"All it took was one shaky performance" in a 2-2 tie at El Salvador for the U.S. men's national team to go from an "unstoppable force that should cruise to a place in the 2010 World Cup" to a "flawed power with some problems that need correcting" heading into Wednesday's home match with Trinidad & Tobago, writes ESPN Soccernet's Ives Galarcep.

Despite the display of heart that brought the USA back level for what could be a valuable point, Galarcep points to the previous 70 minutes as an "otherwise uninspired effort" and expresses cause for concern that "several starters have fallen into ruts that leave you wondering if it is time for Coach Bob Bradley to look elsewhere for starting options."

Calling out the likes of midfielder Sasha Kljestan and DaMarcus Beasley and defender Heath Pearce for sub-par performances, Galarcep suggests help in the form of Jose Francisco Torres, Jonathan Spector and Jozy Altidore and re-emphasizes the impact that the return of Tim Howard and Oguchi Onyewu should have on the shaky U.S. defense from last Saturday.

 

Read the original story...