4-2 win. A spot in the finals of the CONCACAF Nations League— is there any other way to end the night on a better note USMNT fans?! Unlike the opening leg of the semifinals that ended in a narrow display, this time, the American boys showed all signs of dominance. Yet, in the eye of Mauricio Pochettino, there are still some things that he wants his side to ‘improve.’

One can call it quite a shocking admission from the Argentinian tactician, who managed to secure a third win in four games since taking over as the Stars and Stripes boss. Then again, it’s the sheer determination to improve his side for any challenge that they may face in their future clashes.

“For 45 minutes we played in a way we want to grow, and it was fantastic for the players,” said Pochettino in the post-match press conference. “In the way that they adapt to all the concepts and the way we try to play showed that we have players who can learn quickly,” admitted the 52-year-old boss before pointing out the lacking points of his side, especially in the second half.

“In the second half, we didn’t approach the game in the way we wanted. The goal was to win the second half, and we didn’t approach it with the same intensity and mentality. It shows we still have things we need to improve,” added Mauricio, as compiled by journalist Kyle Bonn @the_bonnfire on X.

In a sense, Pochettino might be right. While the US Men’s National Team had managed to end the first half on a high note, the latter half was more about Jamaica trying to inspire a comeback and the home side turning their defensive mode. Had it been the visitors’ lucky day, then who would have thought the score would have gone either way?

On the contrary though, even though the American boys had a rather vague display in the opening leg, Pochettino was full of praise for his side’s performance. “I want to congratulate my players because in a difficult situation, they competed really well,” he mentioned after the victory in Kingston on Thursday.

Perhaps, conceding two goals wasn’t something Pochettino was looking forward to after such an emphatic first 45 minutes display. While he had some constructive criticism for the team, Pulisic was all about praise for his teammate’s display.

Unlike Mauricio Pochettino, Christian Pulisic hails the USMNT’s ‘amazing’ display vs Jamaica!

The skipper didn’t come out hard on himself or on his teammates and rather congratulated everyone over the dominant victory. “It was an amazing performance. We came out really hard. It’s nice to get the early goal and then we built on that. I thought that the first half was really strong,” said the AC Milan forward during the post-match interview.

Pulisic turned out to be one of the protagonists of the match. The former Borussia Dortmund man had netted a brace inside 30 minutes, courtesy of both assists from Weston McKennie, with Ricardo Pepi making it 3-0 before halftime. Although Jamaica’s Demarai Gray broke the deadlock early in the second half, Timothy Weah extended the USMNT’s lead. Gray’s attempts to spark a comeback for Jamaica proved futile, as the match ended with Pochettino and Co. advancing to the finals with a 5-2 aggregate victory.

For now, things look more in favor of the USMNT. Regardless, it remains to be seen how they improve their lackings that Mauricio Pochettino is eager to fix.