Dismal USMNT lacked pride and intensity against Canada – that’s on the players

It was just two months ago in the tunnel of a stadium on the other side of Kansas City that the U.S. men’s national team players filed through the mixed zone talking about the disappointment of a group-stage exit from the Copa America.

The message that night was one of frustration and needing to find a way to get this team to the next level. Matt Turner said the team needed to hold itself to a higher standard. Christian Pulisic talked about needing to step back and find their identity again, to rediscover their motivation. Veteran defender Tim Ream’s words that day blared a warning.

“Sometimes we as players are not humble enough to understand that we can continue to improve and we think we’re the finished product,” he said. “And that’s not the case until you finish playing.”

In other words, no one has made it yet and no amount of hype or potential will get you there. It takes constant commitment to push to those next levels. Entitlement will be punished.

It would be naive to think the problems that felled this national team on such a massive stage would be solved in two months under an interim manager in front of 10,523 fans in a friendly. (And without regular starters like Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson.) But it shouldn’t be too much to expect that the team put in a performance in which they look like they’re up for the game. Or to expect that the lessons of Copa America — of the requisite intensity and effort and mentality to be a top team — would carry through.

Instead, Canada ran through and ran by the U.S. team en route to a 2-1 win, their first victory over the U.S. on American soil since 1957. Frankly, the scoreline was complimentary to the U.S. Simply put, the U.S. did not look up for it and Canada did. 

Marsch enjoyed victory over the U.S. (Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)

There is no room for beating around the bush. There is no running from the performance. It was dismal. The U.S. got bossed by a Canada team that was more committed to a cause. The Canadians wanted it more. Canada won 63 percent of the duels in the first half and outshot the U.S. 11-1. It was only 1-0 at halftime thanks to Patrick Schulte, who made several important saves to keep the U.S. in the game. 

Asked if there was a bit of personal satisfaction with the win, Canada coach Jesse Marsch, who was a candidate for the U.S. job that went back to Gregg Berhalter in 2023, shrugged an obvious yes. “I enjoyed it,” he said. 

And he should have. The difference in the desire displayed between his team and the U.S. team was clear.

“Believe me, I’m not bitter,” Marsch said. “I’d rather coach our team, 100 percent, no questions asked. I’d much rather coach Canada than the U.S. right now. You can see the mentality that’s been developed. You can see the way this team plays. You can see how much they love playing for the national team and they’re willing to put their careers and lives, in the way they play, on the line to be the best they can be for each other and for the team. And that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

The implication, of course, was that the U.S. wasn’t at that same point of commitment. And Marsch is right. At least he was on this night. Really, it doesn’t feel far off from what Ream was saying two months ago at Arrowhead. This team cannot afford to do anything less than pour itself into every performance. That is a requirement for growth and success.

Schulte spared the U.S. greater embarrassment while Ream says they need to take “much more pride in wearing the jersey” (Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

U.S. interim manager Mikey Varas held his hand up for trying to implement too much in terms of how he wanted the team to play with just three days to prepare. But he also acknowledged his responsibility only went so far.

“The mentality is on the players,” Varas said. “Sorry. They know that. They know. We speak the truth to each other. I love those guys, but they know that mentality — to fight and to run and to sacrifice — I can’t do that for them. I can’t do that. That’s on them. So at the end of the day, it’s a combination between me and them. All of us together.”

Not every performance from the U.S. over the past year has had exactly these same issues, but the result against Canada on Saturday was symptomatic of a team that, since Qatar, comes across as too comfortable. The 2022 World Cup cycle was about repairing the wounds of Couva and gaining experience. This cycle was about turning potential — all the hype around this generation — into actualization. 

Instead, it has felt too often like it’s being treated as a red carpet rolled out to 2026. 

Even on a night when several players had a chance to prove they belonged in this team, who had a chance to make an impression on a new coach expected to arrive in the coming days, the U.S. somehow came out flat. 

How?!

And so the answers in the mixed zone sounded the same two months later as they did at the end of Copa America. 

“It’s something that I think we need to get back to really taking much more pride in wearing the jersey,” Ream said this time around. “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 and 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.”

Mauricio Pochettino is coming soon. His arrival can’t come soon enough. The hope is that he will inject enthusiasm. Famously a strong man manager, perhaps Pochettino will unlock something in this group. Undoubtedly, he will bring a new set of eyes to the program and a new level of accountability for every player in the pool. But, just like Varas, Pochettino is a coach. His influence can only go so far. Ultimately, it will fall on the players. 

Ream was right then and he’s right still. No team can afford complacency, but especially not this one. They have everything still to prove. U.S. Soccer clearly felt after Copa America that this team needed some sort of shakeup. Saturday’s loss only reinforced that assessment. 

(Top photo: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)