That's a good point and the team should be ready for quality teams. Just need some fine tuning + Richards.
Ream and Robinson as options just let's you know how weak we are at the CB position. There isn't many other options to choose from either as the other options are mid too.
Congrats to US Soccer for continuing to break records... so many "not since before 1990 back when no one in this dumb country even knew what soccer was" type historical moments under Klinsmann Berhalter and now Poch. What does the soccer genius who made these coaching hires have to say, days before we host a World Cup? Oh that's right he already fled to friggin Saudi Arabia ... It's fine tho because Poch "has aura"
How often do the men's and women's team play against the one of the best teams in the world on the same day?
Crocker was smart to bail before they did so! Good point because the USMNT under Poch doesn't lose to Euro teams unless they're one of the best teams in the world.... fingers crossed they end up facing the Faroe Island dolphin killers at the World Cup you know that tournament for the best teams in the world that he was hired by Crocker to coach in... should be pretty easy to avoid good Euro teams there so no worries then Mauricio Pochettino’s record against European sides as USMNT manager ⬇️USA 1-2 Germany ❌USA 0-2 Portugal ❌USA 2-5 Belgium ❌USA 0-4 Switzerland ❌USA 1-2 Turkiye ❌4 goals scored, 15 goals conceded, 0 wins 😬 pic.twitter.com/Z4Q1SiR9XO— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) June 6, 2026
The recent data is tracking consumer confidence he really is the perfect coach for the US The history of the USMNT, in one mostly frustrating chart. pic.twitter.com/KugivhsSxM— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 7, 2026
US managers in the modern era against UEFA competition: Gansler - 0-0-3 (losses to Czechoslovakia, Italy, and Austria) Milutinovic - 0-1-1 (draw to Switzerland, loss to Romania) Sampson - 0-0-2 (losses to Germany and Yugoslavia) Arena - 2-1-4 (win over Germany [1999], win over Portugal and losses to Poland and Germany [2002], loss to Turkey [2003], draw to Italy and loss to Czech Republic [2006]) Bradley - 1-2-1 (win over Spain and loss to Italy [2009], draws to England and Slovenia [2010]) Klinsmann - 0-1-2 (draw to Portugal, losses to Germany and Belgium) Berhalter - 0-2-1 (draws to Wales and England, loss to Netherlands) This parallels how I would rank US managers in the last 35+ years (though everybody earlier than Arena is before my time, and it's tough to compare Gansler to the guys who came later).
Yes. And here's my quickly compiled list for CONMEBOL that excludes the Gold Cup (because I've always thought CONMEBOL participation there is rather goofy). Milunovic: 1-1-3 (draw against Venezuela and losses to Uruguay and Ecuador [1993], win over Colombia and loss to Brazil [1994]) Sampson: 2-0-3 (wins over Chile and Argentina, losses to Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia) Arena: 0-0-2 (loss to Brazil [1999], loss to Brazil [2003]) Bradley: 0-0-5 (losses to Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia [2007], losses to Brazil [x2] [2009]) Klinsmann: 2-0-3 (wins over Paraguay and Ecuador, losses to Colombia [x2] and Argentina) Berhalter: 1-0-1 (win over Bolivia, loss to Uruguay) Interesting how this doesn't correspond to how I evaluate US managers at all. Participation in the Copa America is too inconsistent, and then the US notoriously sent a B-team to the 2007 tournament. It also doesn't help that the US has weirdly dodged CONMEBOL at the World Cup in the modern era, other than the two matches in 1994. Though getting the crucial win to advance in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022 would have seen the US play CONMEBOL opponents.
We could have played Honduras like Argentina did, won 3-0, and felt pretty damn good right now. Or if we can only measure ourselves against European teams, we could have scheduled Austria, Romania, and the Czech Republic in the last two windows. I have no issue with the matches we scheduled since the Gold Cup. We scheduled World Cup teams from around the world. Loved the Senegal scheduling.
Because we’re about to have actual data of his performance against UEFA teams in official competition?
