US Men Defend Nations League Title vs Mexico Sun 9:15pm on Para+, Univision

The US Men look to defend their 2 Time Nations League Crown tonight as they face Mexico at 9:15 pm.  The US needed a miracle goal in the 95th minute to take the game to ET where they pulled off the 3-1 win on two goals by Haji Wright off beautiful passes by Gio Reyna. Reyna certainly proved he belongs as he unlocked the tight Jamaican D over and over again. Jamaica scored 40 seconds in and parked the buss with 10 players behind the ball and in the box. The US struggled to unlock things until Reyna came in with Haji Wright. Obviously Dest will be back in at right back as Joe Scally had a tough game coming off at half time as the US looked for more attack. Otherwise not sure what changes GB might pull. I still kind of like Gio coming in at half time -but we will see. This game should be more wide open which should help the US as honestly we are a better fast break team rather than 75% possession team.

USMNT projected lineup vs Jamaica

— Turner —

— Dest — Richards — M. Robinson — A. Robinson —

— Musah — Cardoso — McKennie —

— Weah — Balogun/Wright — Pulisic —

The 23-player USMNT roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): 22-Drake Callender (Inter Miami), 18-Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City), 1-Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest)

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), 23-Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), 16-Mark McKenzie (Genk), 13-Tim Ream (Fulham FC), 3-Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), 5-Antonee Robinson (Fulham FC), 12-Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), 19-Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 4-Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), 15-Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), 8-Weston McKennie (Juventus FC), 6-Yunus Musah (AC Milan), 7-Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest)

FORWARDS (6): 11-Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), 20-Folarin Balogun (Monaco), 17-Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), 9-Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), 10-Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), 21-Tim Weah (Juventus FC), 14-Haji Wright (Coventry City) – in for injured Sergent.

Berhalter: U.S. ‘can create a legacy’ in CNL final ESPN Jeff Carlisle

USMNT rides its luck, but can’t do the same against Mexico2dJeff Carlisle

Three thoughts as USMNT survives Jamaica in miraculous Nations League win

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Opinion: The Conversation About Berhalter is Exhausting By Adnan Ilyas

CONCACAF Nations League Finals: Scouting Mexico By Brendan Joseph

USA vs. Mexico, Concacaf Nations League Final: What to watch for By Donald Wine II

USA vs. Jamaica, 2024 Concacaf Nations League Semifinals: Man of the Match

Poll results: USMNT lineup vs Mexico By Justin Moran

USMNT player ratings: Reyna, Wright save the day in Jamaica win

Did Berhalter take a shot at Marsch after USMNT-Jamaica game?

Indy 11 tie Home Opener Sat night 7 pm at the Mike

Indy Eleven and Sacramento Republic FC played to a 1-1 draw in the Boys in Blue’s home opener on Saturday night at Carroll Stadium. The Eleven found themselves on the wrong side of an own goal in the 31st minute, but answered back almost immediately when Augi Williams found the back of the net for the first time this season off and assist from Max Schneider. The Boys in Blue continue their homestand next Saturday, hosting the first Eastern Conference foe of the season in Detroit City FC. Kick is slated for 7 p.m. ET and will air locally on WNDY, while streaming on ESPN+. Single-game tickets are available now for all matches via Ticketmaster. Season Ticket Packages can also be purchased, as well as tickets for groups and hospitality areas. For more information on these options click here.

Former Carmel FC Players Doing Well

Congrats to former Carmel FC player Rosie Martin daughter of former Carmel FC coach Andy Martin and Lisa Martin has signed with University of Illinois Chicago to play D1 soccer.

Congrats to former Carmel FC player, Sophomore Maverick McCoy son of former FC coach Wade McCoy as they won the 20U Academy Cup last weekend. Center back Maverick also got to join the Indy 11 in some preseason friendlies and was on the bench last night for the home opener !!

GAMES ON TV

Thurs, Mar 21

3:45 pm Fox Sports 2 Wales vs Finland Euro Qualifying

7 pm FS1 US Men vs Jamaica — Nations League Semis

9 pm FS1? Mexico vs Canada – Nations League Semis

Friday, Mar 22

1 pm FS2 Norway vs Czech Republic

3:45 pm FS2 Netherlands vs Scotland

8 pm Amazon Prime Orlando Pride vs Angel City NWSL

Sat, Mar 23

1 pm FS2 Ireland vs Belgium

2 pm Apple MLS NY Red Bulls vs Miami (Messi)

3 pm FOX England vs Brazil

4 pm CBSSN Canada vs T&T Copa Qualifier

7 pm TV 8? Indy 11 vs Sacramento

7:30 pm Apple MLS Cincy vs NYCFC

7:30 pm Ion Washington Spirit vs Bay FC NWSL

10 pm San Diego Wave (Morgan) vs KC Current NWSL

Sun, March 24

6 pm Para+ TUDN Concacaf 3rd place game

7 pm ESPN2 Portland Thorns vs NY/NJ Gothem NWSL

9 pm Para+ TUDN CONCACAF Finals – USA vs Mexico

Mon, Mar 25

4 pm Golazo US Men U23s vs France U23s

Tues, Mar 26th

3:45 pm FS2 Germany vs Netherlands

10:50 pm CBSSN Argentina vs Costa Rica

Sat, April 6

12:30 pm TNT, Max, Telemundo USA Women vs Japan

Tues, Apr 9

5 or 7 pm TBS, Universo, Peacock USWNT vs Brazil/Can winner Columbus, OH

July 24 starts US U23 Men & US Women In Olympics

(American’s in Parenthesis)

How to Watch Indy Eleven USL Championship Action

https://www.uslchampionship.com/cbs   CBS Schedule

https://www.uslchampionship.com/espn  ESPN

US Men

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US Roster for Nations League – ASN

Olympic soccer tournament groups revealed
When will the US produce a soccer coach who can win respect in England?

NWSL

2024 NWSL season team-by-team preview: How are teams spending all that money coming in?

NWSL Power Rankings: North Carolina Courage put the rest of the league on notice 2dMegan Swanick

NWSL, Liga MX F announce Summer Cup tourney 12hJeff Kassouf

K.C. opens ‘game-changing’ stadium with 5-4 win

Late Morgan header grabs S.D. Challenge Cup win

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Ranking all 28 new NWSL team jerseys, with photos: Argyle, sunsets and fruit make a bold slate

US Ladies

USA and Spain handed tough draws in women’s Olympic tournament
USWNT get Germany, Australia in group stage at Paris Olympics; US men get host France

World

Euro 2024 play-offs: ‘Relaxed’ Wales braced for crunch Finland semi-final
Hosts France get kind Olympic draw as Mbappe uncertainty lingers
England vs Brazil: When is the match, what time does it start and what channel is it on?
Gomez feels England recall ‘closes chapter’ on injury torment

Indy 11

Recap – MEM 1:2 IND

Blake, Stanley Earn USL Team of the Week Honors

Indy Eleven Falls in Season Opener at Oakland

Boys in Blue Add Undrafted Program Product Jay Klein

United Soccer League to Field 47 Clubs in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Indy Eleven Announces 2024 Promotional Schedule – Tickets on Sale NOW!

Reffing

Howard Webb: VAR right to stay out of Liverpool-Man City penalty decision says referees’ chief

Become a Licensed High School Ref

Become a Licensed Ref with Indiana Soccer – must be over 13

GoalKeeping

Great saves: Champs League -Round of 16, 2nd legs | Flying Saves

USL Saves of the Week 2

Cool segment on former Indy 11 GK and Carmel FC GK Coach Jordan Farr
Thibaut Courtois: Real Madrid goalkeeper has surgery after another knee injury

Gomez: Berhalter not the right coach for USMNT

Seth Vertelney followMarch 23, 2024 2:58 pm ET

Former U.S. men’s national team forward Herculez Gomez has said Gregg Berhalter isn’t the right coach to lead the USMNT to the 2026 World Cup.Gomez made his comments in the aftermath of the USMNT’s wild 3-1 extra-time win over Jamaica in the Nations League semifinal.The U.S. was just seconds away from a stunning defeat, but a Jamaica own goal with the last kick of the match sent the game into extra time. From there, Gio Reyna assisted Haji Wright for two goals to seal a spot in the final.Ahead of the USMNT’s match against Mexico on Sunday, Gomez voiced his concerns over Berhalter. “There are going to be many people out here who say, ‘Well, they made it to the final.’ Gregg Berhalter was two seconds away, was a play away from everybody calling for his head, from everybody saying this isn’t the man to lead this team,” Gomez said on ESPN’s “Futbol Americas.”“And I don’t think I feel too much differently today after this game as I did before it. Gregg Berhalter may be a good coach at a certain level. He’s not the coach for the U.S. men’s national team at this level, not the coach to lead the U.S. men’s national team to the World Cup in 2026.”

Berhalter led the USMNT to Gold Cup and Nations League titles, and a World Cup knockout round spot in his first stint as head coach, but his second go-round hasn’t been convincing as of yet. The coach returned to his position after last summer’s Gold Cup, producing expected wins against the likes of Oman, Uzbekistan and Ghana. Meanwhile, the USMNT has underwhelmed in defeats against Germany and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as during Thursday’s win over the Reggae Boyz.The pressure will be ramped up ahead of Sunday’s final against Mexico, and especially heading into this summer’s Copa América on home soil.

Related

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Three thoughts as USMNT survives Jamaica in miraculous Nations League win

The USMNT needed an answered prayer to beat Jamaica. What was the problem?

