GOAL: What were the USMNT’s shortcomings in the CONCACAF Nations League finals?
KELLER: There's clearly something missing. Is it leadership off the field? Leadership on the field? I mean, I think there's going to be a lot of searching going on to try to figure out how to rectify this. You know, we were talking last night on ESPN's Futbol Americas that there's six windows left before the World Cup. That's the only time there is… Pochettino has been in the job since October. I think with the huge salary increase that he got from all other managers, I think there was an expectation that with that was going to come an institutional improvement - and what we've seen is a team go backwards.
I'm not solely pointing a finger at Pochettino, but I mean, when you're the guy in charge and you're the guy that is getting significantly more than anybody else got for the job, there comes a different level of pressure. You don't have to qualify. You've got, supposedly, this extremely well talented side that is massively underachieving, and so on. You know, usually, everything starts with the person making the decisions. And I think those of us covering this have had some questions on, maybe roster choices, questions on the way matches have been set up, substitutions, things like that.
I think early on, I tried to be a little bit positive by going, "OK wait a minute. We know we're really looking at a two-year preseason because nothing really matters until it matters." You look at a couple of competitions like the Nations League and Gold Cup, and you think, "OK, those are FIFA events and we want to obviously want to win those, but in the end, the only thing that really matters is a good World Cup." So I think there's still a little bit of time to kind of go and say, "OK, let's see if you can figure this out."
But so far, it's looked like, at least from the outside, that there was a level of maybe overconfidence [from Pochettino]. "I've got this squad, we've got a bunch of games that really don't matter. I have all this time to be able to just, you know, call these guys in and do well with that and then look at some of these guys." And it's like, well, wait a minute here.... It seems very casual to me. And going back to the point with six windows, how casual can you afford to be?
GOAL: Following Sunday's result vs. Canada, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey shared criticism of the team. Jozy Altidore, meanwhile, came out and said everybody needed to come together. However, an overarching theme among former players is that this group seems to lack a certain passion or an acknowledgement on what it means to wear the crest to represent your nation. Do you agree with that?
KELLER: We've been saying the same thing! We've been saying it over a while now. I mean, even before Pochettino, there always seemed to be these performances that just looked lackluster. I mean, my producer had asked me after the match against Panama, what was the one word that you felt, you know, kind of represented the match? I just said slow. And then in Pochettino’s press conference, he said it about four or five times. I don't understand how, with multiple managers, this side can't seem to be motivated week-in and week-out when or match-in and match-out, because you're not really playing week-in and week-out.
Match-in and match-out, what we have seen was a poor performance, but they somehow found a way because the talent was that much better than the opponent, got a result, and then we saw a response in the next game, and we said, "OK, they figured it out - let's see if this is the new standard going forward." And then the next match shows up, and again, you're like, "OK, maybe they didn't learn from that."
They need to bring the effort, the intensity every time they step on the pitch. Yeah, you're going to have those days where your touch is just a little bit off and you're not necessarily playing as well as you would like, but that shouldn't change the effort and attitude in your performance. Maybe then, if things aren't clicking as well as you would like, maybe you don't try that thread the needle pass, because it's just not going for you. Maybe you just play a little bit more simpler, but it doesn't change your your workrate, your aggressiveness. And I think that's what a lot of fans, a lot of ex-players and people in media are seeing these performances where you're like, "What's going on here?"
I think what we're wanting to see is a bigger demand from coaches. I think after the first game in the loss vs. Panama, I actually saw Pochettino - for the first time - actually say this isn't good enough. And I think we were still expecting a more fiery performance against Canada, which didn't happen. I said something after that performance - it just looked like a group of guys that would rather be on the beach taking Instagram photos during this break than being with the national team.
GOAL: Did any players stand out to you that impressed over the two matches?
KELLER: The two guys that I praised - who I think were more surprise inclusions in the squad - were Diego Luna and Patrick Agyemang. The two guys that actually looked like they cared and wanted to get into the next camp, and the camp after that, and the camp after that. And other guys? I don't know if there's just this apathy where, "Oh, I'm playing at a decent club and therefore, of course I'm going to be called in and of course I'm going to play." But at least we still have a couple guys, you know, trying to fight for something.
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