Commentary: U.S. Olympic hopes survive, but now face tough test in Colombia

The Olympic dreams of Andreas Herzog’s U.S. U-23 National Team are still alive after a mostly unconvincing 2-0 victory over Canada in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The win now means that the third-place finishers from CONCACAF will play a home-and-away series against CONMEBOL’s Colombia in March of next year. The aggregate winner over those two games will participate in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next summer.

Herzog, if he remains in charge of the U-23s, will certainly have his work cut out for him. While the U.S. showed moments of class, the team still demonstrated a glaring inability to break down a Canadian side intent on staying compact and keeping numbers behind the ball.

+READ: USA continues Olympic Qualifying dream with win over Canada

Unable to connect on their crosses, the U.S. spent much of the first half circulating the ball just outside of Canada’s penalty area, occasionally taking low-percentage shots from distance.

“If you want to be a really, really good team you have to have a lot of variations,” Herzog told the media before the tournament. “Here in the U.S., I expect my team to have good control of the game, dictate the rhythm of the game especially in midfield, create some chances. We have quality players; we have pace and speed up front, so I expect a lot.”

While the U.S. created chances and pinned Canada in their own half, they also failed to punish the Canadians the few times the underdogs dared to venture forward in attack. That inability to adapt to its opponent suggests a team comprised of players rich in technical ability, but lacking in high-level tactical intelligence and awareness.

Surely Herzog must have been disappointed as his team failed to adapt to Canada’s stodgy defensive tactics, tactics which only grew more negative after the Canadians were reduced to 10 men shortly before the end of the first half.

Even in the second half, the U.S. seemed unable to capitalize on their man advantage. Pass after pass in the attacking third failed to yield a quality chance or shot on goal. Canada even managed on several occasions to muster something resembling an attack. In the 68^th minute, one cross only just missed Canadian forward Caleb Clarke.

+READ: US Under-23s trip up in CONCACAF semifinals, missing automatic Olympic qualification

Only a minute later, U.S. and San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Marc Pelosi, deployed in this match as an overlapping fullback, took a hopeful shot from outside the penalty area that managed to beat Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.

U.S. forward Jerome Kiesewetter added a second from the penalty spot in the 84^th minute after being taken down by Crépeau in the box.

But the team’s lack of width, which saw midfielders Pelosi and Matt Polster starting at fullback, was a concern going into the qualifying tournament. Herzog did little to allay those fears when he told the media that “we found a way to create strength through the midfield and with our passing game and with our technical game … we have two, three players who can play wide if we need to have more width in the game.”

Inexperienced defenders like Polster, Pelosi, and converted winger Dillon Serna will surely be tested against the Colombians.

While it may be easy to blame Herzog for his player selection, the players themselves are just as much to blame for the loss to Honduras and their continued offensive struggles against the staunch Canadians.

During the final half-hour of the Honduras match, the U.S. players bypassed the midfield entirely and resorted to playing long balls to Jordan Morris and the other U.S. forwards. This is not a strategy, but rather a regression from players unfamiliar with adapting on the fly to difficult and complex game situations.

+READ: Herzog confident in U.S. U-23 MNT heading into CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying

Watching the U-23s, it’s apparent that this team is more technically skilled than its predecessors. Players like Morris, Kiesewetter, Pelosi and Polster, among others, are all comfortable taking the ball first-time and playing their way out of trouble on the ground.

However, despite producing more athletic and technically sound players, the U.S. has still so far failed to produce players capable of the kind of tactical improvisation and moments of individual creative brilliance that win tightly contested games against teams intent on playing defense.

The U-23s will need to improve in both the wide areas and in the final third if they are going to defeat Colombia and qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. Still, this U-23 team possesses enough talent to give itself a chance.

“That’s a big stage for our young players to show the rest of the world that the U.S. has very talented young players,” Herzog said before qualifying.

In March, the U-23s will get another chance to prove just how talented they really are.