Imagine losing 3-2 to Turkey in a World Cup match because your manager decided to play science fair coordinator instead of coach. Mauricio Pochettino really pulled out the "dominant eye" theory to justify playing Tim Weah on his weaker left side. Unbelievable. Weah looked completely lost out there, fumbling basic touches, misplacing passes, and failing at dribbling like he was playing with 300 ping. It’s the classic case of a galaxy-brain manager overcomplicating a simple game, and the fans had to suffer through the fallout at the Los Angeles Stadium.

And let's talk about the defense, which was straight-up lag-switching for most of the night. Matt Turner got the surprise start in net and proceeded to concede three goals on exactly three shots. A literal zero-percent save rate. Turner did some "sweeper keeper" running around to look useful, but the stats don't lie. The Matt Freese truthers are absolutely eating today, as Turner's case to remain the starter is practically extinguished. The only silver lining is Turner joining the exclusive club of US keepers starting in multiple World Cups, but that's cold comfort right now.

On the right, Joe Scally was supposed to be the "stay-at-home" option compared to Sergiño Dest and Alex Freeman, but he must have forgotten his keys because he got caught out of position twice on Turkey’s second goal. Scally looked completely out of his depth, struggling to keep up with the pace of the game and putting in crosses that landed nowhere near danger. It was a rough watch for anyone expecting basic defensive competence on the wing.

In the middle, Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson were doing their best impression of a broken defensive line. McKenzie got bypassed on Turkey's first goal with comical ease and couldn't hit a long pass to save his life, though he did have a potential goal ruled out for offside off a corner. Robinson looked like his controller disconnected during the first fifteen minutes. According to the spreadsheet nerds at Futi, Robinson led the team in "phases lost" due to passing errors and pure indecision on the ball. You love to see it.

On the left side of the defense, Auston Trusty was miscast as a wing-back or full-back, but he actually put in the work before his body gave out. Trusty rose above the defense to head home the opening goal from a corner kick, giving the US some temporary hope. He stood out by helping with passing outlets and tracking back to limit Turkey's fun down their right flank. Unfortunately, his night ended with an apparent left ankle injury, which is a massive F in the chat for our depth.