Mic'd Up: The Apple TV analyst reflected on his Gold Cup experiences, what to expect from USMNT this summer and in '26

A year out from the World Cup, the U.S. men's national team's focus is squarely fixated on that tournament. One year out, seemingly all things involving the USMNT are in service of a World Cup run, including the current Gold Cup. Everything else seems secondary.

That's just on the outside, though. For those in the locker room, those fighting through this Gold Cup, this tournament will seem as important as any. Dax McCarty can attest to that. He's lived it.

After earning five caps between 2009 and 2001, McCarty was a somewhat surprising inclusion on the USMNT's 2017 Gold Cup roster. It ended up being the pinnacle of his national team career. McCarty was a regular that summer at 30 years old, providing some of the veteran leadership to help a young U.S. group navigate the group stage before the cavalry arrived in the knockout round.

That summer, McCarty knew what he was fighting for. He wasn't fighting to unseat Michael Bradley and, despite all of the optimism he could muster, he wasn't fighting for future World Cup opportunities. The point was to represent his country on a level higher than he ever had before. He got that and, and ultimately lifted an international trophy as a result.

"Yeah, I love the Gold Cup," McCarty tells GOAL. "I thought the Gold Cup was so important for a guy like me, who maybe didn't get as many opportunities to play in international competitions because I was lower on the depth chart. It felt like it was my moment, my opportunity, to really prove my worth to the team in a tournament setting."

The Gold Cup has changed in recent years, becoming a tournament for players such as McCarty. That holds true this summer. Featuring a group largely made up of MLS players, newcomers and those looking to prove a point – and missing the likes of Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robninson and Weston McKennie – the USMNT is through to the knockout stages. Players are fighting for spots in Mauricio Pochettino's World Cup squad, yes, but, heading into the quarterfinal round, the U.S. has other ambitions: validate this summer with a trophy.

McCarty got to do that, and it was among the best moments of his career. His message then? Make the most of it. There are bigger moments ahead, yes, but don't let that distract from enjoying this one.

The Apple TV analyst discussed the Gold Cup, his own experience in the tournament, and his expectations for American soccer in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts, and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.

Getty Images SportON THE STATE OF THE USMNT

GOAL: The U.S. is in an odd place right now. Off-field discussions, such as Christian Pulisic's decision to skip the Gold Cup, have dominated, and that comes just one year out from the World Cup. As someone who has worn that shirt, what's that all like, both from an ex-player POV and, now, as an analyst POV?

MCCARTY: I think there's a lot of nuance, and there's a lot of context involved, right? I think there's been a lot of negative energy and a lot of negative press around the U.S. national team. And a lot of it has to do with off-field drama, which, quite frankly, nobody wants. But the reality is the team is in the situation that they are in because of their own making, and now it's up to them to get out of it.

My hope for the national team is that we can support Mauricio Pochettino up until the World Cup and through the World Cup. Because, as a fan, I want to see us do as best as we possibly can. But I also recognize, as an analyst, that it's nowhere near good enough if we want to compete at the World Cup. We need a coach in Pochettino who is going to lay out a tactical plan that gets the best out of our player pool, and then in turn, we need a player pool who shows commitment and shows dedication and shows hunger and fire to be able to represent the badge in a way where it feels like there's a lot of pride in the national team again. I think we've gotten away from that a little bit.

Every time a player gets called up for their national team, I know they love our country. I know they want to be there. But we need to make sure that – because we didn't have a World Cup qualifying cycle – we have our best players together as much as possible leading into the World Cup, which I think is a lot of the frustration surrounding some guys that have missed out on friendlies, missed out on the Gold Cup. There's not a ton of time here, and the U.S. men's national team is not in the best form.

GOAL: That said, are you still optimistic? How much time does it take to figure things out?

MCCARTY: I have no doubts that Mauricio Pochettino will be able to figure out the best way to move this team forward tactically, even if there have been a lot of growing pains, which there have been. I also have no doubts that by the time the first game kicks off for the World Cup in the summer of 2026, I know that our team will be ready to put their best foot forward. I think there's uncertainty around the results, and I think there's uncertainty around what our best team is at the moment.

Which is, I think, pretty fair, because I don't think there are a lot of players who should be locked-in starters. There are some that maybe feel like they are, but we need that competition back. We need that sense of competition back in the team. We need depth. We need quality if we want to compete with the best teams in the world. So maybe it's good that we're going through all of this strife and difficulty now so that Pochettino can see what he has and set a clear path forward on how we get to our best.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesON THE USMNT DEPTH

GOAL:No disrespect here, but you were never a USMNT superstar. You were always the guy who had to fight for every inch. That's what this summer is about, considering the absences: finding guys that can fight and scrap and, maybe, make a World Cup roster. As someone who lived that life, it was about challenging those in front of you. Do you see enough of that?

MCCARTY: It's a matter of them being more consistent when they put the U.S. men's national team jersey on, because the truth is – and I said this before – the depth right now on the national team isn't good enough to where I think our best players feel that they actually have competition for their place in the lineup. And that's what this summer is about right now. The summer is about, right now, Mauricio Pochettino finding out who he can trust and rely on, to push the guys that we know we're going to have to rely on in the U.S, like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, these guys. These are players that when they're fit and healthy and motivated, they are the best players in our national team pool.

