The U.S. may have been missing some key players, but a sluggish friendly defeat to Japan raises more questions ahead of the group stage in Qatar.
A Friday friendly that kicked off uncharacteristically early in the U.S. proved to be a sobering, and perhaps useful, wake-up call for the American men.
Gregg Berhalter wants his young team to play aggressively and direct, pressing the opposition into mistakes and then capitalizing with quick runs and passes behind the defense. He wants the field tilted, and to that effect, he has said repeatedly that he plans to deploy a high back line in Qatar.