By Richard Snowden

Perhaps the single best word to describe the U.S. national team's performance against Mexico this past Wednesday is tentative.

The 2-2 draw between the heated rivals before a sellout crowd of more than 70,000 at Houston's Reliant Stadium provided many of the trappings one would expect from a U.S.-Mexico encounter, including plenty of passion both on and off the pitch, but the result flattered the Yanks much more than their visitors from the south.

Both teams took some time to get settled into the game, but once they did, the Mexicans consistently displayed greater technical skill and composure with the ball, dominating possession for long periods and creating the lion's share of quality scoring opportunities.

Surprisingly, that factor wasn't what stood out for U.S. coach Bob Bradley.

"Against their pressure, our ability to play faster, connect faster, that's certainly something, an area we want to improve," Bradley said after the match. "Tonight, the main thing for me is the ability to play faster."

There's no denying that speed is an important factor, but Bradley appears to be placing more weight on it than it really merits. After all, if speed were the most important thing in soccer, England would have a lot more than one World Cup victory under their belt.

But they don't – instead, it is teams like Brazil, Italy and Argentina that have taken home most of the recent world titles on offer. And while these teams can certainly play with some pace, the defining characteristic that connects them (and the main thing that makes them so successful) is the abundance of technical skill their players possess.

In that department, the Mexicans clearly have the advantage over their northern rivals. Particularly instructive were the respective left-flank battles, which saw Bobby Convey, one of the more skillful U.S. players on offer, get nowhere while his Mexican counterpart, 18-year-old Carlos Vela, simply embarrassed Drew Moor all evening.

Simply put, the Americans had no answer to the Mexicans' skillful play for most of the game. While Vela and company confidently stroked the ball around, the U.S. midfield struggled merely to gain possession, much less hold it. Under pressure, the Americans had the look of deer in headlights; the Mexicans, by contrast, frequently escaped from U.S. challenges unruffled with a tricky juke or quick turn.

Things changed somewhat for the better late in the game, when Bradley brought on Benny Feilhaber and Freddy Adu. Their respective introductions seemed to provide a bit of a spark, as Feilhaber settled things down in the middle and improved the Yanks' link-up play while Adu's skillful dribbling caused some problems for Mexico's back line.

The difference was clear. Feilhaber and Adu provided a booster shot of technical ability that had been missing for most of the game. On balance, however, the U.S. team generally played a scrappy game devoid of inspiration and was lucky to escape with a tie.

Much-ballyhooed Landon Donovan, ostensibly the most technically gifted U.S. player, was supposed to torment Mexico with his pace and passing, but instead demonstrated his alarming tendency to disappear under pressure once again. He showed very little beyond a couple of decent runs along the flank, and his assist on Oguchi Onyewu's opening goal was far more Hail-Mary fluke than skillful delivery.

Fortunately, Donovan's allergy to pressure was nowhere to be seen in Jozy Altidore. Earning just his third cap at age 18, the promising young striker grabbed his chance with both hands, showing both skill and strength in frequently outfoxing no less a defender than Barcelona stalwart Rafael Marquez and scoring his first U.S. goal on a superb header late in the first half.

His strike partner, Clint Dempsey, also had a decent outing, running fearlessly at Mexico's defenders and scoring a nice goal from distance that was disallowed on a fractional offside call. Like Altidore, Dempsey showed flashes of the kind of skill that the Americans badly need in order to make the jump to the next level, although he would surely be more comfortable (and dangerous) on the wing than up front.

At the other end, Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra had possibly their best performance as a center back tandem, plugging gaps well and stifling dangerous Mexican forays on several occasions. Tim Howard, who has struggled at times this season in England's Premier League, was another bright spot, commanding his box well and denying several strong efforts from Mexico's attackers.  

Beyond those five players, however, the U.S. starting 11 left a lot to be desired. Convey and Donovan were largely invisible on the wings. Michael Bradley, a terror these days in the Dutch Eredivisie, struggled to put his stamp on the midfield, as did his partner, Ricardo Clark. Having surrendered the entire midfield to their foes, the Yanks were left to lob aimless balls over the top, betraying their lack of both skill and ideas.

The Mexicans, on the other hand, showed plenty of both and were aided considerably by Bob Bradley's appalling decision to deploy Moor and Ramiro Corrales as outside backs.

Despite a nice cross on Altidore's goal, Moor's overall performance at right back was simply abysmal. Vela turned him inside out almost at will, and he lost track of Jonny Magallon on both of the set pieces from which Mexico scored. With preferred options Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Simek and Jonathan Spector unavailable, one was left wishing for Marvell Wynne, who is still a work in progress but offers far greater upside.

Things were just as bad on the left side, where Bradley inexplicably inserted Corrales, a veteran on the wrong side of 30. Like Moor, Corrales struggled and floundered all night, beaten often by Mexican attackers and offering zero support on offense. Meanwhile, Heath Pearce, a better-quality left back in his mid-20s, languished on the bench, leaving one to wonder what happened to Bradley's emphasis on youth.

In any event, some will inevitably argue that several top U.S. players were missing while Mexico had most of its preferred lineup available in an attempt to explain away the result. Don't buy it. As we have seen countless times before, regardless of which players are in the lineup for either side, the telling difference between the teams is technical skill.

In every other respect, the Americans have closed the gap on their main rivals, but technical ability is elusive, for it cannot be taught. U.S. players are among the best trained in the world, but raw skill must be honed by trial and error, which is wholly unwelcome in the existing U.S. development system due to an overemphasis on results.

The overriding goal of winning games at youth levels encourages coaches to emphasize team organization, physical play and minimizing mistakes. As a result, gifted prospects are discouraged, even derided for trying to play with flair. In most other countries, such as Mexico, pickup games engender skill early on and youth coaches tend to bring prospects along based on their potential rather than a desire for immediate results.

In every meeting between the U.S. and Mexico, we can see the results. Win, lose or draw, Mexican players are more comfortable under pressure and exploit gaps far better than the Yanks due to their superior technical skill. It is the difference in these games, and it plays a huge role in Mexico's ability to beat highly skilled superpowers like Brazil or Argentina on occasion, while the Americans invariably struggle against such sides.

One hopes that U.S. youth coaches and administrators have taken note of this red flag by now, for it certainly isn't anything new. Unless they do so, and give gifted youngsters like Altidore and Adu more opportunities to develop their natural abilities, the Yanks will struggle to make the transition from pretenders to contenders on the world stage.              

HAVE YOUR SAY
Is the U.S. still lagging behind Mexico and other countries in regards to technical ability?  What can be done to improve the creative play of the Red, White and Blue?  Or is Snowden just blowing off steam?  Send your emails to Soccer365.