USMNT enters post-Copa matches in a haze of uncertainty

It's been a summer of change for the United States men's national team. An early exit at the 2024 Copa America began a massive coaching shake-up; injuries and suspensions among the team's best players saw unheralded players fight for their spots in the starting lineup.

Any sense that the USMNT was coasting into its home World Cup in 2026 was thrown out the window when two-time coach Gregg Berhalter finally got the axe in July.

Change is good; fans of the team called for it for years and celebrated its arrival this summer. But even the most flexible, progressive and radical USMNT supporters are starting to ask questions about just how long this period of instability will last.

It's been two months since Berhalter's firing and no new coach has been hired to replace him. Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentinian manager known for his stints with Spurs, PSG and Chelsea, has been floated as an option, but he has yet to sign a deal with the USMNT and his future with the team remains in the realm of conjecture.

As the USMNT regroups for its first post-Copa match against Canada this Saturday, Pochettino won't be in charge. Interim coach Mikey Varas will — and that's a worrying sign for fans hungry for a new era to begin.

"We know as much as everybody else," USMNT defender Tim Ream said about Pochettino in a news conference this week. "So we are updated, but we have not been told anything is final up to this point."

This USMNT camp, featuring friendly matches against Canada and New Zealand, could have been the grand debut of the team's new vision. But instead, as contract negotiations between U.S. Soccer and Pochettino drag on, it will be yet another set of "transition" games for the already-unsteady USMNT.

Striker Tim Weah, midfielders Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie and defender Sergino Dest are absent due to suspensions and injuries; their positions will be filled by the likes of Brenden Aaronson, Johnny Cardoso, Aidan Morris and Joe Scally. All of them are under the age of 24.

"We always carry a pretty young squad," Varas said in defense of his team decisions. "Age is just a number — it's about what you do with your club, what you've done with the national team in the past, and, most importantly, what you do in this exact moment."

He's right. But with a match against Canada looming, he may not be accurately reading the room. Canada is a team that the USMNT has beaten heavily in the past, but it's reached new highs under coach Jesse Marsch and should be a formidable foe.

If the USMNT fails to beat Canada — even though the USMNT is in transition and the Canadians are stronger than they've ever been — the feeling among U.S. fans will drop from concerned to livid. Throwing young players into that particular fire may do them more harm than good.

As the USMNT wraps up its second straight month of "transitional" time, there are more questions than answers about what's coming next for the team. It will face Canada on Saturday, Sept. 7, and New Zealand on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

Then, it's just one more month until it squares up for two vitally important matches: one against Panama, the team that knocked it out of the Copa America, and one against Mexico, its biggest rival. If the USMNT still hasn't worked out its on-field — and off-field — decisions by then, it could find itself in real trouble.