U.S. women's national team captain Lindsey Horan criticized the fanbase in a wide-ranging interview published on Thursday, arguing they are not as "smart" as their counterparts in Europe.
"American soccer fans, most of them aren't smart," she said in a sit-down with The Athletic. "They don't know the game. They don't understand. (But) it's getting better and better."
Horan's comments came in the midst of a conversation about the USWNT having a "magnifying glass" on them at all times, especially during major tournaments like the Women's World Cup. In particular, the captain was condemnatory of American fans' habit of believing television commentators' analysis of the team.
"I'm gonna piss off some people," she said. "but the game is growing in the U.S. People are more and more knowledgeable, but so much of the time people take what the commentators say, right? My mom does it! My mom says, '[Warner Bros. Discovery Sports commentator and USWNT legend] Julie Foudy said you had such a good game!' And I'm here, just going, 'I was f---ing shit today.'"
The midfielder, who currently plays her club ball with Olympique Lyonnais, directly contrasted the American fanbase she encounters with the people she runs into in France and chalked it up to cultural differences.
"From what I've heard, people understand my game a little bit more, a sense of my football and the way I play," she said. "It is the French culture. Everyone watches football. People know football."
It was not the only critique she had of American soccer culture. She argued that the standard of professionalism is different in the U.S. than it is in Europe, and though she does not plan to tell anyone to take a less lighthearted approach, she and her European counterparts have discussed the distinction.
"I want professionalism," she said. "Those little things, they really irked me. I don't think I could do it, and maybe I'm wrong in saying that, I don't know. It just bothers me. We put so much into this game, and it's just like a joke sometimes."
Those comments in particular mirror the ones made by former USWNT forward Carli Lloyd, who accused the team of not being serious enough during last summer's Women's World Cup when they took post-match selfies with fans after a 0-0 draw with Portugal. Then-head coach Vlatko Andonovski described Lloyd's comments as "insane," and said "this team wanted to win this game more than anything else and they've put everything they could in preparation for this tournament and win every game that they go [into]."
Horan issued a mild response to Lloyd's analysis at the time, describing it as "noise."
"Sometimes you hear it, you see it, and sometimes it's hard to get away from it, but again, it's [your] job to have an opinion of our team," she said before the USMNT's round of 16 exit to Sweden. "We're going to take that pressure, we're going to go with it, we're going to focus on ourselves and look at everything internally and try to keep the noise out as much as possible."
Several months later, Horan feels Lloyd's reaction was a natural one considering the performances, and called it a "perfectly fine" topic of discussion.
"If you're not backing it up on the field, people are gonna come and talk shit about what you're doing, where your priorities are. Like, 'Are you getting ready for the game? Are you caring more about this shit?'"
In the midst of a rebuild that will see Chelsea manager Emma Hayes succeed Andonovski in May and a handful of young prospects get a shot before July's Olympics, Horan said she is taking it upon herself to address the cultural issue she sees.
"We need to be doing everything we possibly can to be improving, to make each other better, holding the standards," she said. "We need to change every bit of culture that we had prior to the last World Cup and going into this Olympics because we need to win. And that starts now."
The USWNT returns to action on Feb. 20 when they take part in the first edition of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, a tournament they are very much favored to win.