Pochettino’s Woes Deepen as United States Suffer 4-0 Defeat to Switzerland

An experimental United States side endured a humiliating 4-0 home defeat to Switzerland in a friendly on Tuesday evening, further compounding the problems facing head coach Mauricio Pochettino just one year before the country co-hosts the FIFA World Cup.

What was meant to serve as a morale-boosting send-off ahead of the USA’s participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quickly descended into disarray at Geodis Park, Nashville, with Switzerland racing to a 4-0 lead inside 36 minutes.

Dan Ndoye, Michel Aebischer, Breel Embolo and Johan Manzambi all found the net for the Swiss, as boos rang out from a disillusioned home crowd.

The result marked a fourth successive loss for the US Men’s National Team – their worst run of form since 2007 – and cast further doubt over Pochettino’s preparations for the forthcoming tournament.

The former Chelsea and Tottenham manager is currently without several key players for the Gold Cup campaign, which begins on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago.

AC Milan star Christian Pulisic requested to be rested and was excused from international duty, while Juventus pair Weston McKennie and Tim Weah are also unavailable due to their club’s involvement in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.

With those absentees, Pochettino was forced to test the depth of his squad – but Tuesday's display made it clear that the return of his European-based regulars cannot come soon enough.

Speaking after the match, the Argentine manager accepted full responsibility for fielding an inexperienced starting eleven who were outclassed by a dominant Swiss side.

“First of all, the responsibility lies with me in choosing the starting line-up. I wanted to give minutes to certain players, but we were never truly in the game,” Pochettino admitted.

Despite the heavy defeat, US defender Walker Zimmerman urged supporters not to panic and pointed to the time remaining before next year’s World Cup.

“It’s easy to look at one half and think everything is falling apart, that we can’t recover from this kind of result,” Zimmerman told TNT Sports.

“But if you look back to our build-up to the 2022 World Cup – we beat Morocco 3-0, and they went on to reach the semi-finals. A lot can change in six months.

“This isn’t the end of the world. We know this performance wasn’t good enough, and that’s where the frustration comes from. But we have to turn the page and make sure we never start a match in that manner again.”