USA vs. Sweden player ratings (R)

[fscat]

I didn't see a ratings thread for the match, so I'm starting one, mods if there is one already out there, please feel free to merge. 1 for a horrible performance, 10 for a brilliant performance:

Howard - 5 - actually kind of want to rate him lower for getting beat near post on that Kallstrom goal, but he did stop that breakaway by Zlatan. Other than that, he was solid. But getting beat near post is bad.

Cherundolo - 5.5 - thought he was solid, his veteran presence and experience seemed obvious to me, but his small size seemed to work against him at times. Plus I wasn't crazy about his Roberto Carlos impression either.

Bocanegra - 4.5 - I used to be a Bocanegra fan, but the more and more I see him, I'm just not that sold anymore. With his Premiership experience, you would think he would know how to handle a forward of Zlatan's quality, he just never looked good out there.

Onyewu - 5 - I've been down on him also, but he seemed to get better throughout the match, perhaps his confidence with the MNT is coming back. But he did look slow vs. Zlatan.

Bornstein - 5 - Was good on defense I thought, but Sweden seemed to take advantage of his tendency to push up to much on attack and counter-attack very well. That makes it that much more imperative on our CBs being rock-solid. But considering the opponent and his relative inexperience, I liked what I saw.

Beasley - 6 - good energy, good work rate, tried to be dangerous on the attack. His touches could of been better, but I liked what he brought.

Bradley - 4.5 - wasn't crazy about his performance. He did fine in breaking up some attacks, but he seemed to me to have to many errant passes, plus right before the Swedish goal, he totally whiffed on intercepting the ball. Overall, I like Bradley, but he still has growing to do. Not his greatest game.

Mastroeni - 5.5 - decent game, nothing spectacular, but he didn't make any stupid tackles either and get tossed, distributed well enough.

Feilhaber - 4.5 - I'm a Feilhaber fan, but he was played out of position, and it showed, he didn't seem comfortable in the slightest until halfway through the 1st half. I thought he gave the ball away to much, and seemed to take shots from outside the box at bad times.

Dempsey - 5 - missed a good chance in the second half. He needs to be a RM/RW and enough of the FW stuff with him already. But he did do a decent job in advancing the attack.

Donovan - 4 - he must be dead tired or something, because I thought he looked bad. Bad passes, bad touches, not aggressive enough, I remember early in the second half that he had a chance to dispossess a Swede if he pressured him and he just walked towards him, it even brought a rare critical comment from Christopher Sullivan. He didn't look good, yet again, another player out of position.

Convey - 4 - should of stayed at Reading for this game, he is obviously out of form, I know he's better than that, but the spot could of been used on someone else if he was going to look that rusty.

Spector - 5 - looked just as good as Bornstein did, IMO. Good on defense, not so hot in the offensive game, plus that HORRIBLE cross he had. Doesn't seem as comfortable as a LB as he does as a RB. At least not today... isn't he nursing a minor injury that he picked up over the weekend?

DeMerit - 6 - the more I see him the more I like him. In my opinion he should be a starting CB. So I'm a fanboy of Jay DeMerit... so what.

Hill - 6 - I liked what I saw, great touch, good pace, distributed well. I hope he gets more looks in the future. Considering how thin we are at ST/FW, I think he warrants a more serious look (aka a start with the 1st team).

Zizzo/Davies - NR - I don't feel they were in the game long enough to give a honest rating.

BB - 3 - OK, now normally, I'm not that down on BB, and have been favorable of his decisions so far. But today was bad. He played Feilhaber, Donovan, and Dempsey out of position (I know LD & CD have played a decent amount of ST/FW, but I honestly feel that it's more of a stopgap measure as opposed to the place in the field where they will excel the most). Plus the youth & inexperience of Bradley and Feilhaber all equaled to the absolute inability to build a coherent, dangerous attack. They just looked clueless out there, held onto the ball to long, gave it away to much, bad touches, shot from outside the box at the wrong times I felt (and I can see why they don't do it often now). How he honestly feels that Bocanegra/Onyewu is our best CB tandem , and how Hahnemann didn't get used. Even though it's obviously way to soon to talk about firings and noise like that, the anti-BB sentiment picked up some momentum today.

