Jozy Altidore admitted that the United States' attempt at a 3-5-2 formation in their friendly loss vs. Chile proved difficult for a team with several new parts and players at a variety of fitness levels.
The U.S. No. 17 got in the scoring column along with teammate Brek Shea in a 3-2 away loss to Chile. The hosts looked dangerous throughout and capitalized on two, second-half Mark Gonzalez goals to secure the win.
As Jermaine Jones hinted last week at the squad's Los Angeles-based training camp, the team had been experimenting with a 3-5-2 formation with Jones at center-back.
"With the 3-5-2, I think, it was difficult because we had a lot of guys in camp," said Altidore. "[We had] younger guys from the Olympic team, and also guys that hadn't been around, and we were just trying to see if we could play that formation.
"Obviously in the first half we allowed them too much time and space to pick out a man, especially in the wide areas, so we tried to switch back to the more comfortable, which is the 4-4-1-1, 4-4-2, but we just couldn't [get] a rhythm.
"That's what it came down to, we couldn't keep ahold of the ball."
The United States did look dangerous at times, with Matt Besler hitting Shea with a long ball for the first goal just six minutes in, and Altidore, DeAndre Yedlin and Mix Diskerud connecting on a sequence that ended with the second goal on the night for the U.S.
"It's a great play from DeAndre individually," said Altidore on the Fox Sports 1 postgame show. "First to get the throw-in and then Mix had the vision to pick me out. It was all about the build-up, a great pass from Mix and then I just tried to pick a spot and then put it there."
The goal may have come as a relief to Altidore, who recently completed a transfer back to Toronto FC and MLS after 18 fruitless months with Sunderland in the English Premier League, and he responded to those who suggested he should have stayed in Europe.
"I don't see how coming back to a place where you're going to get games, a place where there's a lot of expectations to win finally, in that type of market, I don't see how that can hurt somebody," said Altidore. "Maybe I'm seeing totally the wrong thing, but I think it's going to be a very big component for myself."
The U.S. striker looked comfortable up top, linking up repeatedly with new TFC-teammate Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey, and showing an impressive work rate all around the pitch.
"I'm just trying to help out. When you see a hole, you see a gap you try to help out," he said. "Look, a lot of us coming back to MLS, they don't have their legs yet.
"We're all kind of coming in preseason form so it's not going to be perfect, but the good thing is that we got a good 90 minutes under our legs, and we need to bounce back against Panama at home."
The United States play Panama in their next friendly on Feb. 8, at 5 p.m. ET at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.