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Chapter 1: What are the mixed feelings surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Welcome back to Morally Abhorrent. And when we created this, this is a little sideshow attraction for the Levitard Show alongside Chris Whittingham. It was to discuss a World Cup that everybody had mixed feelings about in Qatar.
and never in my wildest dreams did I think that the title would still play four years later when the United States, Mexico, and Canada would jointly host the next World Cup. This is a World Cup that has left me feeling super conflicted and many in our audience super conflicted because we all thought that this would be going better. And I'm not just talking about the nation at large.
I'm talking about the soccer and our global positioning inside of FIFA. And we're going to explore that a little bit here. And in this first episode, as we reintroduce this concept to you and the greater DLS universe, we're going to have a central focus. I'm going to have a lot of friends, a lot of familiar faces come through the show.
Chapter 2: What key players should we watch for in the US Men's National Team?
Chris Whittingham will indeed be back. In fact, he will be in our next episode. But I wanted to start with the USA. We are hosting, after all, this is a pivotal moment in U.S. soccer history, not just for the nation as it develops into a soccer nation, but also as a program. 2026 was supposed to represent huge progress and a legit opportunity to do something outstanding on the men's side.
And right now, there is very little reason for hope. So we're going to bring in Tom Bogert of The Athletic.
golazo and soccer wise the premier soccer insider to help give us a lay of the land and catch you up on some history tom thank you for doing this thanks for having me i know we talk ad nauseum in private about all the drama surrounding the u.s soccer team you're probably a little bit bored by it so i just want to give people kind of like The top news items here.
Chapter 3: How has the US Men's National Team evolved since the last World Cup?
What happened from the last World Cup to where we are, and why is the U.S. so damn dramatic?
So at the last World Cup, the United States were the youngest squad at that tournament. They did not exceed expectations, but they did not fall below it. The round of 16 and the performances therein was just about what we'd expect. The fan base may have disagreed, and that led to a lot of discontent under head coach Greg Berhalter. But the top line here since 2022 to now?
Not enough of the players have developed to quite the level we thought that they might. The poster boy for that, of course, is Gio Reyna. Gio Reyna coming into the 2022 World Cup was viewed as not just like an American wonder kid, like a wonder kid across the world. Like he was one of the best in his age group in Europe as a teenager.
Injuries have slowed him down, and he stagnated completely to the point where he played 500 club minutes at Borussia Mƶnchengladbach this year after being a peripheral figure for Borussia Dortmund the last few years. Christian Pulisic is still the best player in this team.
He had a fantastic first half of the season for AC Milan this year, and then he did not score for club or country in the calendar year of 2026 until the last friendly. So, Mike, I don't know about you. Maybe there's a little bit more optimism after the United States beat Senegal 3-2.
Well, there is a little bit more optimism. And before we get into reason for that optimism, there is a little tea that was spilt over the last few years. A lot of infighting. A lot of people, you mentioned Gio Reyna, might be surprised to see him on this roster.
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Chapter 4: What drama unfolded between Gio Reyna and the USMNT coaching staff?
There was a lot of infighting, a lot of drama. And for a golden generation that hadn't really accomplished anything, it all got a little excessive eventually. and way too traumatic for U.S. soccer fans' hopes. And I kind of feared that there was no coming back from it. Are these guys ever going to like one another? Because that's always been a big part of the great underdog U.S.
men's national teams is they were tight. And you can cite examples like 1998 when they weren't so tight. It could be disastrous. So what's happening here with this team chemistry? Can they survive the drama? If you could give a little bit of background on that drama and help us learn how they pivoted and improved and came together.
Let me try to tell the story without taking up nine minutes of just monologuing. But so at the last World Cup in 2022, Gio Reyna, as I said, he was one of the most talented young players in the world, in Europe in particular. He wasn't coming into camp with like perfect health and he had been in and out in World Cup qualifying because of that.
But when he played, he showed some special, special moments. Before the World Cup, or in the lead-up to the World Cup, while they were in Qatar preparing, the head coach, Greg Berhalter, told Gio Reyna, like, you're probably not going to be a starter. Like, I don't view you as that in this tournament. He did not react well.
Chapter 5: How has the team chemistry changed ahead of the World Cup?
It got to the point where there was a vote of whether or not Gio Reyna was going to get kicked off of the World Cup team just before the World Cup while they were in Qatar. They ultimately landed with him staying with the team, and he became, like, Not a side show. It was part of the experience. Like that is one of the biggest takeaways. He did not play much.
And when he did, he was not effective. They ended up, I think he played a good chunk in that game against the Netherlands. And he didn't really change the game when they got eliminated. The, what makes this even more thorny is Greg Barhalter, the former coach and the coach during that time. And Gio Reyna's father, Claudio, not only were U.S. national team teammates,
They are both from New Jersey and they are just about lifelong friends. Their wives played college soccer together. Those two families were as close as just about humanly possible. And then during this Gio Reyna saga, Gio's father, Claudio Reyna, again, a U.S. great former teammate of Greg Berhalter, was like blackmailing the Federation saying, you know, I know things about Greg.
play my son like it was legit like black black man again as a fellow new jersey native i'm trying to be careful with it with the black male in new jersey and it all it all doesn't look so good and it ends up coming out that there was an altercation between greg berhalter and his wife when they were in college that was physical like it was it was a kick or something to that effect something that greg berhalter's wife family they had moved on from and in the eyes of the public if she wanted to tell this story publicly it was her story to tell
But Claudio Reyna was going around to U.S. soccer saying, I know these things about Greg, like using it as blackmail.
