It was two lifeless games for Mauricio Pochettino’s United States men’s national team. With the 2026 World Cup countdown ticking away, there’s growing concern across the U.S. Soccer community.
Lifeless, sleepy, pitiful, apathetic. These were the assessments of the United States men’s national team after last summer’s Copa America campaign — where the team got bounced in the group stage — and they persist nearly one year later under the guidance of Mauricio Pochettino.
The new manager brought much-needed optimism upon his hiring last September, yet his team, which continues to include the old guard of the “Golden Generation,” continues to disappoint.
Analyzing the USMNT’s recent CONCACAF Nations League losses against Panama and Canada feels futile — every pundit, YouTuber, and soccer show has dissected them by now. Few have answers, but one thing that everyone from the anti-MLS crowd to the pro/rel advocates and die-hard MLSers can agree upon, is that if the USMNT doesn’t turn things around quickly, the 2026 World Cup could be American soccer’s biggest lost opportunity, one from which the sport may never fully recover.
The reality is one we’ve examined before: while this USMNT boasts a wealth of talent on paper, the real question is whether they function as a cohesive unit. Since 2022, the answer has been no. Despite a few CONCACAF Nations League titles — essentially just wins over Mexico — the team has delivered only a handful of quality performances since the Qatar World Cup.
Now, Pochettino faces the daunting task of salvaging what’s left of a team that keeps hitting wall after wall, all while trying to instill hope before the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Gold Cup is essentially his last chance to build a team in his image, rather than attempting to salvage the mess left behind by Gregg Berhalter.
With time running out, we turn our focus to the state of Pochettino’s USMNT and explore what, if anything, he can do to get the team back on track — because autopilot is clearly not working.
Pochettino’s Biggest Mistake Since Day One
Pochettino’s most significant flaw since taking over as USMNT coach has been his failure to shake up the team. Whether he had enough time to fully assess potential replacements for players who’ve repeatedly let the U.S. down remains unclear. One could speculate that U.S. Soccer hired him based on feedback about his approach to revamping the team.
At first, Pochettino seemed poised to make sweeping changes. Aidan Morris, Gianluca Busio, Diego Kochen, and Tanner Tessmann were all welcomed into the fold — not because they were necessarily better than the usual starters, but because there would finally be competition for spots, and most importantly, fresh faces on the team.
However, against Panama, only Tessmann was a “new” addition to the usual suspects. The rest of the starting XI consisted of the old guard — the same players who have underachieved together for nearly six years. The result? A defeat. And, predictably, a lackluster performance.
By failing to create real competition, many USMNT players appear to feel their spots are guaranteed. Even players like Sergiño Dest, that have been consistently injured, seem to have their places locked in.
Complacency has become the norm. When healthy, the same old guard continues to fill the first 19 roster spots. It’s no surprise that those who had something to prove — Jack McGlynn, Diego Luna, and Patrick Agyemang — were the ones who stood out. They all deserve callbacks, even over established players from European clubs who have repeatedly failed to deliver.
If the Nations League taught Pochettino anything, it’s that he must make the USMNT his team and stop trying to salvage what his predecessor could not manage properly.
A Lack of Depth
As hard as it is to accept, the USMNT has virtually been the same for almost seven years — the same players, the same opportunities, and the same expectations.
Yes, players like Luna may provide a breath of fresh air, but there’s a second tier of players who have failed to challenge the established core. Whether in MLS or Europe, the U.S. program is lacking depth. Consider how far from national team level the likes of Cade Cowell, Brandon Vázquez, Paxten Aaronson, Benjamin Cremaschi, Djordje Mihailovic, Caleb Wiley, Kevin Paredes, Taylor Booth, Gabriel Slonina, and Rokas Pukštas still are.
Many of these players were once heralded as “up-and-comers,” only to fade into obscurity from the program. The lack of progress from the younger generation has only deepened the complacency of the old guard, leading to one uninspired performance after another with little backlash from the team itself.
The Issues at Hand
Pochettino has little time to assess the issues at hand and make the tough decisions that lie ahead. He has a goalkeeper problem, a central defense problem, and a striker problem — at least until Ricardo Pepi returns.
Beyond that, his second priority should be cutting loose players who, while perhaps look to be the best on paper, continue to deliver lifeless performances for the national team. Matt Turner, Yunus Musah, Josh Sargent, Gio Reyna, and Brenden Aaronson are all players who could be surplus to requirements. For various reasons, what can they provide in their 50th cap that they didn’t deliver in their 30th?
Parting ways with these players will accomplish two things: it will signal accountability to the public, and it will give other players a genuine chance to shine. In the case of Reyna, there’s still potential to make an impact, but he needs to sort out his club situation and play his way back into the fold. As for the others, after seven years, they’ve given about as much as they can.
Pochettino comes from the Marcelo Bielsa school of coaching. Upon becoming the Uruguay national team manager, Bielsa made the tough call to set aside players like Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani in favor of younger talent. Though his decisions were unpopular at the time, and still are, Bielsa’s approach has proven successful, as reliance on past-their-prime players only stifles a program’s growth. Bielsa made similar moves in Argentina in 1999 and in Chile during the 2010 cycle.
Bielsa is known for creating teams, and at $4 million a year, Uruguay is reaping the rewards of that philosophy, whether they like it or not. Bielsa at the end of the road will give Uruguay something for their money.
For $6 million a year, if all Pochettino can muster by the 2026 World Cup is the same pool of players who floundered at the Copa America, then it will be money poorly spent.
Pochettino was ostensibly brought in to shake things up and get the program on its feet, even if that means cutting ties with some players, but if he is here only to get the most out of what’s already there, then that will be very disheartening.
At this point, it’s hard to feel excitement for the USMNT. For the past two years — six if you exclude the 2022 World Cup — the team has been struggling for numerous reasons.
Fans, pundits, and observers all want change, and all eyes are on Pochettino to bring that. Because in his home country, had his Argentine national team dropped two key home games with performances like these, the stands would not have been empty. There would have been 60,000 strong, chanting a song Pochettino knows all too well:
¡QUE SE VAYAN TODOS! ¡QUE NO QUEDE UNO SOLO! (Let them all leave! Let not one remain!)
And right now for the sake of the program and the fans, something has to give, because we’re sick of the status quo and the same players who have kept it going.