[shooter6065]

Howard - 6 Let in a near post goal.....A cardinal sin. But that was a laser. Stopped Zlatan on a breakaway and saved Boca's bacon.

Bornstein - 5.5 Up and down. Not a bad performance but he needs some competition at left back.

Bocanegra - 4.5 Seemed a bit overmatched. To small to cover Zlatan, to slow to cover Elmander/Rosenberg.

Onyewu - 6.5 Coped pretty well against that beast from Inter. Could anybody else in our player pool do a better job on Zlatan?

Cherundolo - 5.5 His quickness helped him today against a big physical team. Yes, that was a two-handed shove to the chest he received on the goal. Don't see those often because no one is brazen enough to try it.

Feilhaber - 5 Never really got into the flow and didn't do much worthwhile.

Mastroeni - 7 Did anybody else notice after he left the game that the US suddenly could not win the ball?

Bradley - 4 In the first half, when he wasn't giving the ball away he was making faces at the ref. I like this kid alot but that was a terrible performance.

Beasley - 7 The US CAN'T afford to blow opportunities like the one he had. That said, he was our most dangerous player until he switched to the right.

Dempsey - 6.5 Did some good stuff and should have had a goal. We just need more production out of him. That goal would have helped.

Donovan - 5 A poor, poor performance by his standards. He was not sharp at all.


Subs:

Convey - 4.5 I feel bad giving him such a low rating since he hasn't played in a year. I'll just say he looked rusty.

Spector - 5 For those clamoring for him to play left back....did you see his left foot?

Hill - 6 Showed some surprising strength while weaving through a few Swedes.

The rest I am not going to bother with.

Bottom Line: If you want to know why the United States can't beat anybody in the Top 20 save for Mexico, watch the tape of this game. At this level, you only get a few chances on net.......good teams convert them, the USA doesn't.

Unlike CONCACAF, Top 20 teams are not going to yield 8 chances so the USA can convert 2 or 3 of them.

[ejo1956]

Bottom Line: If you want to know why the United States can't beat anybody in the Top 20 save for Mexico, watch the tape of this game. At this level, you only get a few chances on net.......good teams convert them, the USA doesn't.

Unlike CONCACAF, Top 20 teams are not going to yield 8 chances so the USA can convert 2 or 3 of them.

Well said. We created enough opportunities to get a result. Our lack of a true striker that can finish definitely hurt us this game.

[mcnaulty21]

Hill - 6 - I liked what I saw, great touch, good pace, distributed well. I hope he gets more looks in the future. Considering how thin we are at ST/FW, I think he warrants a more serious look (aka a start with the 1st team).
I very much agree. His time on the field was very impressive. His control was pretty impressive.

[sidefootsitter]

Howard - 8 - saved two breakaways by Ibrahimovic (OK, they were shot straight at him but Keller would have gone down and fallen the other way). The goal was unstoppable. Tim's positioning was faultless on the play.

Cherundolo - 5 -- had some good stops vs. Wilhemsson and B-glou but gave up size in the match where that was important. In games that matter, a top Euro coach would try to cross from the right onto the far post and have Stevie defend someone one-on-one in the air. Lagerback gave the US a free-be on this one.

Onyewu - 5.5 - uses hands a bit too much even in the Euro style game. Whereas Stevie was a victim of a push-off, Gooch benefited from the fairly "hands off" (pardon the pun) calling by the Dutch ref but Onyewu still got called for a few unneeded fouls. Tactically, as I had mentioned in the post-game thread, one can not play both Gooch and Boca and use the offside trap. So I can't blame the dude for losing a foot race to Zlatan. He was never meant to be put in that position to begin with.

Bocanegra - 6 : contained Elmander pretty well and managed to cover for Bornstein also. He may be an acceptable center-half with a more complimentary partner on either side.

Bornstein - 4 : allowed guys to get behind him, didn't challenge on crosses and never offered any offense, though that may have been coach's fault. Jonny was rescued by the fact that Wilhemsson played on the opposite side until taken out. Christian was handled well by Stevie but JB might have had problems with the Swede's numerous tricks.

