Saturday night the USMNT overcame their demons, crushing T&T 6-0 in Cleveland. The US men are leading the tournament in goal differential with +10, barely beating Mexico’s +9. Similarly to Guyana, this win has to be taken with a grain of salt; T&T consists of mostly USL Championship and USL League 1 players (read: lower leagues in the USA). Despite both teams being eliminated, I would not be shocked if Guyana beat T&T in the last group stage game. But that’s neither here nor there, on to the USMNT performance:

• In the second half, Pulisic finally played like he was the best player on the field. He got a nice assist in the first half off of a cross into the box that Aaron Long headed in. Then Pulisic ripped up T&T in the second half for another assist and a goal. As he should. This guy is head and shoulders above everyone on T&T. Guyana was his first game since the Bundesliga season ended. Perhaps he is rounding into form.
• Gyassi Zardes heard the haters after the Guyana team, so he silenced them in this one. Two goals and he really should have had a third. He’s still second choice behind Jozy but he has earned his keep. Also worth noting that he’s tied for the lead for goals in this tournament (3) …
• Aaron Long didn’t just score once, he scored TWICE! The defender had himself a game on both sides of the ball.  He’s the sweeper of the backline and he’s a threat on set pieces. What more could you ask for?
• Steffen made a few saves look easy despite their level of difficulty. The USMNT has often been blessed with stellar goalkeeping. Steffen will likely continue that trend as he moves to the Bundesliga next season.
• Bradley quietly had a very solid night. His passing was on point as usual, and I don’t believe he had a single defensive mistake. As the defensive midfielder in a 6-0 win, not may people are going to point out his performance, in spite of how noteworthy it was.
• McKennie had a similar game to his Guyana game, some incredible passing sequences, made his presence known physically, but struggled with his positioning at times. I had him higher on this list against Guyana, but that is because so many other players played worse against Guyana. Loved when he got in T&T’s face after one of them fouled Gyassi. I’ve said it before: he brings the intensity this team needs.
• Lima had himself another strong outing. He got an assist on Gyassi’s first goal, and sporadically caused problems for T&T on the right hand side.
• Boyd and Arriola both got themselves into dangerous positions, but mostly failed to find the back of the net. I think it is easy to say that both of them are locks as the starting wingers. Berhalter’s system is designed to get them into dangerous positions, and they’re following his instructions well. Just slightly improved finishing and these two will be the biggest story line of the tournament.
• Zimmerman had another good performance at the back defensively, and continued to make line-splitting passes out of the back. I won’t have much more on Zimmerman until he gets tested by stronger competition.
• Jordan Morris came on and changed this game with two assists. After the game against Guyana, I was afraid that we didn’t have many game-changers off of the bench. Morris, alleviated that fear a little tonight.
• Jozy really didn’t do much in his 15 minute appearance. He’s still coming back from injury, so I don’t have huge expectations. I bet we see him off the bench again vs. Panama. No need to rush things.
• Reggie Cannon filled in for Lima for the last few minutes of the game. A cameo where he provided one dangerous move, and did not make any defensive mistakes.
• Ream was shaky again. I think he’s having fewer and fewer shaky moments, but it still feels like there’s a looming threat that he could cause a defensive collapse at any moment.

Last but not least,

• Gregg Berhalter is getting the best out of his players. This is perhaps the most important note from this game. Players who played less-than-their-best against Guyana (most notably Zardes, and Pulisic) proved their worth against T&T. With every passing game, this team looks more and more like it is Berhalter’s team. This tournament is allowing Berhalter to get a lot of exposure with these players and it is allowing these players to immerse themselves in what Berhalter wants out of them.

The game against Guyana felt more like growing pains, tonight’s game against T&T felt more like a coming of age. Let’s hope that the next game against Panama feels like a coming out party.