U.S. lack of depth exposed

Reality bites -- at least it does if you are a fan of the U.S. men's national team and witnessed Germany's 4-1 dismantling of the U.S. on Wednesday. There's no doubt a portion of U.S. fans took overly to heart the recent FIFA rankings lauding the U.S. as the fifth-best team in the world. These same fans also might have believed that even with a distinctly weakened lineup, the U.S. would be able to compete with a full-strength German lineup.

Clearly not. The realists out there expected a result like this was in the making once head coach Bruce Arena announced a depleted roster for the game. With the team devoid of mainstays such as Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride, the result shouldn't have surprised.

With the loss of Landon Donovan to injury in addition, the U.S. team that faced the Germans in Dortmund was closer to a third-string than even a second-string lineup. It's important not to overreact to the outcome because this was nothing close to resembling the team that will line up for the U.S. in the summer.

That said, what positives, if any, can the U.S. take from the game? In his postgame reflections, Arena implied to reporters that playing Germany had been a mistake.

"If I felt that it wasn't the right time for us to play that game, I should have been a little bit strong in saying this is not the right time to play."

I'd disagree with that. This game came at exactly the right time. The caliber of opposition was a welcome step up from the recent friendlies against teams such as Guatemala, Canada and a second-string Norwegian team. The game was a defining moment for many fringe U.S. squad hopefuls whose limitations were exposed. If anything, Arena probably should thank the Germans for making it clear which players just aren't good enough for the World Cup.

Perhaps goalkeeper Kasey Keller put it best.

"What this game proves is who can play at this level and who can't." Keller said after the game.

The other conclusion to draw from the game is that the U.S. continues to lack the caliber of depth in its squad that will elevate it to a permanent place among the world's elite teams.

Take the U.S. midfield for instance -- without the likes of Donovan, Beasley and Reyna on the field, the U.S. is devoid of any semblance of creativity or flair in that spot. Most countries naturally would struggle to replace their key playmaker, or No. 10, with an equal-level talent. However, the drop-off from Donovan to the next-best U.S. playmaker is vast in comparison with the drop-off for, say, Italy, which could replace its No. 10, Francesco Totti, with any of Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Del Piero or Antonio Cassano (if he ever got his head straight).

Although progress definitely is being made in this respect with the new wave of youthful flair U.S. attackers such as Clint Dempsey, Freddy Adu, Lee Nguyen and Sacha Kljestan -- the fact remains that the U.S. squad is still too paper-thin to overcome the absence of its top players. That situation is likely to change in the near future as the new U.S. generation of talent continues to cycle in, but for the U.S. to succeed this summer -- moreso than for the other top teams -- it'll need to stay relatively injury-free.

Here are some other observations from the game:

1. I continue to be amazed at how low German soccer has fallen. This is unequivocally the worst German team I've ever seen, and it's not even close. The remarkable German machine that used to churn out dozens of world-class players has, in the last ten years, failed to produce any significant talent of note other than Michael Ballack. For all the plaudits -- and don't get me wrong, Ballack is an exceptional player -- there's no way he'd be one of the best players on some of the German World Cup squads in the past. For example, a quick glance at the 1982 German World Cup squad, which didn't even win the World Cup, shows the Germans with Lothar Matthaeus, Bernd Forster and Klaus Fischer on the bench in their opener.

2. Despite the second-half horror show by the U.S., the first half was relatively even as the Germans showed a distinct lack of invention and seemed tentative while the U.S. more than held its own. If I were a German fan, I'd still be extremely worried about the German prospects for the World Cup. Who knows what might have happened had the U.S. scored on Eddie Johnson's header, superbly kept out by German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.

3. Johnson continues to look less than his usual self and must be a concern. His contribution to the game was negligible for the most part despite connecting on that near-goal header. Although he seems over his foot injury, his movement off the ball, positioning and predatory instincts seem off. At this point, it's a legitimate worry that his goal streak in the World Cup qualifiers was just a purple patch. If Johnson fails to regain his form, it's more likely we'll be seeing a Donovan-McBride forward tandem during the World Cup.

4. Kerry Zavagnin's hopes for a World Cup roster spot are effectively dead after this game. Although he might be adequate for games against CONCACAF minnows, he's clearly out of his depth against better international competition. Gregg Berhalter also did himself no favors, showing unbelievable nonchalance in failing to pick up a breaking Ballack on the fourth German goal. Arena needs to continue to weed out those who look good only when facing CONCACAF-type opposition.

5. Bobby Convey showed once again that his game is growing by leaps and measures during his renaissance season with Reading. He wasn't spectacular against Germany, but you had to admire his combative, confident and aggressive approach. The U.S. needs more players like him who are willing to run at defenders with the ball and take them on.

6. Why was Bastian Schweinsteiger a sub to begin the game? Schweinsteiger is one of the few German players in the current generation who actually has some semblance of flair and creativity -- it's astounding that, in a must-win situation, coach Jürgen Klinsmann kept him on the bench to begin the game.

7. Despite the unflattering scoreline, the game actually showed the increased level of respect the U.S. has earned around the world. Although Germany beat only a very weakened U.S. team, the German media feted their team after the win and pronounced Klinsmann's job newly safe as a result. Somehow, I doubt a 4-1 win over Azerbaijan would have had the same impact.

8. Cory Gibbs was one of the few bright spots all evening: He showed good pursuit speed, aggression and tackling ability and is clearly fit again. He looks a good bet to open the World Cup for the U.S. with Oguchi Onyewu at center back. However, he's not a left back by any stretch. You could see he wasn't used to the positional responsibility at that spot. Time and time again in the first half, the Germans broke down the right flank into gaping holes vacated by Gibbs, and only some shockingly poor delivery by the Germans mitigated the threat.

9. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or in this case, Onyewu's stock just shot up even further. Even at the Americans' deepest position, Onyewu has established himself as the defensive bedrock in recent months -- and without him, the U.S. defense looked far shakier. I'll be shocked if Onyewu doesn't land himself a big-money move to a top-tier European league after the World Cup.

10. In my view, Revolution midfielder Dempsey is the perfect solution to the void on the U.S. right side. However, I think the jury remains out on Dempsey, and largely through his own fault after his self-induced club suspension. This would have been the perfect game for him to prove to his critics whether he finally had come of age on the international level. A good game against Germany could have seen him nail down the right midfield spot. Details about the cause of the suspension remain murky, but it involved some type of confrontation with Revolution captain Joe Franchino -- maybe Clint has been taking his "gangsta rap" persona from his Nike ad campaign a little too seriously.

Jen Chang is the U.S. editor for ESPN Soccernet.com. He can be reached at: armchairsweeper@gmail.com