By Jon Arnold Mar 22, 2024

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When the goalkeeper ran into the opposing penalty area and the tactics had become unimportant, Gregg Berhalter did the last thing he possibly could.“You prepare, you work hard, you move everybody up in the penalty box and you pray,” the United States manager said Thursday night. Where set pieces and schemes didn’t work, petitioning a higher power did: The U.S. equalized Jamaica in the final moment of regulation on a flukey own goal and sent their CONCACAF Nations League semifinal to extra time.Given the gift of an extra 30 minutes to set things right, the U.S. took advantage. A double by Haji Wright in the added period propelled the Americans to the victory, but it was clear that the 3-1 final score was makeup on the pig of an ugly performance, one that required a stunning late own goal Berhalter called ‘miraculous’.How did the U.S. get to this point? The Jamaica team that gave it so much trouble was depleted by injuries and suspensions, most notably keeping the likes of Premier Leaguers Leon Bailey and Michail Antonio off the pitch. The U.S. still needed desperate prayer answered in the form of a goal off the head of its center back and then an opposing forward.The team conceded a goal it shouldn’t have conceded after just 34 seconds, forgot the attitude it needed to have in a region where every match promises to be feisty and needed a boost from reinforcements like Gio Reyna and Tyler Adams, who weren’t able to put in a full 90-minute shift Thursday.Jamaica always intended to come out in a defensive posture, and the early goal played right into the plan. “We have to improve – especially against a 5-4-1,” Berhalter said. “To me, it’s about speed of ball movement, combinations particularly in wide areas to get behind them and hurt the defense. We didn’t do that enough. When we did, we created chances. I think the expected goals was 2.6, so we had enough there but it wasn’t consistent enough.“You can see this team hasn’t played together for four months. It’s clear.”

Berhalter made numerous adjustments in the second half (Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

After allowing that first-minute goal to fullback Gregory Leigh, who popped up at the back post without a defender anywhere near and headed in a cross from Bobby De Cordova-Reid, the U.S. had to make immediate adjustments. Jamaica was able to rely on its strengths, snuffing out potential opportunities for the U.S. to break in transition and muscling players off the ball often when the U.S. did make forays into its attacking third.“You can’t give up the first goal in 45 seconds. That can’t happen,” Berhalter said. “Then it’s patience, perseverance. We had 940 passes in the game, so we had enough but to me it’s all about what you’re doing in the wide areas. You’ve got to draw them out of position…It’s all stuff we need to keep learning from.”

The late goal wasn’t the United States’ only bit of fortune – it was lucky to not be down by more than a goal as it chased the game. While Jamaica was happy to defend its lead and let the U.S. dominate possession of the ball, it had a few scoring chances it should have finished. None will be more frustrating for Jamaica than the chance just after the hour mark when forward Renaldo Cephas was alone in front of Matt Turner, only to send a weak effort into the U.S. goalkeeper’s arms.“We should’ve killed the game off in these 90 minutes, but it really, really hurts and I feel for the guys doing so well in the 90 minutes and then conceding a goal with the last touch of the game,” Jamaica manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said. “Psychologically, it was a blow to concede this goal at the end. You kind of saw it mentally and physically in (extra time) that we were missing the power we had in the 95 minutes.”Cephas got the starting nod Thursday as the Reggae Boyz dealt with a number of key absences. Aston Villa star Bailey was kept out of the camp because of disciplinary reasons, and West Ham United forward Antonio was a late scratch with a shoulder injury. Fellow attackers Demarai Gray and Shamar Nicholson missed the contest with suspensions.

Haji Wright scored both of the United States’ extra-time goals (Shaun Clark/Getty Images)

With all those absences, Berhalter felt his U.S. team forgot an important lesson about playing in this part of the world: The opponent will be open to muddying things up and giving one of the region’s traditional powers everything they can handle.“The pregame talk is the normal CONCACAF speech: It’s not going to be easy, guys. It’s going to be a very difficult game,” the manager said. “I think somewhere along the line it goes in one of their ears and out the other. They don’t really understand it. Because this was a typical CONCACAF game. We’ve all been a part of a ton of these games”Though typical in some ways, the Jamaican game plan was not without its quirks. Among the most impactful to the U.S. was the usage of Philadelphia Union center back Damion Lowe as a roaming destroyer in the midfield, which made it tough for the U.S. to pursue their best lines of attack. The team slogged through the first half, looking for a response to the first-minute goal that never truly came.“Obviously not our best day. Obviously not my best day,” U.S. winger Christian Pulisic said after. “But on days like that when you find a way to win, it says something about the team spirit. We just kept pushing and pushing and it came right at the end.”

That continued push in the second half came in part thanks to Berhalter’s addition of Reyna to the attack and Adams’ return to the midfield after more than a year away from the national team with a hamstring injury. Both players were on minutes restrictions and will have their fitness monitored ahead of Sunday’s title decider, Berhalter said.Reyna said he was looking to “just affect the game. It was pretty simple. Not our best performance today, and I just try to bring a bit of life to the team and luckily was able to do that.”Adams showed frustration coming out of the contest, which Berhalter attempted to assuage as best he could, with a hint of amusement. After subbing on the midfielder in the 63rd minute, Berhalter took him off in the 100th. Beyond the minutes cap, the motive was clear: The U.S. now has a final to prepare for and lots of work to do.

Against Mexico in that final, they may not be as lucky, but they may need it more.

Is Gregg Berhalter a good coach for the USMNT?

• Ryan O’Hanlon Jeff Carlisle ESPN+ mar 18, 2024, 09:35 AM

Gregg Berhalter’s tenure as manager of the U.S. men’s national team has divided opinion from the start.

Yes, he’d helped the Columbus Crew punch above its weight as the Designated Player era in MLS entered its second decade. But he was hired while his brother was the chief commercial officer at the U.S. Soccer Federation, raising questions about a potential conflict of interest.

On top of that, his hiring seemed to some like a retrenchment back to the relatively small and insular community of U.S. Soccer. After the disastrous reign of Jurgen Klinsmann — the ultimate outsider and a critic of U.S. Soccer — no more outsiders would be leading the way.

Despite such concerns, Berhalter then went on to lead the U.S. through a successful 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, which helped erase memories of the USMNT crashing out four years earlier thanks to a hole Klinsmann dug early on in qualifiers. Once in Qatar, the Americans under Berhalter reached the round of 16, which was neither a high nor low mark for the USMNT. Some felt Berhalter met expectations at the World Cup, but others questioned whether the team should’ve done better with a group of players widely viewed as the best U.S. generation ever.

Just over five years since Berhalter was first hired, opinion remains divided among players, coaches and fans: Is Berhalter actually a good coach?

ESPN analyst Ryan O’Hanlon will delve into the numbers to see how Berhalter stacks against his USMNT predecessors. Has there been discernible progress on the field? Is the team winning more often than it used to? Has Berhalter been able to institute the kind of cohesive attacking style that USMNT fans have been calling out for? And most importantly, does he have the team performing at, above, or below the level of its talent?

But there are also aspects beyond the numbers to consider. Can Berhalter manage the egos of these players and get them pointed in the same direction? Do the players in the USMNT locker room trust him? And is his tactics-heavy approach the right fit at the international level? ESPN national reporter Jeff Carlisle spoke to former players and colleagues to get answers.

“I thought he was an excellent coach — very, very good tactically,” former Columbus Crew and U.S. international defender Michael Parkhurst told ESPN. “And just understanding the game, no detail went unnoticed.”

Former U.S. international forward and “Fútbol Americas” host Herculez Gomez takes a different view: “I don’t think he’s the best coach for the U.S. men’s national team. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a good coach. I just think he’s a very inexperienced coach.”

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Trust between player and USMNT coach must be “unbreakable”

Part of what makes answering some of these questions difficult is that Berhalter does some of these things well for the most part, only to get tripped up enough to cast some doubt. Man-management is a primary example for his critics.

It was an unforced error for Berhalter to tell a room full of people after the World Cup that he almost sent an unknown player home, when it was clear that he was referring to Gio Reyna. The event created the animosity that snowballed into Reyna’s parents disclosing a 30-year-old domestic violence incident between Berhalter and his wife, which prompted an investigation that cleared the way for Berhalter to keep coaching the USMNT. Berhalter could’ve never anticipated the Reyna family’s reactions, but he needed to show better judgement.

Gomez feels there are other times when Berhalter has broken trust with some players, like when he left Zack Steffen off the World Cup roster.

“If I’m a player and I see what he did to Steffen, I think that could happen to me,” he said. “Steffen was one of his guys. There are things that you don’t do as a coach to break trust for the player. And I think he’s done a few of those things.”

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Steffen, who played under Berhalter in Columbus, said Berhalter hadn’t communicated his plan going into the World Cup, which the coach later said was focused on having an undisputed No. 1 in goal rather than goalkeepers battling for position. “I didn’t hear about that until a couple of months later,” Steffen told ESPN last year. “I heard someone say that, but I thought it was a rumor. He and I have a long history and, yeah, I thought it was a little bit different than it was.”

When a team is going through difficult periods, Gomez added, trust with players is all a coach has, and “that should be unbreakable.”

There have also been moments when Berhalter has shown a deft hand in managing players. The incident in World Cup qualifying when midfielder Weston McKennie was sent home for violating COVID-19 protocols was a delicate moment for the team. But Berhalter was firm in his discipline, gradually brought McKennie back into the fold, and the player was a key contributor during qualifying and at the World Cup.

Tim Ream was largely on the outside of the U.S. national team during World Cup qualifying, but Berhalter maintained communication with the Fulham defender, and when injury struck the likes of Miles Robinson and Chris Richards, he reached out to Ream from a position of strength rather than desperation.

Berhalter also seeks to connect with his players beyond what happens on the field, and his ability to recruit dual nationals such as Sergiño Dest and Yunus Musah has been impressive.

“I just think he’s someone who lives, sleeps, dreams… I mean, everything about the game is what Gregg cares about, but he also cares about people,” said current Minnesota United midfielder Wil Trapp, who played for Berhalter both with Columbus and the USMNT. “And I think that’s something that sometimes maybe isn’t always seen from the outside. But being on the inside, and knowing him for as long as I’ve known him, I mean, he cares deeply about his players, about their families, about them just beyond the soccer players.”

Former U.S. assistant coach Luchi Gonzalez lauded Berhalter’s ability to give honest feedback. The strain on Berhalter’s relationship with Reyna was due in part of just such an exchange when the manager informed the player of what his role would be prior to the World Cup — although Gonzalez admitted “no one’s perfect,” he’s convinced that in most situations, Berhalter has navigated communicating with players well.

“Berhalter was the best that I’ve ever experienced in terms of just honesty,” Gonzalez said. “Like feedback, critical, demanding, simple, concise, but yet supportive. Like, ‘Hey, you have the opportunity to respond and improve the situation or, or continue the situation.’ But with the staff and players, he was just always honest. And I think people, whether they liked what they heard or not, they respected it, and they wanted to respond to it.”