Mastroeni - 5 : Lagerback bypassed the guy. Twin d-mids can be played against the Latin or Latin-style teams. The Swedes are a lot more "Germanic" in their approach. Their ball movement left Pablo stranded, 50% of which is Bob's fault.

Bradley - 5 : some pluses, some minuses. He can make a very good pass .. or a very bad one... and he can surely make an awful tackle. But he has been pinching in offensively and his header almost lead to a goal. I don't dislike Mike. I do dislike Bob ... immensely.

Beasley - 5 : (first half - 6, second half 4) .. he should have finished his early chance and .. well, playing on the right was never his forte ... have I mentioned how muich I dislike Bob?

Feilhaber - 5 : doesn't have the pace to play on the flank one-on-one but he did set-up that early chance for Beez and helped the US keep possession early ... unfortunately, it was Ray Hudson's "possession without penetration" type.

Donovan - 4 - largely invisible, sans that one long range shot. Landon wasn't involved in any goal scoring chances and that's not acceptable for a forward.

Dempsey - 4 : he is not a striker and does not have a striker's "game", let alone the striker's finishing ability. His early play where he dribbled into an empty space and then slipped a through-pass to Benny showed him at his best. The meek heel poke toward the goal at his worst. Blame Bob for playing him on top.

Subs:

Convey - 3 : not in shape to play at this level.

I"ll give others an incomplete.

PS. While I am at it - Howard was clearly the MotM.

And I'll give Bradley a "3" for his coaching. I am not sure what he could have done worse. He put Howard in goal ... after that, it was all downhill.

[JeffreyWyatt]

Anyone who faults Tim for that goal has never played keeper before. that was a rocket, through a screen if I recall, and from the looks of it, the ball moved about 12 inches away from him the last 3 feet of the shot. That was an incredibly taken shot!

Quote SFS: "And I'll give Bradley a "3" for his coaching. I am not sure what he could have done worse. He put Howard in goal ... after that, it was all downhill."

HA!!!!

[arsynic]

some people are acting like howard let in a lolly pop goal

[Martin Fischer]

Working off sfs's ratings.

Howard - 8 - saved two breakaways by Ibrahimovic (OK, they were shot straight at him but Keller would have gone down and fallen the other way). The goal was unstoppable. Tim's positioning was faultless on the play.

Howard 7 - some good stops, basically set up by his physical presence and positioning. Won't dock him for the goal as it was a rocket even if it was a near side shot.

Cherundolo - 5 -- had some good stops vs. Wilhemsson and B-glou but gave up size in the match where that was important. In games that matter, a top Euro coach would try to cross from the right onto the far post and have Stevie defend someone one-on-one in the air. Lagerback gave the US a free-be on this one.

Cherundolo - 4 -- some decent moves offensively, but a real liability against a team like Sweden that is so physical. Zlatan's mishandling of him for the header against the crossbar being Exhibit A. Should not play against teams like Sweden (and luckily there are few that have this type of relentless physical approach) due to his size issues.

Onyewu - 5.5 - uses hands a bit too much even in the Euro style game. Whereas Stevie was a victim of a push-off, Gooch benefited from the fairly "hands off" (pardon the pun) calling by the Dutch ref but Onyewu still got called for a few unneeded fouls. Tactically, as I had mentioned in the post-game thread, one can not play both Gooch and Boca and use the offside trap. So I can't blame the dude for losing a foot race to Zlatan. He was never meant to be put in that position to begin with.

Onyewu - 5 - actually agree with sfs's analysis, but think he is being a bit unkind. Onyewu has to take some of the blame for he and Boca seeming not be coordintated.

Bocanegra - 6 : contained Elmander pretty well and managed to cover for Bornstein also. He may be an acceptable center-half with a more complimentary partner on either side.

Bocanegra - 4.5: I thought he really struggled this game with the physical Swedes and was late to read things.

