'Change the narrative' – Chris Richards says USMNT critics fuel motivation ahead of Gold Cup

U.S. men's national team defender Chris Richards says any outside critics of the current form of the program are only fueling their motivation ahead of the Gold Cup.

"I mean, I think the thing with social media and just the media in general now is that everybody has an opinion, which is okay, but at the end of the day, we we're just focused on the people that are here," Richards said on Saturday, speaking to media at the USMNT's training session.

Over the past week, the U.S. lost two international friendlies to Turkey and Switzerland, prompting a spate of negativity towards the team following their performances. Notably, it's a new-look roster for Mauricio Pochettino's group due to numerous absences, including star forward Christian Pulisic.

The AC Milan attacker is absent from the group due to requesting the summer off and U.S. Soccer obliged, but his decision has prompted criticism over the past week from U.S. legends Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, and most recently, 1994 World Cup defender Alexi Lalas. That criticism has made its way into camp, but Richards claimed that there's an internal focus on how to motivate and succeed despite their critics voicing loud opinions, and how there's no talk of Pulisic in camp - rather, they're centered on the group competing.

"And of course, Christian is a big part of our group, but he's not here. So, I mean, again, we just focus on the people who are here and who are ready to win," Richards said. "So that's been kind of our big message. I think in the last few months, we've had a lot of people talking kind of down on the team, which is, okay, you know, we love our fans, we love our haters as well. So we just kind of take that and gives us motivation to hopefully change the narrative."

The U.S. last won the Gold Cup in 2021, and this summer, expectations are higher than ever for Pochettino's men in the competition. Now officially less than one year out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the USMNT are looking to bounce back from a poor start to 2025 with a good tournament showing.

Following a dismal display in the CONCACAF Nations League finals in March and similar performances in friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland, the Gold Cup presents the Argentine manager and his new-look squad with an opportunity to put the program back on track.

The U.S. will take on Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, and Saudi Arabia during the Group Stage of this summer's competition.

Richards helped lead English Premier League side Crystal Palace to an FA Cup winners trophy during the 2024-25 campaign. The defender started the final and logged 90 minutes as Palace defeated Manchester City, earning the Eagles their first trophy in the competition.

For the USMNT, the defender has 25 appearances to date.

The U.S. clash with Trinidad and Tobago Sunday evening as they kick off their 2025 Gold Cup journey.

GOAL's Ryan Tolmich contributed reporting to this story from San Jose, California