Before we get into the bigger issues, this was a tremendous set of send off games for the United States. Two top teams in Senegal and Germany really let the U.S. test their formation and depth in different ways and provided not just World Cup level preparation, but knockout level preparation.
The Germany game Saturday would not have been out of place in the quarterfinals where these two met in 2002 in Korea/Japan all those years ago. And I think the USA has proven they have the ability to get back to that stage of the tournament.
Why? Because they have fullbacks who can do this.
RIP IT AND FLIP IT! A WORLDY FROM JEDI!#USMNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/3rXxlvHSLz
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 6, 2026
Yes the Jedi Master himself Antonee Robinson hit a highlight reel goal we'll be watching for decades but more than that the dynamic full/wing back with Sergino Dest just take the USA to another level that has been missing as the two missed time this cycle.
Without these two, the U.S. attack lacks a ton of creativity and off ball movement because the danger those two provide on the attacking half of the field is something opponents have to account for.
On the flip side, the USA will die with one or both of these two getting forward because the back three with Tyler Adams can and will be exposed from time to time especially when the USA turns the ball over in bad spots. Robinson was culprit against Senegal when he turned the ball over directly leading to a goal. Teams are going to try and exploit the space behind the US fullbacks, and great teams will in fact do so and score goals...but it's a lot easier to do so when the U.S. hands you a chance on a silver platter.
Overall, the USA got to play to very different opponents and played very well regardless of who was on the field. The bad moments stick out like a sore thumb not because they led to goals against, but also because they're very preventable and more about what the USA did or didn't do rather than their opponents unlocking them defensively.
Jake Catanese
MATT FREESE FROZEN
Two minutes into the match, the USMNT found themselves down 1-0 on a play that simply can not happen.
Kai Havertz gets Germany on the board after just two minutes ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/1qGyD2UUfa
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 6, 2026
Yes, the marking is bad but I would expect every goalkeeper starting for a World Cup knockout level team in the world to claim this ball. Matt Freese can not stay on his line here, he has to go get this ball and prevent Kai Havertz from getting a touch on it. Full credit to Joshua Kimmich, this is a tremendous ball in at a level that's difficult for Freese to claim outright, so I think he's got to punch that one clear as best he can.
But staying on your line is one of many mistakes on this play including not being goalside of a guy who scored in the UCL Final like a week ago.
For seemingly decades the U.S. has long had an tremendous edge internationally in the goalkeeping department. Matt Turner's lack of playing time in Europe this cycle definitely set him back but he's in the best shot stopping form out of everyone and right now I have far more confidence in his decision making in general.
We saw Chris Brady against Senegal come off his line and bungle one in the early minutes of his shift, while Freese did the opposite here by essentially doing nothing. When the USA turns the ball over or defense breaks down, there's only so much goalkeepers can do against world class finishers like Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane in a good shooting lane with the time to pick out a corner. Those are not the goals I'm asking Turner or Freese to prevent entirely because less to do with their ability and more to do with how the shot formed against them.
But there was one and only one truly impressive play made by a US goalkeeper in the past week.
Matt Turner in the 12th minute against Mane: the type of game saving play we've seen from him in the past, charging off his line to nick the ball of Mane's foot and at the time preserve a U.S. lead. In 180 minutes of warm up friendlies, I only saw one goalkeeper make a potential game saving play. Add in Matt Turner's ability to claim crosses and long throws out of the box and he should be the guy in net regardless of Freese's dominance as starter under Poch.
Even if Freese's shot stopping ability is on par as Turner's, a fair argument, the Revs keeper has by all metrics been elite this year in MLS while Freese has been bang average. Form aside, regardless of who starts in net, no one on the USMNT should be allowing the keepers to help play them out of trouble in the back and probably shouldn't expect miracles like we've seen from Tim Howard and other legends in the past.
Is that one play enough for Turner to start in a week against Paraguay? We'll find out.
Seth Macomber
THE USMNT NEEDS CHRIS RICHARDS
This should surprise no one that the USMNT perhaps looked vulnerable without their #1 centerback, but you do have to wonder just how many of these goals he could have possibly prevented?
Particularly against Germany he might've been goal side of Havertz or stepped into Sane's shooting lane and maybe the US win on Jedi's thunderbastard.
Yes, Miles Robinson had a rough one today and Tim Ream is indeed 38 years old. Both of them are going to have starts and roles at this World Cup and largely were fine today. Again, the mistakes stick on the goals but usually there's more than one issue when the USA concedes. But having Richards as the anchor could just solve so many problems.
Shoutout to Alex Freeman who looks great as a wide center back after being pretty good as a right back last year at the Gold Cup. Joe Scally nearly had an equalizer off the bench and I'm starting to think he absolutely has a role in this roster. Tyler Adams was quite literally everywhere today and if he has more games like this the US is going to be fine on the defensive end.
By the second-half hydration break, Tyler Adams has ELEVEN defensive contributions in this match, including NINE (!!!!!) tackles.
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) June 6, 2026
Has won 10 of his 14 ground duels. Outlandish performance. Such a fantastic player and leader for the #USMNT.
But just like the USMNT needs their two wingbacks to make everything click going forward, I think they need Chris Richards at the back to solidify everything in the defensive half. The margins for the USA defensively are so fine that any tiny little mistake, let alone the few big ones we've seen, are going to end up in the back of their own net.
Richards' injury status is going to be one of the major talking points along with a handful of other injuries (Germany's Lennart Karl and Paraguay's Julio Enciso in particular) going into the first matches a week from now.
Jake Catanese
THE USMNT DEPTH IS GOOD
I just watched 180 minutes of USMNT soccer in which Pochettino was making wholesale lineup changes in both and I didn't notice a drop off in play at all. We can debate things like maybe the USA needs another true #6 like Yunus Musah or Aidan Morris or Tanner Tessman on the roster, and I did a week ago, but after seeing this squad in action, I think Poch knows what he's doing.
The USMNT press against Germany for the first forty five minutes was superb, Christian Pulisic was very active, and the strikers were getting involved in different ways. Weston McKennie dropped deeper in a swap with Malik Tillman in the first half that allowed both players to roam and get into positions they're both better in and I do think McKennie is going to be the deeper #8 along side Adams for the most part in this tournament.
Ricardo Pepi was all over the field against Senegal before giving way to Folarin Balogun who played a more lead the line type of role and we saw more of that against Germany. While the USA needs to get more shots on target, credit to Germany for blocking a lot of them, and doing more with their set piece chances (Richards could help there a lot too). I don't know if I've been more positive about the USMNT attack this cycle than I am right now.
Is it perfect? Absolutely not, but it's dynamic and dangerous in ways that are more than the sum of it's parts, and some of those individual parts (Pulisic, the wingbacks) are really dangerous. Being able to go from Tillman to Reyna to Weah to McKennie to Berhalter without any drop off in effectiveness in the supporting winger/midfield group is a big deal for team that has struggled to do much of anything for months at a time and especially to get its strikers more involved in games. We have begged for the USMNT to do anything productive in the final third consistently and I think we are at that point.
Is the USA about to storm into the semifinals at home? Probably not, but it's more of a possibility than it was a year or so ago, or even the spring. There are very much some known flaws with the USA in both personnel and tactics, but they are fully capable of playing with anyone on any day.
After the spring friendlies against Belgium and Portugal I very much doubted whether or not the US should win Group D. I think I am back to the point where not winning the group would be disappointing rather than expected.
The USA begins their World Cup campaign on Friday June 12th against Paraguay from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
