Review: USA - Bosnia & Herzegovina - Player Ratings

Just my own experience of reading posts on Eddie since he has come back into the fold (lineup postings, post game reviews, etc.).

 

That is kind of a crappy thing to insinuate.
I've been playing FIFA Soccer since the Sega-Genesis days in 1994.

 

Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember that, as well as the first Madden game on the SNES.

 

7 - good
6 - on par
5 - below par

Howard: 7 - Some good saves, couldn't do much about the goals.
Evans: 6 - More capable than expected. Decent work.
Cameron: 5 - Probably better in midfield.
Brooks: 5 - Decent debut. Got beaten on the second Dzeko goal.
F. Johnson: 6.5 - Good at LM (7), not very good at LB (5.5).
Bedoya: 6 - Mostly anonymous as usual. Got around the field.
Bradley: 8 - Good game on both sides of the ball, great assists.
Jones: 4.5 - Poor on the ball, looked tired.
Diskerud: 6 - Did some decent work. Should have earned a penalty.
E. Johnson: 5 - Gave away the ball to lead to the first goal against, had no idea what to do on two occasions in the box in the first half. Put away a sitter created by Bradley and Altidore. Occupied some defenders at least.
Altidore: 9.5 - Good play in the first half, dominating second half.

Castillo: 6.5 - Looked shaky but did some work defensively. Won the free kick that Altidore scored.
Johannson: 7 - Talented display. Some good passes, could have scored. Great debut.
Kljestan: 6.5 - Good work in midfield, strong play leading up to the fourth goal.
Corona: 6 - Anonymous.
Parkhurst: 6 - Decent cameo. Got forward well once or twice.
Wood: NR

 

Everyone needs to take a step back and take a deep breath regarding AJo.

Anyone who saw the game yesterday should come away excited with his play but lets be careful with the "he could be starting" stuff so early.

I don't think anyone needs to be reminded of how overly excited everyone was when Agudelo and Chandler burst on to the scene.

Lets just enjoy our added depth with out putting hyper expectations on these young players which 99% of the time leads to disappointments.

If there are items Jozy, and EJ and many others have taught us is that every players journey to fulfill their young talent is much more complicated than any one can realize when they make big first impressions.

 

Howard--7.5
Evans-6.5
Cam- 4.5
Brooks- 5.0
Fabian- 6.5
Bradley- 8.0
Jones-4.0
Bedoya- 5.5
Mix-6.0
EJ- 5.5
Jozy- 9.5

Subs:
Castillo 6.0
AJ- 7.0
Sasha- 6.5
Joe Benny- 5.0
Parkhurst - 5.5
Wood- NA

 

I find it hard to believe so many folks rated EJ so high. I don't care if hedid get a goal , he sucked and was lazy. He quit the run on the pass from Jozy to what should have been him continuing the run. Stood over the box on the ball until the defense arrived at least twice and gave up a goal on a turnover that people are blaming Geoff Cameron for.

 

Eddie Johnson doesn't have the best tactical awareness or soccer brain in general, but he isn't lazy. That critique is a lazy critique, actually. Wasn't Jozy supposedly "lazy" too before he went on his latest spell of good form?

 

Yes, Cameron was equally at fault in this regard. But despite Johnson's grievous error, those two could have cleaned the mess (essentially their job) and didn't.

 

Media Ratings (Average of 16 raters, hi/lo excluded):

Altidore - 9.2
Bradley - 7.7
Johannsson - 6.8
Howard - 6.5
Castillo - 6.1
F.Johnson - 6.1
Evans - 6.0
Kljestan - 6.0
Parkhurst - 5.6
Bedoya - 5.5
Diskerud - 5.4
Brooks - 5.3
Corona - 5.3
Jones - 5.0
E.Johnson - 4.8
Cameron - 4.7
Wood - NR

These, as usual, are pretty good. My quibble is what did Cameron do to be seen as our worst player? EJ and Jones clearly should wear that. Diskerud is slightly underrated. Kljestan should be 6.5 minimum, as he was outstanding in his time.

Since we had 10 ratings here on BS, I thought that was enough to consolidate. BS consensus:

Altidore - 9.6
Bradley - 8.3
Johannsson - 7.0
Howard - 6.8
Castillo - 6.4
Kljestan - 6.4
F. Johnson - 6.4
Evans - 6.1
Bedoya - 5.9
Diskerud - 5.9
Corona - 5.9
Parkhurst - 5.9
Brooks - 5.7
Cameron - 5.2
E.Johnson - 5.0
Jones - 4.6

So, I actually like "our" ratings better. Suck it "media".

What's kind of interesting, is with the exception of Jones, all the BS ratings are more optimistic, with the highest delta being Corona at .61 higher. That's strange, because BS is usually much more pessimistic. Man, JK really has this thing turned.

 

One more thing. The 9.2 for Altidore is the highest rated performance "ever" (since the 2010 WC). Previous high was an 8.96 for Donovan's hat trick against Scotland.

 

Honors: Howard, Evans, Johnson, Bradley, Mixx, Altidore
Pass: Aron, Bedoya, Kljestan, Corona, Castillo, Parky
Fail: Jones, Cameron, Brooks, EJ

Cameron should play mid, Jones needs a rest, Brooks just needs more games once he decides he wants to play football. EJ needs to move permanently to back up behind Jozy. He should get plenty of quality pt there, not to worry.

 

Consistency is key here. Chandler, Williams, Mix, Castillo, Boyd, EJ, Shea & Wondo are very inconsistent players, you never know which one is going to show up.

At least with Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, Donovan, Fabian and Jozy you know that even when they have a bad game, they always have moments when they can do good.

Also, and this is vital, consistency is much more of an issue with defensive players. Lack of consistency forward can be fixed by a change, after enough chances missed. When it happens at the back, by the time a sub is done, it's usually too late.

Will be AJ & JAB consistent enough to be serious contenders for the 23? Only time will tell.

 

Time will tell with the new kids on the block.

Chandler's inconsistency, as u put it, is well known. Agree.
Williams is not international quality.
Mixx is developing. I do not call that inconsistency.
Castillo's temperament is impulsive. He seems inconsistent to me.
Boyd's skills do not reach up to the threshold of international football.
EJ/Shea - what they do, they do well but they lack range. Shea is still young, he could, indeed should, expand his horizon. It is coming along, albeit slowly due to some bad luck with injuries. He is consistent.
Wondo is a known quantity whose club skills are difficult to fit into the USMNT program.

 

As great as it is to score 3 goals, his crosses didn't look good when he was putting them into the box. His weight always seemed to be back to far, and the ball to far out in front, resulting in horrible balls over the box. But his touches were spot on, and the free-kick he scored was magnificent. 9.5

 

I totally agree about Jones. In fact, if Jurgen is going to leave Landon out for taking a break from the game, I would consider benching or maybe even not calling in Jones for the next two qualifiers, even if one is against Mexico. He is complacent and knows he has a locked spot. Take him out, make him work for it again. Jurgen did it to Jozy, and look what happened. Jones has looked horrible the past 6 months for the national team

 

We aren't lookin' for Jozy to do a whole lot of crossing anyway. His stats would have been much nicer with the assist he would have had if EJ was not a dozen time zones away and just gave up on a play he should have been crashing the goal face. If EJ finishes the run I give him a 10 since he gets an assist. I knock off half a point for not figuring out his partner had his up his arse. It isn't all EJs fault I suppose since he did have to fly a long ways for a midweek game, and then was put in a position that he struggles, in front of a back that he has absolutely no chemistry with.