‘We have to flip the script’: Can the U.S. respond as it limps into the Gold Cup?

Laken Litman

College Football & Soccer Analyst

Instead of entering the Gold Cup on a high, the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) is limping into this summer’s tournament and hoping to get itself back on track.

That’s because there’s a lot going on at the moment. Christian Pulisic is sitting out in order to rest following a long season with AC Milan, a decision that has created drama amid backlash from former USMNT stars like Landon Donovan.

Other current USMNT mainstays – including Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Antonee “Jedi” Robinson, Sergino Dest, Gio Reyna, Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi – aren’t with the team due to Club World Cup commitments or injury recovery. These absences have forced USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino to call in a green roster – one that averages 16 caps – with even more limited experience in official competition.

More pressing, however, are the results from two friendly matches this week. The U.S. was edged 2-1 by Türkiye last Saturday before getting run over by Switzerland 4-0 on Tuesday. Now, there’s not much time to regroup because the USMNT begins Gold Cup competition on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago (6 p.m. ET on FOX) before facing Saudi Arabia and Haiti to round out group play.

The negativity surrounding the team seems overwhelming, but players are just trying to get their minds right.

“I think it’s really easy to look at one game, one half, and be like, ‘Oh this is all going to pieces. They can’t come back from this,” veteran center back Walker Zimmerman told the TNT broadcast after the drubbing by Switzerland. “Things change. It’s not the end of the world. We accept that it’s not good enough and we realize that, so that’s where the disappointment comes in.”

Zimmerman referenced the build-up to the 2022 World Cup and how in June of that year, the USMNT beat Morocco 3-0 in a friendly. Six months later, the Atlas Lions inspired a nation and made history by advancing to the World Cup semifinal.

“We have to flip the script,” Zimmerman continued. “We gotta make sure that we do not come out like that ever again, especially as we enter the Gold Cup.”

USMNT defender Tim Ream chats with midfielder John Tolkin during the team’s most recent game, a 4-0 loss to Switzerland. (Photo by John Wilkinson/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

But can this motley crew of unseasoned players quickly recover from disaster and respond? Their charge is not only to win a Gold Cup trophy – players have said that is how they would define success this summer – but more importantly to make a statement at the World Cup on home soil one year from now.

“The boys are so motivated to play in the Gold Cup,” Pochettino said. “The feeling after Türkiye was good. We made nine changes [to the lineup vs. Switzerland] and the combinations didn’t work. That’s it.

“We can lose, but we can win the Gold Cup and arrive at the World Cup and do well.”

Additionally, the Gold Cup still represents a massive opportunity for young and inexperienced players to make some noise and impress Pochettino enough to become part of his World Cup roster plans. Midfielders Diego Luna and Jack McGlyn, both 21, are examples of that. Luna has proven he can play through a broken nose and has been a consistently energetic presence on the field. McGlynn, who didn’t play against Switzerland, has scored two goals in his first two USMNT starts.

The field is wide open.

“I think if you ask anyone to write down 26 names for next year, there would be a lot of spots that people would objectively say are available,” Zimmerman said. “And we as players have to recognize that and take this opportunity that we have each and every day of training, each and every camp that we called into to try and be one of those spots.”

Most of all, the players are desperate to put recent results behind them – the USMNT has now lost four straight games and been outscored 9-2 in those contests. They have to find ways to score goals and win games, or this could end up being a deja vu to last summer when the squad didn’t make it out of the Copa America group stage. That tournament was also preceded by two tune-up friendlies, including a 5-1 loss to Colombia.

Regardless, the team has no choice. The Gold Cup is starting and they have to play the games.

“It’s a massive opportunity,” Zimmerman said. “One that I think every player should take seriously with both hands.”

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.