Posted by Heath Harshman

By Heath Harshman- WFD Fan Correspondent

The second friendly of the week for the United States Men's National Team ended in the same result as the first, as they drew 0-0 with Colombia Tuesday night at PPL Park in Pennsylvania. After a sluggish and cluttered first half a few changes from head coach Bob Bradley opened things up in the second half, but the US were unable to get the goal needed for the win. The final pass was missing from both squads throughout the match, which had just four shots on goal.



Midfield

In continuing with the experimental nature of late, Bob Bradley once again put out a tinkered with side that featured Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu and new guy Jermaine Jones. The three started out the game in the midfield of a rare 4-3-3 United States formation. It was a Chelsea-esque diamond three with Edu holding the back while Jones and Bradley pushed forward. Although it was just 45 minutes for the new look trio, there was a lot of clutter and indecision. The three interchanged positions fluidly and often got caught unsure of where the others were. Edu, Bradley and Jones are all supremely talented midfielders and coach Bradley's ability to get all three of them on the field at once will be interesting to watch over the coming months.

Friend of WFD Edu was sacrificed at the half, leaving Bradley and Jones to once again work together in the center of midfield, as they did against Poland at the weekend. With one less man and more space the duo worked pretty well and created a lot more going forward. Jones once again looked very good, getting back in defense well while also spraying passes forward. Saying he has a definite spot of now may be a bit much, but if he continues to play this well it won't be long.



Defense

Another fairly tinkered with part of the side was the back four. With Edu pushed into midfield, Clarence Goodson was paired with Oguchi Onyewu in the center of defense while Jonathan Spector and Heath Pearce took up the fullback positions.

It was a rough start for the defense, who within five minutes had almost allowed a goal, but Brad Guzan did well. The first 15 minutes overall were shaky for the defense, with a lack of communication and cohesion, which is to be somewhat expected in friendlies such as this. After an initial rough patch, that group did a decent job for the rest of the half and was looking comfortable over the last 15-20 minutes.

Two halftime defensive changes were made as former New England Revolution center back Michael Parkhurst and Aston Villa youngster Eric Lichaj came on for Onyewu and Spector respectively. While both did pretty well it was the debutant Lichaj who impressed the most. The 22-year-old Lichaj (pronounced: Lee-high) hustled non-stop and provided an attacking option down the right that had been missing for the first half, often combining well with Holden. He almost set up what would've been the game-winning-goal in the 85th minute after he put a great cross into Altidore, who headed straight at the keeper from six yards out, after a nice overlapping run down the right flank. Cherundolo's age along with Spector's spotty performances just may be enough for a young, attacking fullback like Lichaj to creep into the squad by the time World Cup qualifying begins.



Attack

In the adventurous 4-3-3 that Bradley employed another young player got his debut, FC Dallas winger Brek Shea. Shea worked on the left with Holden our right and Altidore in the center. Shea, unlike Lichaj, seemed to be forcing a lot of his play and struggled to create down the left. Often cutting into the already cluttered center midfield, Shea didn't provide much service to Altidore and left much to be desired. But the 20-year-old was invited for a reason and has done exceptionally well in the MLS and deserves another shot.

Not receiving a whole lot of service from his teammates, Jozy Altidore didn't do much. He looked much livelier, as did most of the team, in the second half after Fulham forward Eddie Johnson came on and paired with Jozy up top. With Johnson doing more of the holding up role, Altidore got into better spaces in the defense and created well with Jones and 59th minute substitute Clint Dempsey, who came on for Stuart Holden.

The seemingly forgotten Johnson played well in his 45 minutes of action, providing another outlet for the midfield, which was desperately needed. Although he is far down the United State's forward pecking order, Johnson did well enough tonight to get another run out for the team, providing he sees time with Fulham.



Verdict

All things considered the match wasn't a bad one for team USA. The rare experimental side of Coach Bradley is interesting to watch and seeing the quick integration of Jermaine Jones into the midfield will excite many US fans. More from Altidore would've been nice, as would more going forward from the Edu-Bradley-Jones midfield, but the clean sheet with a newer defense is a welcomed sight. Here's to more invention and tinkering from Bob Bradley on November 17th against South Africa in Cape Town.