No stopping Christian Pulisic: USMNT winners and losers from Mauricio Pochettino's debut victory over Panama

No doubt who the star of the show was on Saturday night. Yes, the players on the field deserve credit, but we know who all eyes were on. It wasn't the players in Red, White and Blue, but rather the man dressed in black on the sidelines.

This was Pochettino's day and, while it wasn't a perfect debut, it was a pretty damn good one. With a win now on his USMNT resume, Pochettino is off and running, and this USMNT is surely running with him.

He didn't make widespread changes, as he promised leading up to the game, but you saw differences. The USMNT pressed aggressively in a new system, one that threw Musah out wide while playing with a back three. Christian Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson, meanwhile, tucked in a bit, at least more so than under the previous regime.

By and large, Pochettino didn't throw away what the USMNT had been doing. Instead, he altered it slightly. That resulted in a performance that seemed like a clear step forward and one that left room for optimism as he gets more time with this group.

Pochettino made it clear after the match: don't read too much into Weston McKennie's absence from the lineup Saturday night.

"We're going to protect him," Pochettino said. "He arrived with some not-big problems but some uncomfortable situations. If we believe that he is 100 percent without risk, he could be starting, but I think we didn't want to take a risk."

It's unfortunate, though, because McKennie is one of the players that could be the right fit under Pochettino. He's a do-everything midfielder who, especially over the last month, has proven that he has the mentality and determination to fight through adversity. That's exactly what Pochettino has to be looking for, right?

Perhaps we'll see McKennie in Mexico after a few days rest but, at least on Saturday, it was unfortunate that the world couldn't get a look at what he could look like under the new coach.

Everything Pulisic touches turns to gold right now. That's what happens when you're in this kind of form.

Leading up to the game, Pochettino described Pulisic as one of the world's best attacking players, and he continues to prove it, doesn't he? He didn't get a goal of his own on Saturday, but he was the catalyst behind Musah's opener.

"I barely even saw Yunus, to be honest," he admitted. "I just kind of put it in a dangerous area and it was perfect. He showed up right on time."

That's the kind of luck you have on your side when you're playing this well. Pulisic has now scored or assisted in seven of his last eight games for club and country. He's been great in the past, but this is the best version of him we've seen.

That's good news for the USMNT and good news for Pulisic, who continues to destroy all in his path.

As a striker, you often only get one chance to score. Josh Sargent got his. Unfortunately for him, it didn't go where he intended.

Outside of that, Sargent was largely good. Getting the start with the injured Folarin Balogun not in camp, he was integral in connecting the play and his ability to both drop back and press high really set a tone for the USMNT.

This wasn't a bad game from Sargent, and you really could argue that he did raise his stock. But that one chance? He'll want that one back, for sure.

What'll make it hurt more is that the guy who replaced him, Ricardo Pepi, buried his chance, further raising the stakes in a crowded striker race.

The train keeps a rollin', as it always does in Texas.

Whenever Ricardo Pepi comes home, there's a goal on the way, even if he's handed just a few minutes to get it. He came in as a second-half substitute in the 67th minute and barely got a touch before smashing a shot into the back of the net in the final moments of the game.

With that goal, Pepi now has four in three USMNT matches in Austin. He attacked Austin FC in this same stadium while with FC Dallas. There's something special about a Pepi homecoming. Add Saturday to that list.

"Yeah, it's crazy to be honest," he told TNT. "Being in my home state and in front of my family is the best feeling ever."

He added: "The most important thing is to be prepared for the opportunity. I prepared myself mentally for whatever my role is. As a striker, you want to score goals and put yourself in the best positions possible. That's just what I do."

That is what he does: score. Whether with the USMNT or PSV, whether as a starter off the bench, Pepi continues to do his thing.

When you aren't playing at the club level, these types of moments take on added importance. Every minute matters. Matt Turner certainly made his count for the USMNT Saturday.

Frozen out by Nottingham Forest and now a backup at Crystal Palace, Turner's club situation has been tenuous for most of the last year. The USMNT, largely, has been his only source of minutes. Turner, more than most, though, is aware of how quickly things can change - good or bad - and how important it is to put the right foot forward to control that change.

"I'm happy, obviously, to get a clean sheet and to start this new phase off the way I did, but it's a long road until 2026," he said of the World Cup on the horizon. "I think that if you look at the last World Cup cycle in 2019, 2020, I wasn't really in the picture until 2021, so a lot can change between now and then.

"I just need to control what I can, keep a level head, and stay calm, and perform when my name is called."

He was called upon multiple times on Saturday, with his best sequence coming on a double-save midway through the second half. That sequence made up two of his three saves and, if not for it, the USMNT win could have gone Panama's way.

This was about as good as it could have gone for Turner but, as he admitted, he's still in for a fight. The road to 2026 will be long, but it's also closing in fast as Turner fights to keep the top spot.