The Identity of USA Soccer, or Lack Thereof!

Let’s play a game of word association in regards to soccer.

When you think of Brazil, what comes to mind? The Samba Boys, aesthetically pleasing football with flair and creativity.

The Dutch? Total Football, utilizing versatility with interchanging positions on the pitch that result in much success.

Italy? The staunch, defensive minded Azzurri with their world renowned counter-attacking play.

The United States Men’s National Team? Uh…can I plead the 5^th?

As a soccer nation, what characteristics can we hang our hat on? Obviously, the ‘never say die’ attitude and the willingness to come from behind for exciting finishes is extremely emblematic of the way the USMNT plays.

The United States will forever be associated with fervent patriotism and a relentless nature. But guile and grit don’t truly and accurately depict nor reflect a style of soccer. What is our identity?

Our wonderful melting pot of a country is beautiful in many ways, and the eclectic mix of talents in the soccer world is something we should not only celebrate but benefit from.

The heavy Latin/Hispanic population is a well that the USSF is attempting to try and tap, and that’s been of big emphasis by current coach Jurgen Klinsmann. Hispanic players (and yes, I’m generalizing to an extent) are known for their superior technical ability and ball skills.

The creativity and flair on the pitch is an obvious area in which the National Team needs to improve. A lack of scoring opportunities has plagued the United States, and a transition to this style of play is something that Klinsmann anticipates implementing.

That notion becomes problematic, however, because in order to play that style of football, a team needs extremely technically gifted players. The USMNT simply does not have that luxury.

Another take would be playing football similarly to some of the less technical European countries, which often rely on the ‘long ball’, counter-attacking, and set pieces. The United States has lived off of that style for years, and up until the Klinsmann era, that is how the majority of goals were scored.

In terms of personnel, the United States is more apt to play this way with their fitness and physicality, but it is not necessarily how Klinsmann would like to play. Klinsmann brings his attacking mindset from Germany, which relies on superior wing play and overlapping runs from the fullbacks.

Truthfully, the current player pool has a glut of central midfielders and is void of depth out on the flanks. As a result, Klinsmann has resorted to playing players out of position (such as Fabian Johnson and Danny Williams), and that weakens the prospective player’s individual game.

European countries have often remarked at how ‘in shape’ and physically gifted the United States players have been, but they are below par technically.

Klinsmann cannot fit a square peg into a round hole. Playing a free flowing style of soccer, which is based upon skill and imagination, is not truthfully viable at this point.

But somewhere, a common ground has to be found. A coach has to tailor their game plan around the said personnel.

When watching the recent games in the Klinsmann era, there are times where attacking play is definitely inspired and improved from the previous regime.

But conversely, there are large stretches of play where the team’s play is at a considerable lull, where the opponent has the majority of the possession. That forces the United States to play a ‘bunker’ style of play that is heavily defensive based, and not the expressive football that Klinsmann pines for.

We can’t have our proverbial ‘cake’ and eat it too. The ultimate goal would be to create a style of play that combines supreme technical ability plus raw athleticism and strength.

That dream is something to strive for ultimately, and in order to foster a style of play that resonates with the American mantra of character and grit, experimentation and development needs to occur.

For the United States to take the next level and compete regularly on the world stage, a style of play needs to be created to include all characteristics of our players. It will take time and hopefully for fans of the Red, White, and Blue, it will happen sooner than later.