U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter has said repeatedly that his squad needs to approach Concacaf’s World Cup qualifying competition like it's playing 14 individual finals. The unfortunate flaw in that analogy is that teams tend to enter finals on a roll. The Americans have kicked off qualifying with a discouraging thud.
Two ties in the first two games, just one goal scored, multiple injuries and the dramatic dismissal of midfielder and team Leadership Council member Weston McKennie has sapped a lot of the momentum generated by the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup titles earned this summer.