5 Ways for the US to Improve

Great post by Scoops, and I'm really happy you pointed out Dempsey's complete apathy in the game tonight. Everyone I watched the game with was screaming at him the whole time, he really didn't have any care for being there. While this complete apathy would be somewhat understandable in our forthcoming match against El Salvador, I don't get how a huge game against Mexico doesn't get him the slightest bit excited. I can't say I really disagree with any of Scoops's observations or ratings, except while I would have given the same ratings to our central defending duo, I'd say they were much more inconsistent in terms of some great one-on-one play but also littered by some rather rookie mistakes. However, for a different angle, let's look at five things that need improvement if we want to improve on our 1-point showing from 2006.

Flanks and Width
You can't just buy talent with national teams the way you can with clubs, but we need to figure out our side play. Beasley was more impressive than I'm used to tonight, but he still was in no way phenomenal, and I wouldn't say the quality of his crosses was particularly high. Heath Pearce was horrible, I really don't see how he's our unquestioned first-choice at left back, and while Hejduk was electric on the right side, I just doubt the man's ability to stay fit. He doesn't have a horrible history with injuries, but he plays by throwing his body all over the place and is in the twilight of his career, and already got knocked tonight, so I can't say I'm fully comfortable with relying on a 34 year-old's ability to stay healthy. Dempsey was honestly painful to watch tonight, as he literally walked, maybe a light job once a while, around the pitch and really should have had two goals in the match. Demps and Beasley are fine, as Beasley was rusty and I pray Dempsey can care if it's on an international stage, but our left-back situation, and a solid replacement for Hejduk should he get injured, are increasingly worrisome

Strikers
I know everyone loves Brian Ching. He tries hard, he plays within himself and he gives it his all. But this is not a man who would start on a Championship club, so why should he start as the target-man for a country that aspires to make at least the final 16. Altidore looked awful tonight, so like my last complaint, there may be nothing Bradley can do here, but the fact is, we scored two goals in the 2006 World Cup, and one was an own-goal. How can we expect to get anywhere when we scored one actual goal, and that one goal was from a striker of immensely higher quality of the one we know have (and yes, I'm clearly referring to McBride). We'll see how this goes, but I think the best way to solve this if not through other strikers is through something that seems to be anathema to Bob Bradley.

Change in Formation
Look, I'm happy with the win. But I would never call it emphatic and I don't understand why anyone else would. We scored off a great set piece, but to be honest, by then Mexico should have been up 1-0 and they should have tied it again 1-1 in the 67th minute. I'd say we had more grit, but really, we also had more luck. Mexico for whatever reason collapses against us, and we use that to our advantage, but we were not clearly the better team. I think part of the problem is our formation, and the way we have our players situated. We send in so many crosses but who are sending them for? Donovan? Ching? These players aren't winning headers. We don't have McBride in the center anymore, so why do we insist on playing like we do? We should move Dempsey up top, maybe he'll give a shit then, and then have him supported by a combo of Donovan and Beasley, followed by a three man mid-field Kljestan, Bradley, and whoever, lets say Adu. We'll keep it on the ground and we'll have legitimately talented players up top trying to score goals. I just don't understand why we insist on playing like the team we were in 2006 with inferior personnel for that setup.

Improved Play from Youngsters
The young'uns need to step up here. The weakest players on the pitch were the inexperienced ones, and while that's expected to a degree, we're not a nation that has the liberty to fall back on a talented older generation while the younger one develops. Kljestan, and particularly Altidore, need to step up and make plays, and provide some sort of spark that other players aren't bringing. We know what we'll get out of the older players, and Prima Dempsey decides it worthy of his attention he can clearly create opportunities, so a lot of the responsiblity to create chances falls onto the younger players. It's a lot to ask of them, but to be honest, we don't have much of a choice. Altidore has hit a higher high just being signed by Villareal than most USMNT players will hit in their lifetime, and he has a talent level many of them just can't understand, and if we want to be elite, we need to shine.

Style
As much as it was entertaining, tonight was hideous. It was not a pretty game, there were many times where players were randomly smacking balls back and forth, and honestly some sequences were downright painful. The US plays ugly, this much is clear and while it's effective in CONCACAF, ugly doesn't win it all. We need some flair, some slick passing, someone who can easily beat another man to create the goalscoring opportunities we need to thrive. We drove forward frequently, but how often did you really feel like a goal was coming. The Bradley shot was out of nowhere, but by the same token, that Sanchez didn't save it was an abomination. We seem to really thrive on winning set-pieces and getting opportune mistakes from our opponents, and hoping Howard keeps his clean sheet. That's good and all, and we'll make World Cup after World Cup, but I just can't see us getting any real result in South Africa unless we're able to unlock defenses with something other than winning set-pieces and hoping for corners.