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That approach appeared to carry the day during the last World Cup cycle. The USMNT looked bought-in during the tournament, and that vibe has continued as Berhalter has continued this cycle. “The relationship is good,” said U.S. midfielder Luca de la Torre during an appearance on Fútbol Americas. “I think what I like about Gregg is that he’s a coach who players can be honest with, and he doesn’t seem to hold it against them.”

The team’s top player and captain, Christian Pulisic, is firmly in Berhalter’s camp as well, and he voiced support for Berhalter to continue as USMNT manager after the World Cup.

“Berhalter is someone who has grown on me a lot over the years. I’ve learned a lot from him and have grown so much as a player,” Pulisic said during a 2023 interview with ESPN. “It’s underappreciated what he’s done to create that environment, which was so special within that [World Cup] team. He’s helped a lot of players improve in a lot of ways.”

How tactical is too tactical for the international game?

Berhalter’s reputation is that of a tactics obsessive. His Columbus teams were heavy on possession, and this required countless hours spent on the practice field in a bid to fine-tune his system. He carried that approach with him to the USMNT. No detail was too small there, either.

Trapp recalled how Berhalter would stop training if a player strayed two to three meters out of position. “He’s showing you, ‘No, I can’t have you doing that and here’s why,'” Trapp said.

There is near universal agreement, even among Berhalter’s admirers, that the approach isn’t for everyone. There comes a point where the tactical detail morphs into information overload.

“For some players, they eat every ounce of it up and they love it,” said current Houston Dynamo general manager Pat Onstad, who was on Berhalter’s staff in Columbus. “And then for other players, after 30 seconds, they zone out and they’re off on their own. But that doesn’t mean, as a coach, that you sit there and say, ‘OK, well I’ll just cater to the 32nd guy, and that’s it.’ I think his passion and eye for detail, and the organizational part of it is infectious within the group.”

But can a system that requires so much repetition work at an international level, where time on the training field can be limited? Trapp, who made the bulk of his 20 international appearances under Berhalter, recalled how the manager would send video clips out to players in advance in a bid to spoon-feed them information, which would help players hit the ground running once camp begins.

Berhalter has admitted that he has at times simplified his approach. Following the last international window before the World Cup — which included a blowout loss to Japan — Berhalter stated that he piled on too much information to a group that he hadn’t seen in three months.

Joe Scally, during the six-month period in 2023 where it was uncertain Berhalter would return as manager, made it clear he wasn’t a fan of the approach, calling Berhalter’s tactics “confusing,” adding that the U.S. needed a manager “that definitely understands we’re not a club team. We need to just understand simple tactics, simple system that we can all apply that brings out the best in all the players. Not something to where it’s too complicated and you’re overthinking on the field.”

That said, Scally did feel the U.S. played well during the World Cup, though even there Berhalter’s system had its drawbacks. “As a player, when you’re on the field and you’re overthinking things it leads to silly mistakes and silly things where you’re not yourself and you can’t express yourself,” he said. “I think that was one of the things that didn’t work out.”

But Berhalter is now five years into his tenure. The tactical foundation has been — or at least should be — established. “Now that the team’s been together for a while and things are expected, I think it’s a little bit easier — it should be this time versus the first go around,” Parkhurst said.

Berhalter, the idealist vs. Berhalter, the pragmatist

There have been times during Berhalter’s tenure with the USMNT when he has stubbornly clung to his approach, sometimes to the team’s detriment.

During his first 20 months, Berhalter was adamant that the U.S. play out of the back. in September 2019, the USMNT hit its nadir in a 3-0 defeat to Mexico, a match in which El Tri pressed the U.S. into oblivion. What followed was an evolution in which the U.S. mixed in more direct play with possession and the USMNT defense stabilized as a result — but it also left many wondering what took Berhalter so long?

That stubborn streak showed itself at club level, too. Parkhurst, who indicated he loved playing under Berhalter’s intricate system, said that if he had one critique of Berhalter, it would be “understanding when to adapt.”

There have, however, been moments when he would relent. Parkhurst recalls conversations during the run-up to the 2015 MLS Cup final about how to handle the New York Red Bulls‘ high-press. The Crew’s tendency to play out of the back played right into the Red Bulls’ hands, so when the Eastern Conference final came around, Berhalter at last decided to take a more direct approach, using the aerial skills of Kei Kamara.

“That was the first time in two years that we were like, ‘Hey, forget it. Let’s just kick the ball long and play for seconds up there. We’re the better soccer team, and we can win as long as we don’t turn the ball over 20 yards from our goal,'” said Parkhurst.

The move paid off as Columbus prevailed 2-1 over two legs to reach that year’s MLS Cup final.

How Berhalter is hoping to build the USMNT towards the 2026 World Cup

Gregg Berhalter explains how the USMNT are working towards the 2026 World Cup in North America.

That is by no means the last battle between Berhalter, the idealist, and Berhalter, the pragmatist. Onstad recalls that following another encounter with the Red Bulls, one in which Columbus again prevailed by being more direct, Berhalter said, “We’re never doing that again. That’s not who we are.”

Throughout World Cup qualifying, Berhalter the pragmatist had the edge. This was especially evident in the road win at Honduras, when a trio of halftime substitutions sparked a come-from-behind, 4-1 win.

The push and pull of Berhalter’s instincts was evident at the World Cup as well. The Americans’ inability to deal with and adapt to Wales‘ insertion of target forward Kieffer Moore cost the team two points in a disappointing 1-1 draw. The U.S. played more within itself in the 0-0 draw with England, but in the round of 16, Berhalter appeared to play right into the tactical hands of Dutch counterpart Louis van Gaal, having the U.S. push forward and leaving far too much room on the counter.

“He sticks to it, and you think your team can do it,” said Parkhurst. “On the one hand, he’s got good confidence in guys. But I do think there’s times to mix it up a little bit. Otherwise it just becomes too easy sometimes.”

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Do the stats say the USMNT is doing better under Berhalter?

To answer the question of “Is Gregg Berhalter actually a good coach?” we have to ask ourselves two smaller questions.

The first: “How good has the USMNT been with Gregg Berhalter as the manager?” Although that gets conflated with the question of whether or not Berhalter is a good coach, it’s a different question focused purely on the USMNT’s results. And in short, the answer is, the USMNT has done pretty damn good.

Across the history of the USMNT, 10 men have coached the team for at least 15 games. Here’s how their longevity stacks up:

Given that soccer wasn’t truly professionalized in the United States until the early 1990s, we just don’t have the same kind of historical record for the national team that, say, England or Brazil might have. Fourteen different men have managed at least 15 games for England, while 17 have done so for Brazil.

Bruce Arena, then, sort of brought the USMNT into the modern era. He also brought the USMNT further than they’ve ever gone in a modern World Cup: to the quarterfinals, where they lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up Germany. And the USMNT really outplayed Germany in a number of ways: more touches in the penalty area, controlling nearly two-thirds of final third possession, and creating more chances.

The bigger the circle, the higher the expected-goal value of the attempt:

Across his tenure, Arena’s team scored 1.64 goals per game and conceded 0.75 — respectively the fourth- and second-best marks among the 10 qualifying USMNT coaches. However, another coach ranks first in both goals scored (2.02) and goals conceded (0.65) per game.

It’s Gregg Berhalter:

Now, this doesn’t adjust for the quality of the opponent or the type of match. And the tricky thing about assessing international managers is that they don’t coach many games that matter. Friendlies are games where neither team is trying to optimize to win the match: Both sides want to win, but the personnel decisions both before and during the match aren’t totally aligned with getting three points. Plus, it’s never clear how hard the players themselves are playing in friendlies.

So, then, performances in friendlies don’t really matter all that much. But then when you eliminate friendlies, you’re left with the Gold Cup, World Cup qualifying, the World Cup, and possibly the Copa America and/or Confederations Cup. That’s maybe 20 games, total.

In other words, no two USMNT managers manage against the same schedules of opponents, and they all manage too few competitive matches to really put too much weight into those games, either. To start to get around that, though, we can look at the Elo rating of the team.

Initially developed for chess, the Elo system adjusts a competitor’s rating after every match. If you win, your rating goes up; lose, and it goes down. As the World Football Elo Ratings describe their own methodology, they apply “the Elo rating system to international football, by adding a weighting for the kind of match, an adjustment for the home team advantage, and an adjustment for goal difference in the match result.”

Since the system is based only on results, and results are quite random over a short sample, we’re only going to look at the USMNT managerial stints that have lasted for 50 games or more. Here’s how they stack up, based on where the team’s Elo rating was at the start of the tenure and where it was by the end:

• Bora Milutinovic (April 1, 1991-April 14, 1995): 1601 to 1619, up 18 points
• Steve Sampson (Aug. 1, 1995-July 30, 1998): 1708 to 1697, down 11 points
• Bruce Arena (Oct. 1, 1998-July 31, 2006): 1696 to 1775, up 79 points
• Bob Bradley (Dec. 1, 2006-July 31, 2011): 1775 to 1738, down 37 points
• Jurgen Klinsmann (July 29, 2011-Nov. 21, 2016): 1738 to 1735, down 3 points
• Gregg Berhalter (Dec. 2, 2018-Dec. 31, 2022): 1743 to 1819, up 76 points

Despite experiencing the biggest start-to-finish decline, Bradley’s team also reached the high-water Elo mark for the program after their victory against Spain in the semifinals of the 2009 Confederations Cup. But Bradley’s tenure aside, these ratings check out: Milutinovic stabilized the program for the 1994 World Cup, Sampson was a disaster, Arena guided the team to a new level, and Klinsmann was supposed to “Europeanize” Bradley’s squad, but ultimately made it worse.

With Berhalter, though, what we’re left with is a coach whose team scores more goals than any U.S. manager ever, concedes fewer goals than any U.S. manager ever, and improved by a good degree over his first four-year stretch as coach.

If you’re wondering why the team’s rating jumped so much under Berhalter: The two cup-final wins over Mexico were worth massive points, and then the World Cup was an overall success, too. In Qatar, the rating dipped by a point after a draw with slightly lower-ranked Wales. It jumped by 13 with the draw with England, then a further 30 with the win over similarly ranked Iran, before dipping by 20 after the 3-1 loss to the Netherlands, who were ranked third in the world at the time. All in all, these World Cup performances bumped the USMNT’s rating up by 22 points.

