‘Worrisome’ USMNT assessment from former wonderkid Freddy Adu as Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna & Co face no selection threat in humbling 5-1 defeat to Colombia

The United States have worked hard to piece together an exciting squad then blends youth and experience, with a historic starting XI in a friendly date with Colombia all plying their club trade in Europe – with some on the books of leading teams in Italy, Germany, England and France.

Despite that obvious pedigree, Gregg Berhalter saw his side slip to a humbling 5-1 defeat against the South Americans – with an unwanted 15-year record on home soil being broken in the process. There is now much work for the USMNT to do ahead of Copa America, where they will be filling the role of hosts.

Former wonderkid Adu admits as much, posting on social media: “I thought it was one of the poorest games I've seen from this current group. There's too much talent for the team to be performing like this IMHO! I truly believe that we have to make it a priority to schedule more games against the top teams in the world. We get away with lot of these 'mistakes' playing against Concacaf teams but you get punished for those by teams like Colombia. There was no sense of urgency. [It] felt like the players know their spots are safe no matter what and they played like it. To be honest that is worrisome because if that doesn't change then we will never get the best out of this team/generation.”

Adu said he would “have a better idea after this summer’s tournament” when asked if Berhalter remains the right coach to take the USMNT forward, with their Copa America campaign due to get underway on June 23 when facing Bolivia at AT&T Stadium in Texas. Adu added that the competition is going to answer a lot of questions “for better or for worse”.