WHAT HAPPENED
Former national team player Herculez Gomez said a full-strength USMNT would have unquestionably achieved better results in the Gold Cup than the squad Mauricio Pochettino fielded, and ultimately lost 2-1 to Mexico in the final. And he challenged anyone who believes otherwise.
“I was surprised - not at the pushback - but at the narrative that a full-strength USMNT wouldn’t have done better than this version of the USMNT at this Gold Cup,” Gomez said on his YouTube channel. “And I understand the narrative of 'Well, these same players have disappointed before, at Copa America, at the Nations League' and I’ll push back on that so to speak.
"Listen, Mauricio Pochettino was hired October of last year and he has some camps. And in all those camps, the closest he has come to a full-strength lineup was the very first camp and he was still missing five legitimate starters... And things have not gone smoothly. But I don’t buy the narrative that this Gold Cup and that game vs Mexico couldn’t have been better if they have the likes of Folarin Balagoun, Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisiic. I can go on, and on and on of guys who could have probably been here and maybe done just a little bit better and by just doing a little bit better, maybe the outcomes are a little bit better."
WHAT GOMEZ SAID
Gomez said the lack of a bonafide superstar makes such absences even more impactful. And with 15 MLS players on this squad, the task was too demanding.
“My logic here is because you don’t have a Lionel Messi, because you don’t have a Cristiano Ronaldo, because you don’t have one of these players that can literally put the team on his back and change the game, you need the sum of your parts," he said. "And having these players, however bad some people out there think these players are, they’re still a little bit better than the inexperienced players that were brought to this Gold Cup.
“And it’s not on these players - it’s not on Patrick Agyemang that he was thrown out there and you could see how green he is. It’s not on Sebastian Berhalter, or Antony Freeman or Max Arfsten. It’s not on these type of players. It’s on the coach to bring in a team that’s experienced enough to deal with the emotions, that’s good enough and capable enough. I believe those players are out there, they just weren’t called in. So I’m not buying the narrative that the same thing would have happened with the A-team… But asking 15 MLS players, where the vast majority have just got their first appearances for the national team, I think it was asking a bit too much.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The USMNT has struggled with consistency throughout recent tournaments, often fielding teams missing key European-based players due to club commitments, injuries, or scheduling conflicts. This pattern has complicated efforts to develop cohesion and tactical understanding within the player pool.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Pochettino and his staff will focus on upcoming international windows with hopes of finally assembling something closer to a full-strength squad as they get closer to the 2026 World Cup.