- 21 hours ago
CBS Golazo host and MLS broadcaster Chris Wittyngham explains why he believes the only way to summarize the USA’s performance at the World Cup is as a failure following their ugly exit vs Belgium.
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00:00Chris Whittingham is on the Toyota of Hollywood hotline.
00:03He's a soccer broadcaster for CBS and Apple TV.
00:06You can see him all tournament long on CBS go lasso.
00:10So what happened against Belgium?
00:13Because we were all excited by the USA and they looked unlike anything we had seen in the tournament.
00:23Up until then, they looked amateurish.
00:27Yeah, they did.
00:28Whatever insults you have, I will agree with.
00:31And it is incredibly startling after what they delivered in the first four games.
00:35And you can say it's a different level of opposition, and it was.
00:39But at the same time, the first game was against Paraguay.
00:41Paraguay made the last 16, beat Germany, and gave France a real run for their money.
00:46So I'm not saying that Paraguay is terrible.
00:48But for whatever reason, and I was sitting with a friend, I was at the game,
00:53and I just kept looking out and going,
00:56there's nothing about this that looks right.
00:58There's nothing about this that looks like they're up for this,
01:00that looks like they have any measure of confidence.
01:03All of the things, all of the details that made them good in the first four games were gone.
01:08In five minutes, their ability to pass in tight spaces,
01:12the ability to control the ball in tight spaces,
01:14the ability to defend with any kind of front-footed, aggressive press towards the opposition.
01:21Belgium, they looked like they were in a training session.
01:23They looked like they had all the time in the world to think about what they were going to do
01:26next with the ball,
01:27and they were going to do this.
01:28And then they had a genuine plan of attack to target the U.S. weaknesses,
01:32which was particularly down the defensive left with Tim Ream and Anteen Robinson,
01:36who were dreadful on the day defensively.
01:38So I have no idea what happened.
01:40It was a rotten performance from start to finish.
01:42And it felt even worse in the stadium than it probably felt on TV.
01:47Because it was like the air let out of the stadium real quick.
01:50For sure.
01:51Even when they equalized?
01:52Yeah, I mean, the equalizer was great.
01:55Let's be honest, it was a deflection.
01:56It was not any kind of reflection of good play.
01:59I think at the start of the second half, you're 2-1 down.
02:02Honestly, everyone around me in my section was like,
02:04if we get to halftime at 2-1 down, that's a win.
02:06Because we just got our ass kicked for 45 minutes.
02:08And so you come out in the second half, and they started playing reasonably well.
02:13But it all comes completely out with the third goal,
02:15and especially the shocking nature of how the goalkeeper comes out.
02:18He should probably punt it away.
02:20And instead, it just gives away a completely amateurish goal instead.
02:24And that just completely lets out all air of the bill.
02:26And there are half-hearted attempts at USA chance and half-hearted attempts.
02:30Oh, maybe we can get something.
02:32But it felt pretty clear that the game was only going one way.
02:35And I think there was a real depression,
02:37especially amongst the people that watch this,
02:40that are diehard fans, that want soccer to grow in this country,
02:43that realize, and now we know the numbers,
02:4642 million people were watching that.
02:4942 million people watched the United States get absolutely demolished.
02:53And every bit of goodwill has seemingly gone as a result of that performance.
02:58You mentioned, Witte, that the U.S. couldn't apply the pressure moving forward.
03:02And I think what stood out to me and you as well, most people,
03:06through the first couple games, was their ability to just control the midfield.
03:10And that's what led to that attack style.
03:12And really, what led to them being able to take advantage of mistakes from the other side.
03:18What was it that Belgium did that took that element of the game out from the U.S.?
03:24Or was it more so that the moment was too big and they just couldn't execute
03:28what had been working for them the entire tournament?
03:31It's genuinely hard to know.
03:33It's genuinely hard to know because from watching the game,
03:35it looked like they just didn't have the level of physicality required to do that,
03:39nor even the desire to do that.
03:40I almost wonder, we don't know what it was like behind the scenes,
03:43but I almost wonder if the coach Pochettino decided,
03:45we're going to zag.
03:47Everyone thinks that we're going to go out there and press them.
03:49We're going to back off a little bit and we're going to try and force them to play.
03:52But they're too good.
03:53They're too good to allow them room to play.
03:55Any player at any kind of high level, when given space, when given time, can do something.
04:00And I think that if it was the approach, seems like it was way off.
04:04But even beyond that, it was just the fact that this Belgium team
04:07was not any kind of overawed.
04:09And it seems like from everything they've said afterwards,
04:12they were really upset about how, frankly, the U.S. sort of pundit class
04:16decided that the U.S. are better than Belgium.
04:18And then, of course, what happened with the Balogun thing,
04:20with the suspension being revoked,
04:21it really seemed like the U.S. would have been better off
04:24with Ricardo Pepe playing in the game and feeling aggrieved
04:28than Fuller and Balogun playing in the game
04:30and feeling like everyone hates them
04:31and feeling like the other team was really upset at what was going on.
