Twellman: 'The moment was too big for USMNT'
Taylor Twellman breaks down the USMNT's disappointing loss to Belgium, why he believes the team came out flat and what he made of Christian Pulisic's World Cup.
Video Transcript
Taylor Twellman joined us yesterday, as we got here early so in case we, needed to tape some interviews due to the scheduling here.
And Taylor finished with his practice round and then joined us here on our set in, Lake Tahoe.
And I got a chance to talk to him about the, World Cup, and I started off by asking him, "How surprised should we be what happened to Team USA?"
The result stinks.
The surprise for me is the, how flat the United States looked.
Five minutes in, I was watching with Marty Fish and his family.
I looked at Marty and I said, "I, I can't believe how sluggish they are."
Like, it, it, it felt like the moment was too big.
And, and that surprised the heck out of me.
That is the biggest surprise.
So to answer your question, the results, take it for what it is, you could lose 2-1 and literally honorably sit there and say, "They scored a great goal.
It happens."
That, that's the sport.
Look at what Argentina did against Egypt, right?
So- Yeah that happens.
That's Messi.
He missed penalties.
Stuff happens in sports.
But the attitude, the energy level, the being overwhelmed in the moment, Dan, my word, that, that is gonna be I, I don't know if they ever swallowed that pill.
The thing that worried me is we get this far, and then we get humiliated.
Yes.
We, we got embarrassed.
Yep.
And then I worry that it's, you know, the, the reaction's gonna be the same.
"Oh, we can't compete on the big-" Uh-huh. "
stage.
You know, we don't have the firepower."
You know, all of the things- Yep that these, these tropes that we've been saying over and over and over and over for decades.
Absolutely.
It felt like Groundhog's Day again, even though we got to the knockout stage.
Give us a positive though that we're, that we should be taking away from this.
Yeah.
I'm, I'm actually glad you phrased it that way, 'cause it's honestly exactly why I feel sick to my stomach still, right?
Because the general public that I am trying to embrace, because I think some part of soccer media's issue is we're so inclusive and we, we If you don't say the right words and the right terms, we shun you away.
In order to really grow this, y- we, you don't need to do that.
So everyone's saying the same thing.
"Well, we lost to Belgium.
Of course, round of 16, we always lose in the rounds of 16 and, and this is what happens."
The game against Paraguay, and remember, you had me on earlier in the World Cup, and I said, "Quarterfinals or bust."
I'd still be sitting here if they lost 2-1 saying that it was, quote, a bust.
The positive, the barometer, the way, the potential is the word I would use, guys, is the way they beat Paraguay tells you it's there.
And I think the general public needs to understand this.
In World Cup qualifying in South America, that is Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Bolivia in altitude, Paraguay gave up six goals.
That's only, only six.
So to score three goals in the first half against them, that tells you it's there.
But what bothers all of us ex-players, anyone that's within the ecosystem, "So what, what are we gonna do, hang a banner for three goals in the first half?"
You know what I'm Like, I say that tongue in cheek, but I also say that like, come on.
Come on.
And the way the Bosnia game went, I was so proud of how the team said, "This is gonna get ugly.
It's gonna get scrappy," and this group did it.
To then be as flat after that is, that's the toughest thing for me to sit here and honestly try to articulate how I feel and how they feel.
Taylor Twellman, Apple TV lead soccer analyst, five-time All-Star with the New England Revolution.
they turned quickly on Christian Pulisic.
I know.
It didn't take long for social media.
Well, injury?
Like, I don't know.
Do you put an asterisk by this?
Listen, Christian's a fantastic player, and I still think he's always gonna be in the conversation for the best player ever.
but you can't be, you can't be naive and not remember that from January 1st to the World Cup, he had zero goal contributions for Milan.
Before that, I just want everyone to, that's listening to know, July 27th, 2025 to January 1st, 2026, he was second in goal contributions in Syria.
And then literally saw a ghost.
'Cause a player of his caliber, you can get assists.
Someone like myself, I only scored goals.
I wasn't anything else.
I wasn't anywhere near that.
So he's not just a goal scorer.
I need the general public to understand, but he's, he's the playmaker.
He does things that other players can't.
He's your guy for the United States.
However, from January 1st, 2026 to the beginning of World Cup camp, before the Senegal game, he had zero goal contributions.
So if anyone's a little surprised that he struggled in this World Cup, well, you didn't read the tea leaves.
Yeah.
But then Senegal came, and he was really good.
And then Germany came, and he was solid.
And then the first 45 minutes against Paraguay, I was like, "Hang on a minute," and then he's injured.
