Carli Lloyd disputes interpretation of her ‘culture’ criticism

Carli Lloyd was recently critical of the culture that exists with the U.S. Women’s National Team, but she is unhappy with the way her comments were interpreted.

Lloyd, one of the best players in US women’s soccer history, announced her retirement last October. The 39-year-old has since voiced some strong opinions about the USWNT, most recently when she said the “culture within the team was the worst I’ve ever seen it.” Most assumed Lloyd was referring to players on the team dedicating time and energy to social justice issues. Lloyd insists that is not what she meant.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Lloyd said she was “not referring to culture on race, on gender, on any of that.” She felt the “hunger” with the USWNT began to fade toward the end of her career.

“The culture for me is what the culture has been on the national team since the inception,” Lloyd said. “All of those players, they brought a fight. They brought a hunger. They brought a desire. They brought mentality. They brought a never-say-die attitude. They brought finding a way, whether it’s the 91st minute, to get a ball in the back of the net. That has slowly dissipated from 2015 on.”

Lloyd added that she understands it is “human nature” for a team to get complacent after winning four World Cups. She said that was evident when the USWNT came away with a disappointing bronze medal finish at the Olympics in Tokyo last year.

“We had some of the best players out there. Talent-wise, on paper, we should have won, and we should have went in there, and we should have thrashed teams, but we didn’t because we weren’t a team,” she said. “And because we didn’t have the culture of what has made this team so successful over the years.”

It’s hard to believe the social justice issues played no role in forming Lloyd’s opinion. If you remember, she was the only player to not take a knee prior to the bronze medal game in the Summer Olympics last year. Lloyd made it clear as far back as 2016 that she thought the kneeling was a distraction and wanted no part of it.

Hope Solo was also outspoken about the protests. She said last year that Megan Rapinoe, who was the first U.S. women’s soccer player to kneel in 2016, tried to bully teammates into joining the movement. That almost certainly created a divide among the team, which played a role in the issues Lloyd touched on.

Photo: Oct 26, 2021; St. Paul, Minnesota, USA; United States forward Carli Lloyd (10) waves to the crowd after playing her final game for the team in during an international friendly soccer match with South Korea at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports