MLS and the USMNT have helped each other out down the years. But the domestic league deserves at least some time under the microscope
A full week has passed since a dreadful 90 minutes took the USA from part of the World Cup furniture to tournament spectators. A lot of blame has understandably fallen on the coaches this cycle, the system that developed the players and the federation’s leadership, namely its president, Sunil Gulati.
However, the influence of Major League Soccer deserves its time under the microscope too. MLS is very much indebted to the US men’s soccer program, having been founded as a condition to the country’s successful bid to host the 1994 World Cup. Ever since the league’s post-expansion revival in 2006, MLS and the US men’s national team have been frenemies – needing each other to coexist, but never agreeing on the terms of their interdependence.
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