The best way to describe the U.S. national team’s performance in Tuesday’s scoreless draw against Colombia is like an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the show where old houses are torn down and rebuilt into beautiful homes.
One of those ugly and difficult moments came on Tuesday night. For the second straight match, the Americans tried new systems and new personnel, and for the second straight match the results left plenty to be desired. That won’t make Bradley happy, but these past two matches were more about what he could learn about new faces and new systems than about the scoreboard.
This applied to Tuesday’s match against Colombia, which was always going to be an exercise in experimentation, both with tactics and personnel. Playing a new system against a stingy defense was destined to make for an ugly match, but the value of that process is in the lessons learned from the experience.
So what did we learn?
Things changed dramatically in the second half when Bradley switched to a more familiar 4-4-2 and inserted Clint Dempsey into the lineup. The addition of Dempsey, and of Benny Feilhaber later in the second half, helped give the U.S. team more fluidity and offensive purpose, while the addition of Eddie Johnson alongside Altidore gave American midfielders more options to work with.
Does this mean that the experiments of five-man midfields should end for the United States?
Clarence Goodson was steady and confident in the back, boosting his stock in the race for playing time at center back. Heath Pearce was very good at left back, showing good speed and an ability to deal with quick wingers. Eric Lichaj came on as a second-half substitute and made his national team debut a successful one, providing pace on the right, as well as good service. He is still young and learning, but he has the look of a player who can take over when Steve Cherundolo is ready to hang up the boots.
Bradley will have some time now to assess the state of the U.S. team, with the Nov. 17th friendly against South Africa the next chance to see the team together. He already hinted that he won’t be fielding a full-strength squad for that match and we may not get a chance to see what can be considered a first team until March.
In the meantime, Bradley will continue to tinker and look at different lineups and new faces. The reconstruction of the national team will take time, and it is sure to have its ugly steps like Tuesday night’s performance, but it is clear that work is well underway on Extreme Makeover: U.S. national team edition.
Ives Galarcep is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com covering the U.S. national team and Major League Soccer.
