LAST SUMMER, US Soccer hired Mauricio Pochettino as head coach and following a poor Copa America showing, it was expected that this would advance the national team to be in its best possible position to compete at the 2026 World Cup, which it will cohost. Now, after an embarrassing 1-0 loss to Panama in California in the semifinal of the Nations League, the team and Pochettino face difficult questions and potentially even more difficult answers. With two straight ugly early eliminations in tournaments it hosted inside of a year, alarm bells should be going off.  

There is always the temptation to be overly harsh following a loss. This is a team sport and upsets frequently happen. But the bigger problem for the USMNT wasn’t the loss. It was the effort. After the game, the comments from Pochettino were revealing because he wasn’t focused on the loss, but the fact that the U.S team was simply out-worked by a very disciplined and well-coached Panama team that deserved to win.

“They were hungry for every ball like it was the last one,” Pochettino said of Panama. “You could feel the difference on the field.”

He went on.

“We are the USA, but you cannot win with your shirt. You need to come here and be better and suffer and win the duels and work hard. If not, it’s not going to be enough.”

“If you don’t have aggression, it’s impossible,” Pochettino said, “because the opponent knows that we are going to play into the feet. You are going to play safe. You are not going to take risk. If you want to play football, you need to take risks, you need to go forward, you need to win duels, sometimes 50-50.”

It’s actually easy to envision a scenario way down the line when we look back on this loss and realize it was a good thing.  For a long time, the team’s short falls have been blamed on Gregg Berhalter or the series of interim coaches the team had after the World Cup or after the Copa America. Fans and people in the Federation seem to be under the impression that a good coach was what was separating this team from greatness.

But now, there is nowhere for the players to hide.  The Federation broke the bank and went through extraordinary measures to hire Pochettino. Instead, we got a performance that was either equal or worse than we have gotten in the past with a number of coaches.

This does not absolve Pochettino of blame. Sure, there are questions whether he needed more playmakers in the midfield to connect to the attack. Should he have started Joe Scally on the left side? Should he have started Matt Turner in goal with his lack of playing time. 

Those are fair questions. But they are a drop in the bucket of the real problem in as to why this team was outworked playing at home against Panama a year out from the World Cup? You can point out the talent on this US team, but talent only matters if you have desire when you step foot on the field to begin with. When you don’t, you get France at the 2010 World Cup. 

At least now, everyone’s eyes (players, coaches, fans, federation officials) should be wide open to the task at hand. The team is much further behind than many expected, maybe even Pochettino himself.

When he was hired, Pochettino spoke about when he played for Argentina. He emphasized that there was no difference between playing for his country in a friendly or in a World Cup - there was always maximum desperation for the shirt. He gave the impression that it was very important to him and, more importantly, it was instinctive to the Argentinian players. 

The loss against Panama revealed that the US team is missing some very basic requirements Pochettino demands or expects from his teams. 

There is a lot to break down from this game. 

Specifics of the game

The specifics of this game are not nearly as significant as the big picture problems, but they are worth discussing nonetheless because there were some serious tactical problems.

The most obvious tactical mistakes was that there was no link between the midfield and the offense. The from line of Christian Pulisic, Josh Sargent, and Tim Weah were all poor. Despite it having been a front line that has played together for years, including at a World Cup, there was nothing going on with them. Sargent was a bit unlucky and was starved for service (8 touches over 68 minutes and 2 completed passes) but Weah and Pulisic were very ineffective. 

Weston McKennie had a decent moment when he set up Sargent in the first half for a shot off the post. Aside from that, McKinney struggled to be that link on a consistent basis.

Scally and Musah were the outside backs and were tasked with pressing forward, but the opportunities with them were few and far between.

There is some talk about the players who were not here or did not get off the bench. It is fair to note that the US team was missing some key players such as Sergino Dest, Ricardo Pepi, and Antonee Robinson. But any talk of them missing this game is to ignore the bigger problems. The US team had more than enough talent to win this game, and they were outworked across the board.

Now what?

After the team departs from camp next week, there is rightfully going to be a lot of talk about how this team will use this experience as a learning lesson for the future. Pochettino is going to have to strike a fine balance between not blowing everything up, but making a significant number of changes. 

The challenge Pochettino faces is that you cannot coach desire or passion - that needs to be instinctive for players upon arrival in camp.

What is perhaps most disappointing for fans is that after the loss to Panama, Pachino said he wanted to make such passion and hard work part of the US teams DNA. But anyone who has followed this program for a long time will tell you that it used to be the team’s leading hallmark. In the years just before and just after the millennium, that was a key reason how they used to beat teams that were considered superior. It is how they advanced to the quarterfinal of the 2002 World Cup. It’s not that Pochettino has to make this part of the team’s DNA, it’s that it has been lost and he has to reinstall it.

Starting this summer, Pochettino will need to make changes and he will need to hold some of these players accountable. It begins with scouting the entire player pool, both domestically and abroad. 

There needs to be fewer lock starters and more of a need for the players to feel they need to continuously prove themselves in order to justify their selection to the team. This summer will be revealing in how Pochettino, after he has time to digest the March disappointment, how he makes changes. It would be very surprising if he makes only limited changes.  

The USMNT has the same problems now that it did under Gregg Berhalter and Pochettino’s mere arrival didn’t automatically improve things. He is going to have to take active measures.

Once Pochettino can find players he trusts, then he rectify the tactical shortcomings we saw against Panama – such has better fullback setups, having a true attacking midfielders to bridge the gap between possession and chance creations.  But many problems needs to be addressed before he gets to that point.

Third Place Game awaits

Before the players return to their clubs, the USMNT must play the third place game against Canada. It’s a game where participation offers only insult to injury. For Pochettino, this could very well serve as an important test and evaluation tool for players?

Any player wants to get called up for big and prestigious games, but who wants to play in a game that anything but important? The players who do could be the players that Pochettino wants in the future.

Expect Pochettino to make a lot of changes to the starting XI. He should give other players the opportunity to show what they could do. Fortunately for the USMNT, they will be playing a Canadian team that should be motivated to face the USMNT. Canada sees the USMNT as an important measuring stick and there is a growing rivalry between the two neighboring nations. Canada’s American head coach Jesse Marsch would love to kick the USMNT while it is down.

The USMNT needs a test when it is at a low point. A loss to Canada with a poor effort would be a morale killer with just 15 months to go until the World Cup. It should be a gut check moment and you can learn a lot about a team and its players at its low points just as much as the high points.