I disagree. Yes we are in a trough of what has been a cyclical up and down (instead of constant upward progress) since we came back to the world cup in 1990. But not at least making it to the play-in spot in this region is well below what we should expect. When you add in how we got bounced it is worse. By most measures the loss to T&T is the worst in the history of US Soccer.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...s-mens-soccer/
Looking only at World Cup matches and qualifiers, it was the worst loss in USMNT’s history based on the Elo rating system. Going into the game, Elo gave the U.S. an 83 percent chance of beating Trinidad and Tobago, making the Americans huge favorites even after accounting for the fact that they were playing on the road. Going back to 1885, the American men had never lost a match at that level when they had such a high probability of winning. And it came with all the chips on the table. You cannot blame U.S. soccer fans for being a little woozy this morning.