USMNT V Scotland: 10 Things We Learned About Jurgen Klinsmann and His Team

On Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida, in front of a crowd of over 44,000, the U.S. Men’s National Team downed Scotland 5-1.

In the most dominating performance of the Jurgen Klinsmann era, the USMNT controlled the game from start to finish.

Here are 10 things we learned from the game.

The U.S. Fielded Its Strongest Lineup of the Klinsmann Era

Jurgen Klinsmann, to his credit, has taken a great approach to these five games the U.S. will be playing over the next 18 days by publicly saying that he and the team will be treating the games as a five-game tournament.

Klinsmann has also stated that these games will not be used for more experimenting, as many of the first 10 games in the Klinsmann era were, and he has put a very strong lineup on the field.

Geoff Cameron Simply Can’t Deal with This Level

Because of the large margin of victory, and the rather flaccid Scottish attack, many fans will likely forgive and forget Cameron’s big error on the night.

In the 14th minute, Cameron lost his mark—Scottish forward Kenny Miller—and then, as Cameron backtracked to pick him up, unluckily bundled the ball into his own net for the lone Scottish goal.

Even though the play was unlucky, most U.S. fans recognize that center backs Oguchi Onyewu and Clarence Goodson would have been very unlikely to get beaten in the same way.

Furthermore, this comes on the heels of another shaky performance Cameron had for the Nats in the January friendlies, when he was red-carded against Panama.

The U.S. Finally Made a 4-3-3 Work

Over the past few years, USMNT managers Bob Bradley and Jurgen Klinsmann have both experimented with variations of the 4-3-3 only to see the U.S. wingers get pinned back turning the formation into a 4-5-1 and leaving the U.S. with one ineffective forward.

Usually in those games, Bradley and Klinsmann have switched to a two-striker set midway into the second half only to see the U.S. attack come to life.

However, with a strong lineup of possession players, Klinsmann was finally able to get the 4-3-3 to work creating beautiful counter-attacks that repeatedly overwhelmed the Scottish defense, as center midfielders Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley were able to join the attack all night long.

If Landon Donovan Has Lost His Hunger, He Didn’t Show It Saturday Night

Earlier in the week in a very candid interview, Donovan admitted that he has lost some of his hunger for the game.

Despite those feelings, Donovan looked terrific Saturday night, making incisive runs, delivering solid passes and, of course, picking up a hat trick.

Oh, and for the LD haters still out there—none of his goals on Saturday were scored from the spot, all three came in the run of play.

Will Any Remaining Critics of Michael Bradley Please Stand Up?

Bradley was again terrific, winning tackles, working back to start U.S. possession out of the back and, of course, scoring a screaming half-volley for what would be eventual game-winner.

Fabian Johnson Looked Good Again

Johnson put in a solid shift in the back again—and perhaps more importantly—did a nice job making runs up the flank to provide support to the attack.

His services certainly could have been better (he seemed to take far too many one-touch), but his runs forward were terrific and his ability to carry the ball in traffic is superb.

Terrence Body Has Potential, but He Is Still Very Raw

It was 21 minutes into the game before Boyd took his first significant touch, and that was when he seemingly stole a pass from Fabian Johnson that looked intended for Jose Torres.

Working as the lone forward, Boyd did do a good job battling in the air and closing down the Scottish defenders to rush their possession out of the back.

While you can’t question his work rate, his touch was heavy on multiple occasions, and he struggled to make anything out of a number of quality chances in front of the net.

“Germany” Jones Was Active All Night

Jermaine Jones had a solid night, joining the attack repeatedly, covering loads of ground and providing the lynchpin between the U.S. midfield and its attack.

He also picked up a nifty goal in the 70th minute.

The U.S. Was Both Pragmatic and Beautiful

Perhaps the single biggest challenge of the U.S. program over the last decade has been how to improve the team's quality of play, while realizing that it's not yet a world power.

Time after time, managers of the USMNT have attempted to create a more aesthetic style of play only to see the team give up too many soft goals as the U.S. comes out of its traditional defensive shell.

However, with one holding midfielder, and a lineup that fielded eight starters who have played center midfield at the professional level, the U.S. seemed to finally solve that problem enjoying long spells of possession while playing solid defensively and throwing repeated German-style counter attacks at the Scots.

Can the U.S. Use This Moment to Get a Result Against Brazil?

While the U.S. looked fantastic on Saturday night, Scotland, ranked 48th in the world, is not exactly a powerhouse.

The real test for the United States will this Wednesday when the U.S. takes on Brazil.

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