Former U.S. men’s national team assistant coach Anthony Hudson has said that the number of players at big European clubs creates an “illusion” about how good the team truly is.
Hudson took over as U.S. under-20 men’s national team head coach in 2020, then moved to the USMNT as an assistant coach in 2021.
When Gregg Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022, Hudson stepped in as interim head coach for the USMNT, departing in May 2023 to take over as head coach of Qatari club Al Markhiya.
Hudson, who only lasted a handful of games at Al Markhiya, appeared on beIN SPORTS this week to discuss the USMNT after Berhalter was dismissed as head coach.
According to Hudson, fans may hold unrealistic expectations over the team due to the number of players at big European clubs. For Hudson, being at one of those sides isn’t the same as being a key player there.
“They don’t have a huge amount of depth and they’re still building,” Hudson said. “But unfortunately the perception is because all these players are in big clubs around the world, but they’re not key players in their clubs in Europe. This is where I think it’s a little bit of an illusion about where they’re at.
“But it’s a team with a lot of promise. They need someone in there that is going to really command respect of those young players and play an aggressive front-foot style of football. They’ve got a lot of attacking players, a lot of speed, dynamic players, and what it means to be American is to be brave, and it’s to go after teams, and you need a coach with that type of staff.”
Despite his view that the USMNT’s overall quality may be overrated by some fans, Hudson added that the team’s desire to succeed is still exceptionally high.
“I hope some of the American fans hear this, because I think they need to: Those players really, really care about playing for the national team,” Hudson said.
“Even if the performances weren’t great at the Copa América — the sending off [by Tim Weah against Panama] didn’t help them — but if people have a question about what the national team means to those players, it’s undoubted. Those guys love playing for their country, they’re desperate to put football, that team, on the map and make an impact. I know that for sure.”
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