NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The US Males’s Nationwide Group fell 4-0 to Switzerland in a chastening defeat Tuesday that erased all of the goodwill it earned from its close-run match towards Turkey earlier this week. All 4 of Switzerland’s targets got here throughout the first 40 minutes, and all 4 got here from easy, completely avoidable USMNT errors.
This match was meant to be the USMNT’s grand send-off earlier than the Concacaf Gold Cup, however it rapidly modified from a celebration to an emergency as aim after aim proved simply how unprepared the USMNT is for its continental rivals.
Take nothing away from Switzerland: The nati have been perfection, they usually greater than earned their win. (The Swiss nationwide group is ranked twentieth on the planet and will most likely be an excellent deal larger.) Teenager Johan Manzambi, the winger from Freiburg, appeared particularly stellar.
Listed below are the important thing takeaways from a foul night time on the workplace for the USMNT:
Defensive communication is an enormous downside
The USMNT is attempting out many alternative defensive mixtures within the run-up to the World Cup, as effectively it ought to — Mauricio Pochettino is sensible to experiment throughout friendlies like this one in hopes of discovering his greatest again line for 2026. We are able to most likely all agree, nevertheless, that the USMNT’s greatest again line is not the one it fielded towards Switzerland. Nathan Harriel, Mark McKenzie, Walker Zimmerman and Max Arfsten simply could not get issues collectively.
“We have to take the strain off them,” Pochettino mentioned of his gamers within the post-match information convention. “It was my choice and my fault.”
Their problem? Communication. All 4 of Switzerland’s first-half targets got here from minor messaging failures between the USMNT’s again line. For Dan Ndoye’s aim, they have been just too excessive; for Michel Aebischer’s, they failed to identify the marauding Johan Manzambi on the far proper flank. For Breel Embolo’s, they did not cowl their goalkeeper; for Johan Manzambi’s, they simply did not do something, interval. It was a damning night time for the USMNT’s again line.
All hope just isn’t misplaced, although. When the USMNT put in its heartening efficiency towards Turkey just a few days in the past, it leveraged Alex Freeman and Chris Richards rather than Harriel and Zimmerman — and that again line appeared significantly extra composed. If there’s any constructive to remove from how the USMNT carried out in aim towards Switzerland, it is that it highlighted simply how beneficial Freeman and Richards are to the group. Pochettino will not drop these two once more.
The USMNT must bulk up
Full-back Max Arfsten and winger Brenden Aaronson mixed for some slick strikes on the left flank within the opening moments of the primary half, however each gamers have been regularly muscled off the ball by Switzerland’s well-drilled defenders. For all of the USMNT’s sins up to now, it was by no means a frail group; it may at all times go toe-to-toe with the perfect when it got here to brawn. Not anymore. The USMNT appeared prefer it had educated for a very completely different sport than the Swiss. A few of this was attributable to inexperience — the USMNT lineup featured a number of creating gamers of their early 20s — however inexperience solely justifies a lot.
Diego Luna stays a vivid spot in a sea of darkness
The USMNT was by no means going to overturn its 4-0 halftime deficit, however when 21-year-old Diego Luna of Actual Salt Lake trotted onto the sphere, he performed like a turnaround was totally inside his attain. Luna was the one USMNT participant who appeared completely unbothered by the scoreline. He went in for each problem prefer it may make or break the sport — and for a USMNT fandom that does not have a lot to cheer for, that type of daring, unruffled dedication is strictly what the group wants to indicate.
The USMNT will open its Gold Cup match towards Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, June 15 at 6 p.m. ET in San Jose, California.
All quotations obtained firsthand until in any other case famous.
