So I can have a bad day, decide that I would love to blow up the USMNT program and start fresh. I wrote this garbage: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1754573 It got me thinking again... what is national team soccer about? Winning, beating the best, being one of the best, showing what your country can do, giving the perception of a winner and a fighter when you represent your country. I have noticed lately the positive perception of the USMNT has taken nose dive... with good reason. Reality is sinking in, we have come off our clouds and our feet are firmly on the ground, we feel we are being perceived as SOFT, beatable, and largely unorganized as of late. Bob Bradley can give great ra-ra-ra speeches, rally his troops, and send them running to the front lines of the war. That preparation is only part of the equation of course, the game plan must be clear, your team must believe first in itself and that they can win. Tough calls, tough breaks, and you find yourself 2 goals down in the first half against a minnow team in Panama. Before we played Spain, we still had the perception of a team capable of challenging even the best in the world and beating them like we did in the Confederations Cup. After losing, badly, in front of 60k+ people on home soil to the same Spanish team we are now perceived as being out of sorts, not ready, lacking cohesion on defense and creativity on offense... aka SOFT. The gig is up, mentally the USMNT is looking fragile and other teams are sharpening their teeth at the thought of playing us. It gives them an edge, the belief that we suck, the perception that we are beatable and that alone is dangerous. It is a double edged sword really, the US appearing weak can work in our favor, as it has so many, many, many times against Mexico. We are underestimated, we shock them on the field that we can 1-2 pass with speed, and suddenly they are on their heals. We no longer shock anyone anymore though, we are expected to play well, this playing poorly on a consistent basis has us fans confused, lost, and losing hope. It is dangerous for the US to lose more of its fan base because we already struggle to get good crowds against many of the world's better and more recognized national teams. We will always have plenty of enemy fans in our home games as we are the melting pot you know. There is talk of fans selling their tickets for what they can get for future games because they are disgusted, and they have the right to be, we are not living up to expectations. What many of us feel is a missed chance was to get a well respected coach on board with our national team after the world cup. We fans were already feeling the "stagnation" that Gulati was confident we could avoid by re-hiring Bob Bradley, an easy choice, a choice that didn't require a lot of effort. Now that we are sliding backwards the stagnation is evident as the lack of understanding of the formations and attack are glaring us in the face. If Bob Bradley is captain of this ship, and he needs everyone to work together to keep the ship afloat while its taking on water, he is facing disaster as it is possible players and fans alike are losing faith in him on a big scale. That is dangerous, that is bad for the program, and a change is needed after this cup or certainly a re-evaluation of everything we are doing up to this point. Re-hiring Bob Bradley gave the perception that Gulati was not TOO concerned with stagnation and keeping the ball rolling with the status quo. Now I think he is feeling the heat, and rightly so, because so many of us could feel in our bones that Bob's time as our leader has already served its purpose and that his ship to move on needs to sail. Honestly, I don't want the US to lose, but I would rather lose FAST and get the program on the right path quickly than win horribly and continue on down the path of mediocre ball indefinitely. If Gulati does read the boards, as I am sure he does, he must know that this team needs new life, a new direction, and fresh ideas. No more taking the safe road, the road we already know, it takes us no further than we already have gone. The USA will take on Guadeloupe and look a better team, but the perception is already there, better teams are smiling upon us.