The United States men’s national soccer team had an embarrassing showing Tuesday night in Nashville’s Gold Cup send-off game. Switzerland, the 20th-ranked team in the world according to FIFA, dominated the play early, putting four goals past Matt Turner within the first 36 minutes. The U.S. team lost 4-0.
Many people will make excuses, claiming this is our C or D team. Also, coach Mauricio Pochettino is trying out players, or a myriad of other things to make themselves feel better. Yes, Switzerland did play at almost full strength. Yes, Pochettino’s starting lineup had nine changes from the team that lost 2-1 to Turkey on Saturday. No, none of those are valid excuses for such a dismantling.
The last time that the USMNT experienced a four-game losing streak, similar to the one they are currently on, was under Bob Bradley in 2007. That streak was broken by beating Switzerland in Europe. The difference in these two streaks is that the 2007 team lost to Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, and Sweden. The current losing streak is against Panama (33rd), Canada (30th), Turkey (27th), and Switzerland. What was supposed to be a tune-up for the World Cup next year is now looking alarming.
Everything went wrong for the USMNT in the first half. Max Arfsten and Nathan Harriel had nights to forget. Arfsten was beaten on two of the four Switzerland goals. Harriel was responsible for the deflection and late covering run during the first goal.
The centerback pairing of Walker Zimmerman and Mark McKenzie wasn’t horrible, but they weren’t stellar, either. They both played better in the second half, as did much of the team. But they found themselves out of position more than once. Both were responsible for bad passes that resulted in turnovers, although they didn’t lead directly to scores.
Brothers Paxton and Brenden Aaronson started the game, making them the eighth pair of brothers to play together for the USMNT since Ken and Steve Snow in 1988. They both touched the ball 18 times and did nothing with it. They were out of position, ineffective with their passing, and a liability on defense.
The USMNT, as a whole, gave too much time on the ball to Switzerland. They didn’t pressure, didn’t close, and didn’t have any creativity going forward. The team played too narrowly, allowing Switzerland to easily switch play into wide-open spaces. The high press from Switzerland made the USMNT uncomfortable from the start, and they resorted to playing long ball too often.
The USMNT, once again, gave up consecutive goals in under three minutes, as they did against Turkey. All in all, it was hard to find much positive in this send-off game.
The USMNT 26-man roster is set; no reinforcements are coming. All the talk about who’s missing this window, and the reason they’re missing, doesn’t matter as this team prepares to open Gold Cup play this coming Sunday, June 15. The team has to dig deep and fix the glaring issues from the last two games.
Pochettino took the blame for the loss after the game, claiming he was the one who put together the starting 11 and was trying to get players minutes. He’s seen the entire roster play now, minus Chris Brady in goal. There should be no doubt in his mind who the starting 11 should be going into the Gold Cup opener.
Pochettino was brought in to manage the USMNT because of his tactical abilities, but they’ve yet to be displayed since he arrived. There doesn’t seem to be a clear vision of what he wants this team to be or how he wants them to play. He has to come out in this Gold Cup opener with a clear plan that this team can execute.
There is little doubt that Tim Ream is still the best centerback on this team. No one has stepped up to challenge the 37-year-old at all. The starting pair for the Gold Cup should be Chris Richards and Ream, with John Tolkin and Harriel on the outside. Zimmerman and McKenzie have played well and provide good depth.
Tyler Adams, assuming his foot injury is healed, should start in the midfield along with Johnny Cardoso, Jack McGlynn, Diego Luna, and Malik Tillman. Cardoso, outside of the errant pass that deflected in for a goal against Turkey, has done well helping build out of the back.
Tillman and Luna have been the best players on the pitch during this international window. Tillman’s work rate and defense have shown major improvement from his previous games for the USMNT. McGlynn’s big left foot and ability to run at people have been the only offense the team has had in the last two games.
Patrick Agyemang is the only proven striker on the roster. His body control, strength, and ability to hold up the ball make him an effective target up front. The problem is he’s still young and inexperienced. He’s taken several shots from bad angles and when he’s covered, instead of seeing his teammates runs around him.
Deciding on a goalkeeper is tough. Turner seems a step slow, and it’s no wonder since he only played four club games all of last season. It’s nearly impossible to stay in form when you’re not playing meaningful minutes. His move to Lyon next season will hopefully allow him to regain his form before the World Cup. Matt Freese played a good game against Turkey. There was little he could do on either goal he gave up, and he made three good saves. The nod has to go to Freese here for the start.
There are still some relatively untested players on this squad. Sebastian Berhalter played well in the midfield in his debut, and likely can play better with more quality around him. Damion Downs only had 15 minutes and one overhit service to show what he could do. Quinn Sullivan showed some moves and passing ability on the right side in his limited time. Pochettino will have to be more careful choosing when to insert his subs during the tournament, but there is some depth.
This lineup is a far cry from what is expected next year during the World Cup, but the Gold Cup has always been more of a domestic tournament. Besides the missing big names, others on the 60-man preliminary roster that didn’t receive callups have a shot to be in the mix for the World Cup as well. Names like Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tanner Tessmann, Aiden Morris, and Alex Zendejas will have other windows to prove they belong.
The Gold Cup is still an important piece in preparing for the big dance next summer. Winning this edition isn’t what’s important, but the longer they stay in it, the more games Pochettino will have to work on his tactics.
If nothing else comes out of these abysmal friendlies, I hope we can at least put to bed Pochettino’s comment that MLS is as good a league as any other.
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