For Kasey Keller, it’s a question of math. U.S. Soccer has invested multiples more than it has in the past for the men’s وطني team manager, with Mauricio Pochettino making a reported $6 million per year. Where is the return on that investment?
It’s a fair question, and one Keller is asking.
"If you have tripled or quadrupled the salary for this position, you would expect triple or quadruple benefit from that, just in terms of return on investment. Your return on investment has been horrible, completely horrible. I mean, that’s just on a results factor. I’m not looking at everything else," the ESPN FC analyst tells BALLGM.
Suffice to say, the former USMNT goalkeeper has been far from impressed by the national team. Some of his criticism is fair. Pochettino’s first year in charge has been marred by inconsistent results against good teams, high profile disputes with his best player, and losses in the handful of games that really meant anything.
Pochettino, despite winning five straight in the Gold Cup, has only won nine of 16 games since taking over the program last September. A few good performances from backups can’t mask that, Keller insists.
"You’re supposed to tell me beating the 100 and 115th-ranked team in the world 4-0, I’m supposed to get excited now?" he said. "I’m not that stupid. I was a goalkeeper, but I’m not الذي - التي stupid."
It’s been a tricky few months in the USMNT sphere, challenging to fully evaluate. The good news, for some, is that there could be change. Matt Turner’s return to the New إنجلترا Revolution could add a little verve to the goalkeeping competition. Christian Pulisic has his chance to strut his stuff in club colors again, and his national team return seems imminent, with September friendlies ahead.
The vibes simply have to remain upbeat, Keller argues – even if the reality suggests otherwise. With 10 months to go until the 2026 كأس العالم, there’s little other choice.
Keller discussed the state of the USMNT, Turner’s return to MLS and Son Heung-Min’s seemingly imminent arrival in the league in the the latest edition of Mic’d Up, a recurring feature in which BALLGM US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
For Kasey Keller, it’s a question of math. U.S. Soccer has invested multiples more than it has in the past for the men’s national team manager, with Mauricio Pochettino making a reported $6 million per year. Where is the return on that investment?
It’s a fair question, and one Keller is asking.
“If you have tripled or quadrupled the salary for this position, you would expect triple or quadruple benefit from that, just in terms of return on investment. Your return on investment has been horrible, completely horrible. I mean, that’s just on a results factor. I’m not looking at everything else,” the ESPN FC analyst tells BALLGM.
Suffice to say, the former USMNT goalkeeper has been far from impressed by the national team. Some of his criticism is fair. Pochettino’s first year in charge has been marred by inconsistent results against good teams, high profile disputes with his best player, and losses in the handful of games that really meant anything.
Pochettino, despite winning five straight in the Gold Cup, has only won nine of 16 games since taking over the program last September. A few good performances from backups can’t mask that, Keller insists.
“You’re supposed to tell me beating the 100 and 115th-ranked team in the world 4-0, I’m supposed to get excited now?” he said. “I’m not that stupid. I was a goalkeeper, but I’m not الذي - التي stupid.”
It’s been a tricky few months in the USMNT sphere, challenging to fully evaluate. The good news, for some, is that there could be change. Matt Turner’s return to the ثورة نيو إنجلاند could add a little verve to the goalkeeping competition. Christian Pulisic has his chance to strut his stuff in club colors again, and his national team return seems imminent, with September friendlies ahead.
The vibes simply have to remain upbeat, Keller argues – even if the reality suggests otherwise. With 10 months to go until the 2026 World Cup, there’s little other choice.
Keller discussed the state of the USMNT, Turner’s return to MLS and Son Heung-Min’s seemingly imminent arrival in the league in the the latest edition of Mic’d Up a recurring feature in which BALLGM US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
BALLGM: First of all, what did you make of the USMNT’s summer at the Gold Cup?
KELLER: Poor. For me, it really started with the friendlies. That, to me, was where the true competition was. I mean, getting to the final against Mexico, yes, that always has its own, lore, competition, whatever you want to say, just that match-up. So, I think those were the three matches that I looked at which were the best, maybe, gauge of where the team is right now. And clearly those matches didn’t go well.
