Ep 319: The Identity of the USMNT, or Lack Thereof, Jesse Marsch, and What You’re Not Considering.

The topic today is regarding an identity for the US men’s national team.

• Do we have one?
• Do we not have one?
• If we do have one, what is it exactly?
• If we don’t have one, why not? And what should it be?

And yes, the topic of Jesse Marsch also comes up. So it’s another great chat that offers insights and a perspective that really isn’t out there in the mainstream.

I’ll just say a couple of things before we jump into the show.

And that is centered around this word identity. This word, identity, really didn’t surface in the American soccer vocabulary until not too long ago.

If I’m being frank, maybe it was around the time that:

• Spain won the World Cup.
• FC Barcelona was thrashing everybody in Europe.
• Brian Kleiban was proving that the youth here in the States can actually have an identity as well, and play remarkable football.
• Caleb Porter was doing his thing in Akron.

I mean, there really was a confluence of things that came together, with just a few of us actually using the word and talking about the notion that is an identity.

And then yes, all of a sudden the word got adopted here in the States.

But sadly, unfortunately, however you want to put it, it’s used in such a cavalier way nowadays, that it’s practically lost all its meaning.

Because you know what? Everyone claims the team they operate, the team they support, the team they cover, also has an identity – which is total nonsense.

Guys, I’m being sincere. 99.9% of American soccer clubs and teams from youth to pro to the national teams do not have an identity. Certainly not in the way the rest of the world understands the word to mean.

With that, let’s discuss the US Mens National Team.

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