If the United States are to go well on home soil, then the likes of Pulisic and Balogun will need to lead by example. They have made the best possible start to that quest, but who is starring in support roles?
When presented with that question, ex-USMNT keeper Keller – speaking in association with William Hill – Final One Standing – told GOAL: “I think the trio in midfield did an unbelievable job.
“It’s not like we’re talking about unsung guys, with Weston McKennie at Juventus, and Tyler (Adams) at Bournemouth, and (Malik) Tillman at Leverkusen, so it’s not like they’re these unknown guys, but they never really played together.
“That was one of the weird things about Pochettino, he never played the same team twice, he never knew who was going play, or how they were going play, and so we were still, leading up to this match going, ‘okay, how is this going to gel, how quickly is this going to gel?
“And I think the three in midfield really found a tremendous balance between decent cover, but then also being so progressive in the attack, and pinning Paraguay in their own half with the energy to press, and then when the ball was turned over, how quickly to recover possession – they won almost every second ball. I think that trio in midfield did a really, really good job in just harassing Paraguay into submission.”
