Crocker is neither a coach nor a player; He is essentially a general manager. So his surprise departure, first reported by Fox Sports, will have no direct impact on the success or failure of the United States this summer. In terms of preparing for the World Cup, your work is done here.
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How the Americans fare, and whether, with the brightest spotlight on home soil, they will take the sport as a whole to new heights, will largely depend on Crocker.
After all, the 51-year-old Welshman led the campaign to hire Mauricio Pochettino, the highest-paid coach in American soccer history by a wide margin. With so much at stake this summer, Crocker needed to get it right.
He did well with the women’s program, signing Emma Hayes ahead of the 2024 Olympics. Hayes orchestrated a short-notice gold medal campaign and put the Americans on track to compete for the World Cup trophy next year in Brazil after the 2023 flop with Vlatko Andonovski.
She has also brought in a new generation of talent, inspired her players, overseen the youth development structure and served as an ambassador for women’s sports.
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For hiring Hayes, Crocker deserved his own gold medal.
(Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Crocker was also instrumental in planning the $228 million national training center, which will open next month near Atlanta and put all 27 US Soccer teams under one roof after decades of rotating venues. A few weeks ago, while giving tours of the facility, he spoke enthusiastically about how the vast complex will boost the sport from youth levels to senior teams.
It was all part of a job that paid him around $1 million a year, the third highest in the federation behind Pochettino ($6 million) and Hayes ($1.5 million).
“It has been a privilege to be a part of US Soccer during such an important period for the sport in this country,” Crocker said. “I am proud of what has been built together and am confident that the team will continue to advance the game and drive success on and off the field.”
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But the final judgment for him will come in June or July, when the World Cup campaign ends, either catastrophically in the group stage, fantastically in the final or probably somewhere in between.
Crocker chose Pochettino even though the Argentine, with many years of experience as a club coach in Europe’s major leagues, had never coached a national team.
The rhythm is different; Instead of gathering his group almost every day for many months, Pochettino typically does it every few months for several days. The player pool is largely static; You cannot buy in the transfer market. What you can control are roster and roster selections, tactics, and motivational tricks.
Crocker took a risk by hiring the former Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager. And throughout Pochettino’s 18 months in charge, results have been mixed and the vision at times clouded. The Americans appeared to turn a corner last fall with a five-match unbeaten streak against quality opponents before hitting a wall last month with comprehensive losses to European titans Belgium and Portugal.
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For decades, American men have had a global ceiling; Pochettino’s mission is to overcome it. No one in American circles wants to settle for another World Cup exit in the round of 16, especially at home, with an impressionable public following the sport like never before.
Pochettino’s ability to take the next step will reflect on himself but also on Crocker, who put his faith (and the federation’s money) in hiring the right man.