I'm an outsider when it comes to the U.S. men's national team. I watch them play in major tournaments, I watched a couple of games in the Hex, but beyond that, it's just highlights for me. That said, I have been doing this a long time and the inquest which is bound to follow the team's failure to qualify for Russia 2018 rings hugely familiar. Most big countries go through it -- and, yes, a top-30 FIFA ranking and seven consecutive World Cups makes you "big" -- whether it's after failing to qualify for a major tournament or after a first-round exit.
Understanding why the U.S. failed to qualify for the World Cup -- an outsider's POV
