As is seemingly always the case, USMNT discourse is exhausting. Today’s topic is the Concacaf Nations League, which the fanbase has overwhelmingly declared a useless competition because they defeated a weakened Cuba side 7-0 at home (There were some Mexico voices saying similar things about Bermuda, but for the most part they were more respectful).
Where to even begin with this. First of all, there are 41 teams in Concacaf, so saying the competition is worthless is just... baffling. If you’re reading this you know my stance on the Nations League for the smaller countries. I’m not going to get into it and will simply say that it is very good. This rant is exclusively talking about the US.
Now what these fans presumably intend to say is that the competition is useless FOR THE US, but those are two entirely different things. The Nations League is of great benefit to literally everyone outside of Mexico, who are *maybe* capable of getting high enough quality friendlies where I could say they’re more valuable than the upcoming competitive games against Panama (and even Bermuda, who are actually a solid team!).
But for the US, forget it. The team that just finished fifth in the Hex and last cycle lost to Trinidad and Guatemala on the road in World Cup qualifying is not in any way “above” the Nations League. I’d love to know how playing at Canada in a decisive game is not better than playing Paraguay’s B team in Charlotte before a crowd of 6,000 people.
But hey let’s even assume friendlies are better. Cool! This tournament doesn’t replace friendlies, it replaces the first group stage of the World Cup qualifiers, which no longer exists. In that stage last cycle the US played St. Vincent and the Grenadines twice, Guatemala twice, and Trinidad twice. In this Nations League they’ll play Cuba twice, Canada twice, and then likely Honduras and Mexico in the knockout round. How is that not a better schedule for the US?
Considering the team’s greatest pitfall has been they can’t win away from home against almost anyone in the region, surely playing competitive games away from home against teams in the region would be the best way to practice that skill?
I don’t even understand what the fanbase wants instead. Do people believe we can just schedule top teams whenever we want? UEFA has their own Nations League now and play less friendlies than ever before. CONMEBOL teams are available sometimes, but the US typically plays those teams at home, which doesn’t really help solve their problems at all.
So like, what is the problem here? Yes this particular Cuba side at home is not a super-useful experience, but the Cuba game only happened the way it did due to extraordinary circumstances. Prior to the recent waves of defections, first at the Gold Cup and then again in Canada last month, the team was playing well in qualifying, finishing ahead of Jamaica and El Salvador who are both currently in League B. But even so, Canada is not worth our time now?
For the record, I am not entirely of the opinion that the US is not good. Much moreso I am of the opinion that lots of Concacaf teams are good. Curaçao took the US to the brink in the Gold Cup because they’re just a good team. Same for Haiti with Mexico.
The idea that the US should be beating every island nation 6-0 just shows a complete lack of knowledge about any of their local opposition. “Games vs Trinidad don’t count” is such a hilarious mindset considering that... nevermind. Just throwing it out there that if the Gold Cup had a rotating host, a LOT of different countries would have won it by now and the perception that the US and Mexico are an untouchable duopoly wouldn't exist.
Please think about the fact that the US regularly loses to almost every team in League A and that if they want to get back to the World Cup they need to stop regularly losing to League A level teams before the next Hex starts up. Perhaps some practice matches against those teams is a good idea?
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