The coach who was supposed to bring a flowing attack and beautiful expression to U.S. football has seen little of that kind of play since taking over as manager.
While the expectation of Klinsmann is that he will bring goals and excitement to the U.S. game, the results have been the same gritty, defensively minded and offensively woeful performances that dragged down Bob Bradley's reputation and eventually earned him the boot.
Given the fact that this team has failed to create much of anything in front of net or maintain possession for long chunks of any the last six games, U.S. fans may have expected to see something different as far as the lineup is concerned. Instead, Klinsmann opted to go with same group that produced a similar display against Ecuador a month ago and got the same result on the scoreboard.
The commentators and believers in the traditional soccer elite will credit the French with being a tough team to beat and ultimately the side with more class, but let's face it, this isn't the Zidane and Thierry Henry France of ten years ago. This French team is rebuilding just as we are. It was just a little more than a year ago that the U.S. advanced further in the World Cup than France did and the two sides are in relatively the same stage of rebuilding.
Is it really so much to ask of the U.S. to come away from this game with at least a draw? If not a result, then they could at least go down swinging. For many fans, losing 4-2 in an exciting fast paced game would have been than eeking another 1-0 defeat and saying, "it's France away."
The truth is, the French weren't that much better than us. The evidence was in the first half, a period in which they failed to seriously threaten the U.S. goal. They were unable to break down the U.S. defense for most of the game in fact. Outside of Loic Remy's 72nd minute goal off of a hopeful long ball that the striker dealt with very well, the French only managed to really scare Howard one other time. The U.S. keeper was equal to that set piece effort, however, saving the shot as he fell into his own goal.
The French would finish with 7 shots on goal to the Americans' 2, but only two or three of those actually challenged Howard. The U.S. defense could not have played a much more organized game in the back, but where was the midfield?
The starting midfield duo of Kyle Beckerman and Maurice Edu were once again terribly defensive, playing the majority of the game in their own half and failing to link the attack to the wide areas or the defense. Youngsters Brek Shea and Danny Williams were absent for large portions of the game and when they did get on the ball had very little support. There were few instances where a ball of any quality came in from the wide areas, the most threatening player being left back Timothy Chandler on the overlap, although most of his crosses never found anyone.
The issues with this team remain in the attack. Where goals are going to come from is still a mystery and with Klinsmann declining to shuffle his lineup, it seems he doesn't have an answer for it right now. Playing with one striker and a defensive midfield pairing doesn't seem to be doing the trick.
The woes up front couldn't be blamed on the two guys playing there, however. Jozy Altidore was probably the most dangerous player on the field for the U.S. every time he touched the ball. In the early going, he probably could have drawn a penalty after megging Laurent Koscielny and then catching a high elbow in the box but the ref would have nothing to do with it.
Later, he would send Clint Dempsey through with a brilliant back heel flick only to see Koscielny bring him down as well, this time resulting in a yellow card. Altidore is bringing the ball down well and distributing to the players around him, but may be better served playing in a 4-4-2 where another striker could make runs off of him as he controls the ball with his back to goal.
Dempsey was the other worker bee in attack and showed tons of heart and skill in the game, but neither he or Altidore could really create much in the way of chances given the amount of pressure they were under and the lack of support coming from the midfield and the wide areas.
This game will be seen as the next installment of the rebuilding era and nothing to take seriously as it was only a friendly, but it should carry more weight than that. This game against a team that is also regrouping after a World Cup is indicative of where we stand under Klinsmann and his new philosophies, with or without Landon Donovan. His absence is not an excuse, merely an inconvenience. It won't be the last.
These last few games of 2011 are fairly low profile for the German, but if results like this continue into 2012 the pressure will mount to get the ball rolling. How long before fans lose patience?
Questions that remain:
Why does Klinsmann seem so set on playing Kyle Beckerman? Edu, Bradley and Jones are all defense first midfielders playing in respected leagues around the world that have more skill than Beckerman, yet the dreads are on the field seemingly every game now? Is he searching for an MLS player he can have in the lineup for the long term?
Where are the goals going to come from? Dempsey and Altidore are playing well, but if they don't get some help, can they carry the weight between them when Donovan isn't around?
Will he consider playing with two strikers? One of them can be Dempsey, it just needs to be someone playing a more advanced position up the field.
Is there a player to fill an attacking role in midfield?
Please, weigh in with your thoughts and answers in the comments section.
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