The last time the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) did not qualify for the international soccer tournament known as the World Cup was 1986.

Or it would have been a month ago. On October 10, 2017, in the small town of Couva, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, the USMNT saw their 2018 World Cup hopes vanish as the team lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago.  Many former players for the team called it the greatest embarrassment in U.S. soccer history.

The team needed a win or a tie and they would qualify for the World Cup. That was all they needed, but they were unable to reach this goal. This paints a perfect picture about how the USMNT has been these past few years in the eyes of many fans: underwhelming and underperforming.

This event has been a huge wake up call for the U.S. Soccer Federation as a whole, as this has called for major changes throughout all of the departments of the federation. The USMNT have 4 years to begin making changes (as the next World Cup will be in 2022), but they have already begun to alter the way things are as the now former head coach of the team Bruce Arena immediately resigned following the team’s loss. Arena’s only job was to get the team to qualify, but he failed.

The hiring of the next coach for the team will be crucial, as a coach with the same philosophies of the team currently will result in four more years of the same story. Preferably, the coach should come from a european league or a european background, due to their prowess in the euro-centric game.

The squad of players needs a major renovation. Old, washed-up players such as Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard need to wave goodbye to the team. They have been loyal customers to the USMNT, but it’s time for the next generation of players to step up and take bigger roles for the team. Players such as Christian Pulisic, DeAndre Yedlin, and John Anthony Brooks need to be prominent names on the roster. It’s time for a youth takeover. While inexperience may be a factor, the injection of youthfulness into a stale team should provide a new spark of life for the USMNT.

The USMNT has four years to get this right. With the right coaching and tactics, a new age for the team could sprout through the ashes, forming a lasting system that will help the United States qualify for upcoming World Cups in 2022 and beyond.