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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JUNE 06: Alexi Lalas, former player of the 1994 United States squad, reacts prior to the international friendly match between United States and Germany at Soldier Field on June 06, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Omar Vega\/USSF\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Alexi Lalas is known for sharing his opinions about soccer, poltics and any range of other topics.<\/p>\n
They are often blunt, and occasionally over the top.<\/p>\n
But when it comes to his analysis for Fox at the World Cup, Lalas\u2019 views are far more grounded than the cartoonish picture many have painted.<\/p>\n
And his recent assessment of United States manager Mauricio Pochettino is entirely accurate, even if fans aren\u2019t ready to hear it.<\/p>\n
What Did Alexi Lalas Say?<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the Yanks\u2019 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16, Lalas went on British radio outlet Talksport<\/a> to discuss the USMNT\u2019s elimination from the competition, and he said it was fair to define success based primarily on that fixture.<\/p>\n “When it comes to Mauricio Pochettino, you had one job. And it was the game against Belgium,” Lalas said. “So I think that [U.S. Soccer] move on. I believe he’s had a good time, but you had one job, and you blew it. And, you know, you live and die by that. Every coach understands that, every manager understands that, and certainly Mauricio Pochettino does.”<\/p>\n While it\u2019s impossible to be certain, the reaction to Lalas\u2019 remarks feels more negative than positive. With a U.S. soccer fanbase that leans progressive and has become increasingly wary of any American influence on the sport, they might even boost Pochettino\u2019s standing.<\/p>\n But a factual review makes it hard to refute Lalas\u2019 argument.<\/p>\n The USMNT exited the World Cup at the same stage as each of their previous four appearances. Unlike those other sides, they failed despite playing with home-field advantage, something oddsmakers believe carries considerable weight.<\/p>\n And they did so in borderline humiliating fashion<\/a>, suffering the largest margin of defeat in any World Cup match the U.S. has played since 2006, and the largest in an elimination game since a group of semiprofessionals lost 6-1 to Argentina in the 1930 semifinals.<\/p>\n Is Alexi Lalas Being Reactionary?<\/p>\n If you only watch soccer during the World Cup, Lalas\u2019 remarks might sound reactionary. But the real reactionary position is that somehow the performance in other games represented significant progress.<\/p>\n For starters, the standard Lalas expressed to Talksport is more or less the same that he has espoused for nearly all of Pochettino\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n When other critics began circling during Pochettino\u2019s rough start to the job in late 2024, Lalas consistently maintained Pochettino should be judged by World Cup performance and little else. The same was true a year later, when Pochettino\u2019s team enjoyed their best run of results in a string of fall 2025 friendlies.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the idea that America somehow made revolutionary gains tactically ignores the entire context of the expanded 48-team World Cup. <\/p>\n Yes, by 2026 standards, the U.S. had a difficult group<\/a>. At the same time, Belgium was the only side the U.S. faced during the entire tournament that was ranked higher by FIFA than any of its five 2022 World Cup opponents (using pre-tournament rankings in both cases).<\/p>\n Yes, the U.S. handled Bosnia comfortably in the newly created round of 32. But that team was literally the lowest-ranked USMNT opponent at a World Cup since FIFA created its rankings in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n Alexi Lalas Is More Qualified Than You Think<\/p>\n The most circulated takedown of Lalas in this tournament came from the Guardian<\/a>, which does plenty of excellent American soccer journalism. <\/p>\n But for a progressive-leaning outlet, the crux of its criticism — that Lalas had little to offer because he lacked the playing pedigree of studio colleagues Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or the advanced intellect of Henry — was weirdly elitist.<\/p>\n Fox\u2019s TV numbers — some of the largest for any non-NFL event this century<\/a> — mean the majority of the audience will probably struggle to follow Henry\u2019s nuanced tactical analysis.<\/p>\n And when it comes to World Cup players, Lalas probably shares more traits with most of them than either of his more-decorated European coworkers who regularly competed at the zenith of the European club game.<\/p>\n Further, Lalas is more or less the only active American pundit (minus Marcelo Balboa, who works mainly in Spanish these days) who was part of the 1994 U.S. squad and understands the burdens of being a host player in this country. <\/p>\n But Lalas exists at a unique time in this country\u2019s relationship with soccer where any connection to the U.S. game becomes discrediting. <\/p>\n These Foreign-Born Analysts Agree with Alexi Lalas<\/p>\n It\u2019s an overcorrection from earlier years that were too insular, which perhaps played a role in U.S. qualifying failure in the 2018 cycle. And if that\u2019s your argument for retaining Pochettino, then consider that the foreign-born analysts most connected to U.S. soccer share Lalas\u2019 opinion.<\/p>\n The Argentine-born Andres Cantor, America\u2019s Spanish-language voice for World Cup coverage since the 1990s, called the nature of the the USMNT\u2019s performance \u201cdisgraceful\u201d in a social media post.<\/p>\n Former Germany World Cup winner turned Germany and United States World Cup manager Jurgen Klinsmann, who made no secret of U.S. soccer shortcomings when he was manager, called Belgium beatable<\/a> during multiple segments for ESPNFC.<\/p>\n And the Italian-born Gabriel Marcotti called out the idea that Belgium simply possessed far superior talent, saying five USMNT players would\u2019ve made his combined best XI<\/a> between the teams.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to seek foreign influence only to write off those educated opinions, you\u2019re really concerned with status over knowledge or results. And if connecting yourself to U.S. soccer for any length of time automatically lowers your status, what\u2019s the point of trying to build U.S. soccer in the first place?<\/p>\n