You look away from the results themselves, you look at the selection process. Was this the best representation of the team a year out? If it is, you know, there’s a whole lot more questions to be asked. Before [Pulisic] came out and said that he had spoke about coming in for the friendlies, I didn’t understand, because I’d been in in many summer camps, in a lot of situations where certain players had played a lot, needed a break at some stage – certain players needed to get back to preseason, because they needed that time to give themselves the best opportunity to get playing time at their club. I played in multiple Gold Cups when I knew my position was secure with my club team, and I thought “Would I rather be playing in a competition than doing three a day preseason training in Norway somewhere? I’ll be in Miami playing against Brazil – that sounds a lot more fun than some terrible preseason camp.”
Individually, we’ve always had your circumstances where the coaching staff has recognized that, “Yeah, let’s get in for these matches.” And then that player needs to go back to his team, or this player then needs a little bit of a break before he goes in. Obviously, someone like myself said, “No, I’d rather be here, doing this because games that matter are more important than games that don’t.” But I fully understand a player that said, “No, I can’t miss the first three weeks of pre season, because if I do that, Who knows if I get my spot for my club.”
That was very, very surprising when I heard some of the conversations about not calling these players in for these games. It just seemed very strange that you wouldn’t look for opportunities to bring as many players in as possible for whatever circumstances possible, the summer before a World Cup. So, the squad depth clearly wasn’t good enough against the better teams. And then when you go into these conversations of how the coaching staff and the U.S. Soccer Federation are handling selection… it leaves a lot of questions.
BALLGM: But the counterargument there is you have some lads who might not get a chance. Do you see that argument of being able to get a look at your whole player pool – even if they might not be involved in the big games?
KELLER: You’re playing lower level CONCACAF in the opening round of a Gold Cup. It’s twofold. One, you’re saying, “Hey, look, here’s your chance… It’s not going to make a decision for me, but you can play against this competition. Now let’s see if that makes sense to then bring you in at the next stage, when everybody’s available against the stronger competition.” And then the other side, what I would have like to see, let’s say, against Turkey and Switzerland, you have a big squad. So first of all, you see Max Arfsten, for example, training against the main players, but seeing in a small-sided match, how he’s doing against Christian in training?
Now, maybe we’re not going to throw them straight in against these teams, because we want to get more of the squad that we understand and the strongest squad we can against the best competition we can that year. But look then, now you’re going to get your chance against lesser opposition. Let’s see how you do there first. And maybe that gives us an idea if then you get brought in when everybody’s available, because usually it’s a pecking order. You don’t just go, “Hey, let’s pull this guy that’s got 20 games in MLS, and let’s just throw them in the deep end.”
No, it doesn’t usually work that way. Usually, you come into the squad, you train, maybe you come off the bench. You show me that you can do something off the bench, which then earns you the right to start. feel this was just like, ‘Oh, here you go. There you go. You do that.’ You got thumped for it and and then you’re supposed to tell me beating the 100 and 115th-ranked team in the world 4-0, I’m supposed to get excited now? I’m not that stupid. I was a goalkeeper, but I’m not الذي - التي stupid.
BALLGM: That does bring up a pertinent point about Pochettino. He’s been in the job for a year now, can we evaluate him so far? What do you make of it all?
KELLER: If you have tripled or quadrupled the salary for this position, you would expect triple or quadruple benefit from that, just in terms of return on investment. Your return on investment has been horrible, completely horrible. I mean, that’s just on a results factor. I’m not looking at everything else. Now, where I do give a benefit of the doubt is that there really are only three matches that matter, and that’s the first round of the World Cup. Everything else was all preseason. There’s no 16=game qualifying schedule. Let’s go back to Gregg Berhalter, when he took over after not qualifying. You had three goals. Your first goal: you had to qualify. Gregg qualified. OK, you can say he qualified easily, but it doesn’t matter, who cares? You qualified. Goal No. 1 achieved: get into the tournament.
Goal No. 2, to me, is still based off what your draw looks like. Let’s go back to Germany. Your draw is the Czech Republic, who are ranked fourth, Italy, who won the tournament, and Ghana, who were a very good team. You look at those and say, ‘Should get out of that group?’ I would say we could get out of that group, but I would not say we يجب get out of that group. A very similar one with Brazil in 2014. You got a good Ghana team, you’ve got a Germany that went on to win the tournament, and you’ve got Portugal with Cristiano Ronaldo. Should you get out of that group? No. Could you? Yes. And the team did. When I looked at the draw in Qatar, what the US had, they should probably get out of that group. And they did. Second goal achieved. Now, third goal, round of 16. Should the US beat the هولندا?
