United States, Klinsmann wrestle with fallout after Gold Cup failure

ATLANTA

Inquisitions inevitably follow in the wake of an unexpected defeat. There were no allowances made for the United States men's national team ahead of Tuesday's CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal against Jamaica. There were none demanded from a team expected to retain the title and secure a direct berth into the FIFA Confederations Cup in two years. Those circumstances provoke scrutiny in the wake of a setback like the one incurred on Wednesday.

In absolute terms, the Americans fell short of the standard established long ago. They outlined a reasonable goal and failed to meet it. The nature of the demise — a semifinal loss to a determined, organized and ultimately limited opponent not named Mexico — rankled.

“It’s not nice to swallow, but it is what it is,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said after the 2-1 defeat at the Georgia Dome. “You cannot change it anymore. Then we keep building, we keep progressing, we keep working hard to go towards World Cup qualifying at the end of the year and it starts all over again.”

The focus on the future is a necessity at this stage. It extends well beyond the third-place match against Panama on Saturday (live, 4 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 2, FOX Sports Go) to the considerably more important challenges ahead.

Klinsmann faces no threat to his job as coach and technical director in the wake of a good run of results over the past few months (seven wins in the previous eight matches, including victories over Germany, Mexico and Netherlands) and his long-term contract with the federation through the 2018 World Cup. His overall record justifies that security, even as the scrutiny surrounding his overall impact on the program increases after this setback. He is instead charged with devising the next step after the performances were found wanting in this tournament.

The first step revolves around determining the extent of the issues exposed by the defeat. Is this affair against Jamaica a one-off result on a night when two poor errors placed the Americans in a difficult hole against an impeccably composed team in the midst of its best Gold Cup showing? Or is it a symptom of greater limitations within the ranks and the lingering flaws limiting the side in these sorts of situations?

If the latter question holds more weight in the final accounting, then Klinsmann must weigh how to rectify the quandary. It is a dilemma that extends through selection issues (picking players with higher ceilings to target greater production in the future instead of plumping for established players with more modest potential to safeguard instant results) and tactical concerns (figuring out how to extract the most from a team without a designated number 10, another trusted holding player behind Kyle Beckerman or a robust force to replace Jozy Altidore up front if he is unavailable).

There are no simple or instant solutions available to those concerns. The Gold Cup squad — with a handful of exceptions — represents the best available options to Klinsmann. There are no instant salves lingering out there, no silver bullets to sweep through and erase all of the apparent hindrances. It is tempting to point here or there to dole out blame or wonder whether a particular alteration might make a substantive difference (and, yes, the balance in central defense is an issue), but those fantasies diverge from the realities of a team that relies on its collective strength and the influence of key performers Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey to win games.

What is clear is the need to extract more from this team in a competitive setting. This tournament mandates application and grit to slog through these games, but it also requires the favored side to stamp its authority on matches to ease the way. That menacing streak arrived only in flashes — the quarterfinal against Cuba, the second half against Jamaica and other occasional stretches through the group stage grind — during the tournament. It is all well and good to soak up pressure and thrive on the counter against better opponents, but this group came up short when asked to carry more of the burden.

It is now on Klinsmann and this group of players to avoid this fate in the future. There is a new target on the board now, even after missing out this last one. There are decisions to be made about the composition of the side in the months ahead. There is also a keen appreciation for the need to channel the anger and the discontent stemming from this defeat and use it to push toward the next objective.

“It’s very disappointing, it’s very frustrating,” Bradley said. “But we have no divine right to be in the final. We certainly didn’t think that. We knew from the get-go that this was going to be an extremely difficult tournament. It was. We’ll continue to move ourselves forward, to push, to improve. It’s disappointing not to get ourselves to the final, but we’ve earned our way into the playoff for the Confederations Cup berth in October. We’ll let these other teams battle it out. Whoever it is come October, we’ll be ready to play a big game to get ourselves to that tournament.”

It is a necessity now. The fallout from this exit demands a considerable response. It is down to Klinsmann and his players to produce it before another objective slips away.