USMNT fall to Switzerland 2-1: Three thoughts

USMNT fall to Switzerland in Friendly

Lletget got on the score sheet as the USMNT pressed Switzerland to death in the first half. A turnover inside the 18-yard box ricocheted to Brenden Aaronson who passed over to Lletget. He hit it first-time and buried the chance to put them up 1-0.

Sebastian Lletget put home his seventh #USMNT goal and third of 2021 to give the #USMNT the lead vs. Switzerland.#SUIvUSA pic.twitter.com/ACTKQS2TFF

— U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) May 30, 2021

Just minutes later, Ricardo Rodriguez cut inside and ripped a shot that deflected off Reggie Cannon and curled into the far corner out of reach for Ethan Horvath.

Late in the first half, Sergiño Dest was called for a handball in the box, pretty unfairly. Rodriguez stepped up to the spot and sent it wide, and as Rasheed Wallace once said: “ball don’t lie.”

Switzerland came out on fire in the second half, and Horvath channeled Scott Sterling stopping back-to-back 1v1 situations with Breel Embolo with his face. After the USMNT made a triple substitution, the USMNT channeled their inner FIFA 21 gameplay as the ball pinged around right to Stephen Zuber who made no mistake in blasting it home. After that, the USMNT couldn’t quite put it all together to bag an equalizer.

Three Things

The left-back situation is still a big question mark. We saw Sergiño Dest look really strong going forward today, but left a lot of space and question marks defensively. Personally, it seems like he would be best suited as a wing-back when Pulisic is on that side with him to really pin the opposition back, and even more so when the USMNT is playing with three center backs.

Sebastien Lletget deserves a lot more credit. Just 28 years old, the Galaxy stud was long an under-the-radar prospect in Europe, and then made a somehow under-the-radar move to the Galaxy. He’s a big game player and has been the USMNT’s most consistent goal-scorer as of late. Expect him to be a fixture in the roster as long as he’s healthy.

Reminder: Switzerland has a Top 10 FIFA World Ranking. This swiss side has a lot of good players that play in the top leagues and are well-established contributors. On top of it, they have a good coach who has set that national team up well. While there rightfully should be some concerns, if you thought that this would be an easy matchup for the USMNT, it was never going to be that, especially missing key players like Pulisic and Steffen. On top of it, the “Friendly” nature means you’re going to make a few changes, and changes to the spine were made that likely wouldn’t have been in a real game.

Up next for the USMNT is Thursday’s CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final against Honduras. Stay tuned to live coverage of the Nations League from Last Word on Soccer.