04:35So whatever happened behind the scenes for that to happen,
04:38whether it was the president, whether it was U.S. soccer,
04:40whether it was Infantino who decided,
04:42let's have Balogun play in this game,
04:43for as much as I actually thought he was the only player on the pitch
04:46that actually acquitted himself well,
04:48it seemed like that whole storyline and that whole idea
04:52led to this sort of sapping of positivity and good feeling.
04:55I have no idea if that was the reason why they played like that.
04:58But something happened that is not explainable by their ability as players.
05:03Because whether it's the moment or whatever, something got to them.
05:07So what do we do as the post-mortem for the U.S. in the World Cup?
05:13Do we take the positive view of,
05:15hey, this is as good a performance as we've seen in a long time?
05:19In totality, it's hard to say that I know coming off of Monday night.
05:24Or is it like, yeah, same old stuff?
05:28Yeah, there definitely is an element of same old stuff
05:33because ultimately they were the first good team that the U.S. played.
05:37So I think the U.S. has sort of progressively taken steps.
05:40And I think right now you could say that they're in a class of,
05:44let's call it the third tier of teams in the world.
05:47There are the World Cup contenders and the World Cup previous winners.
05:50Right now I'd say that group is probably only France, Spain, England, Argentina.
05:55Then there are high-level teams from South America and Europe,
05:58which you could say are your Brazils, your Germanys,
06:01even Norway now obviously is in that class.
06:03Morocco is in that class.
06:04There are probably seven to eight teams that are in that next tier,
06:09and then the U.S. is in that next group, 13 to let's call it 20,
06:12where they're a good team, they can beat teams that they're better than,
06:16but ultimately the chasm between them and the best teams is massive even still.
06:23And that was the part that I think we wanted to see close to this World Cup,
06:26which I really thought they had a chance to do against Belgium
06:29with how Belgium had looked at this tournament.
06:31But Belgium are a team full of players that play high-level European football
06:34that have all been sold for 30 or 40 million euros, dollars, pounds,
06:39whatever you want to call it, some of them weigh more than that.
06:41And they are established, great players that are leaders in their teams.
06:45And the U.S. has a bunch of players that are also playing at high levels,
06:48but aren't the leaders in their teams.
06:50They aren't the best players in their teams.
06:51And that's the next step.
06:53But unfortunately, that next step sounds easy.
06:55It's incredibly hard.
06:57There's a reason why only eight teams have ever won this thing
06:59and why trying to work your way into that class of teams is so hard.
07:03So the postmortem is you have to treat it as if it's every other failure
07:07that they've had in the World Cup, that you have to start over again,
07:10that you have to think about the system, pay-to-play.
07:14There's been a lot of talk today, at least on my algorithms,
07:16about how do you get players that, frankly, are in lower socioeconomic statuses
07:21or people that work in families that make $50,000 or less.
07:25Landon Donovan had this great quote that to play in club soccer,
07:28organized club soccer in this country,
07:30that only 2% of the people that play organized club soccer
07:34come from households with an income of less than $50,000.
07:38And that's just not what sports is.
07:39Sports at every level is people who are trying to rise above their circumstance
07:44through amazing athletic talent to get into a different part of life.
07:48Yes, there are some rich kids that make it, no question,
07:50but that's not what sports is.
07:51And so I think there's a real impetus to try and fix systemic problems,
07:56which remain problems even if they had beaten Belgium,
07:59but at the very least you feel a little bit better about them.
08:01So maybe this is better for that reason,
08:03that you don't think that you've solved anything in the last 4, 8, 12 years,
08:07whatever time frame you want to call it.
08:09I was going to ask you about that because that's what my algorithm has been as well.
08:13And I think there's a large conversation.
08:15And even broadcasters and former players, you mentioned Landon Donovan,
08:20they've been weighing in.
08:21But Woody, do you actually see a pathway to changing the current model
08:27in the United States?
08:28Because the reality is the powers that be who profit from it
08:32aren't just going to turn around and say,
08:34oh, well, we lost to Belgium.
08:36Okay, we'll step back now, take our millions,
08:39maybe billions of dollars in some instances,
08:41and go build your association football model
08:44that could ultimately in 20, 30 years
08:46be the difference between the U.S. competing at this level or not.
08:49I don't know because usually the answer means
08:52that someone has to give away money.
08:54And that doesn't seem likely.
08:56And by the way, this is not a uniquely soccer problem increasingly.
08:59I think if you look at basketball,
09:01where a lot of the best players in the NBA
09:04are not from the United States of America
09:06and AAU is getting similarly expensive,
09:08I think this problem is coming to that sport as well.
09:12When there are, obviously in American football,
09:14there aren't countries that compete with us.
09:16In baseball, there is some competition,
09:18but baseball is still a sport that the U.S. dominates at.
09:22In sports in which you have to compete on a global scale,
09:26I think our youth sports model,
09:28which is to extract money from rich parents
09:32and from people who have dreams of their kid making it someday,
09:36and it turns into a billion and billion dollar industry,
09:41that ain't going to work.
09:42It ain't going to work if you want to compete on a global scale.
09:44But I just don't know who gives away money in that situation.
09:47Could we fund it through more hydration breaks?
