It was a given that Torres would be weak against a physical team like Holland. Guess BB didn't have faith in Edu starting. The tackle took out Holden who looked promising. Beasley may have atoned for his bad pre-injury form but he could easily be taken off the ball as usual. The penalty shows that Bornstein just can't learn, but Pearce was no cure.
I agree. No US player was better than average and many were below average. What a waste of two hours. I hope that the European-based players were tired and will play better in the summer.
5=Average Howard: 6- Had some good saves, and an overall pretty good day. Spector: 5.5- Looked solid most of the match with a very few shakey moments. Bocanegra: 5- I thought he looked ok most of the match. DeMerit: 7- Very solid Bornstein: 3- Wow, there was a reason I wasn't buying into him as are starting LB. Holden: 6.5- Good composure and skill, hope he's well. Bradley: 7- Amazing positioning and passing today Torres: 5- A little rough around the edges internationally, but he'll get there. Donovan: 5- Not what we need in our last friendly before the roster is announced. Findley: 4.5- Has the speed, but little else currently. Altidore: 6- Solid if unspectacular Beasley: 6.5- Good return, but still needs club minutes. Edu: 6- Good return from injury Bedoya: 6.5- Kids got a future Johnson: 5.5- Our striking options are so horrible right now, but EJ was much better than Findley Goodson: 5.5- Not much time B.Bradley: 6- Pretty standard formation with some good subs. Ref: 3- I know it was a friendly, but come on you have cards for a reason.
This is too simplistic. Van Marwijk set in to win the game in midfield and not to lose it in defense. It was a very conservative approach but the one they have been using under him and the one that brought them to the World Cup as a runaway group winner. The downside to this formula is that it looks ugly. With the above in mind, the Dutch tried to slowly work it up the pitch while the US tried its high press tactics. (this is why Findley was on the pitch) As long as the US legs held up well, this worked early on. Given the stifled midfield, the home team tried to go over the top several times but Kuijt simply lacked pace to outrun a fullback and everyone else. In the second half, the US was getting tired and also wanted to go forward more. Kuijt moved wide and held up the ball that was played into his feet, with Snejder trying to find either Huntelaar or Eljia over the top. That tactics led to several chances for the Orange. Now, what was the US trying to accomplish in the face of the opponent's game plan?
Seems like we have a pretty high variance. Not the prettiest game, but a few players showed something. Howard: 7. Couldn't do anything about either goal, played a great game. Spector: 4.5. Average with a couple of bad plays. DeMerit: 6.5. Best defender BY FAR. Loses .5 for some terrible passing. Boca: 6. Average to bad in the first 50-55 minutes, got better. +.5 for a nice goal. Bornstein: 2. He has some really, really bad games. Could've easily been called for 2 penalties, got beaten way too often. Holden: 7. Best USA player before the injury. Hope he's okay. Bradley: 7. Great ball-winning, good positioning, passing was poor early but got better. I'm impressed by how much he's improved since the fall. MOTM Torres: 5.5 Good positioning, making up for not being a 1v1 defender. Started slowly, but looked good towards the end of the half. Excellent shot. Donovan: 4. Completely invisible. He's had a poor 10 days. He'll get it back though. Findley: 4. Not an international player. Yet. Needs to improve his soccer IQ. Altidore: 7. His time at Hull has really done him well. Hold-up play is much improved. Beasley: 6.5. Surprised me with very solid play. Not moving ahead of Dempsey, Donovan, or Holden, but he's definitely back in the picture. Edu: 5.5. Solid but unspectacular. Other subs: NR.
I agree with what your saying, except WHY THE F@CK WAS BORNSTEIN MOVED TO CENTERBACK!!!! It is one thing against El Salvador, but against the Dutch? Would we really consider this move in a WC match? I would hope that someone (really, anyone else, not named Pearce) would be moved there before Bornstein.