I think that it's Pochttino's job to find a way to get them motivated to be in every single camp and to play for him in the way that he wants to play. But also to find the players on the depth chart that are going to push them and push them to be better, so that when they come into camp they're feeling pressure. Because I think if those guys feel a little bit more pressure, they're going to play just as well as they can play. I think right now, they've gotten a little bit complacent, and I don't say that as a knock on them. They're all wonderful players. I think a little bit of complacency has set in when they rightfully know that there enough depth to challenge them and to push them. So Pochettino needs to find the right players to be able to challenge and push them, so that when the World Cup rolls around, we have our best players feeling motivated to be on the field and to feel that pressure.

AFPON THE GOLD CUP

GOAL: For guys that were on the fringes, the Gold Cup has traditionally been such a big moment. For some guys, it was the springboard for more. For others, it was their best-ever chance to put on a USMNT shirt and, in your case, win a trophy for your national team. The tournament's status has changed in the last few years. As someone who has played in it, and won it, how do you view the Gold Cup and the opportunity that comes with playing in it?

MCCARTY: There's so much value in it. Obviously, I don't think it has the quality and prestige of a Copa America or Euros and, look, that's fair. That's just where we're at as, I think, a region when we compare ourselves to some of these other regions around the world. But that doesn't make it any less important for players who want to represent their country in an official competition. It was so important to me, my development in my career, and my understanding of what it takes to win on the international stage.

Specifically, I wasn't young when I played in the Gold Cup, but, on the international level, I wasn't that experienced. Even now, with some of our younger players who are just getting a taste of the national team for the first time, I think it's wonderful way to get your feet wet in terms of what it means to be in an international competition – the cadence of the games, how you recover, the different types of styles of opponents that you're going to play. I think it's a great dress rehearsal for what the World Cup is going to feel like.

GOAL: What was it like winning it? What were your memories from that summer?

MCCARTY: I absolutely am so proud of our 2017 Gold Cup team. We didn't play great in the group stage, and then we got some help. We got some people called in, some of the bigger names that came and helped us throughout the knockout rounds. But that's what representing the national team is about. It's about the crest on the front of the jersey, and not necessarily about the name on the back of the jersey. You're not just 23 or 24 guys representing one team, you're representing an entire country of 350 million people. You're representing everything that I think is so valuable about being an American – and that's representing our team, not on a world stage, but on a stage where we've traditionally been pretty dominant, along with Mexico, in CONCACAF.

I think there's a lot of pride on the line. I felt so much pride when I got to play in the Gold Cup and we got to lift that Gold Cup trophy. It almost felt like, 'Hey, you know what? We're back where we belong.' We were the kings of CONCACAF, if you will. Maybe it's lost its its prestige a little bit over the years, because we've added the Nations League or because our best players play in so many different competitions that it's hard for them to find a time to get a break. Or maybe it's because we're playing the Gold Cup every two years. Maybe it should be more in line with the other continental competitions, where it's played every four years. I completely understand that. But you'll never convince me, with the type of mentality I had and the player that I was, that I had the luxury to say no to a Gold Cup. I never had that luxury, and so I was so proud to represent the U.S. in this tournament.

Getty Images SportON JESSE MARSCH

GOAL: You played under Jesse Marsch with the New York Red Bulls and, for years, it felt like American soccer was behind him as he did his thing in Europe. Now, American soccer is on the other side and now learning what its like to go against Jesse. As someone who has played under him, what do you make of his job with Canada? Is this the same old Jesse, just with American soccer on the other side for the first time, or has he evolved and changed as a manager?

MCCARTY: It's been fun watching Jesse with Canada because he seems like he's really going all in on this 'Us against the world' mentality and role, right? I admire Jesse. I do think he's a great coach. I think he's a wonderful manager. I think the way that he gets the best out of his team is to empower his players. That's what he wants: to empower his players, to feel like they deserve to be there, like they are better than maybe they are sometimes. That's great, because confidence is a wonderful thing.

Jesse is a player's coach. Jesse, very early on in his career, realized that the more he invested in the person, the more he would be able to get out of the player. Honestly, even with his decision to trade me and all these different things, it's decisions that are hard and decisions that I didn't agree with. But at the same time, I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that he he got the best out of me as a player. He made me a better player, and he made me a better leader. He does that with every team that he's on.

Sometimes he doesn't always get it right tactically. Sometimes his tactics can be a bit simple in terms of just press, press, press, and not have a lot of nuance with the ball. But I think, over the last couple of years and with the experiences that he's had in Europe, that has helped him refine his game model a little bit. You can see that with Canada. For me, Canada is a dark horse, certainly, in the World Cup, and those players will use the experience that they had in the 2022 World Cup to make them better and to serve them better.

GOAL: What are your expectations for them going forward?

MCCARTY: I think with a real clear understanding about the demands that Jesse has for that team, I think they're the favorites for this Gold Cup. It's been said before, but I don't see a team that has as depth and quality as Canada right now. They have all their best players in other than, obviously, the injured Alfonso Davies, but Jesse has them going in the right direction. It was not surprising to see him take a job that's a big job and invest everything he has into it. I think Jesse is still proud to be American, but I still think he's like, 'OK, I'm an adopted Canadian now.' And he will do everything he can to show people how much he cares about this country and this national team and his players. That part has been fun to watch.