Two major takeaways from the USMNT's loss to Germany before the World Cup | OneFootball

The USMNT lost 2-1 against Germany, and now the team managed by Mauricio Pochettino is fully focused on their World Cup debut against Paraguay.

Even though the US soccer team was defeated, fans should be proud of the beautiful performance their team delivered against a tough and well-organized opponent.

After this encounter, many USMNT players have locked their names in the starting lineup for the World Cup. Still, this clash gave fans two crucial takeaways about Mauricio Pochettino and the national squad.

Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson are a must

Germany is considered a strong, tactical team with individual sparks from some players, but normally more of a collective squad. Instead, the USMNT mixed both styles. With their front three, Pochettino got speed, agility, and determined players to carry the ball to the other team’s goal.

On the other hand, you have a midfield and a defense that holds control and passes safety to the sides. But then you have Dest and Robinson who perform both sides and carry the team on the field.

More than once, you have seen the left-back or the right mid carry the ball with speed and agility through the Germans to look for Balogun or Pulisic to score a goal.

Dest became a key weapon for Pochettino, repeatedly finding himself in space and in one-on-one situations against Germany.

Meanwhile, Robinson not only defended with determination but also pushed forward to support the attack, frequently delivering crosses into the opposition's penalty area.

Pochettino may have released the USMNT starting lineup

The formation the Argentine manager used against Germany was: Freese; Freeman, Robinson, Ream, Antonee Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Dest, Tilman, Pulisic; Balogun.

Looking at these names, one could assume that 90% of the World Cup starting lineup played on Saturday.

Considering that Chris Richards is still unavailable, Mauricio Pochettino might prefer to utilize this lineup for the World Cup debut and the group stage.

Although this isn’t the best possible USMNT team, it is what the former Tottenham Hotspur manager has right now, and the results in the matches were solid.

As of today, Sergiño Dest will not play at right back and will be considered a right mid, as it has been proven against Germany and Senegal.

However, the other real change to this lineup would be the addition of Richards when he is back at full health. Also, the only thing Mauricio Pochettino has to figure out is which formation suits best.

Against Senegal, he used the 3-4-3, but against Germany, he used the 4-2-3-1.

I saw a better, more solid performance with the 4-2-3-1. With that formation, the USMNT had more ball control and fewer vulnerable spaces.