The United States men’s national team is undoubtedly suffering on and off of field at the moment. On the pitch, the Americans recently endured a tough showing at the 2024 Copa America. Despite being hosts of the tournament, Gregg Berhalter’s team failed to advance to the knockout phase.
After opening the competition by beating Bolivia, the USMNT then finished out the group stage with losses to Panama and Uruguay. Because of the disappointing showing, U.S. Soccer parted ways with Berhalter. Nevertheless, the Stars and Stripes have unfortunately continued to underperform in a pair of recent friendlies.
With an interim coach in charge, the USMNT was first beaten by rivals Canada last week. They then followed up the defeat with a 1-1 draw with New Zealand three days later. The All Whites are currently ranked 94th in the world by FIFA.
Attendance figures at recent friendlies were underwhelming
This string of poor showings has affected ticket sales for the team’s matches. Just 10,500 fans attended the matchup with Canada in Kansas City. To put the figure in perspective, Sporting Kansas City recently drew over 17,000 spectators at the same arena in their most recent Major League Soccer fixture.
The USMNT then followed this up by playing in front of 15,700 fans in Cincinnati during the New Zealand affair. Attendance for the city’s MLS side, however, reached over 25,000 fans during a recent matchup with Montreal.
With interest seemingly plummeting, Alexi Lalas has claimed that the USMNT essentially needs to win back its supporters. The combative former star defender-turned-analyst made the comment as U.S. Soccer officially named Mauricio Pochettino as the team’s next manager. The move has been widely praised by American soccer fans.
“We saw the crowds over the last couple of games for this team,” Lalas stated on The Soccer OG podcast. “This team is at a low especially after the failure in Copa America. It is their responsibility – starting with Pochettino but all the players’ responsibilities – to win us back, to make us believe again this time. That they are worthy of our time, attention, love and heart. That’s the onus. It’s on them to do that.”
Alexi Lalas says USMNT mentality change is just as important as results
Lalas went on to point out that results are the biggest way to help boost interest in the national team. “They may go about it in different ways. Obviously, the results on the field are going to play a big part in that,” continued the podcast host.
“But also, the way that they talk about the game and pride. If it’s just a year and a half ultimately for Pochettino [in charge], have it be the greatest year and a half ever that sends us on a trajectory after that in a good and positive direction.”
Pride, culture, and mentality are undoubtedly areas of concern for Pochettino and U.S. Soccer. USMNT captain Christian Pulisic even hinted at this following the New Zealand game. The star winger claimed that he hopes the new manager can bring “a culture that is willing to fight” to the team.
Pochettino and his new players will first be able to work on winning back their fans next month. The USMNT is scheduled to host Panama in Austin, Texas on October 12th. It will be the Argentine’s first match at the helm. The Americans will then head south to face bitter rivals Mexico in Guadalajara three days later.
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