So there's no asterisk, Dan.
It's a long-winded answer to your question.
There's no asterisk.
He is This is When you're put on the pedestal and everyone remembers the bigger moments, absolutely.
But I need this to be said.
Everybody on the field against Belgium was not good enough.
It wasn't because Pulisic, it didn't do anything attack and third.
They were all not good enough.
And you being a goal scorer, I've always wondered if I was going to look at the attributes of a quarterback or a point guard.
Like, you, you have to see things before other people s- like Messi It, it- is he a quarter- Does he have to be a quarterback in how he sees the field?
Is he a point guard in how he 'Cause you gotta f- you gotta see something before it happens.
Yes.
I, I would say, so Messi is your quarterback/point guard, so he's the metronome by everything that plays through him.
He's also a unicorn, so we need to make that abundantly clear.
Like, if we're really gonna talk about this position, Messi's up top and everybody else is below.
But, but like Haaland and Mbappe?
Haaland, Haaland's a goal scorer.
Ka- here's one for you.
Erling Haaland is Karl Malone.
He's not John Stockton.
He's not.
'Cause Erling Haaland, he doesn't need 75, 80 touches.
If you look at the last three games, it's under 40 touches or something, and he just hangs out, but he finishes plays.
He's your Shaquille O'Neal.
He's not Kobe Bryant, right?
He's not The point guard is your quote, unquote, in our sport, the playmaker that sees everything.
Now, it's a little different because the quarterback has everything in front of him, right?
In soccer, it's 360, so you gotta be aware of what's behind you and what's not, and that's why Messi is so unique and different because he plays further up the field, yet he's got eyes behind his head.
He sees different things.
Pulisic is your In, in, in basketball terms, he's, he's your two.
He's your two.
But Mbappe is like Haaland?
Well, yes.
Yep.
He's not a point guard.
He's, he's not, he's not Messi.
But Messi scores though.
That's why he's a unicorn.
Okay.
I mean, he- it's a tr- in basketball terms, it's a triple double, but he leads the league in points scored where you're like, "Wait a minute, how is that possible?
Wait a minute."
Like, it's not just- Is he Steph Curry?
S- yeah.
There- that's a better analogy.
For me, that's a better analogy because he can do it all.
'Cause Steph never stops running.
No.
Always movement.
Always.
And you constantly say the same thing.
How the hell is he doing that- Yes against those guys?
'Cause Messi's not biggest, fastest, strongest.
He- There's- No.
And Dan, that's such a great analogy because Steve Kerr showed the Warriors in their heyday Barcelona film.
He showed Barcelona film of when Messi was there because they technically- You better credit me with that analogy.
Absolutely.
Sure.
Okay.
Of course.
Absolutely.
Sure.
I mean, with my concussion problems, I'm gonna forget in 10 minutes anyway, so it doesn't matter.
But the truth of the matter is, like Steve Kerr said, look, they're playing positions within our system.
They're not defined.
And remember when those Warriors teams were so good?
They didn't play with a definitive five.
Their four wasn't a definitive four.
They were just free-flowing.
It's a great analogy because I do think, and I don't know if Steph's ever said this, I would love to I wonder if Steph watched those tapes and said, "Huh, look at what Messi's doing.
He's going where the ball isn't- Yeah so the ball ends up coming to him."
And you guys know this way better than me.
In basketball, the court tilts and flips when Curry's on the field.
Messi is 39 years old.
Father Time has knocked on the door.
It's called the house phone.
It's called his cell phone.
He hasn't picked up, and the field is still tilting to him.
He missed a penalty kick against Egypt, and he still wins the game.
It's, it's unheard of.
Good to talk to you.
Thank you for stopping by.
I love being here.
Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
What'd you guys lose a bet to have me on the show?
No, no.
Win or lose, Team USA, we were having you on.
Yeah, yeah.
Right, Paul?
We did a whole text chain yesterday about how we had to get you here today.
Did you really?
Absolutely.
We had a whole text chain.
I don't believe that.
No, no.
I, I, I saw- It's on a ph- what was it, on a Motorola Razr?
No, no.
I- Samsung?
I, I saw Big Cat and, and- Yes PFT yesterday- Yep and they said they were gonna have beers with you watching the soccer match, and I- Oh, we did.
Yep.
I had, I had halfway through the game- I had rally pumps on.
You were rallying, yeah.
And, and Big Cat looked at me.
He goes, "What's wrong?"
I'm like, "Dude, I'm trying anything right now."
Boys, thanks for having me.
They could've used you.
Thank you, bud.
Thanks, guys.
