'Be hard to play against' - DaMarcus Beasley criticizes USMNT for early lapses, says he 'didn't learn too much' in national team's disappointing 2-0 loss to South Korea

Josh Sargent USMNT

The former U.S. right back found few positives in the USMNT's performance as Mauricio Pochettino's side were blanked

DaMarcus Beasley USA

WHAT HAPPENED?

TNT analyst and former national team player DaMarcus Beasley claimed he "didn't learn too much" in the USMNT's languid 2-0 loss to South Korea on Saturday night. The U.S. legend criticized Mauricio Pochettino's side's performance, and called on the team to be "harder to play against."

WHAT DAMARCUS BEASLEY SAID

The USMNT legend criticized the U.S. after another poor showing.

"I know there's a lot of talk about Pochettino not knowing who his, say 12-15 players, who are going to go to the World Cup next season are," he said. "But I didn't learn too much from this game."

He also called on the side to be trickier to play against.

"When are we going to be a team that's hard to play against?" he said on TNT. "That's the minimum: be a team that's hard to play against - attacking, defending, transition, those small little details that win football matches. And then after, you get into the game, you start understanding where the spaces are...

"But in the beginning of the game, the first 5-10 miniutes, be hard to play against. Don't give anything anyway. No free kicks, no easy passes, no lanes to play through. Do that part right."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Beasley's comments came after another disappointing USMNT showing. They were thoroughly outplayed by South Korea, who scored twice in the first half before turning in a solid defensive performance to coast to a comfortable 2-0 victory. LAFC's Son Heung-Min scored and assisted in a stadium packed full of Korea fans.

Maurico Pochettino USMNT

WHAT NEXT FOR THE USMNT?

The USMNT have a quick turnaround before their next fixture. They are set to face Japan on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio, where they will look to turn their fortunes around against another tricky opponent.