The former USMNT striker has defended the head coach following the 2-1 loss, suggesting individual player errors were primarily responsible
Gomez acknowledges need for culture changeHe highlights positive first-half performance despite a depleted lineupFormer striker places blame on player executionGetty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED
Following the USMNT’s defeat to Turkey in an international friendly, former U.S. striker and ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez offered a nuanced assessment that partially shielded head coach Mauricio Pochettino from growing criticism. The U.S. struck early, scoring inside the first minute, but conceded twice in quick succession, struggled to equalize, and ultimately fell 2–1.
“I think he did do something about it,” Gomez said on when asked whether Pochettino addressed the team's issues at halftime. “At halftime, Tyler Adams comes on, Johnny Cardoso comes off, there’s a new center back, Mark Mackenzie, and Miles Robinson comes off. So the two players who essentially took part in the two goals, they come, and that’s a clear message, that’s a clear posture of we're gonna go about this a different way.
While acknowledging that Pochettino needs to shift the mentality and culture of a team that tends to back down, Gomez stressed that individual mistakes played a major role in undermining the coach’s game plan.
“Listen, I’m with you on the culture, as that’s [on] Mauricio Pochettino, you have to do something, change something, and I think his leniency with players…I think those things set the tone," Gomez explained. "I think when it’s OK to lose and you verbally say that, it sets a certain cultural tone. But this game, if you think about it and really look at how they weren’t better on the night to how they didn’t score, I think there’s some bad individual performances. More bad individual performances than there are good."
Gomez added: “But Mauricio Pochettino, to what Ale [Moreno] was saying, he can’t say, ‘Come on migo, have some confidence here, don’t let your knees shake so much on this play, think that you can play this ball, put it over there to the forward.’ I think there’s some players that let themselves down and they let Mauricio Pochettino down.”
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The USMNT took the lead early on in the game, with Jack McGlynn scoring 59 seconds after kick-off only to watch Turkiye score twice inside three minutes via Arder Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu. Yet despite that, Gomez admitted that he’s feeling a bit more positive and saw a lot of good things in that first half from the team.
“Do you know, believe it or not, I’m feeling a bit more positive than I was before,” Gomez said. “I’m going to give Pochettino some credit here. There were realistically one starter on the field and that was Chris Richards, and the rest was a makeshift team that he got in a short time to play as a cohesive unit. And we saw a lot of interesting things, like the message and the identity.
Gomez also touched upon the fact that Pochettino gave a few players a chance to shine but they failed to grab their chance when it arrived.
“Maximilian Arfsten, a player who was given an opportunity. You have the opportunity to make a statement and [are] easily at fault for not putting the USMNT in a better position, at least one goal out of the two that he botches. And both of those, he should have made a better decision. Jack McGlynn, how many times did we see him get the ball? And he wants to shoot, instead of getting his head up.
“Patrick Agyemang, this was a home game for him. His family literally walked to the stadium, and [he] didn’t take advantage of it. So here, I’m willing to give Pochettino somewhat of a pass, because I think he did set up some of these players in a position to shine, I just think a lot of those players let him down."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The USMNT continue to search for consistency and identity under Pochettino, with results falling short of expectations. This highlights the complex challenges facing a program attempting to build toward a home World Cup amid heightened expectations and limited preparation time.
Getty Images SportWHAT’S NEXT?
The USMNT face Switzerland in another international friendly on June 10 before the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup begins later this month.
