Winners and losers of the U.S. men's national team's Gold Cup group stage

The best thing we can probably say about the United States men's national team's group stage at the ongoing CONCACAF Gold Cup is that it's over. Which is kind of a weird takeaway when you've won twice and tied once and clinched the group with a game to spare.

But that's simply how unconvincing the Americans have looked in their three games thus far – a 2-1 win over Honduras, a 1-0 triumph over Haiti and Monday's 1-1 tie with Panama. Per ESPN's stats savant Paul Carr, the USA was outshot 52-20 over those three games against supposedly inferior opposition.

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Rather than forget it ever happened, though, and simply turn our focus to Saturday's quarterfinal, let's digest the individual performances. Because by separating the players who helped themselves from those who didn't, a clearer picture of how this all went down emerges.

Here are our five winners and five losers of this group stage.

WINNERS

Clint Dempsey

Deuce was stripped of his captaincy after an ugly episode in the U.S. Open Cup with his Seattle Sounders, when he ripped up the referee's notebook, was sent off and then suspended for three games in all competitions and at least two years from that tournament. But, as Klinsmann pointed out, he still needed him on the national team for his goals and inventiveness.

That's exactly what Dempsey has delivered. He scored all three goals in the USA's wins and set up the equalizer against Panama with a savvy pass to Alejandro Bedoya, who then found Michael Bradley. While the Texan hardly had anything to prove, he served up a nice reminder of what makes him indispensable regardless.

Alejandro Bedoya

The Nantes midfielder missed the end of his Ligue 1 season with a knee injury and didn't see the field in the first two U.S. games. But when he did finally appear on Monday, he was the lone American to offer any kind of danger in the first half with streaking runs up the right and through the middle. (On one such play, Panama defender Harold Cummings should perhaps have been sent off, had the referee seen the play correctly and blown his whistle.)

In the second half, Bedoya dispatched a sharp, low cross to Bradley for the aforementioned equalizer. The 28-year-old left us with the distinct impression that he should be in the starting lineup for the remainder of this tournament.

Fabian Johnson

As the left back on the first-string back line that was deployed in the first and third games, Johnson was just about the only defender to consistently acquit himself well. He was reliable defensively and a menace going forward, either hurtling up the left or cutting inside.

His attacking prowess is such that Klinsmann has often deployed him as a winger. But in our opinion, Johnson is even more effective when overlapping a midfielder who has cut inside, or drifting towards the middle himself.

Tim Ream

Incredibly, it had been four years since Ream had made a start for the national team. That's in spite of the fact that he was Bolton Wanderers' player of the year for the last two seasons. Certainly, Bolton plays in the Championship now, and that's quite a step down from the Premier League. But all the same, his dependability holds huge value.

And Ream delivered just what was expected of him in the second group game. He was steady in his positioning – defusing an athletic and physical Haitian attack – and ever so reliable on the ball.

Brad Guzan

With Tim Howard still on his sabbatical, Guzan seemed like the obvious choice in goal, following his years-long service as the understudy. But after losing his starting job with Aston Villa late in the Premiership season, Guzan had something to prove when entrusted with his first major tournament between the sticks – and first big-time assignments since a pair of World Cup qualifiers late in 2013.

So far this tournament, he has time and again come up big, particularly in an early barrage by Honduras and a late assault by Hait. He also kept Panama at bay when the Americans were overrun.

LOSERS

Timmy Chandler

Watching him so far this tournament, it's easy to forget how much energy Klinsmann and his staff expended in convincing Chandler to commit fully to the national team. The right back played coy for two years, appearing sporadically before finally accepting a spot on the preliminary World Cup roster and then going to Brazil.

But Chandler has been, well, abysmal during this Gold Cup. He has lost his man again and again, giving away needless chances. And he has been profligate in possession, seemingly making a sport out of losing the ball in his own half.

John Brooks

Klinsmann is high on Brooks, who has plainly matured in his last year or two with the national team. The big central defender has the tools, even if he's a little slow, but he still seems a ways from being the finished product. That's going off his two performances in this tournament, anyway, when his positioning has often been suspect.

Brooks was out to sea again on Blas Perez's goal for Panama, losing his man within yards of the goal and leaving him with a simple tap-in.

Ventura Alvarado

See: John Brooks. Alvarado is a prospect in central defense as well. But at 22 – the same age as Brooks – he is just that: a prospect. He plays for Club America in Mexico and, as such, comes with a rare pedigree for an American defender his age.

But he claimed the bulk of the culpability on both the goals the USA has surrendered so far this tournament. On Carlos Discua's goal for Honduras, he was turned inside out all too easily. And if Luis Tejada was offside when he zipped by Alvarado to set up Perez, he nevertheless had too simple a time of it. At this level, the man with the wonderfully rhythmic name looks overmatched right now.

Mix Diskerud

Believe it or not, but it's been almost half a decade since the mononymous Mix made his debut on the national team. And, tellingly, we're still not sure what to make of him. While he seems capable of performing against lesser opposition, his one start so far, against Haiti, was hardly convincing.

While he seldom gets to play in his natural attacking midfielder position, he doesn't quite seem equipped to play in the two-way role Klinsmann uses him in. Because Diskerud still hasn't convinced very many people that he has the engine or defensive capability to perform in such a job.

Jozy Altidore

First, a disclaimer: Altidore came into this tournament short on match fitness because of yet another hamstring injury. He actually did well enough in the tournament opener against Honduras, when his hold-up play, as often, was crucial. But his movement was very limited and his connection with Dempsey flimsy.

In his second game, Altidore was stationary in a zippy game and came off at halftime, not to be seen again in the third game. He admitted to reporters afterwards that he'd had trouble keeping up. Altidore remains the best – or least-bad – option up front, as he has since he was a teenager, but he had a tough time of it in this tournament. So it was unsurprising that Klinsmann sent Altidore home and replaced him with veteran Alan Gordon on Tuesday, making use of his option to make changes to his roster before the knockout rounds.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.