Saturday’s friendly against Ivory Coast brought a 2-1 win for Bosnia-Herzegovina, two more goals for Edin Dzeko, a glimpse of how they could play without two strikers and perhaps a resolution to the ongoing question at the back of midfield, but the overwhelming conclusion from St Louis, Missouri, was that Ivory Coast are a shambles and need a major improvement over the next 10 days if they are not to go out of the World Cup in the group stage for the third tournament in a row.

This was not, it should be said, anything like a first-choice Ivorian side, with the coach, Sabri Lamouchi, leaving out Yaya Touré, Gervinho and Didier Drogba and giving a number of fringe players the opportunity to force their way into the side, but the lack of cohesion was still remarkable. Again and again passes were misplaced, again and again space opened up in front of the two centre-backs, and again and again players were left staring at each other as attacks broke down and possession was gifted to Bosnia. Perhaps the artificial surface at the Edward Jones Dome explained some of the tentativeness on the ball, but for the basic positional indiscipline there was no excuse.

There had already been one moment of chaos on the edge of the penalty area that had presented a chance to Zvjezdan Misimovic when, after 17 minutes, a simple long diagonal caught out the right-back Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro. His attempt to play the ball back to Sylvain Gbohouo was weak, and although the keeper was out quickly to block Edin Visca’s initial effort, Dzeko smacked the rebound into the empty net from the edge of the area.

The second, when it finally arrived seven minutes after the break, had been coming for some time. Pjanic, coming in from the right, slid the ball to Dzeko who, in space 22 yards out, flicked the ball up and struck it low and hard on the turn and past the sluggish dive of Gbohouo. A late penalty from Drogba, on as a substitute to win his 100th cap, did little to hide Bosnia’s dominance.

Safet Susic spoke about a “deserved win” but he must know his side was pushing at an open door and that this was a long way from a meaningful test. Nonetheless, his most significant personnel issue looks as though it has now been resolved, with Muhamed Besic perhaps having established himself as the first choice ahead of Haris Medunjanin.

Given the attacking nature of the rest of the Bosnian midfield, its an essential role and one that Medunjanin fulfilled diligently without ever bringing any great sense of security. The 21-year-old Besic, who was born in Berlin and in 2010 took Pjanic’s record as the youngest player ever to represent Bosnia, seems to have tamed the more turbulent side of his nature after a move from Hamburg to Ferencvaros in 2012.

He joined Hamburg when he was 16 and became an increasing feature of their side over the 2010-11 season before being suspended for a breach of discipline in March 2012 following an incident that led, according to the Bosnian media, to the manager, Thorsten Fink, grabbing him by the throat. “I’ve always followed his game and never doubted his quality,” said Susic. “He’s progressed in every department and will be one of our major players for a long time.”

Susic also opted for youth on the right, playing the 22-year-old Izet Hajrovic, of Galatasaray, on that flank with Visca supporting Dzeko from the left in a loose 4-2-3-1. That meant no place for the centre-forward Vedad Ibisevic, who went to high school and played college football in St Louis, where there is a large Bosnian expatriate community, or for either of the usual left-sided players, Senad Lulic, who has a slight injury, and Sejad Salihovic. Ibisevic and at least one of the two left-sided midfielders (both if Salihovic is used as a full-back) would presumably return in a 4-4-2, but Susic’s aim seemed to be to practise playing with a midfield five for their first game, against Argentina.

There remain issues in central defence, though. After a spat between the Gornik Zabrze defender Boris Pandza and Susic – Pandza said he’d been left out because Susic doesn’t rate the Polish league highly enough; Susic replied that he had “too high an opinion of himself” – Bosnia have lost Ervin Zukanovic. The Gent defender, who had seemingly been earmarked for a role alongside Emir Spahic at the heart of the back four in the absence of Ermin Bicakcic, couldn’t travel because he hadn’t been issued with a visa.

Zukanovic complained that the Bosnian football federation hadn’t been forceful enough in trying to push through the bureaucracy, as a result of which he was dropped from the squad. Given that Bicakcic will not play in the US and is a major doubt for the Argentina game, that is a significant absence.

Ognjen Vranjes played alongside Spahic on Saturday and, although he was tested only intermittently, the Elazigspor defender now looks like the favourite to play against Argentina if Bicakcic doesn’t recover. Vranjes was himself taken off just after an hour for Mensur Mujdza, but Susic insisted the move was purely precautionary – as was the decision to take off Spahic, who Bosnia really cannot afford to be without, with seven minutes remaining.

While Susic is closer to answering two major questions about his squad, he must be hoping Mexico offer stiffer resistance in a second friendly in St Louis on Tuesday.