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Chapter 6: What impact does Mauricio Pochettino's coaching style have on the team?
Greg Berhalter remained the coach. And that got really, really weird because there was this period where his contract expired, but they hadn't named a new coach. They were still doing a coaching search. Greg Berhalter gets brought back.
And he does name Gio Reyna in some of his squads before he ends up getting fired a couple years ago, two summers ago, to be exact, after a disastrous Copa America run. Since then, you know who's gotten into this United States national team? Greg Berhalter's son, Sebastian. Sebastian Berhalter and Gio Reyna have been close because their families have been close forever.
They all say this is all behind us. Gio Reyna goes as far to say is this isn't redemption for me because I don't have anything to be redeemed from, which I thought that he was going to get some different media training and maybe be able to answer that question a little bit better. But I respect his honesty, so we'll leave it at that.
But Sebastian Peralta and Gio Reyna are like doing things together off of the field. And from what I've been told around the camp, and if you ask any player on the record, they go out of their way to talk about how tight this group is. This is a brotherhood. There was a documentary on HBO that I think is still airing right now that has been being filmed since before the 22 World Cup.
And Tim Weah, Tyler Adams, all of these guys are like, this is a brotherhood. What I'm most excited for the people to see is how close we are and how much we love each other. So, Mike, it is a fair question from the outside to ask this, but if you look inside that locker room, that's what the guys are saying, that this is a brotherhood. And honestly, that started under Greg Berhal,
There were criticisms about either favoritism or it wasn't a competitive enough environment.
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Chapter 7: What challenges does the USMNT face in the group stage?
But what he did was built a locker room, built a team culture. And then he got fired because that got stale. And Marisa Pochettino has taken over a star head coach, somebody who has not managed an international level. He's had some slip ups along the way to get here. But his whole thing was, OK, yeah, you guys are all brothers now. I don't care.
Everybody needs to fight and compete for their spot every single day in training, because even if you win it today, you got to go ahead and win it tomorrow. So it's a lot of different versions of this team and a lot of things that are coming together. But in terms of the locker room, the players themselves would say this is a brotherhood and we are as close as ever.
Well, let's talk about Pochettino because this was a big, splashy hire. Pochettino's managed for some huge club teams over in Europe, and a lot of U.S. soccer fans with 2026 in mind wanted a huge name. Now, I am a Chelsea supporter. I historically haven't been the biggest fan of Pochettino, but I did admire the ambition because U.S.
soccer seemed to be taking the role more seriously, whereas before, it was always such an incestuous job. It would be the pool of the same four familiar names. You'd go back. I honestly fear Bruce Arena might be back in the mix. And so they did something big, and they swung for the fences. How did this start with Pochettino?
Chapter 8: Can the US Men's National Team capitalize on their home advantage?
And it hasn't always been smooth. In fact, there have been some peaks. There have been some valleys. And where do things stand now?
So if we're going to do real recency bias, it does feel better after they beat Senegal 3-2 in a friendly. There was a lot of really good attacking patterns. And for me, that was the biggest thing. Under Pochettino, in the calendar year of 2025, they called up 71 players. 71. 71. I don't understand. I think that's too many.
I get that you're trying to get the lay of the land and understand the pool and give a lot of people chances. And again, it's designed insecurity by this coaching staff that you can never feel comfortable that you have your spot. Well, 71 players, I think, is too much. So they've had some valleys, man. They got smoked by Turkey and Switzerland last summer right before the Gold Cup.
This is when Christian Poole is the team's best player. Asked the coach, hey, do you know the Gold Cup that's happening later this summer? Can I skip that so I could rest and be ready to go for club form and be able to last the year? Pochettino said, hey, if you don't want to be here for the Gold Cup, you can't come for those friendlies. Like, that became a public thing. And then...
In the fall, there was legitimate questions. Can they even fire him? Do they have enough money to fire him? How could this happen so fast? They were getting killed at home against South Korea in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena, and it was like 80% South Korea fans, which is not abnormal for the national team because South Korea had never been here.
It's difficult to always have a home environment in this country because it's so unique. All that being said, it was like, oh my gosh, is he going to get fired? Can they make a change? His job security was really being questioned. In the fall, they performed much, much better. They switched to three at the back during that South Korea game, and things were looking really good to end the year.
And then in the March window, to start 2026, they changed the system, and they changed positions, and they look awful again. And they get just absolutely played off the pitch by Belgium and Portugal. Portugal is a team that is better, but Belgium, while they are better, it shouldn't have been that stark. So even when things were getting better, He just changes the team, changes the lineup.
And there were so many different lineups, so many different setups. And even in this game against Senegal, for all the good, the starting goalkeeper didn't play at all. Like, that's fine, right? But it's just indicative of all the different changes. When he named the World Cup roster, there was two central midfielders, one in particular named Tanner Tessman.
The question was, is he going to start? Not, is he going to be on the roster? Well, he's left off the roster. Same thing with Diego Luna, who played 17 of 18 games in 2025. And Pochettino, like he was on all the marketing stuff. Pochettino talked about how much he loves this player and all this. And all of a sudden he's not called in the team.
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