The USMNT just got bounced from the World Cup in the Round of 16 for the second straight tournament, and the blame game is already in full swing. A 4-1 loss to Belgium will do that. People want answers and they want someone to point a finger at.
Mauricio Pochettino is an obvious target. He’s the coach, the highest-paid figure in the program, and the man tasked with finally getting this generation past the second round. But ESPN’s Ryan O’Hanlon isn’t buying it. He thinks the players let Pochettino down, not the other way around.
The numbers tell an ugly story
O’Hanlon broke down the Belgium loss and it’s not pretty. The US controlled possession for stretches, sure, but that was mostly because Belgium went up early and sat back. The real stat line is brutal: 12 touches in the opponent’s box against 22 allowed. Seven total shots, with the first one from open play coming in the 79th minute from Sebastian Berhalter.
“This wasn’t a game where the ball bounced the wrong way a bunch of times. The U.S. simply got wrecked,” O’Hanlon wrote.
That’s the kind of frank assessment that stings because it’s hard to argue with. The US wasn’t unlucky. They were outclassed by a Belgian side that isn’t even considered one of the tournament favorites. The midfield got overrun, the attack generated nothing, and the defense had a couple of catastrophic breakdowns. That’s on the guys wearing the jerseys.
Talent gap or coaching problem?
O’Hanlon’s broader point is that the US doesn’t have a coaching problem. It has a talent problem. Or more specifically, it doesn’t have enough elite-level talent to compete with the top teams when it matters most.
“One day, the U.S. might finally have world-class talent and might finally need a coach who can give them that final 4% boost that takes them from a team that could win the World Cup to a team that actually does win the World Cup,” he wrote. “But if this summer is any indication, that day is still a long way away.”
It’s a harsh read but not an unfair one. The USMNT hasn’t gotten out of the Round of 16 since 2002. That’s five straight tournaments where the ceiling has been the same round. Changing the coach hasn’t fixed it. Changing the federation leadership hasn’t fixed it. The core of the squad plays in Europe’s top leagues but nobody in this generation is a difference-maker on the biggest stage. Not yet anyway.
Pochettino can scheme all he wants. He can set up the tactics perfectly. But if the players can’t win individual battles and can’t finish chances when they get them, there’s only so much a coach can do. O’Hanlon’s argument is basically that this loss isn’t on the manager’s clipboard. It’s on the guys who didn’t show up.
The question now is whether that changes in four years. The World Cup is coming to North America in 2026. The US gets an automatic bid as a host. The talent pipeline should keep producing. But if this group can’t get past the second round with home soil advantage, the conversation will shift from blaming the players to asking if this program’s ceiling is just lower than everyone hoped.
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