2014 World Cup: USA vs Azerbaijan: what we learned

Four things we learned from pre-World Cup friendly between Ghana's opponent USA and Azerbaijan. 

Diamonds are for now
So the dust is beginning to settle on USA's first warm up game of this trio of games leading into the World Cup, and we got to see a second successive outing for Jurgen Klinsmann's midfield diamond the formation that offsets putting another attacker up with Jozy Altidore by sitting a midfielder to screen the defense and employing wide midfielders such as Graham Zusi and Alejandro Bedoya who are able to play both sides of the ball.

Some of the sparkle of the diamond was sadly lost just before kick off with the withdrawal of Clint between him and the advancing Bradley was forestalled by the US captain's absence. More on that in a moment.

It also meant that in the first half at least, DaMarcus Beasley and Fabian Johnson tended to stay at home as the wide defenders, though when it became apparent just how deep Azerbaijan were sitting, their replacements Timmy Chandler and DeAndre Yedlin got forward more on the overlap in the second half.

Bedoya and Zusi did well enough to suggest that in terms of their overall contribution to the team, they'll still be the incumbents in those positions for the Ghana game, but with Diskerud replacing the former, and getting a goal, and Davis replacing the latter and taking the set pieces that led to both goals, as well as making several dangerous moves to make himself available all around the Azerbaijan box, Klinsmann was given a pleasant headache.

Klinsmann was also perhaps given just a little bit of ammo when he's asked for the umpteenth time why Landon Donovan wasn't selected. The coach could at least argue that the shuttling work required by the wide men in the diamond was not quite a fit for Donovan. It still seems a stretch but it's at least more conceivable than him being the odd man out in a 4-2-3-1 selection.

There was another positive too in that Jermaine Jones, for all that he looked to fade a little at the end of the game (these players have been playing for their positions and going hard in training for the best part of two weeks, at the end of a long season), largely held his discipline as the screening midfielder. He'll be tested again if the USA line up like this against Ghana's speedy wide players he may end up lunging for one too many balls as he steps across to support his exposed full backs. But the USA do at least have a specialist replacement on the squad in Kyle Beckerman should Jones acquire a yellow too many. The diamond stays for now.

Without Dempsey, Altidore has to find own inspiration

Eventually the USA found a way through against an obdurate but tiring Azerbaijan defense. It took set pieces, but they found a way. What was a real shame was not seeing how a fit and in form Dempsey could have animated the US attack from the start.

As it was, Chris Wondolowski showed willingness when he was thrown into the game without a warm up. He missed a decent chance early and had another header tipped over the bar midway through the first half, but his poacher's movement put a little more subtle pressure on Altidore to work in tighter spaces, than the more surging quick interplay of Dempsey might have done.

Wondolowski got into decent positions though, but like Altidore, he didn't get the ball in the net. Instead Aron Johansson flicked a powerful near post header late on to double the USA lead and do his personal credentials no harm when he was subbed in. The AZ man has just come off a prolific season in the Dutch league (sound familiar?). Johansson has repeatedly said he's better playing with another striker, while had Wondolowski's chances come when he might have expected them i.e. as a late second half sub himself, still working off Altidore but against tiring defenders losing him through his movement in the box, you'd expect him to do better. But in different ways both men showed what they can do playing off another striker.

But still, neither man really showed how they might potentially animate that other striker, and while resting Dempsey at any sign of a twinge made a lot of sense at this stage of the build-up, it was an undoubted anticlimax not to see him attempt to draw Altidore into the game more. As it was, the Sunderland man had one turn and shot on the edge of the box, a few ponderous half chances that never became shots, and some decent hold up play on occasion. The USA need more from him, but without Dempsey, he'll have to find a lot more himself.

The number 10 came good
In an article on Sports Illustrated's blog, Grant Wahl ran through who was likely to take the number 10 shirt for the USA, with the team being obliged to number the squad 1-23 for the World Cup. It meant that one of the more symbolic shirt numbers in the game generally, and certainly a symbolically laden number for the USA given that it was most recently worn by Landon Donovan would have to be worn by somebody. Wahl made a compelling case that there were few American players who would particularly relish the expectation that came with it, before pointing to Mix Diskerud as the most likely candidate less because he'd relish it and more because he was the type of capricious character least likely to be weighed down by it.

Diskerud did indeed suit up in the number 10 shirt, and did indeed seem totally unfazed. After being introduced as a late sub, he scored the opening goal five minutes later, and generally looked like a man who was always willing to take the first-time shot without unduly second-guessing himself. He's done this repeatedly in his US career entering a game for a dynamic-shifting cameo though he hasn't always convinced when thrown in from the start of games. But he was certainly able to slot into one of those wide diamond midfield roles and look dangerous with his movement in the time he was on the field, and he remains one of the more intriguing wild cards Klinsmann has at his disposal.

Diskerud's not a classic number ten by any stretch, but at his best he plays with the type of zest and fearlessness that means that, for example, you might not miss seeing a different number 10 quite as much as you thought you might.

It's hard to simulate the margin for error
There will always be testing moments in international games, though ideally there are few that you bring on yourself, especially when your opponents are of the calibre of Ghana, Portugal and Germany.

So what to make of Matt Besler's sloppy pass that led to Tim Howard having to tip a shot over with a reaction stop? Or the first half foul on the edge of the box that saw a free kick go just to the side of Howard's upright? Or a tired Jones allowing Aliyev to force him off the ball and bear down on goal late on? Or the occasional cheap loss of possession throughout the team, that would have seen a more ambitious and quicker team break in numbers?

In isolation these moments were past quickly and did not interrupt the prevailing impression of US dominance, but in games where the US can expect to be on the back foot a lot more, the pressure surrounding any errors will be a lot greater, and the opposition's ability to exploit them will be exponentially greater too.

So this was one area of the Azerbaijan game where it was hard to draw meaningful conclusions about how effective this formation and USA personnel were. And not the only area Azerbaijan were no match stylistically for anything the USA will face in Brazil. What they were were a reasonably affective sparring partner as the USA worked out some kinks in a game situation. And like good sparring partners they folded pretty much around the time we might have expected a well-drilled but limited team to do so late in the second half.

Turkey won't fold this weekend, and they should ask a lot more direct questions. We'll get a more recognizable model of at least one of the tactical tasks facing the USA, as well as a slightly better simulation of the eventual margin for error they will be working with in Brazil, as the departure tour moves on to Red Bull Arena.