United States midfielder Clint Dempsey fights for the ball in a friendly against Ecuador, which the US lost, 1-0, on Tuesday. [Photo/Agencies]

HARRISON, N.J. - Jurgen Klinsmann is focusing on long-term changes and not short-term results. And that's OK with his boss at the US Soccer Federation.

"It's not quite a mulligan," USSF president Sunil Gulati said before Tuesday night's 1-0 loss to Ecuador. "It's a growing process."

Since the former German star and coach replaced Bob Bradley in late July, the Americans are 1-3-1, tying Mexico 1-1 and losing to Costa Rica and Belgium 1-0 before last weekend's 1-0 win over Honduras. When Bradley took over from Bruce Arena after the 2006 World Cup - when talks between Gulati and Klinsmann failed to reach an agreement - Bradley got off to a 10-0-1 start.

"He certainly felt more pressure about results than Jurgen feels," Gulati said before the match, clearly comfortable with stumbles in Klinsmann's first few exhibitions.

"Part of the attraction, obviously, is he's an innovative guy and wants to try things, not necessarily only things that have a 50-year track record of success, but some new things. So that always takes a little time for everyone - staff, coaching staff, players, leadership - and everyone's adjusting."

Ecuador won as second-half substitute Jaime Ayovi beat defender Tim Ream to a cross and scored in the 79th minute. Ream, a young but relatively inexperienced center back, received his first minutes with the national team since the 2-1 loss to Panama during the opening round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June.

The Americans have gone 23 games without scoring more than two goals, since beating Australia 3-1 in their last warmup before the 2010 World Cup.

"It's a growing process and, obviously, also a couple of knocks that you have to accept," Klinsmann said.

He is trying new formations, new assistants and a new fitness staff. He's also working with Gulati, USSF chief executive officer Dan Flynn and youth technical director Claudio Reyna on planning for next year's Olympics, where players are mostly limited to 23 and under.

Klinsmann estimates about one-third of his 2014 World Cup roster will come from the Olympic team.

Associated Press