Well..................Rapinoe's power did come from the fact that she was a former Ballon d'Or winner. FIFA World Player of the Year winner, etc. Multiple-time World Cup winner and Gold medal winner. Yes, male star players of that ilk stay past their sell-by dates too. Like whatever the hell Christiano Ronaldo is doing right now. But anyway, the point is simply that politics and activism did become a part of that generation's image. The current versions of the USMNT and USWNT aren't doing that. I don't know if it's a directive straight from the top of the USSF or what. Or maybe Emma Hayes and Poch are directing it. Poch has been clear about this his whole tenure. The Weah comment is nothing new. You do wonder if that comes from his time as head coach of very large clubs. [Under the previous USMNT regime the USMNT did wear pride jerseys, BLM shirts before a game, etc. Theyr'e doing none of that now. Its all business.]
Several of the WNT players were well past their sell by date but were under that damn USSF/NWSL contract which more or less guaranteed them a place. Roberto Martinez was under no obligation to start Ronaldo in all 5 games at Euro 2024 but did so anyway.
The USSF/NWSL thing ended at the end of 2021. I thnk the other point that there would have been a media/fan frenzy if she was dropped for 2023 is the bigger reason. It's like the twitskytok spasms now when Lavelle doesn't start a friendly, or when Korbin Shrader is selected (right leaning social media stuff). I have to imagine, if Smith had lived up to her Nike commercial potential, we'd hve seen less Rapinoe and most likely wouldn't have been in a place to face Sweden in the round of 16 and go to kicks from the spot, but that entire sequence seemed almost Couva/magical results in the other concurrent games like in it's "cosmic wake up call" to the program - Rapinoe and O'Hara having the keeper go the wrong way but missing, and then goal line tech determining the ball was just over on Sweden's final shot
A lot of the older players' power may also have come from the expectations of the fan base. The USWNT fan base has historically been reluctant to admit when older stars are in decline, in large part because of the way the USWNT has marketed itself over the years. I get the sense that the end of the full-time USWNT contracts, combined with poor performances from aging players, has gotten the fan base to be more willing to accept turnover in the national team, but it took some time for that to happen.
When the US Men win 2 World Cups and another major tournament in the prior 12 years while also very narrowly losing in the final of a 3rd World Cup, then I would expect a few veterans from those triumphant teams to hang around too long.
In this hypothetical, the USMNT win 2 of the next 3 World Cups and reach the finals in all 3 tournaments, with Pulisic playing a major part in all of them. I don't know what people would put up with in that scenario, but the situation is so far removed from anything we could possibly imagine for the USMNT that it's pretty hard to reason by analogy there.
The older players that stuck around were perfectly fine; the issue was the same at the 2018 Men's cycle -- the older players were absolutely declining but the younger generation wasn't yet ready (or was hurt). It was a thinner roster because of the generational shift then got nailed with key injuries. Macario and Swanson both went down. Lavelle was not 100% and rusty as hell. Macario was our best creator and Swanson our best goal scorer (and if it wasn't her, it was Macario.) For the older crew, Sauerbrunn was out, and Ertz came back at the last minute. Having both Rapinoe and Morgan wasn't great; one likely would have been fine as veteran leadership. But if Swanson and Macario are available, they aren't both there or playing as much. Horan caught a lot of flack for playing a creative role that she was thrust into because both of those players were out. Then toss in a completely awful coach in Vlatko, who basically thought he was driving a pickup truck instead of a luxury sports car, and you had that team. It had nothing to do with activism or even really the weird old contract system. Many of the older folks contributed -- Dunn and Williams and Naeher were all good, as was Ertz. I mostly blame Vlatko.
After the Thomas Frank firing, we're back to talking about Poch going to Spurs. Mauricio Pochettino is a candidate for the Tottenham permanent head coaching vacancy, but is not available until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[🌕: @JacobsBen] pic.twitter.com/MNtWgbQTwY— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) February 11, 2026
Tottenham is a very likely landing spot for Pochettino post World Cup if they don’t go for a permanent hire right now. Though given they are potentially in a relegation battle they may not want to risk an interim.
They need one of those relegation specialist coaches right now. Then they can look for a permanent one if they survive.
Sean Dyche did just get fired and he fits the bill. Though the problem with Frank is stylistically he wasn’t a fit. Thomas Frank at Tottenham: another manager who has previously done well with low possession football struggling to adjust to the demands of a bigger club. It basically never works, and clubs should probably stop trying it. ⬇️https://t.co/LBgqHuhyvb pic.twitter.com/roz7ivdSaW— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) February 11, 2026 I think you actually want someone who is more possession oriented. And for anyone concerned Pochettino is going to leave now before the World Cup. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/70...ttenham-manager-thomas-frank-usmnt-world-cup/
Completely the wrong man for Tottenham. The fans want free-flowing attacking football. They'd be OK finishing eighth as long as the team plays "the Spurs way".
Sure but the sort of coach who plays free flowing attacking football isn’t really a relegation specialist.
Tottenham may be near the line, but they have a -1 GD with a coach the locker room had clearly turned on ... because he played defensive football and asked them to grind. I don't think a relegation specialist is what is needed here. Just energizing the locker room is probably more than enough to avoid it -- the underlyings are already a much better team.
They've also had insane injuries - you'd think with Solanke back, the addition of Gallagher, and the return of Kulusevski (and all the others) they should have more than enough to survive with or without Frank. Their remaining schedule isn't crazy difficult either.
True but I'm pretty sure whoever comes in will be temporary. Will Brazil let them "borrow" Ancelotti?
With a short term coach in place wouldn’t be surprised if they lock in Pochettino for post World Cup before the tournament. Feels like he’s the clear guy at Tottenham versus one of many candidates at Man U. 🚨⚪️ BREAKING: Igor Tudor becomes new Tottenham interim coach until June 2026, as revealed earlier.He’s accepted the job and ready to stay until end of the season. #THFC👀 Main candidates for permanent job in June: Roberto De Zerbi, Mauricio Pochettino. pic.twitter.com/wFrWJR6BmO— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 13, 2026
Igor Tudor was the guy coaching McKennie at Juventus early this year. Kinda awful. .........but maybe he can right the ship at Spurs.
will he Noahkai Banks is currently the 2nd best CB the USMNT 🇺🇸 has, only behind Richards.Now… will Pochettino have the balls to start a 19 year old in the World Cup? https://t.co/8ioM9WbBFO— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) February 15, 2026
I thought Poch solved the ticket price issue by berating Weah? 🚨💣 𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄: There is major concern within FIFA regarding the lack of hype for the upcoming World Cup and they don't know why.It will be the first ever tournament with 48 countries participating, but many seats remain unsold. With the tournament being only 4… pic.twitter.com/2AcEvyHJ9k— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) February 16, 2026