Jurgen Klinsmann has called on his United States players to toughen their mental approach as he begins to plot the long road towards the 2018 World Cup.
Klinsmann and the United States exited Brazil 2014 on Tuesday after losing 2-1 to Belgium in a thrilling last 16 game which exploded into life during extra-time.
The Americans, who had confounded pre-tournament predictions by qualifying from a group which also contained Germany, Portugal and Ghana, ran Belgium to the wire and almost equalised as they fought back from 2-0 down.
While Klinsmann was delighted with his team's performance, the former German international wasted no time in looking forward to the challenges ahead.
A busy schedule sees the US play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup regional tournament next year before a 2016 which includes the Centennial Copa America, staged in the United States, and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Beyond those events looms the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which Klinsmann said he plans to stick around for.
But before then, Klinsmann wants to see his team adopt a harder mental edge.
While basking in the success of their Brazilian campaign, Klinsmann believes his players are guilty of showing too much respect to opponents.
"We are still in the process of learning to take our game to the opponent," he said. "No matter what their name is, we cannot just wait too long to start our game.
"I think there is a little bit too much respect when it comes to the big stage -- why not play them eye-to-eye? I don't know how many years that takes to change but it's something we have to go through. The players have got to realise they have to take it to the opponent.
