USMNT: ‘Collective ability’ takes time

Former USMNT defender Oguchi Onyewu says that the current crop of players is the most talented in history, but also ceded that they must develop a ‘collective ability’. That, however, takes time.

Following the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, which is one of the greatest failings of the U.S. Men’s National Team, U.S. Soccer committed to a new era of young players that would, in theory, redefine the team. They were, in essence, starting again.

It did not help that it took them more than a year to hire a coach following Bruce Arena’s resignation, but once they eventually found their man, the Columbus Crew’s Gregg Berhalter, they committed to this plan of action.

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This has seen a whole host of young prospects flood into the senior team. Christian Pulisic was already prevalent in the team, but he has now been joined by Tyler Adams, Weston McKinnie, and Josh Sargent, all of which are playing semi-regularly for teams in a top-five European league. Sergino Dest also offers hope at full-back as a regular for Ajax, while the MLS contingent looking to secure European moves like Paxton Pomykal, Reggie Cannon and Brenden Aaronson offer intriguing potential.

However, for all of the young talent on show, there is something missing regarding the USMNT, especially in what was a turbulent 2019, Berhalter’s first at the helm. And former defender Oguchi Onyewu thinks it is a ‘collective ability’.

“Very promising,” Onyewu told ESPN FC when asked about the prospects of the current pool. “I would say that because of the progression and the growth of the modern player, I think individually all these players are potentially better than all of the other individual players from previous years.

“I would say what they lack is the collective ability that former national teams had. They don’t have that identity, they don’t have that cohesiveness as a team. But if you take each individual player you’d be like, ‘Oh wow, this player is playing here, this guy is playing here.’ They’re there. They have the technical ability. So now how do you take individuals and make it a unit? That’s going to be their main challenge.”

Berhalter, to his credit, seems aware of the problem, revealing that he and the players are in regular contact over video calls at present in an effort to build community and team spirit.

“We still want to foster that sense of a group and sense of unity,” Berhalter told ussoccer.com in April amid the COVID-19 crisis. “We’re thinking of other ways, other communication channels were we can all get together and still be able to talk to each other and support each other.”

Nevertheless, Onyewu’s critique does carry some credence. How well do these players know each other? How well do they know Berhalter? Is ‘the system’ well understood and specifically can it be drilled into the players when Berhalter and his coaching staff only get several weeks per year to work with them?

All of this ultimately takes time. Whether that is something that Berhalter will be given remains to be seen. From the fans, there is growing pressure amid frustrations with his tactics and MLS dependence. But U.S. soccer seem content to ride it out, for now at least.

Berhalter, then, needs to bring the players together and build a team. This crop can be consistently competitive at a higher level than any previous iteration of the USMNT has been before. But they need to play together, to live together, to get to know each other, and to build a team. And right now, that is very difficult indeed.