The USMNT boss largely stacked his lineup against Ecuador, and got a glimpse into what a successful World Cup run could look like

In 2013, then-Manchester United manager David Moyes was asked in a news conference where his Red Devils needed to improve. It was simple, he admitted.

"We'd like to pass it better. We'd like to create more chances, we'd like to defend better when those moments arise. I don't think it's any one area, we're just trying to improve all around," Moyes said.

That clip went viral. The easy summary: Man United were rubbish, and their out-of-depth manager needed his team to improve in every possible footballing capacity. They were underperforming. Everything, yes, everything needed to be better.

And over much of the past year, it's been hard not to feel that way about Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT, too. There were countless individual ideas at play - especially in the Gold Cup and September's friendly with South Korea - but nothing really cohensive to be found. He had a sort of system, with a sort of full strength squad, playing sort of soccer.

It was all seemingly verging on a vanity project. Here was Pochettino, "changing the culture" doing things his way, and, well, losing nearly as often as winning. And no, Pochettino didn't win against Ecuador on Friday. But he certainly came a lot closer.

It was about as close to a complete performance as the U.S. have turned in during his tenure. Some of it, to be sure, is tactical. There is a formation now, a clear set of ideas to work with. Some of it is man-management. But perhaps most importantly, Pochettino has loosened his grip - albeit slightly.

"We are here talking about actions, concepts, formations, things like this now," Pochettino said. "After one year, I am so happy that we don't talk about other things like commitment, attitude or things that, in the past, we've had to talk about. I think that is a massive step up."

The U.S. has a lot of good players to work with, and Pochettino, finally, has elected to use them. And even if the result wasn't quite there, the soccer was. And that might mean more than any individual win.