I am not going to get overly worked up about last night's loss.

To an extent, Mauricio Pochettino is right - the USMNT won their group and had the luxury to play a heavily rotated side. There were a lot of reasons for this, avoiding yellow card accumulation suspensions for the Round of 32, rest and minute limiations for Christian Pulisic returning from injury, etc.

Would I have done the same thing as Pochettino in this situation? I think so...yes I would have done a few things differently but the general assignment of resting the bulk of my starters would have happened.

Poch was also a little prickly in the postgame and I get both sides of this. The media are of course going to ask about the game that just occurred, not specifically about the two previous games. There are diplomatic answers here and positive performances to talk about though the team as a whole did struggle.

And one big issue with the lineup to tackle...

THE USMNT ABANDONING THE FIVE-MAN BACKLINE

USMNT Limps Out of Group Stage
Matt Turner got a start!
The Blazing MusketSam Lattof

For the record, Auston Trusty was fine and scored his first international goal in this one, deputizing as a left back. But the whole point of bringing 10 defenders in the squad was to keep the stability and success of the 3-4-2-1/5-3-2 formations that the USMNT have used recently.

Poch got it right, knowing Australia were going to play a low block and beat it with two strikers. Now against a Turkish side who want to play a more open game with space and you oblige by taking a defender off. I know the game was meaningless to the standings but it's not meaningless to the style and tactics you want your team to play.

So, not playing Max Arfsten yesterday to play a four-man backline without a true left back is the type of momentum-killing decision that could affect the team going forward. Asking your defense, which is already known to give up a lot of space in behind, to suddenly switch formations and work with one less person could be a far more drastic decision than it needed to be.

The answer to the question above is no, Chris Richards at center back, no Tyler Adams in the midfield, and the USA is playing its garbage tier 4-2-3-1.

Poch could have deployed an Arfsten-Trusty-McKenzie-Robinson-Scally defensive backline that kept the general shape and tactics of what the team has already been playing and that is type of continuity, familiarity and confidence Pochettino should be trying to build up by rotating everyone.

Yes, we know not having another true holding midfielder on this roster was an issue and that was exacerbated by Cristian Roldan's injury and I and probably everyone else highlighted when the squad was picked. The entire point of bring ten defenders was for this exact scenario...and you didn't use it for reasons.

Yes, it would have been nice for the USMNT to see out the draw. Yes, the final sequence got a little squirrelly, and there was some good to great defense from Pulisic prior to him getting megged in the corner. Yes, the USA clearing the ball to touch in their own half was bad. But like the self-inflicted wounds on the other plays that led to goals, these are things that should be easily fixed and that the starters don't do...as often.

Also, Tim Weah had a miserable day on the left wing, and I do not know any reason why he shouldn't have been switched to the other side of the field. Brenden Aaronson can do a job just about anywhere, and Reyna was supposed to be playing as a #10, but the 4-2-3-1 setup looked disjointed and average in the buildup, just like it has all cycle.

Did the team look better with Pulisic later, yes but that's because Weah was a black hole on the night more than anything else. It's good that Pulisic got some minutes to keep his sharpness, but when you don't put your players in a position from which they can succeed, you are going to have to answer questions about it as the head coach. Even in a meaningless game.

THE REAL ISSUE WITH THE USMNT GOALKEEPERS

It is not their ability to stop shots. It is the defenders in front of them and their tremendous inability to not allow very, very bad things to happen, usually several times a game.

If I were to list the number of issues in this picture, I would be here all day, so we're not going to go there. Obviously, this is not 2021-22 prime Matt Turner because the Revs netminder spent the majority of this cycle riding pine over in Europe but it doesn't matter if prime 2014 Tim Howard was in goal, he's not saving mistakes this bad.

The xG of the goals Matt Turner allowed yesterday (according to ESPN): 0.61, 0.89, 0.60 - which means more often than not, all three of those are going in.

Goalkeepers keep low percentage chances from becoming goals largely because the team in front of them is limiting the opponent to long-range and half-chance type shots. Goalkeepers do not prevent big chances from occurring; they can save some of them, but the root of the problem is the group in front of them allowing a high leverage attacking situation become a major scoring chance.

Recent backline combinations Turner has played in front of by the way:

Trusty-McKenzie-M. Robinson-Scally (WC L vs Turkey)

A.Robinson-Ream-McKenzie-Freeman-Dest (Friendly W vs Senegal - 1st Half)

A. Robinson-Ream-McKenzie-Weah (Friendly L vs Belgium)

I'm gonna let you in on the secret, the match the USA won, they played five defenders and four of them are the World Cup starters. Matt Freese, starting the 2025 Gold Cup, played behind Arfsten-Ream-Richards-Freeman the majority of the time, three of the starters currently in front of him with the USA's two all-world wingbacks. If you don't think that familiarity and continuity are a major part of the entire defensive structure, then you clearly have not watched the USMNT this cycle because they've been a revolving door defensively in both tactics and personnel, and it shows.

Goalkeepers can only clean up so many messes. Yes, I was mad at Freese for not coming off his line to punch Joshua Kimmich's free kick against Germany, because that was the best way to attempt to clean up that mess. Matt Freese can not solve the real problem of why there is a free header point blank in front of his goal on a set piece, just like how Matt Turner can not solve why Arda Guler has a 1-vs-0 twenty yards out from his goal.

Sure, prime Turner four years ago probably gets down fast enough to deny Can Uzun's low cross in stoppage time and maybe can get a piece of Guler's shot (which went between his sprawled out arm/leg and I thought Guler should have done a lot better from that spot)...but remember the real problem is why is the USMNT defense late to react to the movement on the first goal and why is Uzun completely unmarked at the back post more than anything Turner or Freese can do.

And all 5000 things wrong in that photo above. Freese or Turner aren't stopping the goal that is absolutely coming from defensive play that horrid.

SEB BERHALTER COULD HIT A 1-IRON WELL

Just take a moment to appreciate the ball striking because this is quite literally perfect:

Sure, Berhalter was asked to play more as a No. 6 type, which isn't really his thing but he did pretty solid at it for the most part. He's on this roster because he can do something no one else on this roster can - hit a dead ball.

Pulisic has been rightly crucified for his corner-taking prowess, or rather lack thereof, over the years, and thankfully, we don't need him to take all the set pieces anymore because the USMNT has basically a three-point sharpshooter specialist on the bench.

Now, whether or not Poch gets him onto the field by taking off Tyler Adams or Weston McKennie in the central midfield or deploys Berhalter further up the field or drops a centerback to get him on late, he can change the game from a late corner or free kick. It is a rarity to have someone like that available on your bench, especially with the USMNT mostly filled with interchangeable parts in the squad.

But aside from McKennie, who is a regular starter and Trusty, who balled out yesterday, the options in the back half of the formation are fewer than they are going forward, so we should expect to see the younger Berhalter as often as possible the rest of the tournament.

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