Let’s start by being clear: friendlies don’t matter. Friendlies against Mexico don’t matter. Cash grab friendlies especially don’t matter.
The 2-0 win over Mexico felt a little different though, and I finally had an inkling of why. First difference was that this was a one and done camp, and the team felt a little more cohesive. In the previous two international windows, the US seemed to play a shambolic match then a better one. It felt like Klinsmann wasn’t getting the team set up properly in the first half of camp, but things would fall into place for the second game. Lose to Chile, beat Panama. Get Bendtnered, draw with Switzerland.
Mexico felt like a natural continuation of the Switzerland game. We saw a diamond-ish midfield, two strikers, and a certain amount of flexibility in team play. That was one of Klinsmann’s buzzwords once, flexibility. He has tried the 4-2-3-1, the diamond, and a 3-5-2 for a bit. Formations are one of the main talking points for fans, and can be used as a cudgel to beat unpopular coaches, but we’re only now entering a point where formations should even be relevant.
More important than the formation was the players, who obviously have to fill roles within a system. Some of the long term projects Klinsmann had been slated for, like playing Mix as a defensive midfielder, seem to be bearing fruit. During the World Cup, when we were using that hybrid diamond, I often felt that we would be in much better shape when we had players with Bradley’s technical ability in the shuttler spots instead of Graham Zusi (Nagbe may eventually fill one of those spots).
While there are lots of people who see Mix as something closer to the first American 10, developing that bit of steel in his game offers a bit more of that universality that is the global trend, and that Klinsmann seems to be chasing. Mix was never going to become the next Juan Riquelme, but Klinsmann’s goal was never to turn him into a midfield butcher either, just to round out Mix’s game with some defensive nous and tenacity.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing about the development of flexibility was the forward line against Mexico. I’m hoping that Klinsmann learned his lesson from Brazil, that relying on one player’s health isn’t a prudent plan. By sticking with two striker formations, Klinsmann is avoiding that pitfall, and we got to see a somewhat interesting performance from Gyasi Zardes as a sort roving target man. Zardes doesn’t have the skillset to play a focal point like Altidore does, but he was a willing runner and provided an outlet throughout the game.
It certainly feels like it has taken some time, but we may be moving towards some semblance of an identity for this summer’s Gold Cup and beyond. I’m still not sold on him as the national team manager, but Klinsmann is starting to win me over.
Libero or Death 
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