Howard - 6 - Good showing. Nothing to do but watch on the goals. Spector - 6.5 - Solid. Bornstein - 4 - Lost his mind, watched Dutch guys run around DeMerit - 7 - Not a much got through Bocanegra - 7 - For the goal. Donovan - 5 - Petulant and boring Holden - 6 - He has the simplicity in control and passing that we need. Bradley - 6 - Good work rate, needs touch. Torres - 6 - Needs to D up, but distributed well, for the most part Findley - 3 - Passing to him is a good way to lose the ball Altidore - 6.5 - Was dangerous in the final third. Loses the ball too much. Beasley - 7.5 - MOTM for the US. Showed good touch, created, tracked. Edu - 7 - Nice passing and positioning. Good tackler Bedoya - 6 - Looked lively Johnson - 5.5 - Simply can't run at defenders Goodson - 7 - Aggressive in the box. The Dutch team had no one under a six. Schneider was an awesome. Kyut was huge. They are an excellent team that has made better sides look completely average. Coping with them would be challenging on any night for any team. Thought the result was decent and instructive. Our structure and movement is not up to the standards of the top 10 teams. We do not switch the ball well. We are rushed and inaccurate with our passes, particularly as play begins to break down. We get spread out and lose unity. When a team like the Netherlands is spraying passes all over the place against our weak team fabric, it allows guys like Schneider all the time they need to grab a cup of coffee, look around, and find the perfect pass. I have no idea why so many of our players were stopping to raise their hands at the ref, especially Donovan, who ought to know better. The Dutch were getting the better calls, but they weren't arguing, either. That's poor coaching.
Its because this game was more about evaluating players against high level competition than it was about beating Holland.
I got that. We have seen him as an "emergency" fill in for one full game and for the time against Honduras. Time would have been better spent putting in Goodsen for that time that Bornstein spent at center back.
That's your opinion, but its obviously not the opinion of the coach of the US national team. Instead of griping about it, you could use it for insight into what Bradley is thinking about the roster. Bradley is trying to see if he needs another center back. Who is he trying to make space for? He could be trying to find a reason to bring Charlie Davies along.
Howard:7 Spector:6.5 DeMerit:6 Bocanegra:5.5 (rating his form in the back not on set pieces) JB:4 Donovan:4.5 Bradley:6.5 Torres:5.5 Holden:6 (could've been higher had De Jong not been classes) Altidore:6 Findley:4 Subs Edu:7 Beasley:6.5 Bedoya:6.5 EJ:5.5 Pearce:5 Goodsonositioning was good and won a couple 50/50s. Hard to put a number to a 15 minute appearance where we were throwing more players forward.
just watched my tape and I hadn't read what anyone else said here or elsewhere. Best game I've seen Beasley play for the national team in awhile. Bornstein, not so good. Some refs would've given him a handball on the non-call and that would be penalty #2. And then he let a guy go solo that Howard was able to stop. I don't know if it was the Dutch taking their foot off the gas and they were up 2-0 late or if we greatly improved, but we played best in the last 10 minutes. Coincidentally, that was when Donovan was off the field and our attack usually runs better when he's on the field but I don't think he really did much. Not much standing out from other people. Findlay has to do better when he's alone than kick the ball right to the goalkeeper.
I really need to rewatch the game and will do so now. My initial reaction: Howard: 6 nothing much to do on either goal. I wonder whether he psyched himself out on the PK and made it easier for Kuyt with his movement. Just a thought Spector: 5 struggled with the speedy and skilled Elia. However, it seemed to me that most right backs would. He does seem confident on the ball and decent going forward. Bocanegra: 7(5.5 without goal) thought he was solid but usual Carlos. Good in the air offensively and defensively. Good positionally. Solid leader. Not great at clearing the ball all the time. Vulnerable to speed. Demerit 6 very solid. Less vulnerable to speed than boca. Leaves it all on the field. I have more confidence in his defense than I do Carlos. Doesnt offer much offensively beyond hoofing it down field...but I dont mind. Bornstein: Bornstein 2-US-1 Seriously, just when I was starting to come around on him. The PK he gave up I believe was almost identical to the Slovakia PK, which makes me think he simply doesnt learn from his mistakes. Hasn't he given up others? Donovan: 5. Not his night. Felt that he was not where he should have been defensively at times. Wish he came out 15 mins earlier. Torres: 5.5. I dont think he was as bad as others. I was surprised that he was able to play as quickly as he did given the slower pace of the Mexican league. His effort was good. I don't like playing he and Mike parallel which they seemed to do. Holden: 6.5 very solid. A shame he was taken out. He was very active and composed with the ball at his feet. Bradley: 8 In my mind, our best player. He was confident and got better as the game wore on. To me, this may have been among his best performances in a nats jersey. He seemed to be one of the few US players who were not the least bit phased by playing the Dutch. Findley: 4 really offered little. When his speed was put to good use his lack of