Jon Levy
I haven’t written about soccer since October of 2017. Something happened then, I can’t remember what. Whatever it was broke me in some minor way. I mean, I was still a functional adult, doing adult things, adhering to responsibilities and stuff like that. But the part of me that used to sit down in front of a computer screen and write juvenile jokes about soccer players while making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles references (or whatever) was definitely not okay. Which is a shame, because who else was gonna write about how “The USMNT Needed Master Splinter In Couva, But Barely Got An Overcompensating Leonardo.”
Thankfully there was plenty of fantastic journalism, opinion writing, perspective shifting, and conversation in the months that followed that sporting disaster in Trinidad. Maybe one day I’ll regret not adding my voice to the fray, but as of now I’m at peace with it. So I guess I’m getting old. Besides, when I get to read Will Parchman and Rob Usry (and his team, lookin’ at you JSJ), I’m assured that quality soccer writing that’s also fun to read still exists, and I can comfortably keep my Alucard allusions in my back pocket for another day… even if you all should be watching Castlevania on Netflix and you might not already know that.
I did partially map out a few posts in my head during this hiatus. I’ve got a memo on my phone last updated in July entitled “blogs to write.” I’ll give you a blurb about each.
Timeline of depression
This was going to be a fun post about which American soccer players look like they belong in grunge bands or look like they are two weeks removed from losing the Presidential election.
Oh, wait, nope it was an invitation to dive into my mental state month-by-month as it pertains to the failure to make it to the World Cup. Might have found some common ground with many of you on that, but it certainly would’ve been a bear to work through. I did find another note entitled “October” where I referenced being empty inside before making a joke about still responsibly raising my kid. I think we really missed out on something dark here.
I just wanna write about soccer
This one almost came to fruition a number of times.
The crux of the matter here was the political and organizational tone that seemingly all American soccer writing had to take after the failure to qualify. Don’t get me wrong, most of it was necessary and some of it was good, but I didn’t get into this particular game in order to share my master plan to eliminate pay-for-play. The empty bucket vs. trequartista debate is more my style.
I also saw too many ill-equipped idealists wading in the deep waters with nothing valuable to add to the discourse. Acknowledging that something is bad is an important first step, but what follows requires more than principles and idealism. The USMNT failure to qualify for the World Cup didn’t bring Athenian democracy to the national team; it pulled back the curtain on the zombie apocalypse. I’m a survivor, holed up in a janitor’s closet at an abandoned middle school taking it real easy on this keyboard so they won’t hear me.
I have no idea what the USMNT needs in a coach
I guess a theme is beginning to develop.
“I dunno how to fix the USSF and I bet you don’t either so why don’t you shut up,” is followed closely by, “but I also don’t know who or what we should hire to move the team itself forward… and either do you, so shut up.” It’s good to be self aware, I swear. This post was going to identify so many areas in which we need to progress that trying to fix even most of them in one hire would be akin to trying to fix the fifteen problems with your golf swing all in one stroke. Then I was going to hit you with my Machiavellian expectation-setting theory about how the Fed was feinting to a boring hire that might stink of nepotism in a gambit to make their eventual choice look better. That… did not end up being what happened. But hey, the thesis statement of the post says it all; I can’t get my head around what this team needs.
Why not Gregg Berhalter? At least it’s an ethos.
Talkin’ bout my generation (MB90->WestonMc)
I honestly don’t remember what this was supposed to turn into, but I think it’s a glimpse of hope. Maybe not for US Soccer, but for my perceived relationship with the team. We’ve got a terribly contrived title that also happens to be a reference to The Who.
Theoretically I would’ve worked on the form before I published anything there, but it’s too late for that now, and that’s not the point anyway. The contrived title seems to be hinting at something positive. I don’t know exactly what I was thinking about Michael Bradley and Weston McKennie at the time, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as fatalistic as most the thoughts I’ve written about above. I assume this was something about passing the torch, and probably also included a heavy dose of Josh Sargent optimism. Yeah, maybe I’d temper it with some Tim Weah skepticism to keep my street cred, but I’m pretty sure the overall feel of this post was going to be positive.
That’s it. That’s all I’ve got in notes on my phone.
There’s nothing in there about Dave Sarachan’s high press or John Brooks letting Miazga and CCV outplay him in the shirt even though that’s a thing despite John being an absolute donk for his club. There’s nothing on Ulysses Llanez or Diego Lainez. There’s no think piece on the unseen upside or downside to Pulisic to Chelsea, and there’s no post in which I angrily tell English journalists that we don’t need the shock and awe over Jadon Sancho’s success in Germany or Callum Hudson-Odoi’s potential Bayern transfer because we all watched the England win the U17 and U20 World Cup’s in 2017! Did we not?! “Y’know this could become a trend for young English players.” Spare me. It’s a story if no one’s asking after them. But I digress.
Maybe the US U20’s can make a deep run this year. Tab’s done well. And maybe Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT can put something together in time for the Gold Cup. Maybe I’ll watch the boys take on Panama on Sunday. Or maybe I’ll record it and watch the Royal Rumble; I hear Kenny Omega’s in this one.
Jon Levy co-founded The Yanks Are Coming and has been writing about American soccer for ten years. He is an award-winning news director and teaches Journalism at the University of Florida. Follow him on Twitter @TYAC_Jon.