Bornstein - 4 : allowed guys to get behind him, didn't challenge on crosses and never offered any offense, though that may have been coach's fault. Jonny was rescued by the fact that Wilhemsson played on the opposite side until taken out. Christian was handled well by Stevie but JB might have had problems with the Swede's numerous tricks.

Bornstein -5.5: His passing was not great but his ability to get forward kept the Swedes pinned back most of the time on his side. I love sfs's docking Bornstein because of the hypothetical theory that if the Swedes had switched their wings he would have been in trouble -- classic sfs.

Mastroeni - 5 : Lagerback bypassed the guy. Twin d-mids can be played against the Latin or Latin-style teams. The Swedes are a lot more "Germanic" in their approach. Their ball movement left Pablo stranded, 50% of which is Bob's fault.

Mastroeni - 5.5: While it was a mistake to play three dmids by Bradley (partially caused by Ching's injury), Pablo's strength actually made him the most effective one of the three IMHO.

Bradley - 5 : some pluses, some minuses. He can make a very good pass .. or a very bad one... and he can surely make an awful tackle. But he has been pinching in offensively and his header almost lead to a goal. I don't dislike Mike. I do dislike Bob ... immensely.

Bradley - 4.5: Not a horrible performance, but he was muscled off and turned over the ball a few times, which is too many. Thanks for sharing your obvious bias so openly, sfs.

Beasley - 5 : (first half - 6, second half 4) .. he should have finished his early chance and .. well, playing on the right was never his forte ... have I mentioned how muich I dislike Bob?

Beasley - 5: A sound positional, complementary player who did his thing. I don't blame him for how he played on the right wing -- he just isn't good there (once again a byproduct of Bradley only calling one real forward and that forward getting injured).

Feilhaber - 5 : doesn't have the pace to play on the flank one-on-one but he did set-up that early chance for Beez and helped the US keep possession early ... unfortunately, it was Ray Hudson's "possession without penetration" type.

Feilhaber - 5: Struggled with the Swedes' physical play when switched to the center of the field -- hope this isn't an indicator of what will happen in the EPL.

Donovan - 4 - largely invisible, sans that one long range shot. Landon wasn't involved in any goal scoring chances and that's not acceptable for a forward.

Donovan - 5.5: Does sfs even watch the game. Donovan wasn't great, but he was the best of a bad offensive effort. Donovan set up the best chance of the game when he flicked the ball to Dempsey six yards from goal and Dempsey meekly poked to the goalie. The Swedes backed off him all game which provided much of the limited space the US had in the final 1/3.

Dempsey - 4 : he is not a striker and does not have a striker's "game", let alone the striker's finishing ability. His early play where he dribbled into an empty space and then slipped a through-pass to Benny showed him at his best. The meek heel poke toward the goal at his worst. Blame Bob for playing him on top.

Dempsey - 5: SFS has the reasons correct, including that it was Bradley's decisions that led to Dempsey being played inappropriately at target forward. This is the second time that Bradley has done this -- and I hope it is the last. But Dempsey did do a few decent things and fought hard to try and hold up the ball.


Subs:

Convey - 3 : not in shape to play at this level.

Convey - 3.5. No touch, no speed and can't pass. He is lucky to make the bench for Reading at this point.

I"ll give others an incomplete.

Hill - 5: Fought hard, but didn't show any ability to create anything or shoot on sight. Not sure, how these characteristics make a forward.

Demerit - 6: Strong and active performance, though Sweden had taken out the big guns by then.

[FC Tallavana]

Those trying to make an issue out of Spector's left-footed cross should bear in mind that he's been playing right back for the past month and that he's not the greatest with his left foot to begin with.

He could defend the left flank better than Bornstein with his eyes closed. But if you want him to get forward with much success, he needs to play on the right.

I for one would like to have Spector on the left to counter Dolo on the right. If you want Bonstein on the left then Spector should be on the right.

Against these good teams we simply cannot afford to have two attack-minded players for fullbacks. It's a lesson Arena learned in game one of group play in 06.

[dcole]

Howard- 8: Kept us in the game with some great stops. Nothing he could do on that goal but tip his cap. As usual, very good distribution helped the offensive flow.

