I think that this is one of the most overlooked aspects of having a successful national team - having a group of guys who are truly united. National teams, by definition, are not cohesive units the way club teams are/are not because they spend so little time together. Add to that the fact that players come from different systems, can come from clubs that are bitter rivals, can have a group of players from a single, or a couple of clubs club (more prevalent historically than nowadays but see Spain with Barca and Real Madrid as a modern-day example) and fostering unity is no small feat.
In Italy, for example, the harmony of the group is so important that there is not a second thought given to excluding players that are remarkably talented if it is thought they will disrupt the group as a whole. Balotelli, Antonio Cassano and even current Italian skipper Roberto Mancini are examples of this.
If McKennie were Italian, he would likely be excluded for at least as long as Mancini were in charge and possibly longer. What McKennie did would be considered a virtually unforgiveable act.
And, I think it works, Italy has had a tremendous amount of success while, IMHO, never having the most talented team. In '82, they beat a Brazil team that many consider to be the most talented team never to win a World Cup. In 2006, I think France was clearly the more talented side, And, in 2020, one could argue that Belgium, France and Spain all had more individual talent.
And when you do hear about very talented side crashing out of a major competition early, there are frequent reference to lack of locker room cohesion, or outright dissent, being a primary cause.
This seems to be a strength of Berhalter's, at least based upon the play of the team during the summer. Let's hope this incident doesn't cause that locker room unity to start to fray at the edges.
