Can any of you soccer Guru's help me out what is that the US lacks compared to the other Elite teams Italy , France , Brazil , Germany etc...
Well, it starts with skill. There's hardly an individual player that would make a top squad's roster. The US lacks players that can sustain possession either through dribbling or midfield passing. Next the US lacks a quality attack. They don't develop very good forwards. We suck at finishing goals. Actually, we struggle to even create many goal-scoring opportunities in the run of play (mainly, the final 1/3rd of the field). Most goals scored by the US are off set-pieces (corners, free kicks, and penalty kicks).
The US is known primarily for their goalkeeping. Never really been an issue (at least since U.S. Soccer became somewhat relevant).
Also, the defense has usually been solid, at least as a unit.
It's really the attack/offense that has been behind. The US often relies on gritty, defensive, workmanlike performances and then capitalize on a couple opportunities (penalty in the box, counter-attacks).
This team against Brazil today looks incompetent. They can't trap passes, they can't string together any possession, they can't defend (just sticking their legs out, not actually moving with the player and waiting to dive in). They look scared. That mentality comes from the top. Bradley went out with a shitty lineup. Where's Adu? He's a brilliant offensive player, who cares if he can't defend (sort of a lame excuse, he's gotten better). This is an exhibition tournament, go out there and try to win.
Time for some new blood at manager. International teams get new coaches all the time. US needs someone to come in and take the team to the next level. The talent is getting better and better each year. Bradley doesn't know how to play to this team's skillset, we have players in the US Player Pool that can have the technical ability (dribbling, passing, shooting) to compete with these top teams. They aren't getting PT and instead sit behind old veterans and a shitty system.