The U.S. rightfully has high hopes for the expected next head coach, but the players need to take accountablity

A new coach can make countless differences, and if – as expected – Mauricio Pochettino eventaully takes over the coaching reins for the U.S. men's national team, he surely will.

But at some point, players need to take responsibility.

That's the reality the USMNT is facing after an embarrassing 2-1 loss to Canada Saturday. Their recent struggles aren't simply about coaching. They're also about attitude.

This isn't outside-looking-in speculation, either. This isn't kicking a team when they're down. No, it's an admission straight from the players themselves. More than anyone, those in the U.S. locker room realize that they have continuously been underperforming.

One word thrown around a lot following the unexpected loss – the first by a U.S. squad to Canada on home soil in 67 years – was "mentality" – or rather, a lack thereof. The mindset hasn't been right and the effort hasn't been there. As a result, 2024 has been – by most accounts – a disaster.

A Copa America was squandered, and then a chance to respond in an important friendly – and the chance to impress a new coach – ended in yet another embarrassing moment. This year could have been a big step toward the 2026 World Cup. Instead, it's resulted in very real concerns about this U.S. less than two years out from the world's biggest soccer tournament.

"It's tough to say," Christian Pulisic admitted when asked to identity what's going wrong for the U.S. "It's something that we have to fix, but I really don't have an answer."

How does the USMNT rediscover the mentality that can make this team ready to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in of the world? How do you recapture the fire that has clearly been lost?

Well, for all the understandable anticipation about the reported new coach, it doesn't start with Pochettino. It didn't start with Gregg Berhalter or Mikey Varas or Anthony Hudson or B.J. Callaghan or any of the other U.S. coaches. This must start with the players themselves. Something has to change, and it has to come from within.

USA Today SportsSpeaking truth

Following the loss to Canada, Varas pulled no punches. He was willing to accept responsibility, as every coach should. He wasn't, though, willing to accept all of it. After what he'd just seen, he couldn't justify shielding the players entirely.

In Varas' first game in charge in an interim role, the U.S. had been dominated by Canada. It was a 2-1 loss that felt much worse. Canada, led by American-born coach and former USMNT candidate Jesse Marsch, bullied their southern neighbors. In the end, the U.S. fell to Canada at home for the first time since 1957.

The loss largely came down to individual mistakes. Johnny Cardoso's heavy touch directly led to Jacob Shaffelburg's opener. Tim Ream's misplay in the box led directly to Jonathan David's goal. There were plenty of isolated mishaps in between that could have led to two, three or four Canada goals.

"We probably should get into the half with more than one," Marsch said. "We're still struggling to really capitalize on a lot of our moments, but we'll get better and better at that."

Marsch's opposing coach, Varas, had plenty more to criticize. He admitted that the changes he had installed may have overwhelmed players, leading to some of the rocky sequences in the attack. But the defending? There was plenty of blame to go around.

"The mentalities of the players, sorry, they know it. They know," Varas said. "We speak the truth to each other. I love those guys, but they know that mentality of fighting and running, it's a sacrifice… It's a combination between me and them, all of us together."

What accounted for the lack of intensity?

"I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know," he said. "I felt that the trainings were intense. They were aggressive, but when the game comes, you got to get going, and the players are the ones that bring that. Coaches can only get you so far from a mentality perspective."

AdvertisementImagnThe stats behind the loss

The eye test told you how bad things were against Canada. Even someone with a basic understanding of the game could see the difference between the two teams. Canada was flying and the USMNT looked afraid and unsure.

Beyond the eye test, though, the actual statistics were even worse. The numbers show just how much intensity the U.S. lacked from the opening whistle to the final whistle.

In the end, Canada finished with 31 tackles. The U.S.? Just 12. According to TruMedia, that's the worst tackle difference for the U.S. in 67 games dating back to 2020. Canada also won 64 duels compared to the USMNT's 46, further showing the difference in intensity between the two sides.

Yunus Musah had little chemistry with Cardoso, which is what allowed Canada to dominate the midfield. And Cardoso was far too loose on the ball early on in a game that was essentially an audition for a bigger midfield role. 

"The biggest message was that we're losing all the duels," Varas said of the halftime discussion. "We're not running enough. We're not fouling in transition."

The hustle ultimately paid dividends for Canada. In the first half, they outshot the U.S. 11-1. By the end, it was a more flattering 17-8. Canada looked like a team that simply wanted it more, which should be considered unacceptable by this U.S. squad.

GettyFinding pride in the shirt

For the better part of two decades, the USMNT was built on pride. They were rarely the most talented team on the field, but they were gritty and unafraid. Their mentality carried them to victories that they had no business getting. It became the foundation of the program.

That foundation has begun to decay. in Tim Ream's eyes. It's not irreparable, but it requires all involved to self-evaluate and admit that change is required. The status quo is no longer acceptable.

"It's something that I think we need to get back to: really taking immense pride in wearing the jersey," Ream said. "And that's not to say that we aren't proud to wear the jersey, but I think there's a certain standard that we need to hold ourselves to and we haven't been doing that. That's on us as individuals, as players, and it has to come from within us.

"You can't coach intensity. You either have it or you don't, and you either bring it or you don't, and we haven't been bringing it."

It's a point that one of Ream's fellow U.S. centerbacks, Walker Zimmerman, echoed at the Olympics. Zimmerman hasn't been with the senior team recently, but was a key figure for the Olympics after starting at the 2022 World Cup. In his mind, some of the fight has been sucked out of the USMNT player pool in recent years.

"I think, to some degree, we've gotten away from that and feel like just because we're whoever you are, that you just can get called in," Zimmerman said in August. "That stuff pisses me off. I think guys, every time they put on the jersey, I don't care how talented you are, you want to play with pride. I think we have the characters to do it, but we don't always do it."

Ream, to his credit, accepted blame. He, more than anyone, will know his mishap on the second Canada goal was inexcusable. He's been around long enough to understand the vital ability to point a finger at yourself. The question now is if some of his teammates have found that same ability.

"At the end of the day, you really just have to look at yourself and understand that either you bring it or you don't bring it," he said. "I've said this for a long time: the more you don't bring it, the quicker you're going to be out of the game. It's tough, but we do have to speak up a little bit. I think guys know, guys understand."

GettyA silver lining

What's the quickest way to remind players that there's a high bar they they need to maintain? Find a teammate willing to push them. With the World Cup looming, the USMNT is fortunate to have no shortage of players ready and willing to push.

On Saturday, the substitutes Varas turned to did exactly that. From the moment they arrived, the level lifted. That is, admittedly, easier when coming into a game against tired legs and blatant problems that need fixing, but it's still a positive step.

Varas was full of praise for Aidan Morris, who earned a bigger chance in midfield with a standout performance after coming on. He pointed to Haji Wright and Ricardo Pepi, who provided life to the attack, and Cade Cowell, who stretched the defense a bit with his pace. And then there was Luca de la Torre, who scored his first USMNT goal and added a bit more composure to a midfield that was previously being torn apart.

"All the guys who started, they'll all wish that we would have started the game with more energy, like we found probably in minute 52 or 53, when we started building that energy," Varas said. "At the end of the day, I'm going to watch the game back, because it's a collective team, right? It's a collective sport. It's not always everyone. It can be one or two or three whose mentality was missing the most. It's not everybody is equal like that, so we'll have to analyze that and see."