Mauricio Pochettino dissects Kai Havertz’s goal, the response the USMNT showed in 2-1 loss to Germany

Germany kept its positive momentum going with their 2-1 tune-up win over the United States at Soldier Field in Chicago. The win came just under a week after their 4-0 win over Finland in Mainz and sees that Julian Nagelsmann’s men have now won nine matches on the bounce between World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies. They’ve not lost or drawn since their shock, 2-0 defeat to Slovakia in Bratislava back in September in World Cup qualifying.

Kai Havertz putting Die Mannschaft 1-0 up in the 2nd minute of the match from a Joshua Kimmich free kick set the tone for a half that was largely dominated by Germany, but the USMNT started to have its moments and positive momentum as the half went on. Antonee Robinson’s 37th minute pearler of a volley provided the springboard for the USMNT to have a spirited second half but Leroy Sané put Germany 2-1 ahead midway through the second half as the second 45 minutes also had ebbs and flows of either side being slightly more in the driver’s seat.

Both Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino made a plethora of changes in the second half, getting to have a look at some of their fringe players on the roster and players that will undoubtedly make substitute appearances at the World Cup, but no one was able to find the back of the net after Sané. Oliver Baumann did have to make at least two big saves to deny both Joe Scally and Brenden Aaronson late on.

After the match, Pochettino dissected just what, exactly, what went wrong for the USMNT for Havertz’s early goal that seemed far too routine of a sequence for the Germans on the heels of a needless free kick concession from Tyler Adams. “I think on the goal — the goalkeeper in that situation, from what I saw, I haven’t broken it down yet. I’d have to ask my goalkeeping coach. I think it was a difficult ball to come and claim. I don’t think that was the issue. And you also have to credit the quality of the opposition. (Joshua) Kimmich, delivering that cross, has an outstanding touch on the ball, and the man who got on the end of it (Kai Havertz) is a physically dominant presence in the box. It will serve us well as a learning experience. I think there was a blocking run involved, and it could have been offside had we managed our defensive line better. I believe Weston was playing the attacker onside from behind. These are things we’ve been working on over these past two weeks, but we need to keep at it and continue to improve,” the Argentine explained to journalist Roberto Abramowitz in the post-match press conference.

More importantly, Pochettino also highlighted the way in which his side replied after going down so early on, which can easily lead to dejection, frustration, and faltering from the gameplan. They fought back and got an equalizer through Robinson’s volley before halftime after they genuinely started to play significantly better as the first half progressed. “We are a team — we’ve come together as a group — but we’re a team with very little preparation time. As with any team, if you look at the goal we scored, the opposite is always true as well. Any team can be caught out in those situations. These are things we have to keep working on. The response was very good. Very pleased with the response. I think we managed the game well after tying it. We faced a side that presses, that imposes itself, that controls its opponents. We’ve seen the stats from the match — I believe possession was 50-50. 52 for us, 48 for them. Shots on target, roughly the same as well,” he explained.

On the balance, Pochettino said he felt the USMNT might’ve deserved a draw, but that’s just not the cards they were dealt and can take all the positives from the match into their World Cup opener vs. Paraguay in Los Angeles. “I think a tie would probably have been the fairest result, but in soccer you have to be clinical in front of goal,” he stressed, perhaps alluding to some of the missed chances the USMNT had.

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…

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