USMNT's Yunus Musah praises Gregg Berhalter on his return: 'It feels like he never really left'

Musah also highlighted the importance of matches vs. Germany and Ghanga: "We can't treat these games like friendlies"

Yunus Musah says that the USMNT have "picked up from where we left off" following the return of Gregg Berhalter as head coach in June.

Berhalter was reappointed to the programme after a lengthy recruitment process that was triggered when US Soccer allowed his contract to expire without securing a replacement for the coach who guided the USA back to the World Cup and then to the round of 16. Though the 50 year old has not always been a popular figure with supporters one of his great successes has come with the recruitment of dual nationals such as Folarin Balogun, Sergino Dest and Musah.

"It kind of feels like we picked up from where we left off," the AC Milan midfielder told CBS Sports when asked to assess what had changed about his international boss in his six month absence. "It feels like he never really left."

Berhalter's second World Cup cycle will feel altogether different to his first, one that was focused on getting the USMNT back to the competition after their disastrous attempt to reach Russia 2018. As hosts in 2026, a place is set aside for them but there will also be far fewer competitive games for the USA even with next summer's Copa America and CONCACAF Nations League to consider.

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October's camp, in which Musah and Christian Pulisic will represent AC MIlan, sees the US face Ghana in Nashville on October 18, four days after a match against Germany. Die Mannschaft have a home tournament of their own to consider in next summer's European Championships and are under new management, Julian Nagelsmann succeeding Hansi Flick after a disastrous run of results. The four-time world champions can expect an intense challenge against the USA. 

Musah said: "We're going to be tweaking things here and there to be improve the team, we need to be able to win against top opposition. Obviously it's harder to play the same in a friendly where a World Cup is not at stake. We have to be more switched on than before in this cycle. 

"We can't treat these games like friendlies, they have to be really important games that make sure we're ready for the World Cup. 

"It's two top teams next camp, hopefully the opposition won't treat it like a friendly either. We definitely won't."

USMNT squad for Germany and Ghana friendlies

DEFENDERS (8): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 12/0), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 28/2), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution; 7/0),  Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 2/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 52/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 12/1), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 26/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 6/0) 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/BRA; 7/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 17/0), Lennard Maloney (Heidenheim/GER; 0/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 46/11), Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 29/0), Gio Reyna (Borussia  Dortmund/GER; 20/4), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED;64/0) 

FORWARDS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin/GER; 34/8), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 4/2), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER; 1/0), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 18/9), Christian Pulisic  (AC Milan/ITA; 62/26), Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 33/5)