It feels churlish to blame the USMNT’s defensive woes on Blackmon, who was just trying to make the best of the opportunity presented to him here. This was Pochettino’s error, one driven by his need to see everyone before settling on his final defensive lineup for the World Cup. But it’s important to ask the obvious question here: was Blackmon ever, realistically, going to challenge Richards for a place in Pochettino’s starting 11? Probably not — and that makes you wonder just what he was looking for here.
Sargent and Balogun are back, but the search for a reliable number nine continues
Pochettino received plenty of ire for leaving striker Josh Sargent off his summer Gold Cup roster for “footballing reasons.” Two months later, Sargent is back, fresh off a blistering start to his club season with Norwich City … but unfortunately, his performance against Korea underlined exactly why Pochettino doesn’t trust him yet. Sargent was absent for large chunks of the first half, and crucially, that wasn’t all his own doing: after a few wasted opportunities in the Korea box, his own midfielders lost interest in finding him.
Balogun, the hyped, long-absent striker from AS Monaco, did a little better when he replaced Sargent in the second half, but he couldn’t break through Korea’s defense, either. Like coach Gregg Berhalter before him, Pochettino simply can’t find the goalscoring central striker he needs to make his lineup make sense.
Like him or not, Max Arfsten played a blinder
Few USMNT players are more polemic than Max Arfsten, the high-flying fullback from the Columbus Crew. He’s a defender who specializes in attacking, after all, and he’s a difficult, slippery character to pin down. If you want solid tackles and interceptions from your left back, then Arfsten is only going to disappoint you. If you want creative, line-breaking playmaking, though, Arfsten’s your man — and he was the USMNT’s man against Korea.
Despite trying, time and time again, to build through the middle of the park, the USMNT’s best attacking moves came through Arfsten’s patient left-sided build-up. His one-twos with winger Tim Weah were the USMNT’s best moves of the night. Will he be dropped in favor of Antonee Robinson once the latter is fit? Almost certainly. But has he made a name for himself in Robinson’s absence? Absolutely.
Big moments from big players define games like these
There’s an adage out there that says there’s a huge gap between the No. 1 soccer team in the world and the No. 20 soccer team in the world, but a pretty small one between 20 and 50. If you’re a nation toiling in that space, as the United States and Korea absolutely are no matter what the FIFA rankings tell you, then there isn’t likely to be much separating you on the field.
In matches like these, you need your big players — talismans — to step up and provide the difference. Korea’s talisman, LAFC’s Son Heung-min, did precisely that when he opened the scoring in the 18th minute.
The USMNT’s talisman Christian Pulisic, though? He had a quiet night, pinging balls around with Diego Luna and firing shots just off target. He wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but he wasn’t a difference maker … and that made all the difference on a night like this.
The USMNT will aim to bounce back against Japan on Tuesday, Sept. 9 in Columbus, Ohio.
