In the evolving court of USMNT public opinion, the USA's 1-0 quarterfinal escape against Curacao will not go over particularly well. The performance has largely been derided among a mercurial fanbase, which teeters between optimism and end-of-days outrage over squad decisions. 

Barely skimping by porous Carribbean opposition, no matter how tenacious that opposition was, is a cause for at least some amount of concern. The U.S. should do better. They have Christian Pulisic, likely the best player in this entire tournament, and a team that comes close to full strength, minus three obvious contributors (Tyler Adams, DeAndre Yedlin, John Brooks). Curacao are scrappy and up-and-coming, but they don’t approach the USA’s depth and talent. 

The end goal here is not simply winning the 2019 Gold Cup, and everyone knows it. Gold Cups that take place three years before the next World Cup always feel experimental, even unimportant. (The tournament only feels that way for the USA and Mexico, we should remember). If the U.S. doesn’t win it all, it would be fairly disappointing, and a lot of people would overreact. But as long as Berhalter is moving things forward — incorporating players, doing all sorts of tactical stuff, etc. — we’ll be OK.

There is something to be said for grinding out a 1-0 win against tricky opposition. The U.S. never underestimated Curacao, or grew complacent after the cathartic group-stage blowout of Trinidad and Tobago. Gregg Berhalter was pleased after the game. A win is a win, and these tournaments — with games sandwiched together — are built for these kinds of results, not necessarily the joyful 6-0 demolitions.

Regardless of how dismal the U.S. looked at times, it wasn’t really that bad. They held a lead and generally restricted Curacao’s quality chances on goal, outside of a wonderful diving Zack Steffen save. Had Curacao keeper Eloy Room not made a circus stop on Pulisic early in the game, the U.S. might have enjoyed more of a convincing win. 

All that said, there are real and important lessons to be learned from this match. Namely: Berhalter has to ingrain defensive pressing triggers and perhaps find a way to maximize his preferred 4-4-2 defensive shape. Curacao kept far too much easy possession, especially in the second half. The U.S. did little to deter slow passing sequences out of the back and faltered when Curacao broke lines in the midfield.

Defending from the front is important. Berhalter emphasizes counter-pressing a lot, but you can’t counter-press without first being able to press. The U.S. looked as though they lacked clarity on how exactly they should approach trapping Curacao and preventing clean defensive-zone exits — a hockey reference, but you get the point. 

Gyasi Zardes ended up running a lot with little purpose, and the deeper center mids (Weston McKennie and Michael Bradley) found themselves pulled out of the center to deal with Curacao’s habit of dropping possession deep and then passing through space. When McKennie or Bradley ventured out, Curacao had an easier time freeing its midfielders on the turn. 

The U.S. pressed only to the minimum extent. They hung out around Curacao’s possession but didn’t actually do anything to disrupt it. The 4-4-2 defensive shape, with Pulisic shifting up top next to Zardes, can weaponize dogged wingers (a la Paul Arriola), but it can also jeopardize the central midfield unless pressing triggers are on point. We saw little indication that there were even pressing triggers at all against Curacao.

Pressing does not have to be rocket science, but when you’re the U.S. men’s national team playing a Carribean minnow, you have to be able to cut off lanes and force turnovers high up the field. At the very least, you cannot let the minnow maintain the majority of possession and finish with five more shots than you.

Berhalter, for all his post-game optimism, knows these things and will take them into account. He is a cerebral manager who knows what he is doing. The U.S. will improve at tactical things like pressing as time goes on.

Jamaica presents tougher opposition in the semifinal. We know the Reggae Boyz have a history of upending favorites in Gold Cup semifinals. Berhalter should continue to evolve and add needed wrinkles. He should start Jozy Altidore over Gyasi Zardes, and hopefully improve the USA’s defense from the front — although plenty of the latter initiative falls on the players. Add it to the list of things to clean up as the USMNT sorts itself out.

Harrison Hamm is a sportswriter who covers American soccer and MLS for FloFC. He also covers sports for FanSided and The Comeback, and has freelanced for the Washington Post.