The sight of thousands of empty seats at Children’s Mercy Park illustrated just how little enthusiasm there was from an American perspective for the US Men’s National Team’s friendly match against Canada on Saturday. This is, after all, a team lacking direction right now. The 2-1 defeat proved that.
Canada won on American soil for the first time since 1957 and they deserved to. Jesse Marsch’s team played with intensity from the start and forced turnovers from the US in their own half through relentless counter-pressing. The first half in particular highlighted the stark difference between the two rivals at this moment in time.
One wonders what Mauricio Pochettino made of the USMNT performance. The former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur boss is expected to be confirmed as the USA’s new head coach in the coming days. The delay to Pochettino’s appointment has led to some nervousness over the deal collapsing.
There has been no reporting to suggest Pochettino will renege on his agreement with US Soccer, but Saturday’s defeat to Canada made clear how badly the federation needs to get the deal done. The USMNT is currently wasting time with the 2026 World Cup on home soil now under two years away.
The USA was missing a number of key players including Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah and so Saturday’s underwhelming performance should be judged within that context. Nonetheless, this is a team without a clear idea of how it should be playing. Canada exposed that.
Marsch set up his team to funnel the USA through the centre of the pitch where Canada would collapse on the ball and move quickly into the attack. Canada gambled by leaving forwards in advanced positions high up the pitch. At no point did the US demonstrate an ability to handle this. They played into Canada’s hands.
Johnny Cardoso was at fault for the first Canada goal and was shaky throughout the match. Aidan Morris was more assured when he came off the bench in the second half while Lucas de la Torre scored the USA’s only goal. Pochettino will surely place a focus on the midfield unit when he finally takes over.
There are concerns over the USA’s defensive foundation too. Tim Ream’s intercepted pass presented Canada with the opportunity to score their second goal. At 36 it might be time for the veteran centre back to be phased out of the national team. Alongside him, Chris Richards also had his struggles against Jonathan David and Cyle Larin.
It’s not as if the USA has a string of high-potential centre backs waiting in the wings, though. Miles Robinson has played well for the national team in the past, but the FC Cincinnati defender hasn’t been a key figure at international level since before the 2022 World Cup. Cameron Carter-Vickers is playing at a good level for Celtic, but hasn’t always made the most of his USMNT chances.
In the attack, Folarin Balogun has still to prove he is the elite-level number nine the US needs to elevate its offense. The former Arsenal striker has struggled at club level since making the move to Monaco last year and hasn’t been fully integrated into the USMNT forward line either. Balogun had just 22 touches of the ball against Canada.
From front to back, Pochettino has issues to resolve and not a huge amount of time to do it. This will be one of the biggest challenges of his coaching career to date and the pressure is on with the USA co-hosting the 2026 World Cup. US Soccer has gone all out to get a manager who can make up for mistakes made.
The USMNT has wasted a lot of time since the 2022 World Cup. Indeed, Saturday’s match against Canada means that the national team has played half of its games since Qatar under an interim head coach. With that in mind, it’s little wonder the USMNT has stalled in its development in recent times.
With Pochettino coming in, though, there is the opportunity for a reset. The September international window might not have much value for the USMNT, who will face New Zealand on Tuesday in another largely meaningless friendly match. Hopefully, on the back of the window, the programme will enter a new era.Â