I'd limit it to quality European teams, given the teams we've faced recently. But I can take a stab at that post-Bora. (We played too many friendlies under Bora to keep track of.) USMNT managers in all games vs Elo top 30 European teams (including non-competitive, but excluding domestic-based January camp games): Sampson 0-1 loss vs Belgium (25) in 1995 0-1 loss vs Sweden (20) in 1995 2-1 win vs Scotland (24) in 1995 0-2 loss vs Netherlands (8) in 1998 0-2 loss vs Belgium (20) in 1998 0-0 draw vs Scotland (24) in 1998 0-2 loss vs Germany (2) in 1998 World Cup 0-1 loss vs Yugoslavia (5) in 1998 World Cup 1 win, 6 losses, 1 draw Arena 3-0 win vs Germany (8) in 1999 2-0 win vs Germany (7) in 1999 Confederations Cup 0-2 loss vs Russia (19) in 2000 1-1 draw vs Ireland (24) in 2000 0-1 loss vs Italy (3) in 2002 2-4 loss vs Germany (11) in 2002 1-2 loss vs Ireland (9) in 2002 0-2 loss vs Netherlands (4) in 2002 3-2 win vs Portugal (6) in 2002 World Cup 0-1 loss vs Germany (7) in 2002 World Cup 1-2 loss vs Turkey (12) in 2003 Confederations Cup 0-1 loss vs Netherlands (4) in 2004 1-0 win vs Poland (28) in 2004 1-1 draw vs Poland (28) in 2004 1-2 loss vs England (3) in 2005 1-0 win vs Poland (14) in 2006 1-4 loss vs Germany (11) in 2006 0-3 loss vs Czech Republic (4) in 2006 World Cup 1-1 draw vs Italy (8) in 2006 World Cup 5 wins, 11 losses, 3 draws Bradley 0-1 loss vs Sweden (18) in 2007 1-0 win vs Switzerland (15) in 2007 3-0 win vs Poland (19) in 2008 0-2 loss vs England (9) in 2008 0-1 loss vs Spain (5) in 2008 1-3 loss vs Italy (5) in 2009 Confederations Cup 2-0 win vs Spain (1) in 2009 Confederations Cup 1-3 loss vs Demark (18) in 2009 1-2 loss vs Netherlands (3) in 2010 2-1 win vs Turkey (17) in 2010 1-1 draw vs England (4) in 2010 World Cup 0-4 loss vs Spain (1) in 2011 4 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw Klinsmann 0-1 loss vs France (15) in 2011 1-0 win vs Italy (10) in 2012 2-2 draw vs Russia (12) in 2012 2-4 loss vs Belgium (19) in 2013 4-3 win vs Germany (2) in 2013 4-3 win vs Bosnia (21) in 2013 0-2 loss vs Ukraine (20) in 2014 2-1 win vs Turkey (27) in 2014 2-2 draw vs Portugal (9) in 2014 World Cup 0-1 loss vs Germany (3) in 2014 World Cup 1-2 loss vs Belgium (10) in 2014 World Cup 0-1 loss vs Czechia (29) in 2014 1-3 loss vs Ireland (27) in 2014 2-3 loss vs Denmark (26) in 2015 1-1 draw vs Switzerland (20) in 2015 4-3 win vs Netherlands (5) in 2015 2-1 win vs Germany (1) in 2015 6 wins, 8 losses, 3 draws Sarachan 1-1 draw vs Portugal (4) in 2017 1-1 draw vs France (4) in 2018 0-3 loss vs England (8) in 2018 0-1 loss vs Italy (15) in 2018 2 losses, 2 draws Berhalter 0-0 draw vs Wales (20) in 2020 1-2 loss vs Switzerland (15) in 2021 1-1 draw vs Wales (25) in 2022 World Cup 0-0 draw vs England (9) in 2022 World Cup 1-3 loss vs Netherlands (3) in 2022 World Cup 1-3 loss vs Germany (13) in 2023 3 losses, 3 draws Pochettino 1-2 loss vs Turkey (18) in 2025 0-4 loss vs Switzerland (23) in 2025 2-5 loss vs Belgium (21) in 2026 0-2 loss vs Portugal (5) in 2026 1-2 loss vs Germany (10) in 2026 5 losses (I included any game against teams that were ranked top 30 by Elo heading into the game or afterwards.)
I included everything to be comprehensive, but also noted the competitive games. They're easy enough to exclude if you'd like to.
Yeah, it's like Pochettino could go 1-0-0 against UEFA at the World Cup and be a complete failure, or he could go 0-0-2 (or even 0-0-3) and be a smashing success. Context is everything. I don't think international friendlies can be entirely discounted, but Pochettino's other results in late 2025 counterbalance the matches against UEFA sufficiently for me to put this to the side until we start to our matches in the next few weeks.
Yep, but I only included Elo top 30 teams. Austria were ranked outside of the top 30 by Elo at the time.
The cool thing about this thread is that in a few weeks it will be moot. And 16 to 20 months from now, when the fed finally gets around to hiring a new coach, we can start a Fire _________ thread.
The women are one of the best in the world. Used to be THE best. Now other nations seem to be catching up fast. The days of USWNT dominating are long gone. Even at club level on the women's side it seems to be happening too.
That's what we all wanted, right? For the rest of the world to start investing in the women's game? When I first started paying attention to the women, two of the other top nations were China and Norway. Both out of the top 10. The US women are #2 in the World. They went on the road and lost to the #6 nation in the World. Its not a crisis. I love the fact that the women went on the road to play somebody good. When was the last time the US men did that? I understand that everyone in the world wanted to play games in the United States for the last two years to prepare for the World Cup [Whether against the USMNT or not.] And we wanted to try to jazz up Americans regarding the team. The US men lost to the #5, #9, and #10 teams in the World this spring. We scheduled difficult games. I thought we played pretty well against Germany all things considered.