Is There an MLS Bias in USMNT Selection?

The November international break is coming up with another round of World Cup qualifiers set up for the US Men's National Team. The road to qualifying for the Stars and Stripes has not been smooth, as they have been suffering through what seems like a gauntlet of CONCACAF teams to secure qualification for Qatar in December. Some USA soccer fans are getting a little irritated with the team selection manager Gregg Berhalter has been choosing for these important matches. It is notable the number of MLS players that round out the depth chart for the USA, something fans have taken to social media on more than one occasion to gripe about. Some fans have come to think Berhalter has a certain bias about choosing MLS players over the American players that have made the jump to leagues in Europe. So, I guess the question has to be raised: is there an MLS bias in the USMNT? 

It is no secret that US Soccer has long strived to develop its own domestic soccer league, and to a degree, the MLS represents all the growth of soccer as a sport and entertainment to the US public. The MLS has long pushed to develop their own players at home rather than let them leave for abroad. Prime examples include inserting a 14-year old Freddie Adu into a professional team setting with DC United in 2004. Adu ended up being a major flop, but he did shine on occasion for the USMNT and he spent the majority of his early career in the young MLS before Adu tried to make it in Europe, albeit unsuccessfully. Even other names that were stars--Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey--all had some connection to the MLS in some way, either playing in the MLS before and after their European career. This has become a common theme amongst the modern MLS, as more American players come through the American soccer system to develop their skills before making the jump to bigger clubs in Europe. You can rattle off so many names--Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Chris Richards, Gianluca Busio, Matthew Hoppe, etc.--the list goes on. All of these players have been selected for the USMNT, all played in Europe, and all played in the MLS at some point. There's no real way of escaping the MLS's influence in US soccer. 

What fans tend to get irked about with Berhalter and US soccer is the choices for certain starting XIs. At times, Berhalter will play a roster that is well-rounded of some of the US's best players, with a heavy reliance on the quality of Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna out wide, Weston McKennie and Adams in central midfield, John Brooks at center-back, and typically, Zack Steffen in goal. At striker though, there is a pretty steep drop in quality, as Berhalter typically picks players like Gyasi Zardes over European-based young players like Konrad de la Fuente, Tim Weah, or Josh Sargent, even opting for new breakout MLS star Ricardo Pepi at center-forward. Zardes has been decent for the USMNT, but he does not have a consistent goalscoring record in big matches. At fullback, there is a lot of competition with players like Fulham's Antonee Robinson challenging with Miles Robinson from Atlanta United. Fulham may play in the English 2nd division, but even that is considerably tougher club football than the MLS. Yet, Miles Robinson tends to be a favorite under Berhalter, as are players like Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), and Paul Arriola (DC United). Not only do some of these MLS players start over certain European-based counterparts, but they have also been relied upon to make the difference in the absence of Pulisic and Reyna due to injury this year, and they have struggled. Just look at the USMNT's first three qualifiers and you might see a bit of a problem: 0-0 to El Salvador, 1-1 with Canada, and 4-1 win at Honduras. These are matches the US team dominated in the past, but lately, they have had to fight to see out matches and fans are starting to connect this with the lack of quality and possible team divisions between European-based American footballers and MLS players. 

I don't really think Gregg Berhalter has a full-blown MLS-player bias like some American soccer fans think he does. Rather, I think he has a bit of a soft spot for MLS players since he is a product of the MLS's coaching development. Being the former Columbus Crew coach, he likes to work with players he knows can play the style he wants to put out on the pitch. That's all well and good but in important matches, there are certain levels of quality the US team needs in order to fully win a match. It's not their fault Pulisic and Reyna have been injured, and with COVID restrictions, picking the best US team isn't always possible. However, it is telling that at Pulisic's preferred left-wing position, the depth falls to Paul Arriola, who is a decent player but nowhere near as talented as Pulisic. Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams have at times had to carry the US over the line just with defensive work rate in midfield because the forward play up top without Reyna or Pulisic gets very weak. Even with forwards like Matthew Hoppe and Brenden Aaronson making the jump to Europe this summer, they have only gotten a handful of meaningful looks, mostly Hoppe being a key player in the US's Gold Cup triumph this summer. Dropping some players like John Brooks, arguably the USMNT's most talented defender, and replacing him with Mark McKenzie who has struggled to kick on at Genk, raises some eyebrows, but again, McKenzie is a former MLS player. It's understandable that Berhalter will never make every US soccer fan happy, and with legitimate claims, these are the best batch of players based on the Nations League and Gold Cup triumphs this summer. However, Berhalter needs to get the squad chemistry in order. Watching the US men play is tough at times because they can't make simple passes or struggle to keep leads, a lot of which is down to team bonding. The European-based players have started ruling the roost, especially as the fans tend to rate them more than their MLS teammates. That can't make the feelings in the dressing room all that united, but it's up to Berhalter to work out those problems. 

All eyes will be on the USMNT this month as they hopefully get out of their qualifying group and they can erase the embarrassment of 2018. Berhalter has done leaps and bound with the USMNT, but now he faces the greatest tasks of all, and he needs to be able to achieve that. If that means he will trust his gut and go with the players he trusts rather than try to play the ones he doesn't fully believe in, it will divide the team internally and the fans will put him in a very narrow scope. The Nations League and Gold Cup are building blocks for the future, but the World Cup will be where Berhalter is truly put to the test. So, really there isn't an MLS bias, even though US Soccer wants more MLS exposure, but it also not as black and white.