Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT display progress in Gold Cup run, but Mexico loss shows they have a long way to go

On the way to the Concacaf Gold Cup final on Sunday, the atmosphere around the national team of the American men was just as optimistic as in at least a year, if no longer. From head coach Mauricio Pochettino and his selection consisting mainly of new faces, it is clear that they all benefited from five weeks’ and eight games in work, a few players even earn their moment in the sun on the way. While the USMNT was crumbling into a 2-1 defeat in Sunday’s final against regional rivals Mexico, that feeling of optimism was perhaps a warning signal.

The inexperienced party of Pochettino had well-defined striking players in Houston’s NRG stadium on Sunday, with Malik Tillman and Diego Luna who got the most out of their chances in the course of the past month and Chris Richards who come up for club and country in a strong year. Sebastian Berhalter and Matt Freese Kaden even their way in the conversation for next year’s World Cup selection, the main objective on an individual basis for everyone who made the Cut for the Gold Cup. They also started bright -Berhalter’s sharp set delivery enabled Richards to score the opening goal after just four minutes, a repeat of the goal that the USMNT resulted in a victory against Saudi -Arabia in the group phase.

The loss of Sunday against Mexico, however, offered a grim memory that the steps that the USMNT took in the past month were only a first step in what they hope that a quick -up route is on time for the World Cup. The most impressive trips from the team came across teams against which they were the clear favorites, an important sport on the ladder for a team that lost a wide range of opponents in the past year. The next level should require that they take off the stops against Mexico, with a last chance to win a trophy for the World Cup; Despite the early lead, that implementation never came.

The USMNT was in second place in just about every category during the Gold Cup final, Mexico took the check early, despite the fact that he was admitted for only four minutes in the game. The US had no response to Mexico’s attack -oriented approach, El Tri led for 16 to six in Schoten and 1.26 and 0.64 in the expected goals. The side of Pochettino looked at the ultra-conservative, unusual for a coach who made a name for the name in Europe for leading entertaining teams that gave priority, and almost non-r being in a way that indicated that the sum of the parts of an inexperienced schedule was never well equipped to pass a test and this. The worst thing, however, is that these patterns were not unique for Sunday before the USMNT.

A shaky defense had endangered the power of the USMNT to even get it that far, so that they were almost cost against surprising semi-finalists Guatemala in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory, while an inability to claim completely in midfield was part of the mixed bag that show their group phase versions. The bad news is that the main pillars of the team on Sunday were just as responsible for the outcome as the newcomers – Center Backs Richards and Tim Ream are still the favorites to start from now on, while Tyler Adams left a bit in terms of his passing skills against Mexico. In the meantime, Tillman and Luna were not the differencemakers they had ever been during the Gold Cup-Run.

However, Sunday’s result does not cancel the most positive developments that were part of this summer’s trip. The Pochettino experiment to explore the wider player’s pool that worked -Tillman and Luna have made their business to break into the starting line -up, while Berhalter’s set pieces and Freese’s penalty heroes means that the two are at least in the mix for next year’s World Cup roster. The fact that a group of Fringe players could not win the Gold Cup is not really a surprise, to the point that the negativity surrounding the USMNT before the tournament meant that a run to the final was not a guarantee. Winning a trophy was the primary goal of the Gold Cup, but the ability of Pochettino to better understand his options was a good second and in that respect a number of important missions achieved this summer.

For the first time since the USMNT’s Tour of 16 Exit on the World Cup 2022, we have learned something new about this team and set up their capacities for a fascinating final year of competition for schedules. Seeing the handful of Gold Cup -striking mix In addition to the supporting pillars such as Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie later this year, there will be a true test of the US capacities at the World Cup than this summer’s tournament would ever be. The friendly matches of September against South Korea and Japan offer a strong start of what will hopefully be a competitive schedule in the run-up to the World Cup, giving the capacities of the USMNT a real look.

The USMNT managed to complete a kind of redemption arch at the Gold Cup, complicated if possible. Pessimism is no longer the prevailing sentiment, but the responsibility is still on Pochettino and the company to get the balance well. The Argentinian has not always had answers to in-game problems, not always able to introduce a pace-changing replacement when the game screams for one. However, there is a very reasonable argument to make that the expansion of players’ pole was mandatory for Pochettino to even deliver those answers. The fact that the USMNT leaves the Gold Cup with various striking stands out, may not have answered the question whether they can realize the hype next year, but it probably gives this group a better chance of actually realizing their potential – even if the patting of expectations can still be needed.