The United States Men’s National Soccer team (USMNT) has been under much scrutiny in the past month, largely from former players. The main one being Alexi Lalas, a former defender for the team from 1991 to 1998. Lalas has been in the spotlight recently, as his rant about the current players of the USMNT sparked many reactions.

In a halftime analysis of the Major League Soccer game between the LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders, Lalas called out many prominent players for the team, such as Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Tim Howard and Michael Bradley, calling for them to be “step up and be leaders.”

He continues by calling the current generation of national team players “soft, under-performing, tattooed millionaires,” calling out young players on the team as well, and in particular 18 year old Christian Pulisic, the next big player for the team.

He continues by saying “You are a soccer generation that has been given everything, and you are on the verge of squandering everything.”

This rant did not just come out of the blue, it is a response from the USMNT’s poor performances in the recent World Cup qualifying games, where they lost at home to Costa Rica and scrapped out a 1-1 draw against Honduras a couple days later.

These were two must win games for the U.S. and two games where the U.S. were favored to win. The timing of these defeats are not good as well, as every game this time of year is crucial in qualifying for the prestigious competition that is the World Cup, which is taking part next summer in Russia.

Pulisic simply responded with “I am not going to lose sleep on it,” while Bradley said he will “use it as motivation.”

Altidore used Twitter to voice his opinion, tweeting out that “I don’t even have tattoos.”

Not only did he call out the players, Lalas mentioned the current head coach of the team Bruce Arena, claiming that it “is all on you,” in response to the team’s loss at home against Costa Rica.

“I think the main attraction for me is to watch my home country play,” USMNT team fan and Highland Park Senior Harrison Hames said.  I think it would be really disappointing to see our team not make it.”

With two qualifying games remaining, the USMNT currently sits in fourth place in the CONCACAF standings, which is the governing body for the confederation of teams situated in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean Region. That fourth place finish would result in a playoff game, winner goes to the World Cup, loser goes home.

“It would be hard to watch without seeing your home country, I wouldn’t really feel compelled to watch the World Cup,” Hames said.

The USMNT face Panama on Oct. 6 and Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 10 in their last gasps to try to keep their World Cup dream alive.