BALLGM: That’s far trickier…
KELLER: Looking at it in an objective way, when you hit the size and the scope of the players and the teams they play for, and the history of the country and everything, you wouldn’t look at and say to the US, “Yeah, you should beat the Netherlands in a knockout stage.” I’m just being objective. Do I want the U.S. to win every game they’ve ever played, 100 percent. But I still have to be objective and say, “Yeah, that would be one of the biggest results in U.S. national team history.” So I look at what Gregg did, and I say, first goal, second goal done.
For the third, maybe you needed to have a coaching masterclass. Maybe you needed the players to have games in their lives. It didn’t happen. You lost to Holland. Now, if you said we need to now go spend 4X to get a coach that can produce that coaching masterclass, to beat Holland in a knockout stage, to beat the Dutch, have you seen that from the first year of Pochettino? It’s 100 percent fair. If I go to a club and you make me your record signing, you probably expect me to have a few performances that justify the price, right? Otherwise, why did you just make a record signing to do that? And I think it has been not good enough.
BALLGM: What’s your expectation for the USMNT at World Cup vs what will actually happen?
KELLER: I think the one thing that they’ve done with poor results is they’ve dropped the expectation. Sometimes we put too much expectation on the national team. And yes, we’ve had some players getting opportunities at clubs that maybe they hadn’t had consistently in the past. And yes, we still have a couple good players that can be better difference makers. But like any national team that doesn’t have tremendous squad depth, you still need that core five or six to be fit and informed and playing very well. You need your next five or six to overachieve. And then you need a couple surprises. You need a couple people that you go back and you say, “Wow, I didn’t expect that guy to have a great tournament.” You need those little things to happen.
Most of us are looking at the recent results, the situation with management picking fights with some of their star players – which is an interesting route to go – and, and then saying, this golden generation or whatever, maybe is a lot more silver or bronze. But I’ve been on national teams and club teams that are in great form and get to a competition and struggle. I have been in teams on terrible form go to a competition and succeeded.
Sometimes the other factor is what happened internally to your team, or internally with the teams you’re playing against. We had a very good team in 1998 that imploded. Portugal had a very, very good team in 2002 and absolutely imploded. France had great teams at times, and you go back three months later. Why did they not get out of the group stage? And you hear all this stuff that went on. So who do you get in your group? Do you get the team that’s come together? Or are you playing a team that’s imploding? In Colombia, 1994, you hear those stories about all the drama with the cartels and everything that was going on, and you’re like, “No wonder that team imploded!” So I’m still kind of hoping that it comes together. But they definitely dropped the expectation.
BALLGM: Switching gears, Matt Turner is back in MLS. Is that the right move for him right now?
KELLER: I don’t think there was a lot of other options. I think if you look at the situation, you know, Matt went over to Europe in a situation where it was always going to be difficult for him to play. At some stage, he did enough that somebody at Nottingham Forest said, “We think you’re our guy.” So he stayed in the الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز. He was then replaced in the January transfer window. So at that stage, there was no other Premier League team because there’s no equity there. There are not 200 matches like in the بطولة. There’s not a promotion run. There’s not, “Hey, check out these FA Cup results” or “ook at when he was playing for the smaller team, the result he had, and how he was able to keep that team in the match. So basically, the situation is he was having to probably take a big step down.
But right now, MLS probably is willing to pay more than a championship team was for a 31-year-old who has no experience at that level. And so to me, it’s, it’s perfectly fine. This is exactly what Jurgen Klinsmann was talking about when he was a national team manager. He was saying, “Look, push yourself. Go see what that level is. Go see how high you can go. And if it doesn’t work out, come back, have a great career in MLS.” There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s brilliant. Go for it. And so I think it makes perfect sense.
BALLGM: So what about Son to MLS then? His move to LAFC is all-but done. How big of a signing could he be? And would he bring more eyes to MLS than Leo Messi, given how big he is in Asia?
KELLER: I think there’s the kicker. Messi is Messi. The only other person who would move a needle like that would be Ronaldo, and he’s decided not to come. And some of it maybe was because Messi decided to. They have an interesting relationship. But yeah, agreed. If you’ve ever played with or been around a Japanese player, a Chinese player, a Korean player, they are truly some of the biggest names in their country. And L.A. has a big Korean population. So yeah, there’s no question, Son will have a huge marketing impact for that population. Marketing is interesting because marketing is important, but you still have to be able to do the job on the pitch. And Son has obviously done that for a period of time.
