If Pochettino Wanted To Lower USMNT Expectations, Mission Accomplished

Even accounting for the far-from-first-string lineup that Mauricio Pochettino’s U.S. men’s national team fielded in Tuesday’s 4-0 defeat to Switzerland, the optics were troubling.

A Swiss team less than a year removed from a Euro 2024 quarterfinal appearance badly exposed a U.S. side that looked like it had barely trained together and sprinted out to their final margin of victory by the 36th minute. Had it been a tournament setting where goal differential mattered, the European visitors might have been even more cruel on their hosts in search of more goals after halftime.

When it was all over, the Americans had suffered a fourth consecutive defeat – and arguably their worst yet – for a first time since 2007, under a star manager who was supposed to provide the solution for a team most believed had underachieved at the 2024 Copa America under previous boss Gregg Berhalter.

And amid anger and disbelief, there may also be a sense of acceptance among the U.S. fan base that maybe this generation of players we once believed was uniquely talented just isn’t actually that good.

In the long view, perhaps that’s the best possible development for this group a year out from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil.

History of Underdog Triumphs

Through the modern era of the program (from the 1990 World Cup onward), USMNT has always functioned best as an underdog without weighty expectations.

The 1994 team also dealt with the pressure of being a host nation, but did so as decided Cinderellas in a group that included Colombia, Romania and Switzerland. Even less was expected of the 2002 group that reached the quarterfinals despite a Group of Death draw that included Portugal, co-host South Korea and Poland.

The teams that has higher expectations either fell completely flat (see 1998, 2006) or merely met expectations without exceeding them (see 2010, 2014, 2022).

So whether or not it was Pochettino’s plan to evaluate fringe talent knowing the competitive results would suffer, it may ultimately suit this group’s competitive aims if they can escape the golden generation moniker before next June arrives.

Golden Generation Burden

A look at other national teams who endured a similar period suggests the label is often a curse as much as a blessing.

Belgium is probably the most well-known recent example. Despite a collection of talent that was considered worthy of contending for major international trophies, the Red Devils only got beyond the quarterfinals once between three World Cup and three European Championship appearances from 2014-2024.

Before that was the England national team of the early 2000s that also hit consistent roadblocks at the quarterfinal threshold (at best) between 2002 and 2016, and even failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships.

You might even argue Argentina failed to capitalize on an elite generation of players during their prime. Those like Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain had aged out of the Albiceleste by the time Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria won the Copa America and World Cup in back-to-back years, fueled by a much younger supporting cast.

Fan Friendly

There’s also the reality that the non-soccer-fan American public may have an easier time relating to a roster that is labeled an underdog.

Many of the great international sporting triumphs in American team sports history have involved that us-against-the-world element, from the Miracle on Ice team that shocked the Soviets and captured the gold medal and uip at the 1980 Winter Olympics, to the Magnificent Seven that became the first women’s gymnastics squad to earn the team gold at the 1996 Summer Games.

This isn’t to suggest anything as intentional as Pochettino sabotaging current results to temper future hopes. If anything, the performances owe from the Argentine’s insistence on seeing as much of the American talent pool on the field in a competitive match as is possible in the short window of time he’s been afforded.

But as bad as this current freefall feels now, there will come a point when the course reverses, and there’s no reason that can’t occur within the final year of buildup to the tournament. As important as it is to be good, sometimes it’s even more better to have good timing.