BRENT LATHAM – Well, that wasn’t so bad. A game that had the potential to get ugly in the first half turned on the strength of a halftime formation adjustment from Bob Bradley, and the Americans more than saved face in the final 45 minutes, coming away with a well earned 1-1 draw at the New Meadowlands.

Here are a couple off-the-cuff observations:

Is Bob Bradley a Tactical Wizard or a Bit Behind the Curve?

The match continued a trend from last summer’s World Cup. The U.S. looked awful for 45 minutes only to regroup and play light years better in the second half, after a couple early personnel changes.

This time Timothy Chandler came on to add a threat down the right side, but even more important was the switch to a 4-4-2 from the disastrous 4-5-1 starting lineup that meant the U.S. had the ball for about two minutes in the first 45.

The second half was much better, obviously. So does that make Bob Bradley a genius, or simply a coach that seldom seems to get it right from the start? You make the call.

That particular three man midfield isn’t gonna work.

Edu, Jones, and Bradley do not make a good combination. They are too similar to each other. And when Edu is the second closest American to the opposing goal for most of a half, it’s a good bet things are aren’t going to go well offensively.

That doesn’t mean a 4-5-1 (or 4-2-3-1) wouldn’t ever work for the U.S. Stuart Holden is the man to help change that, but alas, that time is now far off, once again. But if you have to play three central mids, you need a more aggressive attacker somewhere in the mix.

So the time for copping out and choosing all three is over. Bradley’s gonna have to man up and choose two.

Speaking of which, is Bradley Jr. the right choice?

I’ve mentioned this before, but I just don’t see how, if he’s not playing at Aston Villa, Michael Bradley can remain a constant 90-minute man for the USMNT.

Bradley played pretty well for a guy that hasn’t seen much action in the last three months, but he was significantly winded by midway through the second half. For that matter, I didn’t see much to separate his first half performance from that of Jermaine Jones, except that Jones seemed the surer tackler – something of profound usefulness under these circumstances.

So why was Jones sacrificed at half time and not Bradley? Other than experience with the first unit, hard to think of a valid reason.

Let’s try to not get too excited about Agudelo yet.

The kid played well and his presence changed the game, but I think anyone up front alongside Jozy would have helped. Agudelo tipped in his chance and that’s to his credit, but he also made a number of mistakes you would expect a young player to make in terms of giving up possession cheaply and in bad spots.

Agudelo looks confident and clever and has a bright future, but he still needs some serious seasoning. It’s only the lack of depth at forward that has seen him thrust too soon into the full national team mix. Let’s hope he can continue to handle it as well as he has so far.

Maybe let’s get a little excited about Timothy Chandler instead.

The young German American feels like such a bonus, having come out of nowhere and all to make his first Nats appearance already. And the kid has some serious skill to show on the right flank.

For the first few minutes he looked a bit out of place, but Chandler settled in and provided a dangerous attacking presence on the right side for the rest of the match. His speed will get him around most defenders and his crossing looks crisp, precise and confident. To me he looks more like a right sided mid in a 4-4-2 than a defender – his positioning and tackling needed some improvement — but Chandler will add to the USMNT program for years to come. Good news.

by Brent