ideas and tactical awareness negated it. Jozy: 7.5 Very good. Got better as the game wore on. Also seems to be fitter and more confident. On the one hand, I hate his dives and how easy he goes down. Not crazy about the gamesmanship. On the other hand, it was effective. It drew us dangerous fks and he seemed to really be pissing off Heitinga. I can't wait till this weekends game. So I am really conflicted. Beyond the gamesmanship, he was good. Johnson: 4.75 a notch better than Findley. At this point I prefer Ching by a good margin Bedoya: 5.5 liked his intelligent runs and activity. Wasted in his early minutes up front. Edu 5 I like Maurice but for the first 25 mins he was anonymous and seemed tenative in his positioning. Since we know what Mike can do, I wouldve preferred to see Edu with Torres for the second half. [of course, mike was a pleasure to watch]. He seems almost too non chalant at times. GOodson: NR wouldve liked to have seen more of him. I do like him as our 4th CB, assuming everyones healthy. Beasley: 6.5 got better as the half wore on and was very effective. There is a role for him in SA. Touch still poor more often than not, but his set pieces were good and he was active and tenacious and seemed to have ideas with the ball.
Demerit was our best starter. He was an aboslute rock back there, interveneing and dominating in the air. Boca looked slow and stupid with the ball. I need Boca benched and a healthy stevo on the right with a spector in the left.
I'll have to rewatch the game because I really did get up for DeMerit a lot. I just think Spector had a lot to deal with because of Elia and the couple times that Spector got beat, he recovered so quickly and effortlessly to keep Elia out of the box. I think his recovery is overlooked a lot because he is a slower player. But he breaks down players so well and his concentration is way above par. I think that's why he's been pushing Steve so close for the RB spot.
I'm going to go with letter grades to be different. Howard (B+) - Can't be faulted for either goal. Commanded his box rather well, rock solid on the easy stuff, phenomenal save late on. Spector (B-) - A little shaky early on. Got beaten a couple times by Elia for speed. Settled down a bit. Really really let us down with that cross late in the game though, which is very uncharacteristic. DeMerit (B) - Defended well and was very active, but at times seems frenetic. He also is far more apt to just boot the ball, even when he has plenty of time to play out of the back. Bocanegra (B+) - Aside from the goal, Boca was spending a lot of time trying to clean up Bornstein's messes. I thought he was really well positioned most of the game and much more composed on the ball. Bornstein (F-) - Should have had two penalties called against him, both of which were just sheer incompetence. Got posted up and muscled out of the play on the goal that eventually bounced off of him. Heath Pearce should by him a steak dinner tonight. Holden (C) - I know a lot of people aren't going to agree with this one, but Stu really hadn't done much of anything up until he got hurt. What's unfortunate is that run showed signs of life and I think he would have built on that had he not been injured. Torres (C-) - Outside of that long range shot, he really didn't offer much. Didn't defend well, his passing was inconsistent, and quite frankly, having him on the field forces Bradley out of position. Bradley (B-) - Had a great work rate in the middle but was forced into a defensive midfielder role in the first half, which isn't his real position. By the time Edu came on he was already out of the game. Donovan (C) - I wonder how much of Donovan's disappearing act had to do with the fact that Bornstein was getting beating like $5 hooker who doesn't have her pimps money. Altidore (C+) - Drew some fouls, and wasn't afraid to take on defenders. Unfortunately he lost the ball far too often. That back heel in the corner was awesome though and with a stronger pass we have a sitter. His shot late on makes me wonder why he isn't doing that four or five times a game. Findley (D) - I actually thought Findley was pretty active, he just had no idea what to do with the ball when he got it. He's way out of his depth. Beasley (A-) - Welcome back Beasley. One of the few players who connected well with teammates, attacked, and....yeah. Rock solid. Edu (B) - He played well. He definitely helped take a lot of the defensive weight off of Bradley's shoulders in the midfield. I understand why Torres started, but Edu is so much better its not even funny. Bedoya (B+) - Very active. Made smart runs. He's a bit of a conundrum this late in the cycle. Still not sure where he fits in, but he's a smart player for sure. Pearce (A-) - I honestly don't think that Pearce was better than Boca or Demerit, but he was that much better than Bornstein he gets such a high grade. Linked well with Beasley on the left and was far more dangerous going forward. Defended competently too. Moved past Bornstein without a doubt. Johnson (D+) - This might be a little harsh. By the time EJ came on the game was more or less decided (or so everyone thought). I was hoping for a bit more from EJ, and would have rather seen him start this game over Findley, but I suppose Bradley wanted to see what Findely could do against higher quality opposition. Goodson (INC) - Not enough minutes to really make an evaluation. Had he buried that scissor kick late in the game he would be a BigSoccer God right now.
