Yet, in the past nine months, Coach Bradley introduced a slew of new players, highlighted by striker Juan Agudelo, who made an immediate impression by scoring in his first cap against South Africa late last year.
On Saturday, the US team appeared overmatched against Argentina. The 4-5-1 alignment was meant to clog the middle and stifle Argentina's passing. It backfired. Argentina possessed the ball almost the entire first half, easily stringing together passes and breaking down the United States.
The US rarely crossed into Argentina's end of the field. The fact that Argentina only scored one goal was a testament to incredible goalkeeping by Tim Howard and poor finishing by Argentina.
Like Mexico, the Argentinians get pass-happy and wait for the perfect opportunity. Most of the goals scored against the US during World Cup qualifying were long blasts from outside the 18. Argentina never once shot from distance, and it hurt them. In close quarters, Tim Howard was quick and aggressive enough to smother most attacks.
Despite Howard's heroics, it was hard to feel too great about the US team. It was sheer domination by Argentina. At the half, Bob Bradley opted to switch to the 4-4-2 alignment. He took out Jermaine Jones and inserted striker Juan Agudelo. Bradley also replaced right back Jon Spector with another newcomer, Timothy Chandler. The switch turned an embarrassing game into one that was more end-to-end action, albeit still heavily weighted in Argentina's favor. Regardless, Altidore struggled significantly less with a partner at forward. And Tim Chandler did an excellent job going forward from his fullback spot.
Michael Bradley also seemed more comfortable with only one partner in the middle (Maurice Edu) instead of two. The US equalized after a restart. Donovan sent a curling free kick into the box. Bocanegra won the header and placed it perfectly toward the corner of the goal. The goalie did well to block it, but Agudelo was on the doorstep and put the rebound into the net. No doubt this goal was against the run of play, but that's football.
Argentina had a handful of chances after the US scored, but so did the US to be fair. Edu and Dempsey both had great opportunities to score inside the box. The world's greatest player, Argentina's Lionel Messi, proved a handful the entire match, but he never found net. He repeatedly took on four or five players at once and somehow maintained possession. The skill level of Messi and the rest of Argentina was so significantly higher than the US that it's clear the US is still at least a generation away from truly challenging as a world power. The US has the smarts and technical ability to bunker down and limit damage. They also have the skill and speed to counter-attack and score against the top teams in the world. Yet, that strategy is only going to earn them wins against the minnows and a sporadic result against top competition. It's no path to long-term success. To truly challenge - and string 4-5 wins in a row against the best in the world - they'll have to learn to control the game.
These players just aren't there. But they're getting closer.
Let's take a look at a few of the new faces:
Juan Agudelo - An 18 year old striker for the New York Red Bulls. He's progressed rapidly as he wasn't even a starter for New York last season. Now he's getting capped by the senior national team... and scoring! He's got good pace and skill and a tenacity around the box. What's great about this kid is his fearless ambition. He's not intimidated by the world stage and has confidence to attack people. He partners well with Altidore, much the same way Charlie Davies did. MLS is a good league for Agudelo right now, and he scored his first MLS goal just last week. After overhyping Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson, US fans are hesitant to get too excited about Agudelo. It's tough to know what the future holds for an 18 year old, but it's clear his ceiling is high.
Timothy Chandler - A 21 year old defender for Nuremberg in the Bundesliga. Like Agudelo, Chandler was hardly on the US's radar a year ago. He was playing for the Nuremberg reserves and performed well enough to get called up to the senior team this season. Former US player Tony Sanneh knew of Chandler and inquired whether he'd be interested in playing for the US. Despite spending most of his life in Germany, Chandler had no qualms about representing the US and eagerly accepted Bob Bradley's first invite for this camp. As a player, I've rarely seen a US player integrate so seamlessly into the US's backline. Unlike his predecessor's at right defense, Chandler has the speed to cover top wingers. Like Agudelo, his ceiling is high, and the US is lucky to have him.
If you have Fox Soccer Channel, you can check out these new faces of the US team tomorrow night when the US takes on Paraguay. After that, it's back to the club teams.
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