Tyler Adams has lamented the USA's defensive fragility after the Stars and Stripes saw their World Cup dreams shattered by the Netherlands in a 3-1 defeat.
America had won a number of plaudits on their way to qualification for the knockout stages, becoming the only side in the tournament not to have conceded a goal from open play during all three group fixtures. Adams, particularly, can claim to be a big part of that.
Nevertheless, such solidity was crucially absent against Louis van Gaal's side as goals from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries diminished hopes of first World Cup quarter-final appearances in 20 years.
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Adams has been attributed a degree of blame for Depay's opener and the 23-year-old was left to rue such errors. 'When you play a team with so much quality like that and you give them three, four chances, they're going to put three or four away," he said.
Admirable levels of fitness and tactical discipline are now evident in this USA outfit, a stark contrast to the team of 2018 that failed to qualify for the previous edition in Russia.
Boss Gregg Berhalter oversaw a dominative 0-0 draw against England and a pivotal 1-0 triumph over Iran. Onlookers have since taken notice of improved standards across the nation, something that the Leeds United star paid homage to post-match.
Adams added: "We can show that we can hang with some of the best teams in the world, some of the best players in the world, and that's a lot of progress for U.S. soccer. We're moving in the right direction, for sure, but we need to keep pushing because we're not there yet. But we're close."
Replicating his early success for Leeds at club level on the international stage, Adams has been one of the stand-out performers in Qatar. He had covered the most distance and won the most tackles in the competition, whilst also becoming the USMNT's youngest captain at a World Cup since 1950.
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