There was plenty of blame to go around at Geodis Park on Tuesday night, but Mauricio Pochettino was eager to shoulder as much of it as he could. This was his fault, he said. He took a risk, and that risk didn't work. The result of that? A 4-0 battering and, in this case, a hard lesson learned.
In truth, Pochetitno was far from the only one who will be having flashback about this Switzerland shellacking. Nathan Harriel and Walker Zimmerman made a mess of the first goal. Max Arfsten did little to stop the second. Matt Turner parried the third right into danger, while Mark McKenzie was turned like a top on the fourth.
Those are just the goals. The players on the other side of the ball did little to help, as the U.S. press was nonexistent and the forwards were all too silent.
Pochettino, as the architect of this four-match losing streak, says he'll bear the brunt of the blame. It was Pochettino who selected an experimental and limited-cap XI, one that featured nine changes and few of his established regulars. It was Pochettino that put those players in positions where the struggled to succeed. And ultimately, it was Pochettino who pulled the plug, allowing the U.S. to survive through a 0-0 second half and salvage some form of pride with the veterans thrown into the game.
"It's our responsibility, and my responsibility was the decision of the starting XI," Pochettino said after the game. "I wanted to give the possibility to others on the roster to play. That is the reason we took, but it's something that went in the wrong direction in the beginning. I think that was my first thought. To blame ourselves because it was our decision.
"I think the combination of the starting level of the team, I think wasn't at the pace, but this is about learning and then saying 'Move on.' In the second half, we changed the system and provided more calmness to the team."
At the moment, the mood surrounding the USMNT is anything but calm. Alarm bells are ringing with the Gold Cup on the horizon and the U.S. now losers of four straight, with Pochettino now 5-5 in his first 10 matches. This group, the one that will now head to that Gold Cup, was exposed against Switzerland. From top to bottom, everyone had a bad day.
Can they bounce back? Is there anything they can salvage from the worst loss of this still-new Pochettino era - and worst shutout for the USMNT since they lost 4-0 to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying in 2016? Pochettino believes so. We'll find out in the Gold Cup, which starts against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday night.
"I think were are much better players, a much better team and much better coaches after a defeat like this, because you learn," he said. "If you're intelligent, you learn."
The U.S. has a lot of learning to do and little time to do it. The Gold Cup is days away and, after another rough night, the U.S. is limping into it.
GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from Geodis Park.