Former U.S. women’s soccer star Carli Lloyd believes the national team’s early exit from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup stemmed from issues with the team culture.
Lloyd on Tuesday appeared on former player Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union podcast. While discussing the team’s disappointing show at this year’s World Cup, Lloyd revealed that “little things” within the organization showed her things were headed in the wrong direction.
“I think when I first got onto the team, there was just a level of respect for everybody there,” Lloyd said, “for coaches, for other players, for support staff. You know, massages, trainers, doctors. And as the years have kind of gone by — it’s little stuff, but it kind of amounts to big things — and ultimately affects on the field.”
Lloyd then gave a few examples of players showing disregard for sports staff.
“If you’ve got a massage, let’s say for example,” she continued. “Your name’s signed up on a certain time, and you decide to not show up. You decide to not text the massage therapist or tell them, ‘Hey, I’m running a few minutes late.’ They’re just sitting there and they have to just sit there, and they have to kind of swallow that and not really say anything to the player that’s done that.
“There’s just things like that. It’s like, trash around the field. It’s throwing your warmup and expecting the equipment guy. There a level of — not everybody — but there’s a level of just kind of the entitlement of, ‘Everybody’s gonna do everything for you,’ and just not being respectful of others.”
Lloyd has been critical of the 2023 team since the group stage. She called out players for celebrating after a disappointing 0-0 draw to Portugal.
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