How much of the USMNT’s success can be attributed to Berhalter?

All of that now brings us to the second question: “How much of this is due to Gregg Berhalter vs. the players he has?”

To his credit, Berhalter has changed the way the team plays. TruMedia doesn’t have advanced data for every USMNT manager, so unfortunately we can only compare him to Klinsmann’s full tenure and Arena’s second tenure. In competitive matches under those two, the team averaged about 3.1 possessions won in the attacking third per game, and they moved upfield at about 1.8 meters per second.

Under Berhalter, the pressing has increased — massively. The number of possessions won in the attacking third per game has leapt up to 5.8. And that’s been paired with a much more measured approach in possession — the ball has moved upfield at a rate of 1.4 meters per second under Berhalter. The current USMNT coach is clearly attuned to the tactical ideas at the highest levels of the game, and we’ve seen this show up in how his team plays. He deserves credit for implementing some kind of stylistic shift in the international game, where stylistic shifts are quite difficult because of how little game and practice time a national team coach gets with his players.

At the same time, wouldn’t we just expect some of this to happen naturally since the majority of the USMNT roster is made up of players who are playing their club ball at the highest levels of the game? These are players who are exposed to advanced pressing and possession approaches, day in and day out under their club coaches.

While it’s difficult to compare the quality of USMNT talent across eras in any kind of objective way, there’s seemingly a new stat about record contributions from Americans in the Champions League every week at this point. Previous USMNT managers weren’t as fortunate, and in fact Klinsmann frequently butted heads with the commissioner of MLS over his very public criticism of the U.S.-based league and his expectation that Americans challenge themselves in Europe. Klinsmann, for all his pushing — which included creating a Europe-based technical advisor position to scout and recruit players abroad — never enjoyed the European-based player pool that Berhalter has.

Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest and Gio Reyna have already been key contributors for better teams than any other preceding American has ever consistently played for. Then there’s a whole different group of players who are either starting for mid-tier European teams or coming off the bench for bigger clubs: Antonee Robinson, Tim Weah, Yunus Musah, Malik Tillman, Ricardo Pepi, Luca De La Torre, Chris Richards, Johnny Cardoso, Folarin Balogun and Joe Scally. It used to be that the USMNT would just have two or three players like this. Now that number is closer to 20.

So, of course the team is better — the players are better!

It may be that 2023 was a wasted year by the program and one where Elo ratings don’t provide much value, but at the end of 2022, the USMNT was the 23rd-best team in the world, per the Elo ratings. That might seem like a disappointment relative to the talent level, but in 2022, it’s not like American soccer players were tearing it up across Europe. They were in Europe, but most of the USMNT’s best players had the worst seasons of their careers in the 2022-23 season. On top of that, the U.S. had the youngest team at the World Cup weighted by minutes played.

Per the transfer-value estimates from the site Transfermarkt, the USMNT has roughly the 21st most-valuable squad in the world — and that’s right around the level they’ve played at under Berhalter. He hasn’t made the team better, and he hasn’t made the team worse.

A ringing endorsement, huh?

Yes, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp would do a better job managing the USMNT than Berhalter has. But they’re not going to manage the USMNT any time soon. The reality is that most of the top managers in the world do not want to manage national teams for an extended period of time. The quality of play is nowhere near as high as the club game, the pay isn’t as good, there’s barely any time to train, and you don’t really get to pick your players. Despite every big-name unemployed manager getting linked with the team, the USMNT just isn’t choosing from the same coaching pool as Premier League teams.

A couple weeks ago, I proposed a theory of managerial value to someone who used to work for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. In short: There are a couple managers who are guaranteed to make your team better, a ton of managers whose long-term impact will be indistinguishable from each other, and then a couple managers who will actively make your team worse.

This person agreed with the first two parts but then corrected that final categorization. No, they said, there are a ton of coaches out there who will make your team worse, too.

And so, the USMNT really does seem to have a coach who will get the American players to play roughly to the level of their collective talent. That level of talent is somewhere within the range of No. 15 to No. 30 among all national teams, which means that with a favorable draw, some luck, and perhaps some home-field advantage, it’s plausible the U.S. men can make a run at the next World Cup.

The U.S. Soccer Federation could take a swing for that tiny first group of coaches who will make the USMNT better, despite an even tinier number being available for national-team employment. What’s the harm in taking a shot to vault away from that second group of coaches who don’t make much of a difference?

Well, there’s always a chance you end up with someone from the third group: a coach who actively makes the team worse. Remember what happened before the 2018 World Cup? The USMNT didn’t even qualify.

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Awaiting a signature USMNT win

There is a school of thought that the experienced crop of USMNT players has outgrown Berhalter as a manager. The U.S. player pool is at a point where you don’t have to look hard to find Americans in the top five leagues of Europe.

“I think we talk about this generation and how young they are and how green they are, coming into their own,” said Gomez. “We’re talking about this team being green and these players getting minutes at Juventus, at Chelsea, at Milan, at Leipzig, etcetera. Well, our coach is probably the greenest one in this program then, because he had Hammarby [in Sweden] and had the Columbus Crew. So, I just don’t think he is at the level of the pool.”

There is also a bit of a fantasy that the likes of Guardiola, Klopp or Jose Mourinho will be intrigued enough by what the U.S. has to offer as a country that they might be willing to take the plunge with the USMNT. That ignores some economic realities. Coaches like that are well outside of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s price range, yet the dream of hiring a foreign coach exists.

Part of the reason why those dreams persist is that Berhalter’s record works against him here. According to ESPN Stats & Information, his record against teams above the U.S. in FIFA’s rankings is 3-4-6. All three of those wins have come against a Mexico side that is widely regarded as the worst El Tri side in a generation.

Granted, when the U.S. beat Mexico in extra time at the 2021 Concacaf Nations League, it initially was counted as a signature win given that it was the first U.S. victory over their fierce rivals in a competitive fixture since qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. It was a big step forward for this generation of players.

But now, the stakes have been raised. It is no longer enough just to beat Mexico. There needs to be a win — preferably more than one — against a top side. The 3-1 defeat against Germany last October was sobering to say the least. How much of that is on the players is another one of those endless debates.

“I do understand that we have a super talented team that are playing in big games over in Europe, so it’s just fantastic,” said Parkhurst. “But shoot, we’re still far away from the top, top teams in the world.”

Berhalter is on record as wanting to change how the USMNT is perceived. In that sense, this summer’s Copa America will be revealing, especially as it relates to the question of whether Gregg Berhalter is a good coach.

Picking the USMNT’s 23-man roster 100 days out from the 2024 Copa America

By The Athletic StaffMar 13, 2024

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Should USMNT call up a Burnley winger to stop him from representing Italy, Canada or Nigeria?How much should the Olympics be a factor in who Gregg Berhalter picks for the Copa America?Does Mark McKenzie deserve a call-up after his impressive season at Genk?The Copa America is just 100 days away, so six of our writers have done the hard work for Berhalter and chosen the 23 players they would pick for this summer’s tournament on home soil…

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How to follow the Copa America on The Athletic…

• Copa America news and features
• Copa America fixtures and schedule

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Paul Tenorio’s USMNT squad for Copa America

My split looks odd because of the small number of “forwards” listed here, but dropping from a 26-man to a roster of 23 means versatility is going to be crucial in how Berhalter thinks about his squad. There are multiple players here who provide that sort of positional flexibility and protection.

Kevin Paredes is listed as a defender because that’s how he was registered on the USMNT’s 60-man preliminary roster for the Nations League, but he is capable — and has mostly played — as a left winger for his country. Joe Scally can play as both a left and right back, as can Sergiño Dest. Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman are both listed here as midfielders, but both can play as a winger and have for the USMNT in the past.

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Realistically for a 23-man roster, it isn’t sensible to bring three No. 9s, but I’m not sure there’s a winger who deserves a roster spot over any of the three strikers. If Berhalter opts to take just two strikers, it makes the most sense to play Ricardo Pepi or Folarin Balogun in the Olympics because they’re age-eligible (The Olympics are a U-23 tournament on the men’s side). Neither striker has lit up their respective leagues (the Eredivisie in the Netherlands and Ligue 1 in France), while Josh Sargent has been very good for Norwich City in England’s second tier since returning from injury in December. Pepi was the final cut from the 2022 World Cup roster and that was a mistake. You wonder whether that decision will weigh into the Copa choices, as well.

For now, I’ll cop out by bringing all three strikers and one fewer winger because Paredes, Reyna and Tillman give plenty of cover.

(Broer van den Boom/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

The rest of the squad essentially picks itself. I took Drake Callender over Patrick Schulte as the third goalkeeper, Paredes over Kristoffer Lund due to his ability to play on the wing and Luca de la Torre over Brenden Aaronson due to form and function.

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Jeff Rueter’s USMNT squad for Copa America

Generally, this roster is built to have minimal overlap with the Olympic squad playing later in the summer — if any at all.

These are the three most in-form goalkeepers, with Patrick Schulte being better in line for the Olympics.

Mark McKenzie is quietly putting together a very strong season with Genk in Belgium, and could offer a more mobile and long-range passing alternative at the back.

I’m using two roster slots on midfield cover given Tyler Adams’ lack of playing time over the past year; Johnny Cardoso has played himself into must-select status with Spain’s Real Betis, while Lennard Maloney has been dependable for German club Heidenheim. Malik Tillman could factor for minutes along the forward line, while Reyna (who I almost talked myself into making the Olympic roster headliner) could tuck into an advanced midfield role.

(Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

Players I left off with an eye on the latter tournament include Pepi, Taylor Booth, Diego Luna, Schulte, Paredes, and Jordan Morris, who I’d tap for an over-age slot.

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John Muller’s USMNT squad for Copa America

For the first time in the Berhalter era, the USMNT squad feels set — we pretty much know who’s in, who’s out and who’s a starter when fit. So let’s have a little fun with the depth spots, yeah?

Luca Koleosho is not a USMNT player, but he’s also not yet cap-tied to Italy, Canada or Nigeria, all of which would very much like to have the gifted young Burnley winger. Berhalter has been talking to Koleosho for a while about bringing him into the fold and a Copa America invite is the best recruiting tool he’s got.

(James Gill/Getty Images)

Same deal with the highly touted 17-year-old Barcelona goalkeeper Diego Kochen, who’s being courted by several countries. Callender hasn’t shown many signs that he is America’s goalkeeper of the future. Schulte can start in the Olympics. Berhalter should use the third goalkeeper spot at the Copa — which never really matters anyway — to make Kochen an offer he can’t refuse.

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Of the other picks here, only Jesus Ferreira is controversial. He shouldn’t be. The USMNT’s 13th-highest goalscorer of all time remains weirdly underappreciated despite years of being one of the most consistent strikers in MLS and for the national team. He’s also got a different profile than Balogun, which gives Berhalter the flexibility to switch up his striker tactics or even play both guys together.

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Elias Burke’s USMNT squad for Copa America

It will be interesting to see who Berhalter opts for in goal against Jamaica this month, given Matt Turner’s loss of form at Nottingham Forest of the Premier League and Ethan Horvath’s strong displays for Cardiff City since joining the Championship club on loan in January. Cardiff is on a four-match winning streak at the time of writing, with Horvath a significant contributor. Could he displace the previously undisputed No. 1 between now and the start of the tournament? Probably not, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Six of the eight defenders pick themselves, but I’ve gone with Auston Trusty and Paredes to round out the selection. Trusty can play as an outside center back and Paredes is comfortable at wingback, giving Berhalter the option to play five in defense against more formidable opponents.

Of the seven midfielders selected, only four may expect to start. You’d imagine Berhalter to be pragmatic with an Adams-Yunus Musah-Weston McKennie trio for the final group game against Uruguay, but Reyna’s creativity may be called upon for games against Bolivia and Panama, in which the USMNT is favored. Watch out for Cardoso, who has adapted to life in La Liga with Real Betis well and can play as a No. 6 or further forward, and could deputize for Adams if his fitness struggles continue. His excellent side-footed finish from outside the box in a 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao last month exemplifies his quality.

(DAX Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In attack, you’d expect Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic to flank one of Balogun, Pepi and Sargent, who all have decent claims to the starting role. Pepi has fared best in a USMNT shirt of late, and Balogun has the most pedigree, but Sargent is in the best form with 12 goals in 17 appearances in this season’s Championship. Malik Tillman and Reyna can cover in wide positions if Weah and Pulisic struggle.

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Tom Bogert’s USMNT squad for Copa America

With the Olympics on the back of Copa, many younger players who could challenge for bottom of the roster squad spots should prioritize playing time in Paris. The likes of John Tolkin, Gabriel Slonina, Diego Luna, Chris Brady, Cade Cowell and others come to mind as players who maybe could make the squad but wouldn’t get much game time.

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It probably would make the most sense to suggest Pepi is better served playing every minute at the Olympics instead of being maybe third-choice at the Copa America, but that would take convincing both Pepi to skip the Copa and also PSV Eindhoven to release the forward for the Olympics, with the tournament ending on the same August the new Dutch league season starts. I don’t think that will happen.

One of the forwards who miss out on Copa (likely one of Brandon Vazquez and Haji Wright) should be an over-age addition to the Olympic squad.

The toughest overage omissions from this group are Cameron Carter-Vickers, Trusty and Brenden Aaronson. Berhalter has almost seemed to prefer Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman when available, hence my lean there.

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Greg O’Keeffe’s USMNT squad for Copa America

The first two goalkeepers pick themselves but it was tough deciding between Slonina, who has been building hard experience at KAS Eupen in Belgium, and Callender. Ultimately the latter gets the nod because of his performances and the level of training he’ll have been experiencing with the Lionel Messi/Luis Suarez super-charged Inter Miami.

My defense leans on Premier League performers but Bundesliga duo Scally and Paredes, who has performed well since winning the USMNT young player of the year for 2023, offer versatility. In midfield, I wanted to find room for Maloney but in the end de la Torre’s extra creativity pushed me his way, with the more defensive roles well covered.

The attacking options are solid. Pepi can be a real game-changer from the bench, and Sargent’s injury-truncated season may be peaking by July. Pulisic walks into the team and can provide mastery out wide, Weah’s impact is clear and it’s the gifted Balogun who surprisingly has the most to prove in order to get more minutes than Sargent or Pepi.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

Tyler Adams returns for Bournemouth just in time for USMNT: ‘It felt natural’

By Elias Burke and Greg O’Keeffe Mar 14, 202418

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One long year and two long days after his last Premier League match, Tyler Adams is finally back where he belongs.The 25-year-old came on from the substitutes’ bench on Wednesday evening as Bournemouth fought back from three goals down at the Vitality Stadium to beat Luton Town 4-3. Though it took head coach Andoni Iraola 71 minutes to call his number, he was in game mode well before kick-off.“It felt natural,” Adams told The Athletic. “I’ve had an amazing rehab process. I played a reserve game last week and only played 30 minutes but still, just to get in the chaos of the game, look around, check your shoulder, know where you are on the field, and adapt to new team-mates; it’s been really good and it was easy to come into that game with the boys flying as soon as we got those three goals back.“You could see the confidence in the team. I was so excited to be out there.”While his team-mates conducted their pre-match warm-ups in puffer coats and jogging bottoms, Adams braved the nine-degree (48 degrees Fahrenheit) cold in a light zip-up top and shorts. As the other substitutes watched their side close the deficit from the bench, Adams ran intensely on the sideline and gestured for every foul. Though he had never played a Premier League minute as a Bournemouth player, he looked every inch a leading figure.He entered the field with the scores level and slotted into the No 6 midfield position just ahead of the defence. His first touch was calm and assured, as was almost every touch after. He completed 10 of 13 passes, a 77 per cent success rate.

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/72cErYO5V5hQZOS29Fv0BS?utm_source=generator

Twelve minutes later, Antoine Semenyo scored the winning goal. It was only the third time in Premier League history a team had come back to win after trailing by three goals at half-time.Once Bournemouth went ahead, he provided a calming influence. He took the responsibility of talking his midfield partners through the game and gesturing with a pointed finger to his head that his team-mates remain focused.“It’s just instinct,” Adams said. “I’ve been a leader my entire life. It’s a role I don’t shy away from taking, especially on this team where there is a lot of chaos in the game. I just wanted to try to come in and have a calming presence in the game.“You can see immediately — once you start communicating, it makes everything around you go dull. We wanted to slow the game down when we had the opportunity to.”While it was all smiles from Adams post-match, he has had to draw on his reserves of resilience over a difficult year in England.

Adams last saw Premier League action last season with Leeds United (George Wood/Getty Images)

The initial hamstring injury he suffered a year ago was one of the many factors in Leeds’ eventual fall to the Championship last season and may ultimately have damaged his prospects of a move to Chelsea last summer.It did not deter several suitors from trying to prise him away from Elland Road, with Leeds battling to keep a player they viewed as a strong leader, quality midfielder and a potentially positive influence on a dressing room trying to win promotion.But before a key summer for the USMNT, he wanted to play in one of Europe’s top leagues and when a move to Stamford Bridge fizzled out, Bournemouth’s interest was a chance to do that.

Tyler Adams: A Chelsea collapse, legal drama with Leeds and a move to Bournemouth

Bournemouth did not share what Leeds perceived as Chelsea’s doubts over the timeframe of his recovery and were keen to activate his relegation release clause before it ran out last August, allowing them to get on with a complicated medical for a player who, back then, had already been absent from full training for more than four months.

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Bournemouth’s California-based owner Bill Foley is trying to ramp up the club’s commercial performance, widen its fanbase and replicate elements of the success he has achieved in ice hockey’s NHL with the Vegas Golden Knights. In Adams, he was landing the USMNT’s captain, one of the pin-ups of soccer in the States.

So it was with high hopes that he headed to the Vitality Stadium, hoping to become an integral part of an upwardly mobile club, stabilised in the top flight and with owners who appreciate his worth in every sense.

Bournemouth have remained true to that criteria but much to Adams’ frustration up to now, he has been unable to play his part — on the pitch at least.

A return of the hamstring problem that plagued his time in Yorkshire meant that until Wednesday, he had appeared just once: as a 70th-minute substitute in a Carabao Cup win against Stoke City in September.

Adams’ attitude, despite his disappointment and frustration, has been exemplary.

He was understandably down when he had to start over again but recovered to become an upbeat presence around the club, settling in quickly despite being injured. He has been out running on the grass, although not always with the team as his return was carefully managed, for a while now.It helped Adams’ recovery that he had a friend in fellow midfielder Alex Scott, who was also in similarly trying circumstances.

Adams has become close with Scott, who also joined in the middle of a rehab process after sustaining a serious knee problem at former club Bristol City.

It also helped that Adams has also been made to feel part of the club, featuring regularly in club content despite not being as involved on the pitch.

After his low-key return to the pitch for the club’s development squad last week, under-21s manager Alan Connell was glowing in his appraisal

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“Tyler is a lovely lad,” Connell told the club website afterwards. “Just from seeing him around the building every day, he’s very humble and very hard-working.“Obviously, he was probably our marquee signing last summer, so it was great to have him train with us and you could just tell straight away he wanted to train well, get back and play some competitive football.”The New Yorker was then on the bench for the senior squad and even if he didn’t make it onto the pitch for the 2-2 draw with Sheffield United, it was another psychological step forward.

Adams’ last appearance for the U.S. was at the 2022 World Cup (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY Sports)

After returning to action in the Premier League, Adams now turns his attention to international duty.

Despite remaining a key player, he has not represented the USMNT since the World Cup. Understandably, U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter is eager to get him back in the squad with this summer’s Copa America on the horizon.“Once we heard (he was fit enough to play), we jumped at the idea (of recalling him) because he means so much to the team both on and off the field,” Berhalter said after announcing his squad for the Nations League match against Jamaica. “It’ll be nice to get him back.“

It’s hard to imagine there’s anybody on the roster who will be looking forward to the international break more than Adams, who wears the armband with pride. Still, while his return was a goal short of a fairytale, he will not get ahead of himself. Between now and Copa America, it is about playing as much as possible to ensure his place at the base of Berhalter’s midfield.“It’s exciting, man. Really, really exciting,” Adams said. “The past year has been really difficult, but those are some of my closest friends on that team.“You can’t rush the process. I figured that out the hard way through being injured a bunch of times. (USMNT) has a good run of games and a lot of good competition, and I want to have a big role within the team. Obviously, Copa America is something to look forward to. It’s another big opportunity to play in a tournament.

