Made it to the knock-out rounds by winning a game they probably should have lost, tied a game they definitely should have won, and lost a game they wanted to draw. Woulda, shoulda, coulda... they made it out of the group of death!
Unfortunately, squads now have the video how to play and defeat this team. Ghana, Portugal and Germany showed that constantly pressuring Bradley will cause silly turn-overs. With Jozy out, the Germans doubled Duce every time the ball came near him. Do these simple two things, and the Americans are in trouble.
Beasley showed even more willingness to counter-attack as the tournament has progressed; one of his attacking runs almost single-handedly shredded the German back four. Johnson has also been a consistent threat down the right-hand side. I believe the focus of possession needs to pass from Bradley, in the center, to these wide backs.
Also, without Jozy, Dempsey needs someone else up top to help. Great player, just not a holding/target striker that can do it on his own. Maybe Jurgen is hoping to keep things scoreless and rely on set-piece goals, but I haven't seen an aggressive number of players in the box when they have those opportunities.
I'm still hopeful this squad can continue to advance (and very happy they made it out of the group stage), but the blueprint to defeat this team is pretty clear.
