It hasn't been a great week in the USMNT sphere. Mauricio Pochettino's options for the 2025 Gold Cup were always going to be limited, especially with numerous key starters - including Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson and Weston McKennie - either injured or playing in the Club World Cup.
Friendlies against near-full-strength Turkey and Switzerland aren't easy. And so it proved, the U.S. losing a duo of fixtures by a combined score of 6-1.
But figuring it all out is rather difficult. Pochettino took a depleted squad to face a couple of teams that will hope to contend for quarterfinal spots at the 2026 World Cup. These are good teams. A U.S. XI full of MLS players and a couple of regulars were outmatched.
The inexperience cannot be understated. Over the two pre-Gold Cup friendlies, 20 different players got starts, with 12 of those 24 and younger. Moreover, 11 starters over the two matches had five or fewer caps coming into camp, and six got their first - Sebastian Berhalter, Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Nathan Harriel, Quinn Sullivan and Damion Downs.
For perspective, this is the first time since 2007 the U.S. has lost four straight, and dropped Pochettino's record since taking over the team last year to a pedestrian 5-5. The USMNT haven't lost four straight home matches since 1988, and Pochettino is the first USMNT coach to lose five of his first 10 since Lothar Osiander from 1986-88.
Forget questions of "fight" and "desire" - this team, in that form, were outclassed. In that light, it's hard to take too much from these games. Are the USMNT in a bad spot? Or are these just two games they were never likely to win given the depleted roster? Or, with the Gold Cup looming - and a World Cup in 12 months - is it the case that every defeat is damning, at least in terms of optics? The reality is probably between.
GOAL US writers break down the impact of losses for the USMNT, and what it means for the Gold Cup, in the latest edition of ... The Rondo.
