WHEN LOOKING AT the disastrous March window where the United States national team finished fourth in the Nations League following a 1-0 loss to Panama in the semifinal and then a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Canada in the third place game on Sunday night, there is a temptation to look at the two games and try to figure out what went wrong. But to properly analyze the poor state of the team, deeper digging is required.

Since last summer, the U.S. team was poor in the friendlies leading up to the Copa America. Then, on home soil, the team failed to get out of its group at the highly anticipated Copa tournament under Gregg Berhalter. Mikey Varas had a brief stint as the interim head coach, and the team lost at home to Canada and played New Zealand to a lackluster draw. Now six months into the tenure of Mauricio Pochettino, the team was unable to defeat Panama or Canada on home soil in a regional championship.

Regardless of anyone’s feelings about Berhalter or Pochettino, we are seeing the same problems under two managers. Even with injuries, the U.S. team is losing games it has plenty of talent to win.

Something is wrong with this group. Sure, there is room to criticize some of the tactical decisions from the coaches. But the problems are deeper than tactics. It’s about effort. Why is the team losing duels? Why is the team getting outworked on the field? Why do the opponents seem to want it more?

Let’s talk about the obvious talking points.

Star players step down from club

At this past camp, it’s hard to think of any player who played as well for the U.S. team as they typically do for their club. Tyler Adams has been mostly very good for Bournemouth since his return from injury and he was average in this window. Christian Pulisic has been having perhaps the best season of his career, and he was unable to get anything going. Tim Weah helped create the goal against Canada but otherwise didn’t have a great window. Josh Sargent was left stranded against Panama.  Mark McKenzie and Cameron Carter-Vickers are both having good seasons but could have done much better against Canada.

Perhaps the biggest culprit, however, was Weston McKennie who created a good chance for Sargent in the first game but was very poor against Canada. Unfortunately for McKennie, his problems are more pronounced than the others given that he had a very tough Copa America. What is apparent with McKennie when he plays poorly is that his dual winning goes sharply down. He’s on the wrong side of the scrappy games.

Weston McKennie vs Canada
69 minutes
50 touches
24/35 passing
0/4 long balls
0 shots
0 chances created
1/3 dribbles
0x fouled
1 foul
2x dispossessed
1/7 ground duels
0/0 aerials

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 24, 2025

It's certainly fair to point out that the U.S. team was missing some key players for this tournament – such as Antonee Robinson and Ricardo Pepi. But what degree of confidence do people have that they would play up to their superb club form when Pulisic and Adams do not?

This problem makes the U.S. team tough to scout for Pochettino. He and his staff can fly to Europe, Mexico, or even domestically and watch the players. But what does a good performance for Juventus or AC Milan mean to the national team? It’s a balancing test for Pochettino now to juggle club performances and recent national team outings.

Staleness

Another problem the national team faces right now is simply that the team appears to be stale. While the overall team is in their early/mid prime years, players such as Pulisic, McKennie, Adams, Weah, Sargent, and Robinson have been on the team together since 2018 (the first five were teenagers at the time). Then you add in Reyna, Dest, and Musah who also joined as teenagers a few years later.

Regardless of age, it is hard to keep a core together for 6-7 years when the all broke into the team following the World Cup qualification failure in 2017 at a time when there was an emphasis on phasing out the previous generation and ushering in the new group very quickly. For these player, national team call-ups were assumed dating back to their first professional seasons.

Most of these players have a very different perspective of international involvement given their length of history with the team, their history with each other, and how this history encompasses nearly the entire career of each of the players.

It’s a huge challenge for Pochettino to breath some life into national team core group.

Competition is needed

Whether the team has gotten stale, or whether there are other factors at play in why the team is playing far below the sum of its parts, one step that many are talking about (rightfully so) is the need for more competition within the team.

All players, even among the core group, must compete for call-ups through factors such as club performances, and previous national team performances. In the recent past, it seemed as if emerging players (such as Paxten Aaronson, for example) weren’t called up because there was no room. But there can only be “no room” for players if there were many players who were already set firm in their national team place. After this camp and the Copa America, that mindset really has no justification.

Pochettino looking to the summer

Heading into the summer where the U.S. will take on Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies on June 7 and June 10 followed by the Gold Cup, Pochettino will have his work cut out for him. It all starts with scouting and becoming more familiar with another layer of the player pool.

Pochettino has said that sometimes less talent can make for a better team as long as there is desire and maximum effort. But now he will have a lot more data to base his decisions. He has been ruthless in his past at big clubs with benching veterans and promoting youth players. He might feel it is necessary here.

The unfortunate reality for Pochettino is that there is not much time until the World Cup. This summer marks one year out. After the Gold Cup, he will have just four international windows before it begins (September, October, November, and March 2026). After that, it will be time for the final preparations. If he wants to shake things up, this summer is critical.

While Pochettino is an experienced coach, this is his first international job. It’s vastly different as he is not with his players on a regular basis and often has months off at a time. On the other hand, he has great control. He doesn’t have to wait for sporting directors to get him players or get rid of others, he can add or drop anyone he chooses.

It remains to be seen how many changes Pochettino makes this summer, but it would be hard to believe it would be just a few.

Specifics against Canada

Most of the points made above were big picture items, but there are some specifics in the game against Canada that need mentioning.

First, Diego Luna was singled out by Pochettino for being one of the rare positives. Luna, to his credit, made the most of his opportunity by playing hard and trying whatever he could to make plays. For him, he assisted Patrick Agyemang for the team’s only goal.

BIG PAT answering BIG CALLS on the BIG STAGE ???? ???????? pic.twitter.com/CntQkTaHxq

— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) March 23, 2025

As for Agyemang, he has some of the same issues as Sargent did against Panama in that he was stranded. He didn’t have much to do, but at least he scored his best chance. That will help him within the national team but it’s hard to think Ricardo Pepi won’t be the starting forward. After Pepi, it’s wide open. Folarin Balogun is a possibility, but Balogun’s strength is running behind defenders. That might not be what the team is looking for. But Agyemang is certainly in the mix right now.

Both starting central defenders in Cameron Carter-Vickers and Mark McKenzie did not have good games. That completely opens the door for competition in that part of the backline.

Finally, it was interesting that Pochettino went with Matt Turner in goal again. Turner’s positioning was off on Panama’s winner on Thursday and the opportunity seemed ripe to give someone else a chance in a third-place game. Zack Steffen was sick and unable to play against Canada but given the choice between Turner and Patrick Schulte, Pochettino went with Turner again. Whether that is a referendum on Schulte or Turner remains to be seen, but Pochettino has kept rolling with Turner whenever given the choice.