A reality check for the USMNT: Why Poch’s plan backfired in an ugly loss

If Mauricio Pochettino wanted to learn more about the depth of the U.S. men’s national team player pool, he sure got a lesson on Tuesday night.

The Argentine coach’s young and experimental USMNT lineup was roundly embarrassed 4-0 by Switzerland in a friendly match in Nashville, in a game that served as the Americans’ final dress rehearsal for the Concacaf Gold Cup, which Pochettino’s squad opens on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago (kickoff at 6 p.m. ET on FOX).

The big takeaway? If this team is going to make any noise at all at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil a year from now, the USMNT regulars can’t get back soon enough.

For reasons too various to fully recap here, Pochettino is without most of what most would consider his strongest possible lineup this summer. Christian Pulisic isn’t there. Neither are Folarin Balogun, Sergino Dest, Weston, McKennie, Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally, Tanner Tessmann or Tim Weah.

Heart and soul midfielder Tyler Adams, the USMNT’s captain at the 2022 World Cup, sat out Tuesday’s debacle because of a foot injury that may yet rule him out of the Gold Cup.

Take a dozen of the most seasoned players out of any national team, and the results might not be pretty. Then there’s the fact that Pochettino came into this two-exhibition set — the U.S. lost 2-1 to Türkiye in Connecticut last Saturday — planning to use almost all the 26 players on his roster.

The plan backfired, with the U.S. conceding all four goals during a 23-minute span midway through the first half.

“It’s my responsibility, the decision of the choice of the starting 11,” Pochettino said afterward. “It went in the wrong direction from the beginning. We were never again in the game against a very good team like Switzerland, with experienced players, a team that is playing really well. [So] my first thought is not to blame the players, it’s to blame ourselves.

“That was my decision and that decision didn’t work.”

Sebastian Berhalter (L) and Quinn Sullivan (R) were inserted in the starting lineup against Switzerland. (Photo by Carly Mackler/USSF/Getty Images)

Pochettino started 20 different players over the two contests, and he has now fielded 65 players in all since replacing Gregg Berhalter at the U.S. helm last September.

“With more than 60 players, it’s difficult to have the continuity or balance,” Pochettino said. “We changed a lot, [both] the starting 11 and the roster.”

Just two players started both games, and Pochettino left the experienced likes of Chris Richards and Tim Ream on the bench in Music City, though Ream was among a number of subs who came on in the second half and helped shut down the Swiss over the final 45 minutes.

But the young starters were thoroughly outclassed by a Swiss XI that included European standouts like Manchester City center back Manuel Akanji, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka and Borussia Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel. Fullbacks Max Arfsten and Nathan Harriel were badly exposed defensively.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for Pochettino’s team, all of them at home. Coming on the heels of the regulars’ last-place finish at March’s Concacaf Nations League finals, the hope was that a few of the understudies would run with the rare opportunity to log big minutes in a tournament setting. Some have: Diego Luna continues to impress. Johnny Cardoso and Malik Tillman could still have a big Gold Cup. So too could the U.S.

It just doesn’t seem likely. Last year’s 5-1 drubbing by Colombia foreshadowed a historic Copa América failure, as the Americans became the first host nation not to advance from group play in the 108-year history of that competition.

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino is searching for answers – and an effective lineup – ahead of the Gold Cup.  (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

Pochettino will no doubt field his strongest possible lineup in the Gold Cup. The U.S. will still be severely shorthanded. That doesn’t bode well for their chances against competitive foes who’ll be mostly intact.

Two years ago, Panama eliminated a third-string USMNT in the Gold Cup semis. Three of those games were in the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela, where the Americans sent a “C” squad and paid a steep price, finishing last in their group with a negative-6 goal differential.

Sure, a team of U.S. reserves famously shocked Mexico’s regulars in the 2021 Gold Cup final. But that hasn’t been the norm historically. It isn’t even the ultimate goal.

“After working one month together, some players that maybe you don’t think have the possibility to be on the roster at the World Cup, could be,” Pochettino said. “Maybe someone can surprise us. It’s about opportunity. But you take a risk when you compete with this level of opponent.”

This roster is still capable of showing well at the Gold Cup, though.  If they can come together as a team, find a lineup that clicks and catch lightning in a bottle, they remain capable of making a deep run.

However the results go the rest of this summer, it’s clear that Pochettino will need every possible weapon at his disposal a year from now to make the World Cup campaign a success. 

“The boys are so motivated to play in the Gold Cup,” Pochettino said. “The feeling after Türkiye was good. We made nine changes and the combinations didn’t work. That’s it.

“We can lose [this game], but we can win the Gold Cup and arrive at the World Cup and do well.”

We’ll see.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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