Patience is in short supply among the USMNT fanbase, who have had enough of being told the team is in learning mode and that setbacks are growing pains
Strange job, this, to have doubts about your ability raised only four days after steering your nation to a 7-0 win. But that was a cruise past Cuba, and this was the US’s first loss to
Canada in 34 years. And not a “hard luck, miss five easy chances and give up a 93rd-minute own-goal” sort of loss. This was an “outplayed and outfought by a side whose near-term ambition is to be better than El Salvador” kind of night.
Tuesday’s 2-0 reverse at BMO Field was Gregg Berhalter’s 16th match as US head coach. On the surface a record of nine wins, two draws and five losses appears acceptable for a program rebuilding its roster and its self-respect after the shock of missing out on the 2018 World Cup. But the real test of Berhalter’s worth is not in how the US fillet the minnows. It doesn’t really matter that they filled their boots against the likes of Cuba, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.