USMNT: Darlington Nagbe shouldn’t be picked, even if he wanted to be

Darlington Nagbe has said that he does not want to be a part of the USMNT. However, even if he did, Gregg Berhalter still should not select him.

Darlington Nagbe has always held a more cerebral approach to football than many others. He recognises that there is more to life than kicking a ball, and while he loves the game and is extremely good at it, he will make decisions for the betterment of his entire life and family, not just his football career.

It is this greater level of awareness that prevented him from playing for the U.S. Men’s National Team for many years. Nagbe put family before football. He spurned the chance to represent his country in favour of spending time with those he loved. You can hardly blame him.

But while he has continually spurned the national team opportunities that surely would have been available to him throughout his career, his level of performance in MLS has been extremely high.

More from MLS Multiplex

• Javier Milei Elected in Argentina: Potential Impacts on MLS and Signings of Argentine Players
• Orlando City and New York City FC in the Battle for Matías Arezo; Grêmio Enters Negotiations! Who Will Come Out on Top?
• USA, Honduras, Panama, and Canada Close in on a Spot in the 2024 Copa America
• De Gea Turns Down Al-Nassr’s Lucrative Offer: Speculation Points to Possible Reunion with Messi at Inter Miami
• Messi’s Magnetic Impact in the United States

Nagbe was a key player for two MLS Cup-winning teams. He has adapted his game from an attacking midfielder at Portland to a brilliant press-resistant distributor in Atlanta. There are few midfielders, let alone USMNT-eligible midfielders, in MLS that possess the blend of physicality, athleticism and technical skill that Nagbe does. And yet, despite his obvious quality, he does not want to play for the USMNT, as he again reiterated this week on BSI: The Podcast:

"“I get to do this for a living, I like what I do for a living, I get to be home a lot. I think the national team kind of took away from me being home a lot of those breaks that we would get.  You’d see guys get some time off and things like that, then we’re traveling to St. Vincent’s to go play on a cricket field and stuff like that. For me, it’s just a grind. I feel like where you travel to play makes a big difference – drinking out of water bottles, brushing your teeth with that. People don’t really see that.”"

For many, Nagbe’s rejection of the USMNT is frustrating. While his reasons are entirely understandable and respectable, he is viewed as a player who could be a crucial piece of the team, taking over as a more athletic Michael Bradley in the anchoring midfield role, for instance. However, even if Nagbe was prepared to play for the USMNT, head coach Gregg Berhalter might be wise not to select him.

Unlike in other areas of the USMNT squad, central midfield is not a particular problem at present, especially when looking at the young players who can fill those spots for a decade-plus. Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are both regular starters in the Bundesliga. Paxton Pomykal and Jackson Yueill are key players at their respective MLS clubs. Central midfield is a position of relative strength for the USMNT, and it might be more prudent to invest in the younger players who can start for many years to come.

Nagbe, who will turn 30 this summer, will be 32 by the time the next World Cup is scheduled to come around. He has maybe three years remaining of elite play. As someone who has never been more than very good at the MLS level, the disparity between his standard and younger players below him is not enough to warrant his inclusion. This is not Clint Dempsey playing in the Premier League here.

And so, for all of Nagbe’s qualities as one of the best central midfielders in MLS, even if he was willing to play for the USMNT, Berhalter should look to other options. It is time to invest in the future, and Nagbe, for all of his qualities, is not it.