The US got the result they needed, but there's still plenty to be concerned about on the road to South Africa.
The US carried the play for the better part of the first half. This was important, but it's hard to extrapolate much from doing so against El Salvidor. However, they were not able to get any goals out of this advantage, so when Jonathan Bornstein botched a clearance in the 32nd minute and El Salvador took advantage, the US fell behind in yet another home qualifier.
Now to their (mostly Landon Donovan's) credit, they came back, attacked aggressively, and ended up with a 2-goal lead before halftime. However, the fact that their first goal wasn't disallowed was a minor miracle. On their free kick, El Salvador pulled an offsides trap, catching 2-3 Americans offsides. However, Clint Dempsey snuck through from an onsides position and headed the ball into the net. The no call was absolutely correct, but Michael Bradley was close enough to Dempsey that it was a needless chance. Bradley should have turned away from the play and gotten out of there when he saw the ball coming near him. Luckily, it didn't result in the unnecessary disallowing of a goal (this would come later).
The real problem came after about the 60th minute, as the US decided at that point to sit back, give El Salvador unencumbered possession until they were about 25-30 yards out, then attack the ball. I said this after the Mexico game, and I'll say it now, you beat Spain, the #1 team in the world, by attacking them in the middle of the midfield, forcing them out wide, and not letting them get comfortable. Against Mexico, the US did NOT do this, and they lost despite staking themselves to a 1-0 lead. Against El Salvador, who is not even close to the calliber of Spain or even Mexico, the US did the same thing, and it allowed El Salvador a handful of strong chances. If you don't trust you players to aggressively hold a lead agianst El Salvador, how can you expect to do it against real teams? Or, asked another way, if you DO trust your players to aggressively defend against Spain, how can you NOT trust them to do so against a team like El Salvador.
In truth, the US beat El Salvador 3-1, at least according to everyone except the Honduran* referee. At about the 58th mintue, Clint Dempsey poked the ball ahead to Jozy Altidore who shook off a defender and put the ball in the back of the net. It was a clean goal, yet it was called back for a reason that was never explained, either to the American broadcasters or the coaching staff. The call could not have been offsides (and everyone remarked the linesman's flag did not indicate that was the call), and any call against either Dempsey or Altidore would have had to be made up. The whistle was indefensible, and immediately shoots up the list of terrible calls.
So where does this leave the US? Well Costa Rica's home loss to Mexico leaves the US and Honduras tied at 13 points and Mexico and Costa Rica tied with 12 points. Since only the top 3 get guaranteed berths, the US needs a win on Wednesday against Trinidad and Tobago. A tie will make things difficult, and a loss (aside from being unthinkable, it's Trinidad and Tobago) would be catastrophic. Even a win won't clinch anything, but ideally it would put 4 points between 1st place and 4th place.
The US gets Onyewu back for the T&T matchup, which will hopefully allow Bradley to aggressively defend the midfield. If the US doesn't do so, I will begin losing my faith in Bob Bradley. I'm assuming the excuse against Mexico was the altitude (which is terrible, but whatever), and the excuse against El Salvidor was the absence of Onyewu and DeMerrit. There will be no excuse against T&T. Do it Bob.
*Yes, the same Honduras who (like the US) is locked in a 4-team struggle for 3 guaranteed berths to the World Cup. I'm not saying the ref was actively on the take, I'm just saying the whole setup smells a little funny.
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