Commanding Win over Guatemala Is Just Short-Term Fix for USMNT's Struggles

COLUMBUS, OH — From the time the first whistle blew on Tuesday night at Mapfre Stadium, the United States men's national team experienced a comforting feeling inside the home of the Columbus Crew. 

There is nothing fancy about the ground in Ohio, but it has become a site where the Yanks thrive. The 4-0 win over Guatemala on Tuesday night moved the USMNT's record in Columbus to 8-0-3 overall and 7-0-2 in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. 

To dumb it down a bit, Mapfre Stadium is the happy place of American soccer. Whenever the Yanks are in the middle of a slump, they can always rely on a result in Columbus. And that's exactly what the crowd dressed primarily in red, white and blue wanted to see following the disastrous 2-0 loss in Guatemala City four days prior. 

“There’s certain things that are hard to put a finger on," captain Michael Bradley said. "Obviously, there’s the obvious things in terms of being a small stadium where people are right on top of the field. It’s a place where we can control how tickets are sold. A city that in some ways doesn’t have a million different things going on, so they love their soccer."

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"They love when the national team comes into town, and we feed on that," the midfielder continued. "People maybe underestimate at times what it means for us to be able to walk out on a field and from the get-go feel the energy and the passion. That pushed us through on nights like this." 

But when you put Tuesday's 90-minute showing in perspective, the Yanks at their best would've scored four or five goals in the first 45 minutes and wouldn't have needed a 46th-minute tally from Graham Zusi to sit comfortably in the driver's seat. 

The Yanks are not the top dogs in CONCACAF anymore, and quite frankly they haven't been in a while under manager Jurgen Klinsmann. 

The frustration stems from Klinsmann apparently using players outside of their preferred places on the pitch, a claim the USMNT boss went out of his way to deny following Tuesday's victory. 

"I've never put anybody out [of] his position," Klinsmann said. "I want to make that clear." 

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If that was the case, Alejandro Bedoya never would've played in defensive midfield against Brazil in 2015, Michael Bradley would not have been forced into a No. 10 role and Geoff Cameron would be a consistent figure in the middle of defense or central midfield. 

One of the main reasons why the added criticisms of Klinsmann have come out recently is the failure to earn results against teams from CONCACAF. Entering Tuesday, the USMNT had one win in its last six competitive fixtures. The lone victory came against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in St. Louis to kick off World Cup qualifying on November 13. 

In the last year, the USMNT has failed to reach the championship game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, lost to Mexico in a one-game playoff to qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and saw its under-23s failed to earn an Olympic berth with two rough performances on home soil against Honduras and Colombia. 

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The same team that is experiencing a rough patch of form against its closest geographic rivals will enter the Copa America Centenario in the United States in June. Matches against Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay will be competitive, and there is no guarantee the Yanks will make it out of Group A, even if Klinsmann has a fully fit talent pool from which to choose a 23-man roster. 

Luckily for its sake, the USMNT created some positive momentum on Tuesday with the win over Guatemala, but some of the likely Copa America Centenario participants were a part of the loss to Colombia in the Olympic playoff in Frisco, Texas.

"We’re on track, and now we put (World Cup qualifying) aside for a little while, because now we are all excited and looking forward to the Copa America," Klinsmann said. 

Right now, Klinsmann can only hope that John Brooks, Matt Besler and Geoff Cameron are all healthy and ready to play key defensive roles in June. The tricky balance of wanting to be competitive and bringing new players into the system will decide which midfielders and forwards make the team. 

“Every coach’s wish is to be consistent with his players being available, having everybody at their disposal," the USMNT boss said. "Unfortunately, it is not a reality." 

Regardless of who steps onto the pitch in an American jersey for the Copa America Centenario opener on June 3 against Colombia, Klinsmann needs to find a way to get a string of positive results out of his squad. 

Although there were plenty of celebrations around Columbus on Tuesday following the win over Guatemala, the grim reality of just how average the USMNT is at the moment could reappear when it matters most in June if things aren't fixed between now and then. 

Joe Tansey covers U.S. Soccer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.