The graphic on top shows the USA first half shape, and the graphic on the bottom shows the USA's second half shape. The first half was the USA's attempt to stifle Argentina's central trio with one of their own., but Messi dropping deep created a 4v3 imbalance in the center in favor of Argentina. This was why Argentina were so rampant in the first half. Since the USA wasn't wasn't going to allow Messi roam unmarked, they let one of Argentina's central midielders free, specifically, Esteban Cambiasso the man who got the goal. Offensively, the USA was poor because with them sitting so deep, the only outball they had in their transition play was Jozy Altidore, who was outnumbered 2-4vs1.
The second half saw the USA switch to the 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 that they're comfortable with and have had success with. Playing a two-forward system immediately gave he USA more support for the attack. More importantly, the Altidore, Agudelo, and Chandler's movement into high and wide areas either stretched Argentina and created gaps for Donovan and Dempsey to exploit, or provided an outball in transition play. It was particularly dangerous for Altidore and Agudelo to get wide because Argentina's fullbacks had the tendency to get forward a lot, leaving gaps in the fullback zones. Chandler's forays into the attack were dangerous as well due to the fact that the wide players in Argentina's front three were not instructed to/interested in defend/defense.
Perhaps most important of all was the fact that the USA could sit deep( limit the space in behind the defence), narrow( limit the space in the center) and compact( limit the space in between the lines of defence, midfield, and attack) without worrying about not having any attacking punch. This is why this works so well against possession teams - It threatens them on the counter, exploits spaces they leave open, and closes down the spaces they love to work in.
