Why Kasey Keller's Pochettino criticism should be alarming for USMNT fans | OneFootball

Of all the critics of U.S. men's national team manager Mauricio Pochettino, one of the most vocal of late has been former U.S. national team goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

The former USA shot-stopper who spent 11seasons playing in Big Five top flight leagues in Europe pulled no punches in recent remarks on the Argentine manager after his side suffered a 2-1 defeat to Mexico in the Concacaf Gold Cup final on Sunday.

Here's the extent of his comments as an analyst for ESPN FC, as detailed on X (formerly Twitter).

What's most interesting -- and perhaps alarming -- about these comments is that of all the former USMNT players who have turned into pundits, Keller has exactly the kind of background that makes him a more reliable critic of someone of Pochettino's pedigree, one that includes an extended, successful stint at Tottenham Hotspur and a shorter, mixed run at Chelsea two seasons ago.

Keller's European development

Keller's soccer upbringing did not come in the Bruce Arena-Bob Bradley inner circle at the University of Virginia or Princeton that has been at the root of so much USMNT history, for better and worse.

Instead, he played collegiately across the country at the University of Portland under legendary late English-American manager Clive Charles. Then he spent 20 seasons as a professional, with the first 17 of them in England, Germany and Spain before finally concluding his career in MLS with the Seattle Sounders.

Given that background, Keller's criticism is significant for two reasons:

This doesn't mean you have to take Keller's criticism as gospel. He's still a human and succeptible to human biases, like all of us.

But if you were going to pick out a pundit who would be reactionary merely because the manager is foreign and has a big pedigree, Keller is the last name you'd think of.