The key to coming to MLS with any big-name player is you have to put the effort in. If you put the effort in, your skill, your ability, everything else will then make you a very good player in MLS. There are players that have not succeeded, when they have come into MLS thinking they can play at 70, 60, 50 percent and think they’re going to dominate just because of their name. MLS is very athletic. It’s hard work. So if you match that effort, you will be successful. I see nothing in Son’s personality and the way he’s played that would say that he would come in and coast. So yes, I think he can both have an impact on marketing and also have an impact on the pitch as well. If he got a couple of Tottenham players around, that doesn’t hurt either.
July 31 – Andres and Nico Cantor: Father-son analysts on Mauricio Pochettino’s chief challenge with USMNT, and Inter Miami’s Leo Messi ‘completing football
July 29 – Dax McCarty: Apple TV’s Dax McCarty on why MLS was right to suspend Lionel Messi, the new Leagues Cup format, and why Club America is favorite
July 25 – Derek Rae: ESPN commentator on Gio Reyna’s flawed fit at Dortmund, why ‘nobody knows’ how good 22-year-old USMNT midfielder can be
July 7 – Callum Williams: Apple TV, world soccer commentator on the impact of Brazilian teams at the Club World Cup
June 27 – Kyle Martino: TNT analyst on USMNT goalscoring void, the state of the program and the return of Showdown to NYC
June 23 – Dax McCarty: Apple TV analyst on the opportunity, pressure facing Mauricio Pochettino and USMNT ahead of World Cup
June 19 – Herculez Gomez: ESPN analyst on why he’s bullish about Club World Cup, memories of playing in CWC, how 2026 World Cup could be ‘biggest sporting event ever’
June 17 – Herculez Gomez: ESPN analyst on Christian Pulisic controversy, state of USMNT, fractures in fan base and his admiration for ‘highly relatable’ Diego Luna
June 11 – Diego Valeri: Apple TV+ analyst on Lionel Messi’s MLS impact, supporting rival Sounders at Club World Cup, and U.S. and Argentina ties
May 21 – Taylor Twellman: Apple TV+ analyst on ‘exciting’ matchups in the Club World Cup, why a top European team will win, and how Inter Miami can benefit
May 13 – Kay Murray: ESPN FC analyst on Americans supporting Club World Cup, European teams vying for trophy, and whether an MLS team can make a run
May 9 – Luis Garcia: ESPN Analyst on Barcelona and ‘fantastic’ Lamine Yamal, why Real Madrid lack a philosophy, and Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving Liverpool
May 1 – Derek Rae: ESPN analyst on Harry Kane’s trophy quest, Gio Reyna’s Borussia Dortmund struggles, the meaning behind ‘the smell of the stable’
April 28 – Christina Unkel: CBS Sports rules analyst on VAR challenges, ‘visibility’ in refereeing, former players becoming officials
April 25 – Alejandro Moreno: ESPN FC pundit on Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid disappointment, Carlo Ancelotti’s final season, ‘best in the world’ Lamine Yamal
April 24 – Bradley Wright-Phillips: Apple TV analyst on the ‘brilliance’ of Lionel Messi, ‘chippy’ Inter Miami, and why Kevin De Bruyne’s next team should be NYCFC
April 22 – Ali Krieger: ESPN analyst on Naomi Girma’s تشيلسي move, the ‘amazing’ Emma Hayes and why NWSL ‘can’t just dilute the league by expanding’
April 16 – Jamie Carragher: CBS analyst on Club World Cup and packed schedule, ‘disappointing’ Trent Alexander-Arnold, ‘delightful’ Mo Salah deal
April 14 – Kevin Egan: Apple TV+ host on the 2026 World Cup, 2025 Club World Cup and growth of game in America
April 11 – Kay Murray: ESPN FC host on Harry Kane and Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga ambitions, ‘undeniable talent’ of Gio Reyna, and Ballon d’Or race without ‘a standout contender’
April 8 – Kevin Egan: Apple TV analyst on possible Kevin De Bruyne link with Lionel Messi and MLS, Cavan Sullivan’s ‘swagger’ and ‘next-level’ Wilfried Nancy
