When United States men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino arrived at his post-match press conference, he was asked when the USMNT needed to start to win games.

The Argentine, fresh off another defeat at the helm of the USA, replied, ‘We need to start to win when the World Cup starts.’

Hate that answer all you want, but that might be the perfect essence of Pochettino’s approach to the Gold Cup, these September friendlies, and beyond: the results don’t seem to matter for now – all that matters is exhausting every option before the World Cup, even if those options lead to nowhere.

Turns out, the answer to that is ‘not much’, at least in terms of finding results. Despite an attack that was dangerous at times, but ultimately fruitless, a haphazard backline gave up a pair of first-half goals in a 2-0 defeat to South Korea.

The United States has now lost its last five matches against nations in the top-30 of the FIFA World Rankings – having been outscored 11-1 in those contests.

Mauricio Pochettino claimed this was his final chance for fringe players to make an impression

The US came up wholly empty against South Korea,  falling 2-0 at home in New Jersey

At a time where Pochettino could benefit from building squad cohesion against teams likely headed to the World Cup, the choice to leave many first-team names at home was a head-scratcher before, during, and after this latest setback.

Following a summer fraught with turmoil and controversy in the starting XI, the US hoped to rally support by returning Christian Pulisic and other USMNT stars who had played in the Club World Cup.

The first serious chance of the evening came from Berhalter. A sloppy pass from Bayern Munich centerback Kim Min-Jae found the feet of the midfielder, whose shot required a glove from Hyeon-woo Jo.

The save drew resounding cheers from the crowd in Harrison, which could be confused for nearby-New York City’s Koreatown considering the flood of red jerseys at Sports Illustrated Stadium.

They rose to their feet again in the 18th minute when recent Los Angeles FC acquisition Heung-Min Son opened the scoring. 

A sublime through ball to the Tottenham icon caught debutant Blackmon on the back foot as the forward didn’t break stride and slotted home a shot into the side netting past New York City FC’s Matt Freese.

It took the Americans some time to get back into the prodding, promising, front-footed rhythm they showed in the first ten minutes. Link-up play from Pulisic, Josh Sargent, Diego Luna, and Tim Weah looked tantalizing, but ultimately was unsatisfactory.

Tip the cap to the Korean defense, who thoroughly and consistently snuffed out danger throughout the opening 45 minutes.

Tottenham icon Son Heung-Min drew first blood, embarrassing the American backline and Vancouver Whitecaps center back Tristan Blackmon (left)

Pochettino’s attacking group was a return to what was familiar for many USMNT fans: Pulisic’s dribbling, Weah’s skill and pace on the wing, Sergiño Dest pushing up the opposite flank. The addition of Luna, a star from the Gold Cup, shouldn’t come as a surprise as he likely has more than earned a roster spot for next summer. 

Instead, the issues came from the back. Rather than call in Fulham star Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson, Pochettino stuck with Columbus fullback Arfsten – who had a hit-and-miss Gold Cup. 

38-year-old Tim Ream, who laid many an egg over the summer, kept the armband and started alongside Blackmon of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

All three looked out-of-form. While Arfsten got beat for pace multiple times, it was Blackmon and Ream whose sloppy play led to the second goal of the night.

Two minutes before the half, Son played a ball in to Mainz’s Jae-Sung Lee. Ream stood completely still while Lee returned the ball to a rushing Son. With Blackmon ball-watching, the LAFC man flipped head-over-heels from an on-rushing Freese – but the ball fell to Dong-Gyeong Lee, who back-heeled the ball in.

The Americans played a much more consistent second-half and seemed poise to break through with some pressure after the 70th minute. A loose ball off a free kick in front of a gaping net nearly proved prosperous for substitute Chris Richards, but the Crystal Palace center back’s effort was denied.

Dangerous chances continued to be un-fruitful. A free kick in the 77th minute from 20 yards out was taken by Pulisic, but was skied well over the bar. The Milan man looked down, then pinched his brow in frustration.

Late in the match, Pulisic tried finding substitute striker Folarin Balogun, making his first appearance under Pochettino. The Monaco man was denied once, then twice by Jo to solidify the American nightmare.

In his return after a summer of controversy, Christian Pulisic wasn’t able to produce

Or, rather, it may not be as painful as thought. Pochettino said he was impressed, but wants his team ‘to go together, we need them together.’

The players believe that’s already happened. Tim Ream, answering a question asked by Daily Mail, said, ‘I don’t think – whoever’s in camp, or this guy’s not in, or this guy’s in – is going to change that culture and that standard. It’s kind of down to the players to drive that forward.’

But, from an outside perspective, that ‘togetherness’ seems lost as the USMNT left a high-profile friendly once again searching for answers.