Former US men’s national team greats Landon Donovan and Tim Howard criticized some of the stars who asked to be left off the team’s Gold Cup roster this summer, with Donovan saying he believes that the national team is “not a priority” for them.
The Gold Cup is the last international tournament the US men’s national team will compete in before playing co-host for the 2026 World Cup next summer. Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson and Yunus Musah allasked to be left off of the teamfor various reasons, with Pulisic citing the workload of two straight 50-game campaigns with Milan, while Robinson was ruled out with a case of knee tendinopathy (an overuse injury that he had been managing for much of the second half of the Premier League season).
Fulham announced on Wednesday that Robinson would undergo a surgical procedure on his knee and would use the summer to recover. Musah, according to head coach Mauricio Pochettino, asked out of the team due to “personal reasons”.
InWednesday’s episode of Unfiltered Soccer, the podcast co-hosted by Donovan and Howard, Donovan decried the absences despite his own experience with experiencing burnout over the course of his playing career.
“I understand very clearly what it’s like to need a break,” said Donovan, who took time away from soccer in 2013 – a decision that then-US head coach Jürgen Klinsmann said contributed to thedecision to cut Donovanfrom the 2014 World Cup team. “If there’s something serious going on in your life, in your family, mentally, whatever, I get it. I’m going to assume for the sake of this conversation that’s not going on. If they would actually come out and give reasons, it would help us, but none of them want to say anything publicly. I think it would help them publicly to say ‘this is why.’”
In the episode, which was likely recorded before the announcement of Robinson’s surgery, Donovan said that reasons related to fatigue and burnout fall flat when set against the players’ performances for their club teams to end the season.Milan, home to Pulisic and Musah, was a focus given that the last game of their season was largely meaningless, with the team already mathematically out of European competition next season.
“The problem I have with Christian in the last few weeks is he’s still playing for Milan,” Donovan said. So, if you’re if you’re tired and you’re burned out and whatever [and] you guys are still playing for a Champions League spot, fine. I get it. They had nothing to play for this weekend. Zero.”
In the case of Robinson, Donovan pointed out that the left-back withdrew from national team consideration ahead of this year’s Nations League finals due to injury concerns, yet started for Fulham in games immediately before and after the international break.
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“He doesn’t want to go to the Gold Cup. Fine. You’ve had a long season. You’ve performed great,” Donovan said. “Why are you starting and playing 90 minutes the last two games for Fulham if your knee’s so messed up?” What are you doing? What kind of message is that sending? If you are really injured and that’s no problem, you’re totally fine. We respect that. Everyone has to make the decision that’s best for them.
“My biggest thing with these guys right now is the national team is not a priority for them. I’m not going to say they don’t care. There’s levels of caring. It’s just not a priority.
Howard, along with Donovan, expressed dismay that Pochettino would not have a chance to have the full team together in a tournament setting before the World Cup, but that “I’m putting a ton of this on US Soccer.”
“There needed to be people on planes in restaurants in Milan, at restaurants in London, buying bottles of red wine for sporting directors saying, “Listen, I understand you have priorities. Let me tell you about my priorities,” Howard said, referring to the federation’s relationship with the clubs where US players ply their trade. This relationship between clubs and international federations is typically at least somewhat collaborative, with Fifa enforcing laws governing the availability of players to national teams. “I don’t necessarily know that dialogue has been had with sporting directors. And by the way, if it has, then it just shows that US Soccer has no gravitas and no power. [In that case] those sporting directors basically said, ‘Who is this? I don’t have time for this call. I’ll speak to you never.’ And hung up the phone.”
US Soccer has been approached for comment.