Suddenly the USMNT's struggles are actually bolstering MLS' image | OneFootball

The dissatisfaction of fans with the U.S. men's national team following a pair of losses over the weekend in Concacaf Nations League bore similarities in mood to previous disappointing stretches under former boss Gregg Berhalter.

But there was one big difference: Fans were no longer talking about Major League Soccer as a primary culprit.

If anything, the influence of MLS players like Diego Luna and Patrick Agyemang was viewed as one of the few bright spots from defeats to Panama in the semifinals and Canada in the 3rd place match. And the blame for a pair of performances that seemed to carry a disturbing lack of emotion mostly fell on the group's European contingent, including the scathing reviews coming from highly visible former USMNT stars.

This is a pretty radical turn from a fanbase that, in some more paranoid corners, once suggested that Berhalter actually had secret agreements with MLS to select its players over more qualified alternatives based abroad. And it's impossible to know whether this shift in groupthink will have that much staying power. Fans are notoriously fickle after all.

And to be clear, fans aren't making the claim that suddenly the level of MLS is superior. But what many do seem to believe now is that, for players based domestically, the chance to play for the USMNT may mean more. And in accordance with that, their performances may be of higher intensity than those of Christian Pulsici, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and so on.

If the result of the recent defeats is that Pochettino calls in even more in-form American players from MLS, and those players perform well in the next 15 months -- inlcuding at the FIFA World Cup -- then suddenly there is real potential for the World Cup to serve as a difect, positive referendum on the quality of the league overall to previously skeptical American fans.

If it lasts, this shift in sentiment could also change the cost-benefit analysis for a European-based American player who might want to come back to the States. Only a year or two ago, returning to MLS might have been viewed skeptically with the assumption that a player had lost his competitive edge. Now, it can more easily be painted positively as a player who wants to give back to his country, its league, and its players.

Fifteen months to go until the 2026 World Cup is a long time, and there are no guarantees that Pochettino and company will right this currently wayward USMNT shift by then. But it increasingly looks like MLS players will be a significant part of the effort to do so than a couple years ago. And that can only be a good thing for MLS attempts to capitalize on the World Cup's potential.