No Pulisic, no problem: how the USA learned to win without their star player | Jeff Rueter

Once it was clear that Christian Pulisic’s calf could keep him out of Friday’s match against Australia , Mauricio Pochettino had a lot of options to consider. There is no like-for-like alternative to Pulisic, still the United States’ most important player. Australia entered this game with a point to prove, wanting to build off of their opening win over Turkey with a statement result against the tournament co-hosts. As was the case when the teams met for a friendly in October, the Socceroos were set up to operate in a low defensive block, with five along the backline and a swarming, zonal marking scheme in front of them. That system can be quite effective against a team who play with just one striker, as the US have for most of the 21st century. When the lineups dropped, there was just one change from the US side who bulldozed Paraguay 4-1. There was no Pulisic. In his stead was Ricardo Pepi, who would play alongside his fellow center-forward Folarin Balogun. It seemed like a risk for the US to forego their usual numbers in midfield, but it proved to be a gambit rather than a gamble as the US strolled to a 2-0 half-time lead they maintained until the final whistle. “I feel like it opens up some spaces, of course, but you know it’s always good to be able to have two strikers,” Pepi said after his first World Cup start. “If the defenders are marking me, then the other [striker] is always free. …