March 26 – Kasey Keller: ‘Guys that would rather be on the beach’ – ESPN’s Kasey Keller knocks ‘general malaise’ of USMNT players, says Mauricio Pochettino must show ‘he’s 100 percent committed’
March 21 – Kaylyn Kyle: Apple TV studio analyst on Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the ‘chaotic’ nature of MLS, why NWSL player exodus could ‘hurt the league
March 13 – Micah Richards: CBS Sports analyst on Man City’s future, why Real Madrid will win دوري أبطال أوروبا, and that bet with Jude Bellingham
March 11 – Antonella Gonzalez: Apple TV’s Antonella Gonzalez on interviewing Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, the rise of Latin American influence in MLS, and being a Hispanic woman in broadcasting
March 4 – Nico Cantor: CBS Analyst on ‘world-class’ Mauricio Pochettino, ‘mixed’ Champions League format, and why USL can compete with MLS
Feb 26 – Andrew Wiebe: Apple TV analyst Andrew Wiebe on زلازل سان خوسيه‘ ‘massive offseason’, Kevin De Bruyne’s potential MLS arrival, league’s growth
Feb. 20 – Taylor Twellman: Apple TV’s analyst on Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami ‘laying an egg’ in MLS playoffs, Cavan Sullivan, and why Cincinnati are a threat
Feb. 18 – Taylor Twellman: Apple TV analyst on USMNT World Cup aspirations, Mauricio Pochettino, and team’s signature wins – or lack thereof
Feb. 11 – Maurice Edu: Apple TV analyst on national team’s potential, Cavan Sullivan’s ‘borderline arrogance’ and ‘global shop window’ of MLS
Jan. 30 – Keith Costigan: Apple TV commentator on Mo Salah and Liverpool, the Olivier Giroud experiment at LAFC and more
Jan 28 – Nigel Reo-Coker: CBS Sports Golazo Network analyst on the new Champions League format, state of American soccer and Aston Villa
Jan 20 – Kate Scott: CBS Sports host on the American soccer psyche, USMNT’s ‘statement’ hire in Mauricio Pochettino, ‘enormous’ 2026 World Cup and why Liverpool will win Champions League
Jan 13 – DaMarcus Beasley: USMNT legend on Lionel Messi’s mindset, the ‘good groove’ for MLS and why Mauricio Pochettino is the ‘right man for the job’
Jan. 9 – Callum Williams: Soccer analyst on Lionel Messi and 2025 Club World Cup, ‘naivety towards’ South American soccer, ‘preposterous’ that Jack Grealish has ‘lost it’
Jan. 2 – Jenny Chiu: CBS reporter on ‘big changes’ by Emma Hayes, Mauricio Pochettino’s ‘pedigree’ and possible UCL glory for Inter
Dec. 17 – Stu Holden: FOX Sports analyst on the evolution of the American game, why Christian Pulisic will be ‘best U.S. Soccer player of all-time’
Dec. 12 – Brian Dunseth: Turner, Apple TV analyst on Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and USMNT’s future under Mauricio Pochettino
Dec. 5 – Jalil Anibaba: Apple TV analyst on MLS Cup predictions, Inter Miami hiring Javier Mascherano and MLS’s ‘disheartening’ coaching diversity issue
Nov. 21 – Andres Cantor: Telemundo legend on Mauricio Pochettino’s Argentine mindset, the USMNT and having a front-row seat for the rise of the American game
Nov. 16 – Matt Doyle: Apple TV analyst assesses Inter Miami’s defensive ‘insanity,’ whether Neymar could join Lionel Messi, MLS Cup favorite
Nov. 7 – Gary Neville: Veteran analyst talks USMNT World Cup hopes, ‘hell of a player’ Christian Pulisic, ‘relentless’ David Beckham, and Cristiano Ronaldo to MLS
Oct. 31 – Herculez Gomez: ESPN FC analyst on Mauricio Pochettino’s impact, the USMNT’s ‘wide-open’ striker race, and a player pool ‘that lacks accountability’
Oct. 29 – Rebecca Lowe: NBC host on the growth of soccer, the ‘incredible’ Emma Hayes and ‘profile-raising’ Mauricio Pochettino
Oct. 24 – Andrew Wiebe: Apple TV analyst on MLS playoffs, Lionel Messi’s ‘nuclear form’ and how Inter Miami can become league’s ‘greatest team of all time
Oct. 17 – Jamie Carragher: Veteran analyst talks USMNT, slams Man City over legal case, questions Mauricio Pochettino despite ‘great’ hire
