Before I get started with some gripes, let me just get this out of the way: Gold Cup 2007 was great fun as a whole and the US National Team showed a nice amount of pluck in raising the trophy for the third time in the last four tries.

It was heartening to see the 'Nats plow through finishing troubles, defensive headaches and intermittent energy outages. I was also pleased to see Bob Bradley call out that wastefulness in front of goal ahead of Copa América.

I am glad that Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu can now enjoy a nice rest. Am I the only one who thought they looked tired - and not just physically? Each has had a taxing 22 months, so it's not all that hard to understand why they looked so commanding one moment, then seemed to lose focus the next.

And now the drama...

Hmmmm
Why on Earth are some fans still talking Michael Bradley nepotism (as if the Yank of Friesland hadn't already done well more than enough to justify his ‘Nat involvement), but I'm not hearing too many whines about papa Bradley's overt favoritism towards former Chivas USA charge Bornstein? Somebody help me here.

Please don't confuse my ire for dislike of Bornstein - far from it, I have high hopes for that talented youngster. However, the kid has seemingly been handed a position to lose when he clearly is not an international-caliber left back at this time. Getting regularly turned upfield is a bad problem to have at the highest level, and I kept waiting for Mexico to get Alberto Medina more involved during Sunday's match.

If Heath Pearce doesn't start against Argentina, I will cry foul. It's fine for one to give a real shot to a player that you've spent so much time with; it is quite another to close a race that, to date, demands to be kept wide open.

Ch-ch-ch-changes
As the year has progressed, I've found myself growing great admiration for coach Bradley's ability to alter the course of a game with player and tactical switches - as supremely evidenced by Ricardo Clark's effect on the Gold Cup final.

Still… I can't help but wonder why so many alterations are needed at halftime. Why aren't these wrinkles in the game plan fabric from the opening whistle? Am I subconsciously just looking for areas to criticize in the face of another Gold Cup crown?

I don't believe so. These issues will always come back around, and often not until the stakes have been raised. Now, I may be accused of looking down on our continental battle royale, but the fish to fry do actually come bigger.

Weaknesses will be exposed more quickly when the opponents aren't from a nation the size of New Jersey - which likely would make a better Gold Cup run than El Salvador or the Trinidad & Tobago B- squad.

I Want My 4-3-3!
My regular readers will find no surprise in the fact that I am waiting for this Rinus Michel's tribute to come to life in Red, White & Blue. For five years now, I've felt that the spacing, one-touch interplay and off-the-ball possibilities of Total Football would make the most of our rosters - forgive me for hammering a point, but a hunch builds up over time.

I don't know if our coaches are resisting the temptation or the philosophy as a whole, but the USMNT has looked very sharp on the few occasions that we "went to wingers" (think the first half of last March's Germany friendly until Josh Wolff was subbed out with an injury).

The players aren't the only ones who must raise the boldness of their game at the end of every tournament experience. Christmas tree formations at home against El Salvador in a match where we had nothing to gain or lose are no longer acceptable.

Sure, some will say ‘Hey! We won 4-0 and controlled the game!', and I will respond ‘Was that the only way to get the job done?'. Once again, Bradley was tactically so close to running a 4-3-3, but seemed reticent to actually pull the trigger on it.

The boss has only once found the courage to do what he seems to always be on the edge of doing, that time being the second half of the Denmark friendly which saw a far from full strength USMNT dominate and score twice (admittedly against a B opposition).

4-3-2-1... 4-2-3-1... 4-5-1... What are we waiting for? It's time to let the ascent of our tactics match the ascent of our talent pool. I like steady play as much as anyone, but when Beasley looks as quick out there as he did last week, it's hard not to wonder what might be.

Finishing School
After completing the championship Gold Cup run, coach Bradley sent a public message that the US Men' National Team badly needs to hone its killer instinct in front of goal if it wants to make the leap to the last level.

"For today we can laugh about it, but it is something that has to improve," asserted Da Bob. He is 100% correct because the big tourneys we are now thinking about will require icier veins in the heat of the moment.

