfer will be tasked with carrying the attack for the U.S serve as the main creative engine for the squad in an attacking midfield role in Berhalter’s attack.

While his preferred position is playing out wide, using his natural pace to break down opposing defenses, he has acclimated well to playing as the main creator in the midfield.  He will have plenty of trust and leeway to rove throughout the midfield and out wide to find scoring chances is he sees them. The freedom and importance that role will entail will definitely have the Pennsylvania native feeling the pressure from opposing defenders looking to shut him down but Pulisic looks poised to answer the call to leadership.

 

What is success at the 2019 Gold Cup for the United States?

 

 

The Gold Cup may not have the luster of some of the other regional/continental tournaments around the world, this will be a very important litmus test for the United States and its men’s national team.  This is a team that has been defined by their loss to Trindad and Tobago and their absence from the international stage for nearly two years.

While the Gold Cup might not mean a lot internationally, it means a lot to this federation.  It serves as the first opportunity to show the international stage, CONCACAF, and most importantly, its fans, that the disappointing team that embarrassed on the world stage is a thing of the past.

Berhalter has only served as the Men’s National Team coach for just over six months. But the clock is ticking on his squad to show that the bad habits and bad form that haunted this team two years ago are gone and to show that they are gone in games that matter.

Keeping that in mind, it brings us to what success would mean at a tournament like this, this early in Berhalter’s reign.

Winning the Gold Cup would definitely allay some of fanbase’s fears but is that the only the level of acceptable success?

Honestly, winning the Gold Cup or bust is a slightly unfair litmus for a manger only just starting to put his imprint on his side.  However, the team will need to show definite signs of improvement to start winning back the trust of the fanbase. It will start with winning against the likes of Panama and Costa Rica, and hopefully, eventually, getting back to being at the level of success equal to what the Mexican National team is achieving.  I think anything less than showing the confederation that there are two power teams in the region and making it to the finals will be looked at as a failure.

This fanbase demands that and it needs that level of success. It’s getting it from its women’s team. Its time the men’s team did the same.