United States Women’s National Team legend Carli Lloyd has not been shy in her criticism of the team after their early elimination from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and she was at it again this week.
During an appearance on Alexi Lalas’ podcast, Carli Lloyd blasted the team for their entitlement, pointing out how much things have changed since she’s been with the team.
“When I first got onto the team, there was just a level of respect for everyone there — for coaches, other players, support staff… massages, trainers, doctors,” Lloyd said on the podcast according to the Daily Mail. “And as the years have kind of gone by, it’s little stuff, but it kind of amounts to big things, and ultimately affects [performance] on the field.”
“If you’ve got a massage, for example, your name’s signed up at a certain time, and you decide to not show up, and decide not to text the massage therapist, or tell them, ‘Hey, I’m running a few minutes late,'” Lloyd said.
“They’re just things like that. It’s like trash around the field. It’s throwing your warm-up [apparel] and expect the equipment guy [to pick it up],” Lloyd said.
Lloyd sees this entitlement as an obvious problem and made it clear that the issues with the team culture start with the coach and with the leaders on the team.
“There’s a level of — I guess not everybody — but a level of entitlement, that I guess that everyone’s gonna do everything for you and just not being respectful of others. That starts at the top,” Lloyd said. “That should be the coach, that should be the leader, and it should funnel to the players.”
We’ll have to see if the USWNT can get these issues sorted out so they can make a run at the next World Cup in 2027.
