Not even 30 minutes had passed in the USMNT vs. Panama game before we had our first critique of Mauricio Pochettino! A match that was anticipated to be filled with an energetic display and goals & galore has rather turned out to be a vague one within the first half, with the score still nil-nil. At least Alexi Lalas was brave enough to point, so, who believes this is ‘Nothing we haven’t seen before.’

The USMNT icon wasn’t impressed with the American boys’ first 45 minutes of display at the Austin, Texas-based Q2 Stadium. Lalas took to his official X, formerly known as Twitter, and wrote his “first half observations under Pochettino.” Interestingly, the former American forward noted several key areas that the Stars and Stripes are still lacking even after the arrival of a new boss.

For Lalas, everything looks the same just as it was before under previous managers. On top of that, the 54-year-old pundit also had some strong views on the lineup and selection of players. Before individually panning out the weaknesses of several players, Lalas also believes that the team is not good when it comes to taking corners or freekicks.

Yunus Musah, who started the game, is interestingly playing the role of winger, even though the youngster is a midfielder. Likewise, Lalas’ favorite striker, Josh Sargent, isn’t getting the best deliveries and passes from his teammates to showcase his goal-scoring prowess, even though the Norwich star missed a crucial chance.

Furthermore, Brenden Aaronson and Gianluca Busio, who finally got their chance after such a long time aren’t doing much than they were touted to. This only constitutes for Lalas to say that nothing has changed for the USMNT, even though they brought Pochettino to exactly do the opposite. 

But then again, even if these are just observations, is it fair to say they came out very early? Perhaps a deeper look can clarify things better.

A slow but steady USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino!

Interestingly, a rather strong yet unexpected lineup was chosen by Pochettino for today’s clash. While Matt Turner retained his place on goal, Joe Scally, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson took the back-line. For the center half of the pitch, that’s where things get interesting. Mauricio Pochettino decided to play Yunus Musah, Gianluca Busio, and Aidan Morris.

As for the attack, Alexi Lalas’ pre-match predicted lineup came true in this one as Poch did play Brenden Aaronson as a winger alongside Christian Pulisic with Josh Sargent taking the center place. Now, of course, with such uniqueness in the lineup, it’s obvious that things will take time to unfold for the Golden Generation. Players are still in the process of understanding each other and they won’t click within seconds.

With everything still square, perhaps things may change within the second half. That’s the best that ardent fans can hope for. In the meantime, share your thoughts on the first-half display of USMNT vs Panama in the comments.