Winning the Paris Olympic gold was the ultimate way for the US Women’s National Team to silence the critics. It was almost a year ago, the American ladies were slandered for their poor 2023 World Cup campaign. Now, the Emma Hayes-led group successfully turned the corner to bask in the well-deserved glory. The tale of their resurgence has impressed Alexi Lalas the most, asserting that this team has ‘learned from the past,’ unlike the previous team, taking a subtle dig at Megan Rapinoe.

Often seen hosting his own podcast, this time Lalas spoke his mind as a guest on FOX News Podcasts’ segment, Kennedy Saves the World. While labeling Rapinoe as the ‘anvil’ of the previous USWNT team, the host questioned the former defender if one player could change the tone of the team by scaring young players or bringing everyone down. Interestingly, Lalas replied, “Oh yeah, one player can be a cancer.”

“I’m not saying that Megan necessarily was but I do think from the outside, when you look at this team this summer at the Olympics relative to the team previous summer, it was very different,” added the commentator. “I said it on air, ‘Don’t Kill the Messenger.’ But this team is unlikable by a certain portion of America for the things that they do certainly off the field and what they portray.”

Though what players embodied things off the pitch was eventually ignored, not having any strong results or victories to back it up makes things more difficult. It risks more criticism from the supporters. However, this summer, the atmosphere was different as everyone found the team ‘immensely likable,’ both on the individual and domestic front. “I think this group learned from the past as to what not to do,” concluded Lalas.

Seems like bringing the gold for the historic fifth time eventually saw the ardent fans bury the hatchet and rather celebrate the achievement of the ladies. While the majority of the credit goes to Hayes, Lalas believes it was due to the absence of veterans like Megan Rapinoe or Alex Morgan.

Lalas never favored Megan Rapinoe or Alex Morgan’s USWNT selection for the 2023 World Cup!

Alexi Lalas previously criticized Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, suggesting they were obstacles to the USWNT’s success in the 2023 World Cup. He argued that the team needed fresh talent like Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, and Lynn Williams last year. He hinted that the time had come for the veteran players to step aside.

“This is in many ways the team that people wanted Vlatko [Andonovski] to have in the summer of the 2023 World Cup,” Lalas said, hinting that the 4x World Champions should have made this call sooner. Interestingly, the USMNT icon isn’t alone as even the stars who wore the gold medal too fancy this thought.

Alyssa Naeher, USWNT’s No. 1 throughout the Olympics campaign, acknowledged that the decision to select a roster without previous gold medalists was crucial to their victory. “You always have that one person that’s still around from 2012, but I think that was something very unique to this group. Once we kind of figured that out, it helped,” said the 36-year-old.

Should shan’t, could can’t—Let bygones be bygones. The USWNT is surely in a better place at the moment and shouldn’t worry about the past. What excites everyone is the endless potential that they still haven’t explored.