“It’s one that we want to pursue and possibly win on home soil. One hundred per cent.”

(Top photo: Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)

USMNT Olympics draw: U-23 team will play host nation France in opening game

By Jeff Rueter and The Athletic Staff Mar 20, 2024

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The U.S. men’s under-23 national team was drawn into Group A in the 2024 Olympics, where it will face the host nation France, New Zealand and the winner of an intercontinental playoff between a team from the Asian Football Confederation and Guinea in the group stage.The draw offers the U.S. a marquee occasion with a place in the opening game of the tournament, where it will meet a familiar face on the sideline. Legendary striker Thierry Henry, who played and coached in MLS after a successful European career, will lead France’s team as head coach at the tournament. Henry also appears on CBS Sports’ coverage of the UEFA Champions League.Unlike the FIFA World Cup, the men’s Olympic soccer tournament functions as a U-23 competition, through three over-age players are allowed on each 18-man squad.The U.S. appearance in the men’s soccer tournament at the Olympics will be its first since 2008.

How was the draw done?

Rather than using FIFA’s rankings as is tradition in World Cups and continental tournaments, the pots used for the Olympic draw were determined by nations’ past performances in the Games. The ranking system is based on the total number of points obtained in the last five editions of the men’s Olympic football tournament (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a loss) covering the 2020, 2016, 2012, 2008 and 2004 Olympics. As a result, the United States’ fourth-place finish in 2000 — the best in program history — had no impact on where the team fell in the ranking. 

The United States was in Pot 3 for the draw, alongside Egypt, Mali, and the third-ranked qualifier from Asia (to be determined in May). The draw presented some potentially tricky opponents: namely, France and Argentina in Pot 1, and Spain and Morocco (won CAF) in Pot 2.As the draw for Pot 3 began, the United States caught a break when the first-drawn side, an as-yet undetermined third-place finisher in AFC’s qualifying, was unable to be drawn into Group A. As a result, that team was assigned to Group B — the strongest group through the first two rounds boasting Argentina and Morocco. Rather than facing a pair of programs coming off of top-four finishes at the 2022 World Cup, the USA was drawn into Group A. Along with host nation France, the United States joined New Zealand — which reached the quarterfinal in the Tokyo Olympics — and whichever side wins an intercontinental playoff between Guinea and the fourth-place finisher in AFC qualifying.

Who are the USMNT’s opponents?

New Zealand breezed through Oceania qualifying in August and September. They won their opener over Papua New Guinea after their opponent forfeited, then beat Fiji, Vanuatu, and Fiji (a second time) by a combined 20-1 margin. Many players on their roster play in their domestic league, although 21-year-old forward Jesse Randall lines up for USL Championship side Charleston Battery.

France boasts one of the best youth development pipelines in the world these days, and should field plenty of promising players under Henry’s management. Among them are Nice midfielder Khéphren Thuram, Lyon forward Rayan Cherki, PSG forward Bradley Barcola and Chelsea wing back Malo Gusto. 

The United States has a pool of players playing regular minutes for senior clubs, both in MLS and abroad. Among the most likely players to be included are former FC Dallas homegrown Bryan Reynolds, New York Red Bulls defender John Tolkin, Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Paxten Aaronson (on loan with Vitesse), and Real Salt Lake playmaker Diego Luna.

Full Olympic men’s tournament draw results:

Group A

1. France
2. USA 
3. ICP AFC-CAF
4. New Zealand (pot 2)

Group B

1. Argentina
2. Morocco
3. AFC 3
4. Ukraine

Group C 

1. AFC 2
2. Spain
3. Egypt
4. Dominican Republic

Group D

1. AFC 1
2. Paraguay
3. Mali
4. Israel

This story will be updated. 

USWNT drops to a record low in FIFA rankings: What it means and why it happened

By Meg Linehan Mar 15, 2024 87

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The USWNT has dropped to No. 4 in the latest FIFA rankings released on Friday, marking the first time the program has fallen out of the top three since the establishment of the rankings in 2003.

In its announcement, FIFA said the USWNT drop is thanks to the team’s 2-0 loss to Mexico in the group stage of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, though the team later went on to win the tournament.

Spain retained the top spot in the rankings, with England moving up two spots to No. 2, France staying at No. 3, and the U.S. dropping two spots to fourth.

How did recent results impact rankings?

The formula used to compute FIFA rankings is weighted to bias recent results, and the impact of that formula can be seen throughout the top spots.

Spain benefited from their UEFA Nations League win over France in February. France, on the other side of that final, did not lose any ground despite the loss to Spain. England’s 5-1 win over Italy and 7-2 victory over Austria in February provided the momentum to send the Lionesses to second place on the rankings for this edition.

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The USWNT had never dropped below third place on the FIFA rankings in the team’s history, which in itself was a new low following the 2023 World Cup. Since the establishment of the women’s rankings in 2003 and until August 2023, the U.S. had never been outside of the top two.

While the loss to Mexico may have been costly on the rankings, ultimately it may have served as a necessary gut punch for the USWNT as it entered the knockout stages of the Gold Cup, defeating Colombia, Canada and Brazil en route to the trophy.

Why do these rankings matter?

The FIFA rankings are often used to determine seeding or pots for international events. Notably, this includes the Olympics, which the USWNT will participate in this summer.

Still, the U.S. drop may not have much of an effect on the upcoming 2024 draw — England/Great Britain did not qualify for the tournament, and France will be serving as host, so the USWNT’s drop to fourth may not actually have too much impact.

USMNT forward Haji Wright settled a cup classic – like Coventry City, he is on the up

Jack LangMar 16, 2024

Perhaps the biggest compliment you could pay to Coventry City in the wake of their FA Cup quarter-final success against Wolverhampton Wanderers is that it did not feel like a shock.Sure, this was a Premier League side getting knocked out by one from the division below. The nature of the 3-2 victory — Coventry were behind after 90 minutes but scored two stoppage-time goals — also conferred smash-and-grab credentials. But no one who has watched City this season, whether quietly clawing their way up the Championship standings or racking up the goals in earlier rounds of this competition, will have had them pegged as no-hopers before kick-off.

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No one who has been listening to the mood music coming from the club, either.

Exhibit A: “The club feels in such a good place. It’s ready to take off.”

Exhibit B: “We’re on the cusp of doing something great. It’s close.”

These quotes were given some eight months apart. The first was manager Mark Robins’ assessment of the mood at the club in May 2023, before the Championship play-off final against Luton. The second dates back to the start of February, when a 12-game unbeaten streak in all competitions had filled record signing Haji Wright with optimism.

Wright celebrates his last-gasp winner (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Both referred primarily to Coventry’s hopes of returning to the Premier League — painfully thwarted last season but now very much alive again. The FA Cup was a fun diversion, a little extra-curricular adventure — at least, it was until Saturday lunchtime, when it became part of the A-plot, simultaneously a gift to the fans and proof of concept.

“The players will take that confidence into the rest of the season,” said Robins at Molineux. “There’s a Wembley trip for everyone to get excited about. This is just another reward for all the hard work that they do.”

To say that it has been a long journey to this point would be to undersell it by an order of magnitude. After being relegated from the Premier League in 2001, Coventry stumbled into football’s shadowlands. They became a middling second-division team, then a struggling one. In 2012, they sunk to League One; five years later came the ignominy of demotion to League Two. This would have been grim for any club — for one that had spent 34 consecutive years in the top flight from 1967, it was hell.

When Robins took over as manager in March 2017, he found a club on its knees. The fans were alienated, morale among players and staff was non-existent. “It was done,” Robins said last year. “It was done. You could that feel everybody had given up. It was as bad as any club I’d ever worked at. Terrible.”

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Robins, low-key to the point of grumpiness, steadied the ship. Coventry dragged themselves back to League One at the first time of asking, then into the Championship two seasons later. Throughout, drama off the field — they had to play home games in Birmingham, after an earlier spell at Northampton, between 2019 and 2021 due to a rent dispute, then started the 2022-23 season with a spate of away fixtures because the pitch at the CBS Arena had been cut up by rugby sevens matches — has been tempered with patience and equanimity on it.

The way they reset after last year’s play-off disappointment was typical. Coventry sold their two best players, Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer, but used the income smartly. In came a host of capable — and cheap — defenders, plus Japan winger Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Everton striker Ellis Simms and Wright, a seven-cap United States international signed from Turkish club Antalyaspor for £7.7million ($10m at today’s rates).

That was a sizeable investment but one that is paying off handsomely: the 25-year-old’s winner against Wolves, guided delicately into the far corner, was his 15th goal of the season in all competitions. Continued form like this has put him back in Gregg Berhalter’s thinking – he was overlooked for the recent Nations League squad but has now joined as an injury replacement for Norwich City striker Josh Sargent.

Wright enters the Nations League window with more World Cup appearances (four) than senior U.S. appearances of any other type (three).

Wright played four times in the World Cup in Qatar (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Five of the players who started on Saturday arrived in the summer — it would likely have been six were Sakamoto not injured — and it was perhaps inevitable that all of the new faces would take time to gel. As recently as November, Coventry were in the Championship relegation zone. Instead of panicking, however, they just knuckled down, confident in the methods that had dragged them back from the brink.

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Some credit is due to Doug King, the local businessman who completed a full takeover of City in January 2023, ending the club’s association with the deeply divisive Sisu Capital. The deal he signed to keep Coventry at the CBS Arena — their on-off home since 2005, formerly known as the Ricoh Arena — for five seasons was a popular move, as was the restoration of the company name to Coventry City Football Club Limited. Under SISA, they had been operating under the crushingly corporate Otium Entertainment Group Limited.

But the star of this story is, of course, Robins. There is real intensity behind the unassuming exterior, which might explain his knack for unlocking untapped potential and his apology for celebrating in front of a ballboy at Molineux.

