NASHVILLE - The boos began in the 36th minute. In truth, they had probably been earned long before that. It was at that point, though, that the fans in Nashville had seen enough. It was hard to blame them, too, as they'd just seen Switzerland put four past the U.S. men's national team in a 23-minute span.
What followed in the ensuing 67 minutes was a variety of emotions: frustration, disappointment and, at times from the crowd, apathy. Just days before the Gold Cup kicks off and one year on from the World Cup, a 4-0 loss on Tuesday night hammered home a point that has been apparent for quite a while now: there's still a massive amount of work to do.
This was a comedy of errors, to be honest, each seemingly worse than the last. Miscommunication, nutmegs, poor goalkeeping - this one had it all and, from a USMNT perspective, none of it was good. It was a game - coming off a 2-1 loss to Turkey on the weekend - that showed not just the gulf in quality between this team and Switzerland, but the gulf in quality between this team and a full-strength USMNT. The players on the field, in reality, were not up for this challenge, and Switzerland drove that point home with each and every goal.
The inexperience cannot be understated. Over the two pre-Gold Cup friendlies, 20 different players got starts, with 12 of those 24 and younger. Moreover, 11 starters over the two matches had five or fewer caps coming into camp, and six got their first - Sebastian Berhalter, Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Nathan Harriel, Quinn Sullivan and Damion Downs.
Yet, that didn't seem to soothe the sting. In truth, that isn't a referendum on the player pool or this program, but rather those on the field. Maybe the roster isn't quite as deep as Mauricio Pochettino thought. Those are questions for the end of the summer, though, after this group gets a chance to dig their way out through the Gold Cup.
"It's one of those ones where you need to take your licks and try to put them right in the next five days before the Gold Cup," veteran Tim Ream said on TNT. "I think there's some individual errors that we made and you'll get punished for on this level. You see it all around the world, and that's a learning process for guys with very few and first caps. It's a learning experience.
"We have to be calm and we have to keep our head on right. Analyze the first half, especially, there's things in the second half we can do better. If we do that, we'll be around."
This was the worst shutout for the USMNT since they lost 4-0 to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying on November 15, 2016. This is also the first time since 2007 the U.S. lost four straight, and dropped Pochettino's record since taking over the team last fall to a pedestrian 5-5.
For perspective, the USMNT haven't lost four straight home matches since 1988, and Pochettino is also the first USMNT coach to lose five of his first 10 since Lothar Osiander from 1986-88.
This just made the hole deeper. The turnaround is relatively short as this team look to avoid making it five straight, as they kick off the Gold Cup on Sunday night against Trinidad and Tobago. In the days until then, Pochettino will need to rebuild this group as best he can because, going forward, this all matters even more.
GOAL rates the USMNT's players from Geodis Park.
