'We'll be ready for the knockouts' - Christian Pulisic returns just in time, Sebastian Berhalter states midfield case and defensive depth concerns linger after late loss: USMNT winners and losers vs Turkiye

If there was one big takeaway from this game, it’s that the USMNT has found another difference maker in midfield. While the established trio of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Malik Tillman is almost certainly the way forward, Berhalter can play, too, and he can play at a high level. 

That’s what we saw on Thursday in a game where he provided an assist, scored a goal, and survived over 70 minutes with a yellow card.

"The ball just popped out, and I knew if I just stayed calm and just made a swinging motion, that I had a chance," he said. "I practice those a lot, to see that go in was awesome. My first thought was to get the ball back, and let's go again."

On a night where there was no Plan B for the USMNT in his position, Berhalter was a top-tier Plan A in a game that required someone to try to lead the way. 

Berhalter has plenty of reason to be confident. With three World Cup appearances, each better than the last, Berhalter has a place in the team and it could wind up being an important one down the line.

"I think we gave everything we had," he said, "and we'll be ready for the knockouts."

Early in his tenure, Pochettino explained why he likes Weah on the left side of the field. It was based on scientific data involving his eyes. It’s why he’s played there multiple times. 

In this case and in this particular game, Weah just didn’t really work on the left-hand side as he struggled until making way as the first substitute. 

The Marseille star just never really had his timing right. On some occasions, he drifted too far offside. On others, he was wrangled too easily by defenders he couldn’t quite buzz past. On top of that, he was dispossessed five times and didn't win a single duel. It all added up to an ineffective performance that rightfully ended early. 

A tough break for Weah, who has previously shown he can be a game-changing presence when called upon.

This tournament did not go how the Turkish star would have wanted it. He could have been this summer's breakout star but, instead, he's going home early, and there's not much that will make him feel better about that fact.

A goal on the way out is something, though. It won't fix everything, but it did give Guler one brief moment of excitement at an otherwise dismal World Cup.

This was the first game that Guler looked like Guler. He looked every bit the star that he has been billed as both with Real Madrid and this Turkish national team. He got his goal, routinely threatened the USMNT defense, and in general, just ran the game. He was the most talented player on the field by a wide margin.

Too little, too late, unfortunately for him, as cliché as it is to say. Another cliche says that it's better late than never, though, which is how Guler should feel about this World Cup-closing performance.

The ovation was deafening. As Christian Pulisic ran onto the field, the crowd in Los Angeles rose to their feet. He gave that crowd more reasons to do that throughout his performance, too. 

Pulisic provided plenty of danger in his return from injury. More importantly, he showed that the injury is behind him. That is the biggest win of this game for the USMNT, as their star will enter the business end of this tournament ready to play. 

"It was amazing," he told FOX. "I felt healthy. I felt good, so it was really nice to be back with the team and get some minutes. I felt good with the ball. It was a tough way to end for us, for sure, but at the end of the day, we did win the group, and we just have to look forward to next week."

While the USMNT will regret little things in that result, as Pulisic said, they’ll also be thrilled just to have him back on the field.

"You saw, when he came in, the impact he had," Berhalter said. "He's our guy. He's, more importantly, just a great person that everyone follows, and he's a leader in his own right. He was great."

In November, when asked about the pecking order of his team, Pochettino pushed back hard on the idea of "regulars". There are no regulars, he said. There is a complete USMNT player pool and that was it. Everyone was on the same level.

Whatever term Pochettino wants to use for it, there are levels, and Thursday's match showed that the defenders who started against Paraguay and Australia are the ones to rely on going forward.

Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie were the two holdovers from the last game and, in truth, the latter is likely the only one who would be favored to start in a "full strength" USMNT XI. That XI, which was almost entirely on the bench due to a combination of rest and yellow card danger, looks like it should remain unchanged going forward.

That's doubly true in defense. Both Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson could have done better on the goals. Matt Turner, through little fault of his own, was left out to dry multiple times, but he was also unable to make the big save or two needed to bail his team out in those moments.

So, when it comes to Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, and Matt Freese, none of the players who stepped in Thursday gave Pochettino much reason to rethink his first-choice group. That quartet still looks like the starting defensive unit heading into the next phase of the tournament.

It was a game of highs and lows for Trusty. The low is, hopefully, not as low as it could have been but, man, that high was incredible. There are few quite like a first World Cup goal.

Trusty's first World Cup goal, which came in the third minute, was also his first USMNT goal. It was easy to see the emotion hit him as it happened. The moment the ball struck the net to give the USMNT a 1-0 lead, Trusty darted across the field all the way back to the bench to leap into the arms of his teammates.

"I saw the celebration back, and I did the same thing for my first goal with the Philadelphia Union," he said. "I scored, not same way, but scored from a corner and then I ran to the bench. It was pretty cool and pretty full circle."

Trusty played the game at left-back and, while there was no moment quite like his goal, he was solid enough in an unfamiliar position. That was until late on when he went down with an injury. After the game, the defender had his ankle taped as he spoke to reporters.

"I went down and rolled my ankle pretty, pretty bad," he said, "and then also had a cramp in my hamstring same time. I wasn't in a good place and that sucks, but I just had to get on pitch and keep playing, but yeah, we're all positive."

Trusty and the USMNT will be crossing their fingers that that ankle injury isn't too bad, particularly after an impact performance that showed why Trusty could be a closer on either end in a knockout round scenario.