The United States punched their ticket to the World Cup knockout rounds by defeating Australia 2-0, but not everyone is celebrating without reservation. Former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena says the performance exposed some real concerns, particularly the team’s lack of creativity without injured star Christian Pulisic.
Arena joined fellow former coaches Bob Bradley and Gregg Berhalter on Saturday’s episode of FanDuel’s Coaches Corner, where the trio weighed in on the victory. While all three acknowledged the team’s physical dominance and strong opening half, they each raised questions about what lies ahead.
“I think I’m probably going to be a little different than Bob and Gregg, but I don’t think the United States played a particularly strong game,” said Arena, who guided the U.S. to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals. “A good solid first half. Second half, not too good.”
Pulisic is currently sidelined with a calf injury, and Arena made clear that getting him back on the field is critical as the competition stiffens.
“That’s a big question mark for the U.S. team, how they can get Christian back on the field because they certainly miss him in the attack and the competition is going to get better,” Arena said.
Bradley, who coached the Americans to a group stage victory at the 2010 World Cup, acknowledged Pulisic’s absence changes the team’s dynamic but pointed to their overall athleticism as a strength.
“We miss his creativity and his dribbling,” Bradley said. “But we’re a really athletic team and for the second game in a row, our athleticism really pushed the opponent.”
Berhalter, who led the U.S. to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, said Australia simply couldn’t match the Americans physically.
“Australia are a physical team, a tough team, and they couldn’t deal with what we were giving them physically,” Berhalter said. “It wasn’t the best performance over 90 minutes, but it was certainly enough.”
Berhalter also singled out forward Folarin Balogun for high praise, calling him “sensational” and saying he “terrorises the defence.”
The win was also the team’s first shutout in 10 games — a notable achievement after giving up a goal against Paraguay. However, Bradley cautioned that Australia didn’t truly challenge the U.S. backline.
“The big questions haven’t been put on display yet,” Bradley said.
Up next for the United States is a group finale against Turkey, a team that has already been eliminated after dropping its first two matches. Arena warned not to take the matchup lightly, noting Turkey may actually be the group’s most technically skilled side and will be playing for pride.
Arena drew a comparison to the 2002 tournament, when an already-eliminated Poland beat the U.S. 3-1 in the final group stage game. “They wanted to prove they had pride in themselves as a team,” he said.
Bradley added that Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella would need to rally a disappointed squad heading into the match.
All three coaches also flagged a troubling drop in energy after halftime as something worth monitoring going forward.
“We seem to drop our energy level considerably in the second half,” Berhalter said. “Are we getting to a point where we’re fatigued?”
Arena said the true test of this U.S. squad is still ahead. “We are going to find out a lot more about our team in the round of 32 and then the round of 16,” he said.
