Craig Burley, soccer analyst, on USMNT’s expectations: “I mean, they’re not even going to compete properly with those teams”

The USMNT and head coach Mauricio Pochettino are feeling the fallout of Saturday’s 2-5 defeat to Belgium. It may only have been a friendly, but suffering such a scoreline with the World Cup less than 10 weeks away is a huge blow to morale.

It also illustrates pretty much where the United States is in the general pecking order. The team sits 16th in the FIFA world ranking but is this team really capable of going head-to-head with the big boys?

Pochettino has tried to instill confidence and self-belief into his players. And is easy to understand why - to get results, you need to dream big. Before the Belgium game, the Argentinean asked why the USMNT couldn’t be considered serious contenders at this summer’s World Cup. “Why not us? Why not us?” he asked reporters during his pre-match press conference. “We need to really believe that we can be there. We need to dream because dreams inspire reality. I am here because I believe that we can win”.

But is Pochettino falsely believing his own hype? And in doing so, lost perspective of where his team is in terms of potential at the highest level, on the world stage.

A reality check for Pochettino

ESPN FC’s Craig Burley feels that the coach has overestimated the quality of his team and its chances of going far this summer.

“This is the issue I’ve had for a long time in this country,” Burley says. “Don’t get me wrong, but it seems Pochettino has caught the bug with this rhetoric, a bug that has infiltrated a lot of the media that follow the US Men’s National Team. It is building the expectation, and look, there is an extent that you aim high, but when you aim high and you consistently fall short, then it’s not a good look.”

Burley continued: “Instead of trying to get to the public by talking about semifinals, when that’s pie in the sky at the moment if we’re being honest unless they have some incredible amount of luck in terms of the pathway, why don’t you just come out and say, ‘Listen, we’re going to be ready for this World Cup, and we are going to be 100% going at it hell for leather, and we are going to give it our best shot, and then we’ll see what comes out of it in the end.’”

The USMNT against the world’s best

The USMNT have another serious test before this international window concludes - against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, a team currently ranked fifth and a nation with a rich soccer history and tradition. European champions in 2016 and two-time Nations League winners, Portugal also have World Cup pedigree, having finished fourth in 2006 and reached the quarter finals the last time around.

“There is only really France and Spain and maybe Argentina, not even Brazil, not Italy, who have struggled, not Germany,” Burley concludes. “Those countries struggle, and the USMNT are below them. And Pochettino is talking about the USMNT getting to a semi final... I mean, they’re not even going to compete properly with those teams. So, you know, we’re baby steps here. They’re a good side. They’ve got some good players. But you shouldn’t be throwing out a bone like that to people who are hanging on it. I’ll eat my words if it happens, but I don’t think it will.”

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