Howard - 7 - Didn't have much to do, made the plays he needed to, gets a 1-point bump for initiating the goal Cherundolo - 7 - A bit shaky early but neutralized Algeria's best player and was dangerous coming forward DeMerit - 7.5 - Lucked out that his early misplay didn't result in a goal, but was a monster after that Bocanegra - 7 - Steady as always Bornstein - 4.5 - Not the absolute nightmare we all feared, but not good either Edu - 8.5 - US' best player in the first half Bradley - 7.5 - Was all over the field Dempsey - 8.5 - US' most consistently dangerous attacking player, had a perfectly good goal disallowed, should've done better with his chance in the 2nd half Donovan - 10 - Decent in the first half, but not spectacular. Disappeared for most of the 2nd half. Equally at fault with Jozy on the awful miss. Who cares? Altidore - 8.5 - Terrorized the Algerian defense, the miss was a result of poor communication and I put that more on LD as the more experienced player Gomez - 6.5 - Looked dangerous at times but is far more effective as a sub Subs: Feilhaber - 7.5 - Brought a new look to US attack, Algeria didn't really know how to play him Buddle - 7 - Had some good chances in limited time Beasley - NR - Didn't see enoguh time to get a rating, but was decent
I thought Bradley was amazing in the first half - best 45 minutes I've seen him play. But they all get 10s. They all get 10s.
I really think certain players get reps on this board and are stuck with them no matter what they actually do on the pitch. In what way was Bornstein that bad? And how was Edu the "best player in the first half" Skysports rates Bornstein as "7 - Solid display" and Edu as "5 - No impact". That's much more in line with how I saw it
Stupid busy signal ate my post. To summarize: Left goal frame: 11. two world class saves US: 10 what a team Algeria: 3 their play wasn't just cynicism, that was them getting outplayed up and down the field Slovenia: hahahah...well earned trip home for their lack of class Linesman: 1. 0 is reserved for the guy from Mali and Hugh Dallas. He needed to do more to get the 0.
everyone gets 10, except edu, who gets a "meh" and bornstein who gets an 8. Donovan does not get a rating, becasue he is not a player, he is a GOD!
Bradley was much more free to move forward than in the first two games, at least in part because of Edu. When we lost the ball with Bradley in the attacking end, we still kept good defensive shape when Algeria countered. That's more impact than Clark or Torres had in the first two games.
Agreed. He did fine. I can't think of a massive mistake, and his speed allowed him to cut balls off (in football terms). I'll have to rewatch to rate him but he certainly did the job. My main complaint is I believe he tried a speculative long range effort that finished a promising attack.
Agreed. I thought Edu/Bradley looked very comfortable in the first half... lots of good possession... Edu was subbed out simply because we needed another attacking midfielder on the pitch.. not because of his play.
Bornstein owned his side the entire time he was out there. 4.5 is moronic. He was the best defender we had.
??? I gave Bornstein a 7. I was happy to see Sky gave him a 7 as well. Any unbiased observer who was watching the US for the first time would give Bornstein would give him a solid/good rating. He was reliable and disciplined back there on the left back, I don't know what more you are looking for than that. The other poster was right: people's personal biases are really getting ridiculous on here.
howard - 7 - no great saves but good distribution cherundolo - 7 - good enough on defense, and very helpful coming forward and crosses demerit - 7 - bad start, but stepped up bocanegra - 7 - defended well bornstein - 6 - better on defense than on offense donovan - 8 - knew where to be at crucial time, did not choke on goal edu - 7 - solid bradley - 7 - very aggressive dempsey - 7 - tried hard and made algeria sweat at times, missed finish gomez - 6- nothing special altidore -7 - some good runs, some bad giveaways, hogged ball sometimes subs feilhaber - 7 - good passing and creative a couple times buddle - 6 - okay beasely - 6 - not much time but good enough
They were all fantastic...Jozy was superb...got everything but his goal...DeMerit was great....Bradley was all over the place...I could go on and on, but they were all a 10 on this day...
Can't believe the lack of love for Gomez. He played the ball in for Dempsey's (shoulda been) goal. Chased back when were were exposed on counters. Thought he did well. Totally don't buy the "he's a sub." Argument.
I'll give Bornstein another look when I rewatch the game. It seemed like he was getting caught out of position a lot and having to race back to recover (and giving up a lot of corners/dangerous throw-ins in the process) but I'll take a second look tomorrow. I also didn't like his tendency to waste offensive opportunities with bad crosses. As for Edu--he was winning balls all over the US half, he was making good passes to guys in space, he was composed on the ball, and he was freeing Bradley up to make dangerous runs. He's CLEARLY been the best of our 3 potential partners for Bradley and he needs to start the next game. I'll also say that even if my opinion of Bornstein changes with a second viewing, I think we need Gooch back in there if we face Germany or Serbia in the next round.
It depends. If we meet Serbia, Gooch is probably needed. They dont have alot of speed up front, and Gooch will be needed to combat their size on set pieces. I might consider going with Gooch and Boca centrally and putting Bornstein at LB.
Anyone who gives Bradley anything less than an 8 knows nothing of the game. He was our heart, our engine, our first line of attack and first line of defense on every play. He may not have the vision of Reyna but more than makes up with it with heart, discipline, and physicality. And he didn't get a single card in the group stage you AHOLES. Nepotism talk is officially to bed.
I gave Bornstein a 6.5. Solid defensively, especially after the first few minutes. Could have offered a bit more going forward however. Edu I gave a 5. Some decent defensive work, but again, could have added more going forward. I thought Bradley was a beast. I gave him a 8.5. Unfortunately, so did Kicker (YA joke there). Donovan I'd give a 6.5 and that's after a 1 point boost for the goal. Thought he really disappeared down the stretch. His named wasn't called once from about minute 60-80. OK, that's a bit of an overstatement, but still... not the second half we wanted from him. Until the goal, of course.
Also, limited time, but while in there, Buddle looked like a deer in the headlights... He had a nice header in the box but also gave away the ball 4 or 5 times easily and simply at a point in the game when we could ill afford it... The worst being goal-left just into stoppage time with 2 seconds to square the ball and one open player (Jozy I think?) 10 yards away in center box and one defender in front of him... he passed it straight to the defender... There has been a lot of clamor about getting Buddle more time and his great form... I would like to believe that too, but he simply looked overwhelmed by the situation and certainly ineffective. I am not all that surprised given his limited time with nats, let alone time in big games that count... It's tough being a spark sub... but you need to be ready to play... Buddle simply looked overwhelmed by the magnitude of the situation...