09:51I mean, someone's got to.
09:53Someone's got to.
09:53It has to be a borderline charity for some people.
09:57And I just don't see that happening.
09:59I have a colleague who I work with at CBS
10:02who is telling me that he used to run just a summer camp
10:07to help teach kids in his area about the game
10:11and to help grow the game and develop the game.
10:13And so he runs this summer camp.
10:14He wants to run it at a cheaper cost
10:16than the other summer camps in the area.
10:17Immediately, a red flag for everyone around him.
10:20All the other competing clubs
10:21that run their own summer camps go,
10:25well, you're not allowed to promote your summer camps
10:27at our places where there are active soccer players.
10:30Okay, so what do I do?
10:31I go parent to parent.
10:32And so he has like a group of parents
10:36that want to get involved,
10:37want to get their kid involved in this summer camp.
10:40And so he asked them,
10:41can you please tell other parents about my summer camp?
10:45And they said, no, I like the level of coaching
10:48that I get in a more intimate environment.
10:50So this guy who used to play professional soccer
10:54has so much to impart, has been chewed up and spit out.
10:57He doesn't run the summer camp anymore
10:58because he got chewed up and spit out by economic models
11:00and by parents who have dreams
11:02of their kids going pro someday.
11:04And that happens to a lot of people.
11:06That is not a unique story
11:07from people that I've talked to
11:09that work around the game,
11:09that have been around the game.
11:11And so unfortunately,
11:12it has to be in our financial interest
11:15for us to get good at soccer.
11:17And with the current structures that are there,
11:19it just isn't.
11:20The only ones that I think
11:22are actually putting the work in
11:23are professional high-level clubs
11:25like an MLS and USL that can make money
11:28on selling players abroad.
11:30Those clubs that have invested in their academies,
11:33that have sold players for multiple million dollars,
11:35that retain a percentage sell-on,
11:37that they can make even more money,
11:38those are the clubs that are producing players
11:41that are currently in our national team.
11:42Clubs like Philadelphia Union, New York Red Bulls,
11:45that have made a model out of this
11:46and they make money off of it.
11:48But if you're not financially incentivizing people
11:51to do this, I don't know what that answer is.
11:54I really don't.
11:55And other clubs, Witty,
11:57I can speak from experience.
11:58Like my two nephews
12:00try to get into the Inter-Miami Academy
12:01and other clubs like Inter-Miami
12:03have tried to replicate this model.
12:05But there's Inter-Miami Academy
12:07where you want your youth players playing at
12:10because that's the level you want them to play at.
12:12And then there's,
12:13hey, they didn't make that team,
12:14but pay me $3,000
12:15and they'll suit up in the same uniform
12:17and look like they play
12:18for Inter-Miami Academy as well.
12:20So it gets a little complicated.
12:23It's amateur sports in America.
12:25I mean, anybody who's involved in youth sports.
12:28I mean, if you want your kids to play
12:29on the volleyball teams,
12:31they've got to be with the private coaches.
12:32They've got to be on the travel teams, whatever.
12:34It's an incredible expense.
12:36I saw today,
12:36so I saw someone today on Twitter.
12:38I forget what,
12:39I think it was in Virginia somewhere.
12:41It was an under nines team,
12:43an under nines team.
12:44And it's $3,300 to play for the season.
12:47Who the hell is that for?
12:49And who from that environment
12:51is going to be able to actually make it
12:54in a real way that's hungry,
12:55that's starving to go have success?
12:58Like instead,
12:58those kids who don't make it there
13:00are going to choose other sports.
13:01And that's what happens.
13:03So unless someone is financially incentivized
13:05for that to change,
13:06I don't know, man.
13:07You're tilting at windmills here.
13:09Chris Whittingham from CBS
13:11and Apple TV.
13:12Real quick, we're out of time.
13:13You've heard of Virgil van Dijk?
13:15Yes, I have.
13:16All right, just checking.
13:17VVD?
13:18What was the litmus test here?
13:21It's just his birthday.
13:22And I had never heard of him.
13:24I called him one of the most famous
13:29athletes in the world.
13:31And Hawks response...
13:32I said he was not top 50.
13:33Not top 50.
13:35That actually is plausible.
13:36I think among soccer fans,
13:38I think, I don't know,
13:39we'd have to work on a list
13:41of soccer players.
13:42Soccer players would comprise
13:43probably the lion's share
13:45of the most popular 50 athletes
13:46in the world,
13:47but I'm not certain
13:48that Venn Dijk quite gets there,
13:49but he's definitely around there.
13:51He's around there.
13:52Messi, Mbappe, Erling Haaland.
13:56I'm not putting him on that level.
13:57I didn't say top five,
13:58but Whittingham,
13:59the captain of Liverpool...
14:00Yeah, but then you have to start
14:01getting down to American sports
14:02as well, right?
14:04LeBron James.
14:05You do.
14:05LeBron James,
14:06Victor Wembenyama,
14:08Mas Buzelis.
14:11What?
14:12All right, thank you, Whittingham.
14:14Yeah, cheers, guys.
14:14Thank you, guys.
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