Mauricio Pochettino admitted he was “the guilty one” after his difficult start to life as coach of the United States continued with a 4-0 beatdown by Switzerland.
The USMNT had no answer to a strong, experienced Swiss team who scored four times in the space of 23 first-half minutes through Dan Ndoye, Michel Aebischer, Breel Embolo and Johan Manzambi.
Pochettino had to dig deep into his pool of players, fielding a young starting XI that was ruthlessly exposed in Nashville. He made changes at the break which improved things slightly but the game was already lost.
Full time from Nashville. pic.twitter.com/eeUaUiRhQd
— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) June 11, 2025
It was another chastening night for the Argentine, who has struggled to ignite the team since succeeding Gregg Berhalter in September with this their fourth defeat on the bounce.
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Blame me, says Pochettino
With the World Cup, hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, now just 12 months away, time is running out and Pochettino conceded he blundered in his selection but urged sceptical fans to blame him and not the players.
“I don’t like to give excuses. I’m the guilty one here,” he said. “If you want to criticize me, go ahead.
“First of all, it’s our responsibility and my responsibility for the choice of the starting XI.
“We wanted the entire team to have minutes and to play. I think that can go in the wrong direction. We were never in the game [in the first half] against Switzerland, who have experienced players and are playing very well. I thought, ‘I can’t blame the players. It’s on us.’
“That decision didn’t work. And when that decision doesn’t work, you have to be critical of yourself.”
USMNT straight into Gold Cup action
The US, who were beaten 2-1 by Turkey last week, now turn their attention to the Gold Cup, where they will attempt to rebuild confidence and gain some momentum before next summer’s global showpiece.
Their opening game is on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago.
“The players are very motivated to go to the Gold Cup,” Pochettino added. “The circumstances are the circumstances. Maybe we can win the Gold Cup and go to the World Cup and do well. The loss [to Switzerland] won’t have a massive impact on our psychology.
“For the Gold Cup, we’ll learn from that and make better decisions in the future.”
Post match media availability with Mauricio Pochettino.
— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) June 11, 2025
Not the end of the world, insists Zimmerman
Defender Walker Zimmerman attempted to remain positive and pointed to results prior to the last World Cup as one reason not to be too downbeat.
He told ESPN: “It’s really easy to look at one game, one half and be like, oh, this is all going to pieces; they can’t come back from this. But you look even [to] the buildup to the 2022 [World Cup], we take down Morocco 3-0 and they make it into the semifinal. Things change – that was six months apart. It’s not the end of the world.
“I know in this sport you’re not judged on one game, one half, but you’ve got to be able to bounce back mentally, physically, emotionally.
“We’ve played hundreds of games in our career. Some are going to be amazing. Some aren’t going to be so good.”
