SEATTLE — United States manager Mauricio Pochettino praised his side’s tactical flexibility in defeating Australia 2-0 at Lumen Field on Friday, saying they were “fantastic” in clinching a spot in the knockout rounds of the World Cup.
Pochettino was forced to sit star attacker Christian Pulisic due to a calf injury, but instead of bringing in a more like-for-like player such as Giovanni Reyna or Alejandro Zendejas, he opted to play with two strikers, inserting Ricardo Pepi into the lineup alongside Folarin Balogun.
While Pepi didn’t get on the scoresheet, the way he and Balogun pressed Australia’s center-backs was key to a dominant first half in which the U.S. owned the ball and scored twice, once on an own goal by Cameron Burgess and a second by Alex Freeman.
In particular, Pochettino said that the pressing of his two forwards prevented the Australia defenders from playing accurate long passes to the Socceroo forwards.
“What I saw [was] a team that really believe in what it is doing with different plans and with different approach,” Pochettino said.
He added: “I think that capacity to adapt to the different demands of the game, and also our demand, like a coaching staff planning, different approach on the games. I think only I can say good and fantastic things about my players.
“They were fantastic.”
For Pepi, it was a long wait to get to a World Cup, as he was one of the last players to be cut from the 2022 team that went to Qatar. Pepi has also dealt with injuries this year, including a broken arm that threatened to sidetrack his World Cup quest.
But Pochettino said he’s seen significant improvement from the player in recent months.
