Gregg Berhalter torched for Christian Pulisic World Cup take after Mauricio Pochettino achieves what he couldn’t as coach

The United States Men’s National Team have won a World Cup knockout game for the first time in over two decades.

But former manager Gregg Berhalter was unimpressed with Mauricio Pochettino‘s tactical set up during the 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and believes superstar Christian Pulisic needs to be utilized more.

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‘Captain America’ was seen by many as the USMNT’s top threat and game-breaker ahead of the 2026 tournament on home soil, but hasn’t yet caught the eye as so many had hoped.

He was good, but not great, against Bosnia in the Round of 32, having recently returned from an injury suffered in the opening group game.

Pulisic’s performance was rated a 6/10 by talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs on Wednesday evening, and according to ex-boss Berhalter, could be suffering from Pochettino’s tactics.

Former USMNT manager torched for ‘tone deaf’ World Cup take

Speaking on FanDuel’s Coaches Corner, which features Berhalter alongside fellow former coaches Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, he was critical of the way the US was getting Pulisic involved.

“I want to touch quickly on Christian, because I don’t know if you guys remember the first time he touched the ball in the game?” he asked.

“It really came from us building in our shape, it was like a 3-1-6 (formation) almost. (Bosnia) are playing, as Bob, mentioned a 5-3-2.

“So they shifted over once to our three, but then on the next pass to our open center back, they’re released with a midfielder.

“When they did that, Antonee Robinson was high, Malik (Tillman) was high, Christian was wide and we played in the ball.

“Malik runs behind the back line and Christian cuts across the middle of the field like a knife — just accelerating across the field.

“That was a really dangerous attack.”

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Berhalter went on to suggest he wants to see more of that play from Pulisic, and that there wasn’t enough intention to ‘set him loose’ against Bosnia.

He continued: “I would have liked to see that more. Stay wide, get the ball, take the opponent on and have been have players running from there.

“I don’t think we did that enough. I don’t think there was enough intention to get Christian the ball in those positions to really set him loose.”

A clip of Berhalter’s analysis was shared on social media Thursday morning, and has been viewed 3.5 million times in the hours since.

It’s fair to say USMNT fans weren’t too impressed with his breakdown, trusting that Pochettino’s tactics are superior to those of the fired coach.

“Yes, let’s ask the guy who was fired for being bad at his job what we should’ve done,” one responded on X.

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“Gregg doing punditry about this team is so weird and really tone deaf. Any sort of critiquing is completely absurd from him,” another said.

“Remind me how many World Cup wins as the USMNT HC this guy accomplished?” a third asked.

“Gregg, respectfully, you had 6 years with this group and failed. Poch is doing something with this group you could never do,” a fourth wrote, referencing the fact that Pochettino has won a World Cup knockout game as coach, and Berhalter didn’t.

“He still wants hero ball from Pulisic, wanting him to be the focal point. Bro forgets that 11 players are on the field,” a fifth concluded.

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Christian Pulisic set for big role in Last 16 clash vs Belgium

While Folarin Balogun has been the man to star for the US so far with three goals to his name, including the opener against Bosnia, he’ll be suspended for the Round of 16.

The striker was sent off after a controversial VAR call on Wednesday, and his absence leaves a major hole to fill against Belgium.

Pulisic must now step up, and is set for the number nine role, as the focal point of the USMNT attack.

Berhalter will no doubt be watching closely to see how he performs.

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And in Balogun’s absence, the US might find themselves relying on some ‘hero ball’ from Captain America once more.

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