The backlash was instantaneous.
The moment that the U.S. men's soccer team completed its loss to Trinidad and Tobago, the worst team in CONCACAF, and unforgivingly failed to advance out of the most forgiving region in World Cup qualifying, the howls began.
Loud and surly.
There's no sugarcoating: This was a disaster of the first order for men's soccer in this country. The World Cup, the great quadrennial lure of new fandom, will take place in Russia next year with no American squad for our country to rally behind. This will have financial repercussions for the U.S. Soccer Federation, but will hurt far more deeply at a psychic level, taking "something out of the soccer soul of the country," in the words of veteran soccer journalist Michael Lewis, speaking to Sporting News.
Analyst and former U.S. team member Taylor Twellman went on an epic rant on ESPN. Another former player, Tony Meola, declared himself "gutted, confused, angry, pissed, shocked and embarrassed" in a column he wrote for the New York Post. Alexi Lalas last month had referred to the U.S. squad as "a bunch of soft, underperforming, tattooed millionaires" during an MLS broadcast.
Garth Lagerwey, general manager of the Sounders, admitted he watched in disbelief the stunning turn of events on Tuesday, when the perfect storm of imperfection took place: The U.S. losing 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago, which finished last among the six teams in the final stage of qualifying, while simultaneously, Honduras beat Mexico and Panama defeated Costa Rica (on a stunning late goal by Roman Torres of the Sounders).
If any one of those results went a different way _ and all were considered upsets _ the U.S. would have stayed alive. Heading into the day, the U.S. odds of advancing had been calculated at 97 percent. But it all went awry.
"I was angry, if I'm being honest," Lagerwey said. "I don't think it should have happened. But that's not my purview, and I have to try to solve the things I can solve."
Therein lies the silver lining that can come out of this failure, beyond the predictable call for heads to roll. Coach Bruce Arena has already resigned. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati says he won't step down, but he's up for re-election in February and could face a stiff challenge.
More importantly, the stunning nature of the U.S. ouster will inspire an unflinching examination of the entire national program for men's soccer, a reassessment that, if done honestly, can _ indeed must _ lead to positive change.
There is precedent for this. Germany's program fell into disrepair in the late 1990s, culminating with a disastrous showing at the 2004 European Championship. That led to a total revamping of that country's system across all levels of the game _ and was followed a decade later by a World Cup triumph in Brazil in 2014.
"They needed those big shocks to the system in 2000 and 2004, disastrous Euros, before people realized something is fundamentally wrong here," said Raphael Honigstein, author of "Das Reboot: How German Football Reinvented Itself and Conquered the World," in an interview in The Guardian.
Lagerwey cautions that there are no cut-and-dried solutions, as much as people want there to be. The issues are complex, and nuanced.
"U.S. soccer has had this bad outcome. How do we work together to solve it?" he said. "It's not maybe a straightforward answer."
Donna Shalala, a member of the U.S. Soccer board of directors, tweeted out this week that it's "More than a wake-up call. Time for a revolution." Most people seem to be pointing toward youth development as the area most in need of reformation for U.S. men's soccer to reach its full potential, specifically the so-called "pay to play" system that often excludes low-income and urban families from participating.
Lagerwey believes that, to some extent, the financial investment by the Sounders, and the rest of Major League Soccer, in player development through the free academies that are mandated for each MLS team, needs more time to reap the benefits _ five to seven years, in his estimation.
"I think from the MLS standpoint, we'd love to be part of the solution," Lagerwey said. "I think we at the Sounders can develop more players, we can develop better players, and that in turn is going to help the quality of the league and the overall enterprise."
Lagerwey insisted that the U.S. ouster won't ruin the World Cup experience for Seattle soccer fans because they still have Torres, Nicolas Lodeiro and possibly Gustav Svensson of the Sounders to root for. But that's calling the glass half full after it's been taken out of the dishwasher and put back on the shelf. While it might be the case for hard-core fans, it doesn't detract from what Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl called "the most embarrassing failure in U.S. Soccer history."
It seems inevitable that this result will lead to new leadership in U.S. Soccer. In fact, Wahl proposed a new general-manager position be created to dictate strategy in player development and nominated Lagerwey as an ideal candidate.
Lagerwey deflected that talk on Thursday, saying he was fully focused on the Sounders' bid for a repeat MLS title. They face Dallas on Sunday at CenturyLink Field. Lagerwey has one of the most fertile soccer minds in the U.S., and it would make sense for the federation to consider him for a leadership role.
For now, Lagerwey believes it's incumbent for everyone in the soccer community to get past the anger and criticism and work toward solutions. Sometimes, a big shock to the system is the best impetus for progress.
"I think we at the Sounders can develop more players, we can develop better players, and that in turn is going to help the quality of the league and the overall enterprise."I think we at the Sounders can develop more players, we can develop better players, and that in turn is going to help the quality of the league and the overall enterprise."
