And with Yedlin and Johnson geared to get forward beside them, the balance of Brooks and Cameron will see a lot of work in any successful USA campaign.
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Down two goals at half many were assuming Klinsmann would bring in youngsters Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic to spark the attack, but Klinsmann chose to wait until the 66th minute instead.
The US went behind off a corner-kick just seven minutes in, conceded again just before halftime as James Rodriguez converted a penalty given away by DeAndre Yedlin, and sunk to a 2-0 defeat. It was a hugely dispiriting display.
The US also might want to rediscover some of the verve that has characterized their best worldwide performances. “We want to show that we are capable of playing against the best”. If they get a draw out of this match, everyone will be pretty thrilled, and feeling like they can win their next two games to win Group A and avoid Brazil in the quarterfinals. Yes, there’s a certain pragmatism required to grind your way through results on the road – or not, as the case may be – but more often U.S. substitutions in that context are about consolidating the team rather than changing the trajectory of the game. The US’s performance wasn’t embarrassing, but it wasn’t anything beyond that. Although Colombia is ranked #3 in the world, USMNT fans have every right to be bothered. All is well. We just didn’t get the bounces.
Klinsmann said, “There was no difference between the two sides”.
However, a worrisome trend began to rear its head in 2014 during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The Americans were unclear on when to press, unclear on their rotations in midfield, and devoid of ideas in the attacking third of the field. He can fit on the right side, with Dempsey in the middle and Gyasi Zardes or Bobby Wood up top instead of wide. Well, we can play with them.
Before the training session began, Clint Dempsey, No. 8 on the US men’s national team’s, made sense of the Copa America Centenario situation.
He had a point.
The US struggled to build any sort of momentum after that, with Colombia flooding the midfield and pressing relentlessly. I know we want to see the U.S. be a dominant force, but that just isn’t the reality right now.
In 2010, Bedoya missed out on the U.S. World Cup squad, a disappointment that would eventually fuel an outstanding club career and drive him to reach the World Cup four years later. We did show some good things.
But for all that the Colombia game is a must-not-lose match, it could be fatal for the U.S. to try and feel their way into the game with too much caution. In previous eras, the team had decidedly less talent, but it nearly always overachieved.
If Bedoya is a bit overlooked compared to many of his USA teammates, it is due in part to the fact he has a unique career path. It’s also part of the reason why his tenure has been such a disappointment.
“We can’t say they’re not good just because they’re the United States”. Where teams separate from the United States is in coaching, in cohesion, and in direction.
The USMNT will now to Chicago next to face their regional rivals Costa Rica on June 7 at Soldier Field. Klinsmann must decide whether to give in to the chorus calling for Nagbe and Pulisic, or ride with the team that lost to Colombia. Defensively, we had a few mistakes, and we can cut those out.
This team doesn’t know how it wants to play, and it’s rarely put in a position to play well. “But overall, we were totally even and we didn’t give them anything”.
Defense on set pieces likely will be a topic of conversation in the Americans’ preparation for their second Copa game.
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The US has always been best when bought in and playing tenacious, tough soccer. By Thursday night, more than 64,000 tickets had been sold for the U.S. -Colombia game at Levi’s Stadium. The fact that they didn’t look completely incompetent speaks more to their individual potential than any collective achievement worth hailing. “It’s a very good team with very good individual players”. Friday will go down as another opportunity squandered – and at point in the Klinsmann era, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. After initially considering a move to MLS this winter, he now seems intent on staying in Europe and trying to take his career to a new height before returning home to the U.S.to finish off his career.