Witness the form of Kasey Palmer, who has blossomed since arriving from Bristol City two years ago, or that of Callum O’Hare, a kind of hall-of-mirrors Jack Grealish, now one of the Championship’s most watchable players.

GO DEEPER

Coventry are cooking again – they will have big say in Championship promotion race

Simms, the two-goal hero against Wolves, could also be put in that category, as could Wright, who cited Robins’ faith as a major factor in his and Simms’ recent uptick in form.

“Ellis and I didn’t have amazing starts here but he believed in us,” Wright said after his winner. “Now we are in a spot where we can show ourselves.”

The same is true of the club as a whole. Coventry are through to their first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, when they went on to win it. It will be a tough ask to repeat that feat, but it is impossible to ignore the momentum building behind Robins and his men. It could take them further in this competition — and, who knows, all the way back to the Premier League.

FINAL STATS

Memphis, Tenn. (Saturday, March 16, 2024) – Indy Eleven leaves Memphis victorious, 2-1, against Western Conference opponent Memphis 901 FC in the second game of the season-opening road swing. The Boys in Blue improve to 1-1-0 in 2024 and Memphis 901 FC drops to 1-1-0.

Preseason hero Jack Blake drew a well-earned penalty and converted that penalty into an early 1-0 lead in the 26^th minute. Later, a cross from Aedan Stanley would lead to chaos in front of the net where Douglas Martinez would rainbow the ball over the keeper and head the ball into the back of the net, doubling the lead for Indy in the 42^nd minute. The Boys in Blue looked stout on defense in the first half keeping Memphis to zero shots on goal. In the 46^th minute, Memphis 901 FC defender Oscar Jiménez was awarded his second yellow of the day leaving his team a man down for the rest of the match. The second half began less eventful for both squads, with both teams making a handful of subs and lots of back-and-forth soccer. Finally, in the 91^st minute, Memphis cut the lead in half as defender Abdoulaye Cissoko scored off a bicycle kick. The goal increased pressure on the Boys in Blue in the final minutes but they ultimately held strong to win the match 2-1.

USL Championship Regular Season
Memphis 901 FC 1:2 Indy Eleven
Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 4 p.m. ET 
AutoZone Park – Memphis, Tenn.

2024 USL Championship Records
Indy Eleven: 1-1-0 (+1)
Memphis 901 FC: 1-1-0 (-1)

Scoring Summary
IND – Jack Blake 26’
IND – Douglas Martinez (Aedan Stanley) 42’
MEM – Abdoulaye Cissoko 91’

Discipline Summary
IND – Callum Chapman-Page (caution) 8’
MEM – Oscar Jiménez (caution) 15’
MEM – Tulu (caution) 25’
IND – Daniel Barbir (caution) 35’
MEM – Oscar Jiménez (Second Yellow, election) 46
IND – Douglas Martinez (caution) 57’
IND – Ethan O’Brien (caution) 90 +3’
MEM – Abdoulaye Cissoko (caution) 90 + 4’
MEM – Akeem Ward (ejection) 90 + 7’

Indy Eleven line-up (4-3-3): Yannik Oettl, Aedan Stanley, Danny Barbir, Callum Chapman-Page (Macca King 72’), Josh O’Brien, Tyler Gibson (Captain) (Ethan O’Brien 90+3’), Cam Lindley, Jack Blake, Sebastián Guenzatti (Elliot Collier 72’), Augustine Williams, Douglas Martinez (Karsen Henderlong 63’)

Indy Subs: Jay Klein, Roberto Molina, Hunter Sulte

Memphis 901 FC line-up: Tyler Deric, Akeem Ward, Carson Vom Steeg, Tulu, Oscar Jiménez, Emerson Hyndman (Lucas Turci 45’), Zach Duncan, Samuel Careaga, Bruno Lapa (Dylan Borczak 72’), Luiz Fernando (Marlon 45’), Nighte Pickering (Neco Brett 72’)

How can NWSL fans watch every match this season? What to know about broadcast, schedule changes

By The Athletic Soccer staffMar 15, 2024

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By Jeff Rueter, Meg Linehan, Melanie Anzidei and Steph Yang

Welcome to the 2024 season of the National Women’s Soccer League. This season, which kicks off with four matches on Saturday, is different from its predecessors in a few ways — primarily with the addition of two expansion teams, and the league’s biggest broadcast deal to date. The Olympics are also happening, which has prompted the league to take a midseason break and host an international club tournament while the U.S. women’s national team competes in Paris.

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How you can watch the NWSL is changing in a major way this season, too. So we’ve put together this preview with everything you’ll need ahead of the regular season kickoff (and Friday night’s Challenge Cup match) from how to watch to major storylines, plus the USWNT and international connections across the 14 teams.

To keep following The Athletic’s NWSL coverage, don’t forget to follow the league and your team(s) of choice by managing your feed. And to make sure you don’t miss any of our coverage, subscribe to our women’s soccer newsletter Full Time. It’s our biggest stories paired with Full Time exclusive insights delivered straight to your inbox every week. With the season starting, we’ll be sending out each edition on Monday to make sure you’re all caught up from every NWSL weekend.

How to watch

121 of the 189 total NWSL regular season games this year have been spread out across four different partners as part of its new four-year broadcast deal: CBS, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, and Scripps’ ION (Fun fact: ION was originally launched as PAX TV, which was the original TV network for WUSA broadcasts). Each partner has their own slate of games, and the remainder of the games will stream on the league’s NWSL+ service.

We’ve laid out what you need to know to watch all the games below if you are a viewer in the United States; we’re still waiting on international broadcast information.

Prime Video

Amazon will broadcast Friday night matches.

You do not need an Amazon Prime membership to use Prime Video, although Amazon clearly wants you to get a full Prime subscription based on how difficult it is to only subscribe to Prime Video or even dig up the information that you can subscribe to Prime Video on its own.

If you do not have an Amazon Prime account, you can currently still sign up for Prime Video on its own as a regular Amazon member. If you do have Amazon Prime, then Prime Video should be included as a service, although going ad free will cost an additional $2.99/month.

Cost: $8.99 per month

To watch, log in to your Amazon account, open the drop down menu that lists all of Amazon’s services, look under “Digital Content & Devices,” and choose Prime Video. Once on the Prime Video page, under the “Home” drop down tab, and choose “Sports.”

GO DEEPER

Prime Video tabs its 2024 NWSL broadcast team

ION

ION will air Saturday night doubleheader games at 7:30 and 10:30 PM ET.

You can either check to see if ION is on linear television in your area, or you can sign in with select existing streaming services.

Cost: If you use a TV antenna and can find ION’s broadcast signal in your area, you can watch for free.

CBS

CBS will air games on the CBS television channel or CBS Sports Network. CBS games will also stream on Paramount+, but CBSSN games will not.

Cost: $5.99 per month or $59.99 per year for the basic Paramount+ Essential plan.

ESPN

Games will be spread across ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN2, while also streaming on ESPN+. Crucially, if the game is on an ESPN channel, it will also stream on ESPN+, which isn’t the case for CBS Sports Network and Paramount+.

There are a lot of options for watching ESPN, such as logging in with your existing service provider or by bundling ESPN+ with a Disney+ subscription.

Cost: $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year for an ESPN+ subscription.

NWSL+

The league will stream the remainder of their games on NWSL+. The app can be used on iOS and Android devices, and can be added to Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku.

Sign up here.

Cost: Free

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More reading: 

• NWSL announces 4-year TV deals with ESPN, CBS, Prime Video: Why it’s a win for the league
• NWSL Schedule: Key matchups and Challenge Cup details

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What’s at stake this season

Challenge Cup

The season kicks off with the Challenge Cup, which has been reformatted from a season-long tournament to a one-off game between the 2023 champions, Gotham FC, and the 2023 shield winners, San Diego Wave. It’s a smart move to decongest the schedule and create a more meaningful game for players and fans, as well as to hopefully set the tone for the rest of the season by beginning with a bang.

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NWSL shield

For the rest of the season, everything will obviously be influenced by having two new expansion teams. They have historically done poorly in the NWSL by virtue of being so new and needing to work out the kinks. There are exceptions of course; the aforementioned shield winners, the Wave, played their way to the semifinals in their inaugural season and came third overall in the regular season under the stellar coaching of Casey Stoney. And with several teams having retooled themselves under new ownership, there’s a lot of hunger out there to see what they can be with a clean slate. Whether it’s the Portland Thorns, who were just one win shy of the shield, or the dead-last Chicago Red Stars, there are exciting storylines anywhere you look up and down the table.

Mid-summer Olympic tournament

The NWSL announced that they will host an international club tournament while the league takes a break from July 15 to August 18 for the Olympics. There’s no word yet on which clubs might be involved, although based on other tournaments like the International Champions’ Cup and The Women’s Cup, it’s a strong bet that the NWSL will look to clubs from England, France, and Germany. Some NWSL teams also have relationships with Liga MX Femenil clubs, potentially bringing Mexico into the running, too.

Expanded postseason

With two more teams entering the fold this season, the NWSL Playoffs will have an additional two qualifiers. The top eight teams from the regular season will advance to the postseason, playing a single-elimination knockout bracket from November 9 to November 23. In recent seasons, the top two teams enjoyed a first-round bye, but there will be no earned respite in the new format. This makes for a cleaner bracket and an increased chance for the kind of chaotic upsets we’ve all come to love.

Championship

Of course, there is a championship trophy (a very nice, upgraded one, in fact) ultimately on the line. Defending champs Gotham FC don’t have a worst-in-the-league chip on their shoulder to motivate them anymore, while heavy hitters in the Wave and Portland Thorns will be seeking dominance again. There’s also the North Carolina Courage, who seemed to be just on the cusp of becoming that team to be feared when they got knocked out of playoffs.

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Big storylines

Gotham FC superteam

The reigning NWSL champions had a busy offseason. In a span of five days, and after weeks of reports, Gotham FC announced a flurry of blockbuster signings that brought national team stars Crystal Dunn, Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett and Rose Lavelle to NJ/NY. The USWNT regulars joined an already-stacked roster that included Lynn Williams, Midge Purce, Kelley O’Hara and World Cup winner Esther Gonzalez. Rightfully, many are calling Gotham FC the NWSL’s newest “super team” — and it’s a title the franchise is ready to defend. In a crowded room welcoming the Class of ‘24, GM Yael Averbuch West told reporters: “We enjoy that type of pressure. I think it’s a more enjoyable pressure than trying to climb from the bottom to the top.”

But stacking your roster with high-demand internationals is a gamble in an Olympic year. Already we’re seeing the double-edged sword: head coach Juan Carlos Amorós told media during the team’s preseason tournament in Colombia, “It’s no secret. We’ve got a lot of players that are not here. At the moment, we have 12 (out of) 30 players available for the team. We’ve completed the team with 10 trialists and that’s how we are operating, so we know we are doing the best we can. And I’m very, very proud and I’m very happy with how the team is developing (and) doing, despite only 50% of the player base over here.”

Expansion team performance

Two years after Angel City and San Diego furthered the NWSL’s westward expansion, the league’s geographic reach continues to grow with the debuts of Bay FC and Utah Royals FC. Both sides are beginning a coach who is untested at this level: Albertin Montoya for Bay and former USWNT forward Amy Rodriguez for Utah. Given Bay’s extreme spending on the top of its roster (more on that below), Utah following previous conventional wisdom of building around players made available by NWSL rivals and top draft selections feels modest by comparison. The NWSL is hard to predict at the start of a year, of course, and Utah will hope the lack of acclimation needed for its players can allow them to start the year strong.

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NWSL competing in the global market

There have been some huge international signings this offseason. The Orlando Pride have brought in Barbra Banda and Luana and the Portland Thorns landed Jessie Fleming, Louisville added Linda Motlhalo, and the Seattle Reign brought Angharad James over from Tottenham. Bay FC alone has signed Racheal Kundananji (for a world record fee), Asisat Oshoala, and Deyna Castellanos. The Washington Spirit also went big in hiring former Barcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez.

There’s been some hand-wringing about the NWSL’s ability to keep up with the Joneses in the global market, but this flurry of offseason deals is strong evidence for the continuing ambition to keep the NWSL entertaining and competitive, as well as a signal about (some) clubs’ willingness to spend — especially with the coming salary cap increase and the ongoing injection of cash from wealthier and wealthier investors. Of course there’s an entire season to see if these clubs can turn ambition into on-field results, but if any of them manage to find the right formula of personnel, coaches, and tactics with their marquee names, it’ll push other teams across the board to keep searching for competitive advantages.

New owners, new ambitions

In addition to expansion teams, two teams will also enter the 2024 season under new ownership: Portland Thorns FC and the Chicago Red Stars. For both of these teams, it’s the long-awaited fresh start following the abuse scandal that came to light in 2021, with Merritt Paulson and Arnim Whisler first stepping back, then eventually selling their respective clubs.

In Portland, Lisa Bhathal Merage leads the new ownership group (one that also owns the NBA’s Sacramento Kings), which has promised to keep the Thorns in Portland and build a new training facility. In Chicago, Laura Ricketts’ takeover got over the line before the close of the 2023 season, but following her first offseason in charge and with new head coach Lorne Donaldson and a healthy Mal Swanson, righting the Red Stars ship is a project that is finally, truly underway.

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More reading: 

• What we know about the USL Super League so far
• 2024 NWSL kit tiers: The good, the okay and the yuck as every team gets two new looks
• Portland Thorns complete $63 million sale to Bhathal family
• Chicago Red Stars new owner Laura Ricketts eager to lead team out of years-long limbo

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USWNT & international connections

The majority of the USWNT plays in the NWSL — and as mentioned above, Gotham FC is now the team stacked with a ton of both U.S. national team talent and some big international names too. While this isn’t a complete list by any stretch, watching the NWSL is essential to understanding the USWNT.

Plenty of teams carry both veteran and youth talent — just look at the San Diego Wave, with Alex Morgan leading the front line, joined by center back Naomi Girma (expected to be the heart of the USWNT’s defense for the next few cycles) and Jaedyn Shaw (who impressed at the W Gold Cup and can’t stop scoring).

Expect plenty of focus on Mal Swanson’s return to the field in Chicago, but Alyssa Naeher’s performance in goal for the Red Stars could be instrumental in her bid to stay the No. 1 option for the U.S. Over at North Carolina, Casey Murphy will be getting her own reps in goal, and Ashley Sanchez gets a fresh start with the Courage after a surprise trade from the Washington Spirit.

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If you want to keep an eye on players fighting for spots for the 18-player roster for the Olympics, the Portland Thorns might be one of your better options. Sophia Smith is part of a deep forward pool, but it’s midfielders Sam Coffey and Olivia Moultrie who are still building their cases ahead of Emma Hayes’ USWNT arrival later this spring.

The NWSL is also home to some of the most notable stars in women’s soccer globally, like Brazilian icon Marta and Canada’s longtime captain Christine Sinclair, who both recently retired from the international stage. There’s a high chance this coming season could be their last at the club level too, paving the way for some emotional farewells.

In addition to the record-breaking international signings already mentioned, other players who shined on last summer’s world stage also recently found their way to the NWSL — like South Korea’s Casey Phair, who, at 16, became the youngest player to ever play in a World Cup and recently signed with Angel City, and Gotham FC’s Esther, who was part of Spain’s World Cup-winning team. A record 16 World Cup teams featured talent from the NWSL player pool, according to the league.

There’s also Mexican forward María Sánchez, who for a couple of weeks was considered the highest-paid player in the NWSL, after inking a $1.5 million deal with the Houston Dash. (That title now potentially belongs to Mallory Swanson.) Sánchez got her start in La Liga MX, like Argentina’s Sophie Braun, who recently signed with the Kansas City Current.

Other notable internationals in NWSL: Ji So-Yun (South Korea, Seattle Reign); Hannah Stambaugh (Japan, Angel City); Jen Beattie (Scotland, Bay FC); Jessie Fleming (Canada, Portland Thorns); Quinn (Canada, Reign FC); Jordyn Huitema (Canada, Seattle Reign FC); Jess Fishlock (Wales, Seattle Reign FC);  Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden, San Diego Wave FC); Bruninha (Brazil, Gotham FC); Maitane López (Spain, Gotham FC); Sinead Farrelly (Ireland, Gotham FC); Emily Van Egmond (Australia, San Diego Wave FC); Adriana (Brazil, Orlando Pride); Debinha (Brazil, Kansas City Current); Mariana Larroquette (Argentina, Orlando Pride); Kailen Sheridan (Canada; San Diego Wave FC); Jun Endō (Japan, Angel City FC); Ali Riley (New Zealand, Angel City FC); Ifeoma Onumonu (Nigeria, Gotham FC)

(Top photo: Robyn Beck and Ulrik Pedersen, Getty Images; Design Eammon Dalton)

MLS Power Rankings: Suárez boosts Inter Miami, LAFC fall off

• Ryan Rosenblatt

Mar 18, 2024, 02:38 PM ETShareLikeOpen Extended Reactions

It’s Monday, another week of MLS action is in the books, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Our Power Rankings are derived from a combination of key season statistics (points per game, goal differential, expected goal (xG) differential), recent performance, the Opta computer ratings, and the observations of our writers.

So, who’s climbing the table? Who’s in free fall? We’ve ranked all 29 clubs in the league after Matchday 4. Let’s dive in.

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<img alt=”

1. Columbus Crew

Previous ranking: 1

The Crew were free flowing, gorgeous every time they went forward and Cucho Hernández was cooking. Basically, it was a pretty normal game for Columbus as they made the vaunted RBNY press look pedestrian en route to a 3-0 win.<img alt=”

2. Inter Miami CF

Previous ranking: 2

It’s easy to say that Inter is Team Lionel Messi, and when the greatest player of all time is on the pitch Miami will rightly be Messi-centric, but they fared pretty well without him in the second half of last season. Their first match without their maestro this season went well too, as Luis Suárez scored twice to win 3-1, in D.C. There’s more to this team than Messi, still.

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3. FC Cincinnati

Previous ranking: 4

Cincy didn’t look so hot in the first half, but they got Lucho Acosta on at halftime and suddenly, they were well on their way to a 2-1 win in New England. Shockingly, playing the MVP makes a big difference.<img alt=”

4. Atlanta United FC

Previous ranking: 4

Everyone knows Giorgos Giakoumakis is a heck of a goal scorer, but he flashed his creativity with a great pass to set up Saba Lobjanidze‘s goal as Atlanta rolled to a 2-0 win over Orlando.

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5. Real Salt Lake

Previous ranking: 9

RSL’s bye week was well-timed as the Utah Royals got the local spotlight in their return to NWSL.<img alt=”

6. New York Red Bulls

Previous ranking: 5

RBNY’s typically excellent press was ripped apart by the Crew in a 3-0 loss. The Red Bulls have looked good this season, but there’s still a gap between them and the league’s top teams.<img alt=”

7. Philadelphia Union

Previous ranking: 7

There’s nothing more reliable than Dániel Gazdag from the penalty spot. He’s converted every spot kick he’s taken for the Union, but his latest wasn’t enough to deliver victory as Philly had to settle for a 2-2 draw in Austin.

8. Minnesota United

Previous ranking: 15

Eric Ramsey made a good first impression in Minnesota with a 2-0 win over LAFC. It’s too early to get a read on the Loons’ new boss, but he has so much talent at his disposal and Emanuel Reynoso made his return from injury over the weekend. With him in the fold, Minnesota has every reason to believe the MLS Cup could head north.

Minnesota United take down LAFC 2-0 at home

Minnesota United take down LAFC 2-0 at home

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9. LA Galaxy

Previous ranking: 8

Joseph Paintsil has only played four MLS matches, but he’s already making his case as one of the best players in the league. If the rest of the Galaxy could give him a little more help, they wouldn’t be settling for a 3-3 draw against St. Louis when they should have eased to victory.

10. CF Montréal

Previous ranking: 12

Laurent Courtois will spend a lot of time in the video room figuring out how to tighten up the CFM defense, but there’s nothing anyone could have done about the Fire’s windswept 99th-minute winner that beat Montréal 4-3.

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