When Herculez Gomez is critical of the U.S. men's national team, it comes from a place of familiarity, experience, understanding and hope. Like many others in American soccer, he wants this team to succeed, especially because he was actually part of it. With six goals, 26 caps, a World Cup run and a Gold Cup trophy on his USMNT resume, he has the proper credentials, knowing all of the highs and lows that come with playing for this program on the international level.
Gomez, though, understands that there's a difference between being optimistic and being a cheerleader. His post-playing transition to a soccer analyst is a way for him to keep pushing the game forward and, at times, that means telling hard truths. He tells plenty of them as part of his work with ESPN, and that's largely because, over the last few years, that's what has been required of anyone covering the USMNT.
"I try to be as unbiased as I can, so I'm very desensitized to it," Gomez tells GOAL. "If the U.S. men's national team wins or loses, it's not my problem. I couldn't care less. I'm there to analyze the situation. From my job perspective, that's the way I treat it. From an ex-national team player's perspective, I'd like to be known for being part of a winning program.
"I'd like to be known for representing certain values and being part of something that meant something so that when you wore that jersey, you knew the importance and the weight of it. I'd like to see the same responsibility held by today's generation and tomorrow's generation and those before that or after that. But when it comes to my job, I'm as cold as they come. I'm very far removed."
That objectivity takes time to establish, especially since passion is such a vital part of being a successful athlete. But he knows that the ability to step back and fairly assess players, coaches and teams is a requirement for a sports media role.
"It did take time, and it will for anybody," he admits. "I think that's the importance of doing your job: to separate yourself. Everybody's going to have friends who play in leagues, who play in teams and play a match or whatever the case may be, but you can't do your job properly unless you do it the right way.
"I'm not trying to do this for the short term. I got into this business because it's what I want to do for a very long time, and the only way I can properly do it is by being that way."
Gomez, host of ESPN's Futbol Americas and the Vamos podcast, has a unique perspective on the USMNT, Mauricio Pochettio's arrival, the striker position, and how American soccer should continue to progress. He discussed all of that and more in this edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.