US vs. Mexico, the midfield (R)

[superdave]

We were dominant, and Bradley scored a brace. Sure, you can nitpick. But we were brilliant.

[russ]

I'm not yet convinced with Sascha-too many giveaways.

I would've liked clark sooner,but they had to see if Frankie could go 90.

[ElRoss425]

Hard to nitpick after a really good performance by the midfield, but Kljestan didn't really cement himself in his spot tonight with his performance. Bradley had the game of his life. Beasley had his dangerous moments, but also had a few horrible passes. Dempsey fought hard, almost had a goal, and kept possession pretty well tonight.

[Chicago1871]

Obviously Bradley was outstanding (though not for 90 minutes) and personally I thought Beasley had a hell of game on the defensive side and a good one offensively. Sasha all but disappeared. Dempsey goes down way too easily considering he plays in the most physical league in the world - toughen up son.

[OWN(yewu)ED]

Great performance by Bradley, MOTM. loved his hustle and his desire. Kljestan, it wasnt a Sweden performace but i much....much....MUCH prefer him as Bradleys partner over Ricardo Clark. We just need Bradley and Kljestan to both have on days one of these days. Kljestan wasnt really that bad.....but it wasnt a Sweden performance needless to say.

Beasley, great hustle for so many people in here giving him stick.

Dempsey had a wonderful first half, was pretty cashed the second half, i was surprised not to see him subbed he was tanked.

Great performance from the midfield overall.

[DaMa]

I'm not yet convinced with Sascha-too many giveaways.

I would've liked clark sooner,but they had to see if Frankie could go 90.

Yeah I thought Klejstan was really disappointing offensively. Just didn't seem to be able to speed his game up enough to find space. Think we may see Torres there next match out. I was screaming at the TV for Bradley to bring in Rico... but when Rico came in he turned the ball over constantly.

[DaMa]

Great performance by Bradley, MOTM. loved his hustle and his desire. Kljestan, it wasnt a Sweden performace but i much....much....MUCH prefer him as Bradleys partner over Ricardo Clark. We just need Bradley and Kljestan to both have on days one of these days. Kljestan wasnt really that bad.....but it wasnt a Sweden performance needless to say.

Beasley, great hustle for so many people in here giving him stick.

Dempsey had a wonderful first half, was pretty cashed the second half, i was surprised not to see him subbed he was tanked.

Great performance from the midfield overall.

I was saying the same thing about Dempsey, but I assume Bradley kept him in there for the grit at that point. I would have actually thought of bringing in Wynne for him if that was the case though. He was pretty out of it for most of the second half.

It's great that DMB hustled. He always does. But I am not sure what else he really brought to the table. Had one real nice chance from Bradley and the corner was his... but it was a pretty bad corner.

[NoSix]

Obviously Bradley was outstanding (though not for 90 minutes) and personally I thought Beasley had a hell of game on the defensive side and a good one offensively. Sasha all but disappeared. Dempsey goes down way too easily considering he plays in the most physical league in the world - toughen up son.

Seconded.

[deron]

I think Bradley will stick with the Bradley-Sacha pairing, and I'm happy about it. Sacha wasn't an offensive force tonight. He was a cog in what was a pretty effective midfield tonight.

We can imagine how much better it would be if it were Bradley and x, but I can't complain about the results.

If Bradley and Sacha trade off having good games while the whole continues to keep the opposition in check, I'll be alright with that.

[lmorin]

Bradley was great. One of his best games, even excluding the goals. Clearly MOTM.

Beasley had a solid game except for a few moments of mixed signals.

Kljestan was poor. His second to worst game, IMHO. Timing off, poor tackles, some crazy passes that missed targets or were complete turnovers.

Dempsey was fair to poor. He looked off his game by a little bit. Nothing much seemed to work for him.

[silverlion]

Baby Bradley OWNED Mexico, period! Offense, defense, completely outclassed their "superior" midfield.

[OWN(yewu)ED]

yeah, it was a complete 180 over February, Clark-Bradley got dominated. Bradley-Kljestan layed the smack down this game.

[Nutmeg]

Bradley - MotM. Beasley, great performance. Kljestan, OK. Dempsey, not good.

I thought after 60 Torres should have subbed in for Dempsey and Kljestan should have moved to the right.

[DMTerp02]

I think Bradley will stick with the Bradley-Sacha pairing, and I'm happy about it. Sacha wasn't an offensive force tonight. He was a cog in what was a pretty effective midfield tonight.

We can imagine how much better it would be if it were Bradley and x, but I can't complain about the results.

If Bradley and Sacha trade off having good games while the whole continues to keep the opposition in check, I'll be alright with that.

I absolutely agree with this post. Sacha played horribly (for him) in the attack, but he and Mikey dominated the center tonight against stiff competition. If we're going to play the bucket, having two good two way mids like these two (with Edu, Clark, etc. on the bench) is a good way to go.

[Bigrose30]

Dempsey looked tired! He worked hard on defense, though. Doesn't seem to look comfortable with his teammates going forward.

Bradley was outstanding. Everytime the US had a player out of position going forward, Bradley was there to cover. Made the tackles, didn't give up bad fouls, and scored both goals. What a cerebral player, with iron lungs and a nose for the goal. MOTM. Loving all the "News and Analysis" threads bashing him before hand.

Klejstan intercepted a lot of balls. He gave some away. He tried a few daring things offensively and they didn't always come off. I think that's par for the course for Sacha.

Beasley also had a good game defensively. I'm not sure he'll ever have his quickness back, and he's definitely not a 90 minute guy right now. That being said, kudos to him for improving the other aspects of his game. The Beasley of 5 years ago was all quickness. Now he's added a bit of guile and technique to his game that I never thought he would. He's still going to be valuable to this team...especially if he gets some quickness back.

[appoo]

Obviously Bradley was outstanding (though not for 90 minutes) and personally I thought Beasley had a hell of game on the defensive side and a good one offensively. Sasha all but disappeared. Dempsey goes down way too easily considering he plays in the most physical league in the world - toughen up son.

I thought Sacha was excellent passing the ball. Very good in simply maintaining possesion. He and Bradley combined very well in taking turns attacking as well. They were fantastic as a pair and completely dominated their counter-parts.

Pardo is no longer the best CM in CONCACAF. That honor belongs to Mike Bradley

[Nutmeg]

When the Prozone stats are released I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by the defensive stats in the midfield. Kljestan was great defensive cover. As I have said before, the more Bradley is released to go forward, the better off the US is.

[Altidore_Adu_Fan]

dempsey was okay beasley was the best in the midfield bradley was great not because of the two goals but he stopped many plays againts el tri sasha i dont know dint do enough to be a usa starter i still think torres will be better than him and clark will be vs bradley and masto and szetela still have a chance to be there many might disagree but we still need adu as a play maker type and free kick corner kick type if we use donovan as a striker

[Marko72]

Baby Bradley OWNED Mexico, period! Offense, defense, completely outclassed their "superior" midfield.

Except for the first 10 minutes in which he and Kljestan were kinda getting schooled by Pardo, I'd agree 100%.

I can't decide who I'd give the MOTM to, Bradley or Howard. I think they both deserved it. I'll give it to Bradley by a hair.

[Marko72]

When the Prozone stats are released I think a lot of people are going to be surprised by the defensive stats in the midfield. Kljestan was great defensive cover. As I have said before, the more Bradley is released to go forward, the better off the US is.

I've disagreed with you on this point overall in the past, but I do have to say your analysis is spot-on as far as this game is concerned. Maybe you're right and I'm wrong after all. I'll keep an open mind on this over the near future...