4 things we learned from the defeat of the USMNT in Colombia

The men's national team of the United States had great moments Thursday night, but more negative in a defeat 4-2 against Colombia. If you missed one of the highlights, you can find them all here. Below, a deeper dive into four things that really stands out from the game.

The struggles of Antonee Robinson

World-class left-backers with World Cup experience would not have envied Antonee Robinson's position on Thursday night. He was confronted with James Rodriguez, who likes to fight his way inside the right wing. The Colombian side-back, Santiago Arias, is constantly advancing and overlapping. And every time Colombia wants to give Robinson something different to look at, she would send back traditional winger Juan Cuadrado on that side. The three players removed Robinson from his position or beat him repeatedly face to face.

The attack from Colombia resulted in Robinson's individual error against another great striker, Carlos Bacca. Once Robinson has lost his fight, his teammates can not recover.

"You have to do this game," said USMNT head coach Dave Sarachan, about Robinson's mistake after the game. "Listen, I credit them with playing a play, but I think in those cases we would expect us to play that play."

Robinson's struggles were the main topic of discussion at the post-match press conference, and Sarachan was very honest about the performance of his left back.

"We were not able to convince the players and stay in what I would call a better position in the zone," said Sarachan. "Thus, Antonee was intercepted from time to time, which allowed the rear right back to progress. And I did not think the coordination was very good. "

It's the second time in three games that Robinson is heavily exposed to a higher-level opponent after his poor performance against Brazil. But Robinson is also a 21-year-old who has made his fifth appearance on the national team and has not yet played in a top-tier club at the English Championship. Sarachan was waiting for growth pains and seems ready to let Robinson control them.

"These games are perfect for everyone, but for a guy like Antonee, they are essential for his growth," said Sarachan. "I think he's smart, he has qualities that will allow him to learn from all these games. This is the investment you are making now for the future. "

But competitive games are multiplying fast. And with the way he plays now, it would be hard to justify giving Robinson the start in a Gold Cup match against Mexico or Costa Rica. He will have to improve dramatically with Wigan Athletic during the rest of the season.

More Tim Weah left, please

Tim Weah had a spectacular climax with this help for Bobby Wood's goal.

Weah started the game right, as he did for his other appearances in the national team, but he and Kenny Saief changed wing at halftime. Weah was a proponent of change: "It's always weird for me to play right because I prefer to play on the left," he said after the game.

That's not to say that Weah is opposed to playing right. He is quick to say that he will do everything the coach tells him, and he mentions that he also gets along well with DeAndre Yedlin, on the right. "I like playing a lot with DeAndre," says Weah. "He follows my pace. We have good relationships, he is one of my best friends on the team. "

But the pass like the one he made to Wood is not the one he seems to see on the right. He looks better at cutting and playing through the balls than to hit the defenders until the end and make a cross. Hopefully he will have more opportunities to show it in the future.

Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams spots seem secure

Kellyn Acosta scored a goal against Colombia. It was a good goal! It was cool!

But midfielder Acosta-Bradley, as a whole, seemed rather surpassed by Colombia. The pair managed to finish zero central passes in the last third. This is partly because Colombia has made it difficult and partly because it was Julian Green's most important job, but your central midfielders have to prove you right. Something in this regard.

via Opta and MLSSoccer.com

There was also … uhhh … anything from Michael Bradley.

Sarachan criticized Robinson for his criticism of this goal, and he certainly made the biggest mistake, but look at Bradley. He was 20 meters ahead of Radamel Falcao at the start of the attack, but he jogged, did not see Falcao arrive, and then was burned. By an older guy who has seen his career derailed as a result of serious knee injuries. This is a bad look for someone who is ostensibly on the team for the purpose of veterans leadership.

Acosta, to his credit, is criticized after the match. "I focus on the small details," he said. "I certainly could have played a lot better, I could have been cleaner and helped my team recover the ball a little more often."

"In the midfield, we put pressure on, but not enough, to win the ball and make it more uncomfortable for Colombia," said Acosta.

Acosta will probably have another game against Peru next week and he will have to improve to keep his place in the starting lineup. His goal was very good, but his overall performance was not enough to make Sarachan or his successor think about abandoning the two midfielders missed by Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams.

On the crowd

A healthy crowd of 38,631 people showed up Thursday night at the Raymond James Stadium, the largest ever to have ever attended a match of the United States Men's National Team in Tampa, Florida. It was not that they particularly went to the USMNT – about 95% of those in attendance wore Colombian shirts.

But that does not mean that the crowd was hostile. It was full of Colombian Americans who seemed to like both teams a little bit. USMNT defender Matt Miazga had an excellent perspective on this phenomenon.

"When you really listen to the crowd, she wears a yellow jersey but she also supports us," said Miazga. "When we scored, the whole stadium supported us. During the national anthem, the whole stadium sang "The Stars and Stripes". There are yellow sweaters, but that's the reality of our country. There are so many different nationalities and we are very diverse. They did not boo, they supported us too. They were supporting a good football game with two good teams. "

Given the really stupid conversations we had following the USMNT's loss to Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena in front of a pro-Ticos crowd, it was extremely refreshing.