The USMNT's prospects for winning the Confederations Cup playoff next month against Mexico are not looking very good, if the team's form against Brazil Tuesday is any indication. Brazil annihilated the USMNT 4-1 behind two goals from Neymar. This is a result that demands a bit of wild speculation, which we are only too happy to deliver, in the form of positive and negative takeaways from the game.
There were quite a few negatives. Here are three.
Does Jurgen Klinsmann have any idea what he's doing?
Here are some things Jurgen Klinsmann did: he played Alejandro Bedoya in defensive midfield (a position Bedoya said after the game he had never played before), played Jozy Altidore as a lone striker even though it's well documented that Jozy needs help up there or he stops working and played Geoff Cameron at right back even though Cameron is much, much better in the middle of the field (for example, Bedoya's midfield role would have been fine for Cameron) and the USA is fine at right back — Fabian Johnson, Timmy Chandler and DeAndre Yedlin are all capable of playing there, among others.
The USMNT are not close to being "world class."
We all knew this before the game, even if we didn't want to admit it. The main weaknesses are at center back, where Klinsmann just hasn't found a pairing that works, striker, where Jozy Altidore is fine and Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood have potential but there's literally no one else to fill that role (Do not get us started on Aron Johannsson. He is not good.) and attacking mid, where Michael Bradley is the only one with any creativity and the wings are filled by athletes (Yedlin, Gyasi Zardes etc.) who don't necessarily know what to do with the ball. The USMNT's best attacking mid is probably Lee Nguyen, who can't get in a game right now.
The defense. Yikes.
As mentioned before, there is no reliable center back pairing and the USMNT has center mids playing right back, wingers playing center mid and only one competent left back with American citizenship. It's not gone well.
And now on to the positives. There's a silver lining behind every cloud, as a fella said.
Brazil is a lot better than Mexico
Brazil can trot out more than one world class player at every attacking position. Both the USA and Mexico manage a few pretty good players but no one who could truly be called world-class (Mexico's Chicharito Hernandez and Andres Guardado are probably the closest, with Tim Howard and Brad Guzan coming closest for the U.S.).
Clint Dempsey didn't play.
Dempsey is the USMNT's most creative offensive player (with Michael Bradley coming second, and nobody close after that) and is a game-changer when healthy, and you have to assume unless both his legs fall off or something he'll be on the field come October 10. Also DaMarcus Beasley, who remains the USMNT's best left back, should be fully recovered from his knock.
At least Danny Williams's goal was pretty cool.
Notwithstanding the fact that it was scored in the 91st minute of a hopeless match, the USMNT doesn't have a ton of players who can shoot like that, and needs all it can get.
(Highlights courtesy of FOX Soccer)
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
