How coach can breathe life back into slumping USMNT

The U.S. Men's National Team is in rough shape, losing its past four matches under coach Mauricio Pochettino. And, on Sunday, it will begin its last competitive tournament before the 2026 World Cup. 

Expectations are low and frustrations high with this team. Not all of this is the fault of Pochettino, who is without most of his best players (Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun and more) and working with a B-team roster. 

But there's still plenty Pochettino can do — and must do — to improve the USMNT's fortunes in the Concacaf Gold Cup, which begins Saturday in Inglewood, California with Mexico playing the Dominican Republic.

Switch to a three-man defense... or select players who regularly play in a four-man defense instead

Max Arfsten is a generational American talent, but you'd never guess it if you watched him in the USMNT's 4-0 defeat to Switzerland on June 10. Arfsten, slotted into the right side of Pochettino's four-man USMNT defense, was beaten repeatedly by Switzerland's fast, fluid counterattacks.

This wasn't all Arfsten's fault. When he plays for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, he plays as a true wing back; his primary function for the Crew is to create attacks up the flank, where he thrives. Arsten is a fabulous player when he has three center backs roaming behind him, but he's not ready to be a game-changing defender himself — and that's what Pochettino has been asking him to do.

With so little time before the Gold Cup, Pochettino has a choice: He can stick with his preferred four-man defense and drop players like Arfsten or he can bend his tactical principles and try a three-man defense instead that will help players like Arfsten thrive. The former will provide a better defensive base but limit the USMNT's forward movement; the latter will encourage creative attacks but switch up existing defensive positioning. 

Pochettino must choose one or the other.

Give Diego Luna the spotlight he deserves

The USMNT fan base isn't hard to please. It doesn't necessarily want world-class play; it knows the team isn't capable of that now. It just wants commitment, drive, grit, energy and creativity, and no player embodies those qualities more than Real Salt Lake midfielder Luna.

Luna was excellent in the USMNT's hard-fought 2-1 loss to Turkey, and he changed the complexion of the game when he came on at halftime in the loss to Switzerland. He always plays lights-out, even when the USMNT has no hope of getting a result, and he's an inspirational figure within USMNT fandom. Pochettino would do well to build his Gold Cup attack around Luna.