USMNT vs. Trinidad and Tobago: Key takeaways from blowout Gold Cup win

This is a confidence-building result for the USMNT in every sense. The team looked better, played better and communicated better than it did in that fateful Switzerland matchup. 

But what changed in five days — and why? Here are our key takeaways from the USMNT's much-needed win over Trinidad and Tobago's Soca Warriors:

The only way out was forward — literally

The USMNT could've sat back and played conservatively in this match. Many fans and pundits would've forgiven it for it: After a generational loss like the one the team experienced against Switzerland, it's no failure to go back to basics and get your bearings again.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino had other ideas. He put out an aggressive, attack-minded lineup and encouraged his players to hassle Trinidad and Tobago from the first minute. It was that approach, that high-energy mindset, that handed the USMNT its win.

Yes, Switzerland and Trinidad and Tobago are hardly comparable opponents. But the USMNT didn't lose to Switzerland because the Swiss were fantastic, and it certainly didn't beat Trinidad and Tobago because the Soca Warriors were poor. Against Switzerland, the USMNT couldn't get started. Against Trinidad and Tobago, it never stopped.

That was Pochettino's bold plan from the start. Forget playing conservative in the face of four straight defeats: Pochettino is swinging big.

Max Arfsten got help from an unlikely source

When the USMNT fell 4-0 to Switzerland in Nashville on June 10, it was fullback Arfsten — playing in a brand new system that required him to be far more defensive than usual — who was at fault for many of the goals. 

Pundits wrote Arfsten off and assumed Pochettino would move him to the bench for the foreseeable future. Imagine their surprise, then, when Arfsten showed up on the starting lineup to face Trinidad and Tobago. He wasn't just back; he was back in the same exact position, eager to redeem himself from his performance against the Swiss.

Arfsten did redeem himself, but he didn't do it alone. Defensive midfielder Luca de la Torre provided crucial cover for Arfsten and gave him the flexibility he needed to do what he does best: charge up the flanks and create offensive chaos. 

Arfsten still isn't the ideal fullback for Pochettino's four-man defense, but de la Torre — fresh off a redemptive season of his own at San Diego FC — just might be the ideal way to change that.

Malik Tillman, Diego Luna and Jack McGlynn sealed their spots in the Gold Cup starting 11

Where will the goals come from? 

That's been the burning question on everyone's lips since Christian Pulisic removed himself from USMNT contention this summer. The answer, it seems, is from a trio of underrated attacking midfielders who just might challenge Pulisic for his spot in the starting 11 come 2026.

Tillman, the German dual national who plays his club soccer with PSV in the Netherlands, was brilliant Sunday, running onto pass after pass and using his formidable frame to create space for his teammates. He earned his two-goal tally. 

Luna and McGlynn, two Major League Soccer prospects with plenty of upside but very little experience, flanked Tillman beautifully. Their quick, clever, unsettling runs looked more dangerous than anything the USMNT has put together in attack this year.

When all three came off in the second half, the USMNT looked notably weaker. The trio was rotated out for the USMNT's debacle against Switzerland. It'll be a long time before they're rotated out again.

The USMNT will return to Gold Cup action on June 19 with a match against Saudi Arabia in Austin, Texas.