Feilhaber- 7: Most dangerous player on the field for us. Great passing in the offensive third and great runs into space. Tough tackling and showed his versatility playing numerous positions and, more importantly, playing them well. Ceiling keeps getting higher.

Beasley- 7: Very dangerous. Great runs and showed a willingness to take people on that has been missing for a while. Good early attempt at a goal. Unlucky to see it go wide. My hopes keep rising that the Beas of 9/05 (think Columbus, v. Mexico) will reemerge.

Hill- 6.5: Very impressive. Moved way up the board for the U-23 team. Still not really in the picture for the senior team...yet.

Bornstein- 6: Very solid game from Bornstein. Tight marking and serious wheels forced Sweden over to Cherundolo's side. Good involvement in the offense but definite room for improvement.

Mastroeni- 6: Perfromed well in his time on the field, but this wasn't the right game for twin d-mids. Outplayed Mike Bradley for sure.

Dempsey- 5.5: Dangerous at times, but seems unsure of what to do with his final touch. I would have liked to see what he and Ching could have done together, and I'm still excited about pairing him with Jozy up top.

Onyewu- 5.5: Decent game. Did OK against the big boy, but not great. It's kind of depressing that this performance is an improvement over his last several.

Cherundolo- 4.5: I didn't think he was as bad as the commentators did, but he wasn't very good either. Sweden obviously thought he was the weak link out there. He should have been called for a foul in the box in the first half. That was a PK all the way. His status as a lock was just dealt a serious blow.

Bocanegra- 4.5: Looked lost out there.

Donovan- 4.5: Not involved enough. Needs to play right mid for good (though I'd give him a chance to pair with Jozy up top before deciding for sure).

Bradley- 4.5: Did some things well, but I'm still not happy about his persistent fouling. He was lucky not to have been called for several more fouls, including one in the second half that should have been a PK. Is it just me, or does he seem overly violent in the tackle? He really seems to want to hurt someone, and I'm not down with that. Nice header near the end.

Convey- 3: He was a brick around our neck out there. Good to see him back on the field, but he was tentative and his touch was way off. Decent free kicks though. Needs more time to get fit and get his confidence back. I wouldn't call him in for Brazil. Let Reading deal with it.

By the way, the big winner on the night was Jozy Altidore. This game screamed out for him. Please, please, please call him in, and start him, against Brazil.

[lmorin]

Howard- 6.5: He did a very good job, but the fact is also that the two biggest saves were more by luck than intent--chest and upper arm--however, it indicates good positioning.

Bornstein- 5.5: One of Bornstein's better games, but he looked slower than normal and not as quick. Also, there was a fair amount of positional confusion at times between him, Beasley and Bocanegra.

Bocanegra- 5: Contributed to the defensive disorder, rather than reducing it, as has been the usual case.

Onyewu- 5.5: Usual game. Not what I want to see.

Cherundolo- 5: He seemed unable to match up with his responsibilies at times. And, this had nothing to do with height. There were numerous positional failures with which he gave the attackers a slight edge. Nowhere good enough.

Mastroeni- 5.5: Solid.

Feilhaber- 5.5: Usual mix of highs and lows.

Bradley- 5.5: Get over it, folks. He's here to stay, he's very young, he's establishing himself on a solid Euro side and he's going to become a lot steadier very quickly. Most importantly, he neither gives the ball away too much nor fouls too much, as it is. But, it was not his best showing yesterday.

Beasley- 6: EXCEPT FOR HIS MISS, very good, but he should not have missed.

Dempsey- 5.5: Should have done better.

Donovan- 5: Clearly lacked energy and was never really a significant contributor. Made several errors of a type he very seldom makes.

Hill- 5.5: Decent first outing. I want to see him some more.

Convey- 4: Huge disappointment; startling so.

[Nermalthecat]

Anyone who faults Tim for that goal has never played keeper before. that was a rocket, through a screen if I recall, and from the looks of it, the ball moved about 12 inches away from him the last 3 feet of the shot. That was an incredibly taken shot!

