This USMNT team should be entering its prime. Now they need to prove it

Same touchline, different mood. Last Thursday Tyler Adams remonstrated with Gregg Berhalter after being substituted during an arduous victory over Jamaica. Three days later he celebrated wildly with his coach after scoring an astounding goal against Mexico to help the USMNT retain their Concacaf Nations League title.

Freshly returned from a serious hamstring problem and making his first start for club or country since March 2023, the Bournemouth midfielder was an unlikely candidate to fire a missile into the net from 30 yards. It was only his second international strike. The other one came in 2018, also against Mexico, but from much closer to goal and with far less ferocity.

The shot seconds before the break looked like a year’s worth of injury frustration, all the pain and boredom, being liberated with one sweet and mighty swing of the boot. And it was the last thing the 25-year-old did in the match because he was substituted at half time for his own protection. Much to his irritation, it transpired.

“Typical Tyler, we get into an argument in the locker room and he wants to play more,” Berhalter told reporters. “As much as I wanted him in the game, because I did, it’s a safety thing. We want to make sure that he gets back in a healthy way because he has a lot more games to play.”

Related: Adams screamer helps US beat Mexico but game halted due to homophobic chants

For his part, Adams said that “coming out at halftime was obviously disappointing, especially after scoring a goal” but “I understand we have to be smart for the long term plan.”

In the short term, fortunes turn fast. A US side that should have lost to Jamaica last Thursday at AT&T Stadium and been observing a somber period of soul-searching and wound-licking is instead cherishing a trophy and relishing ongoing regional supremacy after Sunday’s 2-0 victory at the same venue.

Gio Reyna, who last started a club game on 1 November and has been enjoying his first taste of competitive action in a month, was the Americans’ sharpest and most productive attacker, with two assists against Jamaica and the second goal against Mexico on Sunday.

He is a member of the backing group at Borussia Dortmund and in his loan spell at Nottingham Forest but the past two games have left little doubt that the 21-year-old playmaker is the Americans’ headline act. He was named player of the tournament, marking quite a turnaround for someone whose future with the national team was in serious doubt after the fall-out from his spat with Berhalter during the Qatar World Cup.

What does it all mean? For a coach and a group whose defining moment is not due until the 2026 World Cup, perhaps not much. The Nations League semi-final and final were a colorfully eccentric confirmation of what we already know: Berhalter’s sides can lack fluency and focus against stubbornly defensive Concacaf underdogs but are reliably fiery and effective against Mexico.

More meaningful tests await in the summer, with friendlies in June against Colombia and Brazil before the Copa América, when Berhalter’s tactics and lineups will come under closer scrutiny in a tournament featuring some of the best sides in the world. It could be the month when the US evolve from aspirants to contenders – or when the Berhalter skeptics get even more strident.

The cases for Berhalter’s prosecution and for his defense played out a score draw over the past two games, with the US carelessly conceding in the first minute against an under-strength Jamaica, then tepidly failing to outwit a low block strategy until they were saved by an own-goal in the sixth minute of an allotted five minutes of stoppage time. The US ran out 3-1 winners thanks to two-extra time goals from Haji Wright, who’d fallen out of favor with Berhalter since the 2022 World Cup and was only in the squad as a last-minute replacement for the injured Josh Sargent.

Despite the win and the attempt afterwards by several players to depict the outcome as evidence of the team’s never-say-die attitude, it was a chastening evening, a freakish escape that had more to do with serendipity than spirit. Berhalter conceded to reporters that the players had not absorbed his “normal Concacaf speech” about the need to take the opponents seriously. “Somewhere along the line, it goes in one ear and out the other one,” he said, sounding like an exasperated parent. Perhaps a limited affection for the charms of Concacaf is inevitable among an American generation whose center of gravity is in Europe, with many players at prominent clubs in England and Italy.

Still, it was a troubling admission given legitimate concerns that the team may grow stale – as any side could – during the lengthy tenure of a coach who has overseen 69 matches since the start of 2019.

On Sunday, by contrast, the US amply deserved their victory against a toothless and aimless Mexico and Berhalter’s decision to start both Reyna and Adams paid off despite their questionable fitness. Though he scored with a sharp finish in the 63rd minute, Reyna, the US’s most ingenious attacker, strangely spent much of the first half in a withdrawn position. Evidently there is work to be done on the training ground to integrate him more effectively if he is to become a regular starter. His international form indicates he deserves that chance, despite worries about his injury-proneness, lack of club minutes and defensive limitations that may be damaging against tough opponents.

The Americans misplaced a number of passes but always looked the more likely side to score. Indeed, the rivalry is becoming a matter of routine. Mexico last beat the US in September 2019 and the US have won five of the seven encounters since, with El Tri mustering only three goals. (Two fixtures last year took place under interim US managers.)

The closing stages in Arlington, Texas, were blighted by homophobic chants by Mexican fans – who made up most of the 59,471 crowd – that twice prompted the referee, Drew Fischer, to pause the match as part of a Concacaf anti-discrimination protocol. While the effort to take steps to address a persistent problem was laudable, it failed to act as a deterrent and given the scoreline and the pattern of play had the effect of penalizing the US players for the actions of Mexican supporters.

When the final whistle eventually blew the US secured their third successive Nations League title. The first, a comeback 3-2 win over Mexico after extra time in the inaugural final in 2021, felt like a statement, a formative event for a novice group still forging its identity. For this victory, numbers beyond the scoreline told an auspicious story.

With an average age of 26 years and 63 days, this was Berhalter’s oldest line-up since 2019, and averaging 37 caps per player it was also his most experienced XI since that year. We’ve grown used to describing Berhalter’s cohorts as up-and-comers but only four starters against Mexico were under 25. In years lived and appearances made the side should be entering its prime. It’s up to them and their manager to prove it with performances of sustained excellence against high-caliber countries. This summer would be a good time to start.