The process of trial and error, by its very nature, is an exercise in accepting that the results will not always be perfect, to the point that U.S. men's national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has preached patience at the start of a generational shift. Unevenness is to be expected and three days after a lopsided win against Peru, the growing pains began to show. As the USMNT navigated a chaotic match against Chile on Tuesday, though, they managed to keep the vibes high in a 4-2 win that threw a new series of challenges at a youth-focused version of the squad.
Tuesday's win was a grind in a lot of ways, particularly a first half in which the USMNT's lack of familiarity with one another was just as easy to spot as the youth in half of the starting lineup. Just four starters had 40-plus international appearances, while six only earned their first caps this year. It was a different balance than the one Pochettino struck against Peru, one that had its drawbacks – the play was very obviously disjointed, an attack-minded national team taking just three shots in the opening 35 minutes. Chile's press, meanwhile, breezed through the U.S. midfield anchored by newcomers Adri Mehmeti and Brooklyn Raines, World Cup players Sebastian Berhalter and Gio Reyna playing ahead of them. From there, the USMNT defense was often frazzled – Neil Pierre and Miles Robinson lacked stability at center back, while Frankie Westfield was not as dominant on the right flank as he should have been. Goalkeeper Chris Brady, meanwhile, looked as shaky as anyone else.
For all of their faults, though, the USMNT had problem-solvers and true to form for this fall's friendlies, they came in different forms. Julian Hall was perhaps the lone fresh face in the starting lineup who truly showcased his potential in the first half, taking three of the U.S. team's five shots and doing what he could to create opportunities for a team that was struggling to string them together. His composure and confidence on the ball was a bright spot in an uneven first half for the team and when it came time for the game's opening goal in the 37th minute, his intelligence was also on display with a clever dummy in between Sergino Dest's assist and Sebastian Berhalter's strike.
Chile, though, had earned an equalizer courtesy of Diego Ulloa before the break and then a go-ahead goal in the 49th minute from Maximiliano Gutierrez. Hall, though, came in clutch again – Gio Reyna's impressive cross in the 51st minute landed perfectly for the 18-year-old, who scored his second goal in his second appearance for the national team. He only bolstered his argument as an option for the USMNT in the present as much as the future, even if it is still too early for any players – experienced or otherwise – to try to lock down roster spots or starting roles in important games later in the four-year cycle.
Hall was not the only one who played with a sense of urgency, adamant on showing his quality regardless of the low stakes in a friendly that is almost as far away from a World Cup as it gets. During an international break that has been headlined by players a generation younger than him, Berhalter is quickly becoming the story of the week. He now has a goal and an assist in back-to-back games, showing his skill on set pieces with Chris Richards' game-winning goal in the 72nd minute.
The Middlesbrough midfielder now has four goals and two assists in his last five games for club and country, charting a steady upward trajectory since he earned his first cap little over a year ago – and with the support of a coach who has found his sweet spot. There are several particulars in his varied skillset but his technique on the ball is a standout quality, all underscored by a mental toughness that defines his profile as a player. There was a reason he was the first player off the bench during the World Cup but in the months since, Berhalter seems dead set on becoming a mainstay on the pitch and perhaps the emotional foundation of a team in the midst of welcome change.
"The energy and the commitment and everything that he does is for the badge, for the national team, for the teammates," Pochettino said. "Of course in the end, it's for him but he's a very good role model for the players that arrive for the first time or for the players that are maybe watching from home. The way that we expect the players [to] behave, the commitment and then, of course, that is one part of him and what we expect but another is the quality that he [has] to deliver set pieces, everything, scoring goals from the second line. [He] can play from the left, can play from the right, can play like a [box-to-box] midfielder but also a holding midfielder. He can play like a No. 10, from different positions and always, he's always very happy to do anything for the national team … To have a player like him is priceless."
Checking in on the veterans
Pochettino has understandably tried to mix in experience alongside a talented group of young players, the overall combination against Chile an eclectic one both from the start and with his substitution patterns. Much like their younger colleagues, though, the returns were a bit all over the place.
Berhalter had a headline-making outing but alongside him in midfield, Reyna was just as solid. He had nearly 60 touches in 71 minutes, created five chances and notched an assist, all while winning four of his six duels and drawing three fouls. The numbers are not dissimilar to his outing against Peru on Saturday, a solid stretch for a player who has notable moments in a national team jersey though they have been interspersed through a career plagued by injuries and limited playing time at the club level. The post-World Cup period has been kind to Reyna as it has to Berhalter, the former so far earning consistent minutes at his new club Strasbourg.
Substitute Alex Freeman, meanwhile, filled in the gaps Westfield left behind and offered a stark reminder that the USMNT's World Cup core was not only made up of known quantities. Like Berhalter, Freeman was a newcomer to the fold a year ago but is as strong an option as any in defense, his own confidence in these settings growing in the last 12 months and change. The defender is still only 22, and like his younger colleagues, there is still plenty of exciting room for growth.
Robinson and Sergino Dest, though, offered reminders of their own limited skillsets during a rough first for the team as a whole. Dest had a bright spot with an assist to Berhalter's goal but was not much of a threat going forward despite Pochettino's astute preference to utilize the player as a winger because of his lax defensive tendencies. Pierre, meanwhile, may have benefitted from the presence of someone like Richards rather than Robinson in his first start for the national team. Richards, though, arrived to camp with a small injury that likely prevented him from starting on Tuesday.