Thank you. Good lord, people, do you realize how ridiculous that shot was, especially coming through a semi-screen. What was Howard supposed to do with that? You all sound like Miles and Bretos, spouting the same cliched garbage about near post goals. Stop being lemmings and understand what you are watching. Howard played very well yesterday, making him about the only US player you could say that about.

[sidefootsitter]

Working off sfs's ratings.

Bornstein - 4 : allowed guys to get behind him, didn't challenge on crosses and never offered any offense, though that may have been coach's fault. Jonny was rescued by the fact that Wilhemsson played on the opposite side until taken out. Christian was handled well by Stevie but JB might have had problems with the Swede's numerous tricks.

Bornstein -5.5: His passing was not great but his ability to get forward kept the Swedes pinned back most of the time on his side. I love sfs's docking Bornstein because of the hypothetical theory that if the Swedes had switched their wings he would have been in trouble -- classic sfs...

Jeff Carlisle on ESPN Soccernet:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=455927&root=us&cc=5901

Jonathan Bornstein, 3 -- The latest in a recent string of poor games. Was given a torrid time by Bakircioglu in the first half, and his distribution out of the back was horrible. Another example of how Bornstein struggles against strong, powerful opponents.

Sam's Army

http://www.sams-army.com/index.php?Mlist=match&Mid=1220

Jonathan Bornstein 4.48 (poll still in progress)

[matador11]

Howard- 8: Kept us in the game with some great stops. Nothing he could do on that goal but tip his cap. As usual, very good distribution helped the offensive flow.

Feilhaber- 7: Most dangerous player on the field for us. Great passing in the offensive third and great runs into space. Tough tackling and showed his versatility playing numerous positions and, more importantly, playing them well. Ceiling keeps getting higher.

Beasley- 7: Very dangerous. Great runs and showed a willingness to take people on that has been missing for a while. Good early attempt at a goal. Unlucky to see it go wide. My hopes keep rising that the Beas of 9/05 (think Columbus, v. Mexico) will reemerge.

Hill- 6.5: Very impressive. Moved way up the board for the U-23 team. Still not really in the picture for the senior team...yet.

Bornstein- 6: Very solid game from Bornstein. Tight marking and serious wheels forced Sweden over to Cherundolo's side. Good involvement in the offense but definite room for improvement.

Mastroeni- 6: Perfromed well in his time on the field, but this wasn't the right game for twin d-mids. Outplayed Mike Bradley for sure.

Dempsey- 5.5: Dangerous at times, but seems unsure of what to do with his final touch. I would have liked to see what he and Ching could have done together, and I'm still excited about pairing him with Jozy up top.

Onyewu- 5.5: Decent game. Did OK against the big boy, but not great. It's kind of depressing that this performance is an improvement over his last several.

Cherundolo- 4.5: I didn't think he was as bad as the commentators did, but he wasn't very good either. Sweden obviously thought he was the weak link out there. He should have been called for a foul in the box in the first half. That was a PK all the way. His status as a lock was just dealt a serious blow.

Bocanegra- 4.5: Looked lost out there.

Donovan- 4.5: Not involved enough. Needs to play right mid for good (though I'd give him a chance to pair with Jozy up top before deciding for sure).

Bradley- 4.5: Did some things well, but I'm still not happy about his persistent fouling. He was lucky not to have been called for several more fouls, including one in the second half that should have been a PK. Is it just me, or does he seem overly violent in the tackle? He really seems to want to hurt someone, and I'm not down with that. Nice header near the end.

Convey- 3: He was a brick around our neck out there. Good to see him back on the field, but he was tentative and his touch was way off. Decent free kicks though. Needs more time to get fit and get his confidence back. I wouldn't call him in for Brazil. Let Reading deal with it.

By the way, the big winner on the night was Jozy Altidore. This game screamed out for him. Please, please, please call him in, and start him, against Brazil.

Finally, someone who watched the same game as me.

Also agree on Altidore. If Bradley Sr. does not call him up for Brazil, there is something seriously wrong in his approach to player selection. Not only does the US clearly need to find strikers, but to actually cap 2 other players from the U-20 team (Bradley & Zizzo) while ignoring Altidore is borderline criminal.

