That was much better. And it wasn’t only about playing at home.

Bob Bradley chose to follow only some of my suggestions, but he got the main one right — getting Jozy Altidore into the lineup.

As it turns out, I believe I now understand at least part of what Bradley is trying to do with this U.S. national soccer team:

Make it not only the baddest team in the region, but the biggest, too. And those concepts go hand in hand.

Adding Altidore but keeping Brian Ching gives the U.S. the biggest pair of forwards the country has run out there in a long time. Maybe ever. The only rival pair of monsters up top I can conjure would be Peter Vermes and Bruce Murray, a couple of times, from 20 years ago — and those guys weren’t quite as big as Ching and Jozy, and neither had a fraction of Altidore’s athleticism.

Factor in Michael Bradley at midfield, Oguchi Onyewu and Carlos Bocanegra in central defense, Tim Howard in goal, and the U.S. is brutishly big — by soccer standards — down the middle of the pitch. As well as more than a little ill-tempered, particularly in the form of that berserker, Bradley fils, and Gooch. Clint Dempsey isn’t runtish, and neither is Pablo Mastroeni.

You may have noticed that little guys (that is, most everyone in soccer) don’t like running at big guys, and if you can retain some skill while fielding a physically imposing team, well, then you’re on your way to being truly dangerous.

Anyway, the lineup that Bradley pere ran out there might be the biggest on the planet, among semi-serious soccer nations. Maybe Germany, maybe Croatia or Ghana could match up. Maybe. Something we might not be able to say had Bradley opted for the itty-bitty Jose Francisco Torres at midfield as the replacement for Sacha Kljestan, instead of Mastroeni. Instead of trying to mimic Latin fine-motor skills (and daintiness), he went with the jumbo package, the third-and-1, three-tight-ends package, and it presumably will be the template from here on out.

Bradley solved the problem of midfield distribution by bringing Landon Donovan back to midfield on the left. Donovan remains the country’s best scorer while running at a defense, but he doesn’t represent the target or physical threat that Altidore and Ching do, and he can service them with passes far better than anyone else can help him.(Witness El Salvador 2, USA 2.)

Plus, pushing DaMarcus Beasley to left back could be a breakthrough. He wasn’t sharp, again, but not as shockingly erratic as he was in San Salvador, four days before. Plus, the natural left-footer effortlessly moves to the attack, something Heath Pearce could not do — and something Jonathan Bornstein or Jonathan Spector cannot do.

I like this lineup. And not just because of the results. If Beasley will track back well enough to quell crises that might develop on the left … and if Ching demonstrates he can put away a chance now and then … this could be what the U.S. should go forward with. It gives the team attacking options on both flanks, and the threat of the long ball over the top to Altidore or Ching, and Donovan and Dempsey an opportunity to distribute, as well.

Seven points from three matches is nice. It probably should be nine points, but there was that messy tie in El Salvador that was a function of the environment as well as some lineup shortcomings.

The lineup has been fixed. Next, we find out if it can handle a hostile  environment, as Costa Rica, on June 3. The Yankees never have won there, and the Ticos look like the second-strongest side in the region. That will be a real test.