USMNT's trouncing of Trinidad and Tobago was a step, not atonement
When Bob Bradley was the head coach of the United States men’s national team, he had a kind of credo: “It’s a process.”
He’d return to it again and again. And it sort of started to feel like a crutch he used when he didn’t really want to answer the media’s questions, which he seldom did back then. Everything was a process. All triumphs and failures and progress and setbacks were constituent parts of the process. Every pass and run and shot. Process. It was a clever way of superimposing a grand design on the haphazard things that happen to a soccer team over the course of a year.
Gregg Berhalter is now knee-deep in a process of his own, rebuilding this national team after a World Cup missed and the dismantling of a core that had grown old and stale. Over the course of six months, that process is off to 5-2-1 start, with every win also registered as a shutout. There were encouraging signs and also regressions, like the 3-0 spanking at the hands of Venezuela on the eve of the Gold Cup.
But that tournament has gotten off to a strong start. After the 4-0 victory over Guyana in the opener on Tuesday, the Americans walloped Trinidad and Tobago 6-0 on Saturday to secure a place in the quarterfinals with a game to spare.
It felt like, in a small way, the game exorcised the demons of Couva, where the Americans squandered qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia by losing to T&T in late 2017 – an unlikely scenario aided and abetted by unexpected results elsewhere.
But mostly, it seemed like another benchmark.
And in a sense, this systematic destruction of the abject Soca Warriors, who weren’t a whole lot better than an overmatched Guyana, was its own process writ small.
Because it took the Americans considerable time to find their way through the thicket of defenders and defensive-minded midfielders. But as the first half dragged on, the ball began ticking over between American stations and the combination of quick circulation and penetrating runs from the flanks started to dial up the pressure.
In the course of the game, you could see star forward Christian Pulisic working toward his CONCACAF-destroying form. Weston McKennie continued to go through growing pains but flashed his abundant talent as well. Tyler Boyd, the unexpected 24-year-old sensation, recruited after a failed national team career with lowly New Zealand, was once again lively and menacing from the right flank. Paul Arriola has grown into a consistent contributor. Zack Steffen was solid in goal. The Walker Zimmerman-Aaron Long combination in central defense has been ironclad, albeit against teams that also shouldn’t really trouble them.
And toward the end of the first half, chances began to arise.
So Pulisic clipped a ball to the far post for Long to score on from a diving header. And after the hour, it began raining goals. Gyasi Zardes’ tap-in, and then his sweet curler. Pulisic’s goal of his own, after assisting Zardes, borne from Boyd’s excellent prep work. Arriola’s well-deserved tally, teed up by Jordan Morris. Long’s second, a hustle play after McKennie’s shot was parried. It could have been more, had Zardes not hit the post or Arriola the bar.
But here’s the thing about these games: You win them big and maybe you’re supposed to win them big, yet the danger lurks not so much in failing to run up the score but in assuming that all is well now that a pair of monster results have been posted.
These opponents were fairly dire. Trinidad hasn’t won a game since Sept. 6 of last year, against the United Arab Emirates. Since then, it has managed to lose to Thailand – Thailand! – Iran, Wales, Canada and Panama. The latter awaits the U.S. in its final group stage game on Wednesday, but there’s a strong possibility some of the regulars will be rested. And right now, the Canaleros aren’t a great team either – the U.S. beat them 3-0 at the end of January camp against a diluted team.
The Americans still aren’t the favorites to win this tournament. That would be Mexico. And it’s worth remembering that Jamaica beat the USA 1-0 in a pre-tournament tune-up, and that this result was hardly undeserved.
There have been glimpses aplenty. And the scorelines have been heartening. New players have emerged. The woolly outlines of a new team are slowly showing. But the body of work remains so small.
That’s the thing about a process, it isn’t instant.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a Yahoo Sports soccer columnist and a sports communication lecturer at Marist College. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
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