[Gooch13]

Though I'm not about to suggest our central defenders played well, I think one has to consider how poorly our central defensive midfield pairing played when rating the central backs. The Swedes were able to attack right up the middle time after time & anytime that happens, your centerbacks are going to be tested relentlessly. Even great ones are going to get beat occasionally under that scenario -- and our's aren't great. I would give a Onyewu & Boca both a 4.5. Mastroeni was slightly better than Bradley, so I would give them a 3 and 2 respectively. I'm not one of the nepotism nuts, but little Bradley hasn't looked especially solid recently - including the last few efforts at the U20 cup. I know this was a mostly European squad, so I won't fault BB for playing his kid here, but next time around I want to see Rico.

[Martin Fischer]

Jeff Carlisle on ESPN Soccernet:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=455927&root=us&cc=5901



Sam's Army

http://www.sams-army.com/index.php?Mlist=match&Mid=1220

Jonathan Bornstein 4.48 (poll still in progress)

Which shows the vapidity of some so-called experts and fan polls.

In response, see the ratings in this thread and recall the FSC commentator's comments (assuming you watched the game).

Anyway, player ratings are just opinions, though I think people can decide whose view of the game is better.

P.S. there is nothing "borderline", but is just plain silly focusing on the roster for a single friendly game to argue that so and so should have been included. Some players play in one friendly, others play in others, depending on a variety of factors, some of which are not even public. You need to look over time to see if enough and the right players are getting shots.

[Tonerl]

Howard, 8: Epic. Goal not even close to saveable. Good distribution (did I just say that about an Ameican keeper?).

Cherundolo, 6: Manhandled a couple of times, but the one with Ibrahimovic was Bocanegra's fault, was able to contain the tricky Wilhelmsson fairly well in one on one situations.

Onyewu, 6: By far the better of the center halves today, made several strong plays and minimized his mistakes.

Bocanegra, 4: Just didn't look like his head was in the game, oddly reluctant to use his strength against Sweden's frontline, somewhat handcuffed by Bradley's high line and offside trap, which seemed kind of crazy.

Bornstein, 4: For a guy who's known as shaky on defense and a weapon on offense, this guy is a horrible passer. Gave the ball away for no reason several times, was nowhere in the frame several times when Bocanegra and Beasley were forced to defend behind him on the touchline.

Feilhaber, 5: Still up and down, but more downs this time. I believe he can play wide in the right situation, but he looked very uncomfortable in this one. Probably just rusty after not playing since the Paraguay match. Gave the ball away too often, and got hurt by a complete lack of movement in front of him on the very rare occassions he had enough time on the ball to look for an incisive pass.

Bradley, 5: Wasn't horrible, wasn't great. Disrupted some of Sweden's play nicely and made some nice passes, looked lost on defense and gave the ball away cheaply at other times.

Mastroeni, 6: Did what he does pretty well, gave it away a few times. It isn't his fault that Bradley played him alongside another destructive player in a game in which they weren't really going to have much to do because Sweden played so direct.

Beasley, 7: Very dangerous, very tidy, very energetic. A bad miss.

Donovan, 4: In a fog of travel or fatigue. He must have forgotten to pack his ball control, and drifted out of the match too often.

Dempsey, 5: Made a few nice plays, had a few nice touches, but looked slow to react to potential chances and build-ups. Needs to be more agressive as the lead forward.

Convey, 3: I'll give him a pass for rust. But man, what rust!

Spector, 5: Decent defenseively, indecisive offensively (except the one time he should have pulled it back and kicked it into row Z).

Hill, 6: Maybe generous, but looked good technically and physically. Obviously not integrated into the team and a lack of understanding between he and his mates was evident.

Demerit, 5: Didn't have to deal with Ibrahimovic and thus looked better on aerial challenges, but was at least more decisive than Bocanegra.

Zizzo, 4: Completely lost, but got his feet wet, at least.

Davies, NR: Not enough time to make an impact other than winning what should have been a dangerous free kick.

[quick38]

Howard - 7 - Very solid between the pipes. No goalkeeper in the world makes a save on that goal.

