HARRISON, N.J.—Serious questions surround the U.S. Soccer’s direction but Jurgen Klinsmann says he still wants to establish a proactive style and integrate younger players into the team.

Against Mexico on Saturday night, the U.S. had neither. It was both an extremely old team—the roster featured six players who are 30 or above and three more who would be by the 2018 World Cup—and extremely reactive, as Mexico dominated the flow of the game throughout.

Changing the team’s style “is a process,” Klinsmann said yesterday in advance of tonight’s friendly against Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena (7pm, ESPN).

“It's an ongoing process, and I can't predict how long it is going to take,” he said. “But you have to have a goal, and if you don't set yourself goals, then you just stick with the status quo and you just go result by result.

“I think that would be the wrong way.”

When Klinsmann was hired in 2011, the notion of playing a more attractive brand of soccer was a central theme of his first press conference. Since that time, however, that style has rarely been on display—neither against top teams nor mid-tier CONCACAF sides like Honduras, Haiti, and Panama.

“How realistic it is obviously depends on the top teams in the world and how they let you play that style,” Klinsmann said. “That's our goal. I still think we should have that goal to shift and move one step at a time into a more proactive style and more possession if you can and start to dictate certain games—again, depending on the opponent. Against Brazil or Germany you might dictate a lot less than when you play another opponent.

“But in general it should be our goal to kind of be more on the creative side and on the possession side than reacting to the game. Now there are games where you have to react to certain things that happen, but we reacted too much in the second half against Mexico.”

Saturday’s loss to Mexico cost the U.S. a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup and Klinsmann made a series of changes to the squad afterward. In addition to dismissing Fabian Johnson for asking to come off in the 111th minute, Klinsmann also called in Mix Diskerud, Brek Shea, Bill Hamid, Lee Nguyen, and Andrew Wooten. The German coach hinted that since the Costa Rica game would mark the team’s final friendly before World Cup qualifying begins next month, it was important to give different players quality minutes.

These players, it’s worth nothing, are all in their prime and all but Wooten have been with the program for years. When the topic of bringing in new and younger players came up, Klinsmann was adamant that he understood that younger players were needed on his team.

Yet the best way to go about integrating them is tricky. Aside from friendlies and the annual January camp, there are only World Cup qualifiers in November and March. The Copa America Centenario, which would be the highest-profile tournament played in the United States since the 1994 World Cup, is currently scheduled for next summer.

“We have to juggle and balance it,” Klinsmann said. “We have to give opportunities to younger players because only if they get opportunities they can grow. If we keep the door closed, they're not growing. We urgently need younger players. The older ones are not getting any younger.

“At the same time, it's important to have the older and more experienced ones on board that you can call on if it is needed—like DaMarcus Beasley, who you call at 2 a.m. and he's on the next flight to serve his country and serve his team.”Klinsmann has been reluctant to use untested players in qualifiers and other important contests. On Monday, however, he said he plans to incorporate young players in the November qualifiers against two CONCACAF minnows—St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.

That said, pure skill isn’t enough to warrant a call-up.

“We have a lot of talent, but when you talk about the international level, then we don't know the answer if they are going to make it to that level,” he said. “Talent alone doesn't make you play at the international level. Talent is just the base, but there is a lot more to be developed than just talent.”

The Costa Rica match will provide an opportunity to look at several players who have been on the fringes of the national team but have never quite become regular contributors: Lee Nguyen, Brek Shea, and Danny Williams could all feature. It might also be a chance to see goalkeeper Tim Howard play his first game since the 2014 World Cup, in his home state no less.

Above all, though, Klinsmann said the team needs to prove it can bounce back from adversity.

“Make a statement ahead of World Cup qualifiers but also show character,” Klinsmann said, with a tad of emotion. “Show character in how to digest a very bitter defeat, a big disappointment.

“That's what we want to see. We want them to come in here heads up and give a good response.”

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.