I'm not so angry with our strikers as many are, despite the missed chances, and not all the missed chances were by or the fault of forwards. Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson and Taylor Twellman generally did all the right things in approach play during Gold Cup. That being said, coach Bradley's issue with the lack of timely finishing is the kind of thing that has to be remedied when it's time to face the Argentinas and Italys of the world in crunch time.

With his touches and flicks fueling the US build, Twellman looked like a real bona-fide #9 striker these past two weeks - until it came time to slot home from 15. Johnson seems to have cooled a bit, but he is too often having smart diagonal runs ignored. During the first half of the Canada semifinal, I started wondering if Dempsey or Donovan even realized Big Ed was out there with them.

Ching would be my third choice from these MLS hit men because he still makes plays too slowly much of the time (I'm still wondering how he didn't score on Feilhaber's sublime lob feed late in the Mexico game), yet manages to always pull that one difference making moment out of his hat during a game.

Overly defensive tactics against certain teams must also take some of the blame, the 4-3-2-1 against El Salvador being the prime example. Clint Dempsey did yeoman's work leading the line, but far too often was isolated by the cautious formation and had to wait for teammates on the build.

The attack players were too few and too far from the wingbacks, who were virtually "yellow-lighted" on the overlap anyway by the flat three-man midfield (please, never again!), further slowing the attack. When the US was able to effectively move forward quickly, the only thing slowing our breaks were our brakes, used to allow teammates time to enter a threatening position.

The players actually worked the set rather well, but never took the game by the throat until Ching came on after the hour. When tactics inhibit attack numbers, striker production is the first thing to go.

Frankly, I believe all of these guys - throw recent Hammarby slump buster Charlie Davies in with this group if you'd like - will come correct eventually. When forwards expand their repertoire, it's not so strange for an old part of their player personality to take a temporary powder.

None of them forgot how to score goals and all of them are still learning the international game, so let's collectively aspire to supportive patience for now.

Max, Max, Max...
I have long loved the energy Max Bretos brings to his work as a studio host and feature reporter, but good grief, man! Think before you speak in a play-by-play role!

I understand you have far more time to act as guide than during a highlight show, and being colorful in a booming voice is your bread and butter, but you look silly when you announce that Feilhaber played in Scandinavia before Hamburg or that the Gold Cup final "has a World Cup feel to it."

Incidental veers from the course of reality can be overlooked, but the cake was taken when you opined that "Gooch seems an angry man" after a soft card issuance.

No, Max. To everyone else, Oguchi Onyewu seems an engaging, thoughtful, charming man. Flubs are flubs, but this has stuck in my craw ever since you uttered that nasty assessment in the opener. It was officially the first jot on my notepad as I pieced this planned collective together.

Shut down the hyperbole machine and just give us the stuff we love from you. Your enthusiasm has always been contagious, but let's not be passing on any bugs to new USMNT fans.

It's Gotta Be The Shoes
While I'm pushing self-awareness, allow me to send a fashion message to Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman: no matter how cool they look standing still, the yellow boots look like clogs when you run. No foolin'... CLOGS. Just something to consider.

Where do we go from here?
Most observers aren't expecting too much from our Copa América participation. I realize that making the knockouts would qualify as success, and that benchmark will not be lowered because most of the stars aren't around.

I foresee an American effort in Venezuela punctuated by great spirit. Several guys on that roster have a lot to prove and a massive stage on which to do it. Whether that will be enough to survive group play, I don't know. What I do know is that I won't see consolation in the experience if we don't rise to meet it.

Perhaps it's a sneaky good sign of raised expectations and I'm sure coach Bradley isn't done tinkering, but I do expect more team quality from our deepening player pool. Sure, we won every game to bag another Gold Cup (and invitation to the always amusing Confederations Cup), but we did it more with heart than we did it with mind or body.

And then there was all the luck... fortune had a heck of a tourney for us too, let's not forget. I don't mean to sound alarmist or unappreciative of efforts given, and I don't expect perfection every time out. I do expect the constant pursuit of perfection, however.

Like coach Bradley, I expect more as we go.

Greg Seltzer spends his free time playing pick-up soccer at Museumplein and riding around Amsterdam on his bike in search of the perfect döner. You can email him at gseltzer@americansoccerdaily.com