Cherundolo - 5.5 - I agree he was solid, but his size went against him as shown when he was tossed aside on the goal.

Bocanegra - 5 - Pretty solid game, but as usual he had a his one mistake. He like Onyewu seem to play better when paired with someone else in the middle.

Onyewu - 5 - I don't like the pairing with him and Boca. They just don't seem to play well together. He usually has a much better showing with Conrad in the middle with him.

Bornstein - 3 - I thought this was the worst game he has played. Halfway through the first half Boca was basically playing left back. The whole defense had to shift left to provide cover. Mastreo barely left that side of field. Need to get stronger to play at this level.

Beasley - 4 - I liked his energy and defense, but you can't blow a wide open chance like that at this level.

Bradley - 4.5 - He didn't have the best of games. His passes were to errant and led to loosing possesion to much.

Mastroeni - 5 - Had a good game and didn't do anything to get a red card. Needs to do more for the offense though. I would have liked to have seen Clark get these minutes though for the future.

Feilhaber - 4.5 - A couple good passes, but turned it over to much. Didn't look match fit to go a full 90 and showed it in the second half.

Dempsey - 4- Was out of position and did not look comfortable all game. But he should have done much better with his chance on goal.

Donovan - 4 - Not one of his better perfomances. His first touch was awful and led to him turning the ball over at least 6 times. Just didn't seem to be focused on the game.

Convey - 4 - Looked very rusty and probably should have been a spectator this go around.

Spector - 5 - Solid on defense and didn't let anyone get past him. But needs some work on that left foot.

DeMerit - 6 - Solid game and good presence in the middle.

Hill - 6 - Liked his holdup play, and showed allot of energy. Would like to see him for a longer stretch to get a better look.

Zizzo/Davies - NR - Didn't play enough to be rated.

[matador11]

Howard - 7 - Very solid between the pipes. No goalkeeper in the world makes a save on that goal.

Cherundolo - 5.5 - I agree he was solid, but his size went against him as shown when he was tossed aside on the goal.

Bocanegra - 5 - Pretty solid game, but as usual he had a his one mistake. He like Onyewu seem to play better when paired with someone else in the middle.

Onyewu - 5 - I don't like the pairing with him and Boca. They just don't seem to play well together. He usually has a much better showing with Conrad in the middle with him.

Bornstein - 3 - I thought this was the worst game he has played. Halfway through the first half Boca was basically playing left back. The whole defense had to shift left to provide cover. Mastreo barely left that side of field. Need to get stronger to play at this level.

Beasley - 4 - I liked his energy and defense, but you can't blow a wide open chance like that at this level.

Bradley - 4.5 - He didn't have the best of games. His passes were to errant and led to loosing possesion to much.

Mastroeni - 5 - Had a good game and didn't do anything to get a red card. Needs to do more for the offense though. I would have liked to have seen Clark get these minutes though for the future.

Feilhaber - 4.5 - A couple good passes, but turned it over to much. Didn't look match fit to go a full 90 and showed it in the second half.

Dempsey - 4- Was out of position and did not look comfortable all game. But he should have done much better with his chance on goal.

Donovan - 4 - Not one of his better perfomances. His first touch was awful and led to him turning the ball over at least 6 times. Just didn't seem to be focused on the game.

Convey - 4 - Looked very rusty and probably should have been a spectator this go around.

Spector - 5 - Solid on defense and didn't let anyone get past him. But needs some work on that left foot.

DeMerit - 6 - Solid game and good presence in the middle.

Hill - 6 - Liked his holdup play, and showed allot of energy. Would like to see him for a longer stretch to get a better look.

Zizzo/Davies - NR - Didn't play enough to be rated.

Dolo, Gooch and Boca better grades than Beasley and Feilhaber? :confused:

Yikes. New meaning to the phrase opinions will vary.

[FakeFlopper]

Howard, 8: Epic. Goal not even close to saveable. Good distribution (did I just say that about an Ameican keeper?).


Watch the replay, he did come pretty darn close to getting there. There's no telling how good he can be. I'm just glad he's the keeper.