Howard (6) - Pretty solid throughout. Great save on Vaan der Vart but not much to do besides the two weak goals and the Elia breakaway that Bornstein recovered on. Always wish he would distribute to outisde backs more, but techincal ability of backs are a concern. Spector (6) - Got beat a couple of times on some (world class) moves by Elia but was solid from there on out. Good poession play. Bad cross at the end but that is not common for him. DeMerit (5) - Defended well for the most part but is just awful at distributing. Route 1 just about everytime. Always plays hard but just lacks technical ability. Would be a great sub in SA while holding a lead to move to CB and move Boca to LB. Bocanegra (6) - Great goal, always puts his body on the line(keeper could have laid him out). Good defending but always plays long ball. Bornstein (3) - Just awful. Mental mistake (pks given in 2 straight intl friendlies). Could have been another pk on the handball. Unlucky on the deflection goal but horrible touch all game and never looked comfortable. Holden (6) - Looked like he belonged and was very comfortable on the ball before the injury. Should definitely make the final 23 imo. Torres (5) - His game is possession and I felt like everytime he got the ball he wanted to keep posession but there were not many passing options. Defended better than I expected but seems like more of a SA sub when we need to break down a bunkering defense. Bradley (6) - Great work rate but gave the ball away many times. Some good tackles. He played too many low percentage long balls and too little possession instead of more possession and mixing it up with an unpredictable long ball, imo. Donovan (4) - Really bad for his standard. I am a huge Donovan fan but I don't remember one successful pass that he made all match. He seemed to be "going through the motions" and was just jogging over the pitch all day Altidore (7) - Didn't get much service but was good when he did get a hold of the ball. Drew countless fouls and looked dangerous when he had the chance. If Davies isn't fit, Jozy looked like he is capable of being a hold-up man in a 4-5-1 to take advantage of our lack of forwards and abundance of mids. Findley (4) -Looked like a deer-in-headlights. Obviously not ready for the big time, but could be a nice contributor in the future. Laughable shot on the ball played through by Boca in the first half. Instead of taking defenders on in advanced positions, plays backward in fear of making mistake. Beasley (7) - Very impressed. Not a big Beas fan but he looked comfortable in attack and caused some probems. Great set pieces to boot. Could be a great sub in SA. Edu (7) - Good showing. Very composed on the ball with good touch. Seems like a good pairing with Bradley. I would be ok with him starting in SA if Jermaine Jones isn't fit/acclimated. Seems like a slight upgrade over Rico Clark. Bedoya (6) - Very active. Made some very intelligent and inspired runs. Didn't see much of the ball but created a set piece just outside the box after a good 1/2 with Bradley (?). Just might sneak in the 23. Johnson (4) - More active than Findley on offense to see some of the ball but didn't make good decisions with it. Some lazy (or not confident) passes led to turnovers. Not our answer as a 2nd striker if Davies isn't fit. Pearce (INC) - Didn't see much time but seemed like an improvement over Bornstein in his short time. Played a long, diagonal ball (on a line) to a streaking Bedoya that was just too long, good idea though. Goodson (INC) - Came in late and looked good in his short time. He seems more confident on the ball than our other CB options and I would love to see him tried next to Onyewu (if fit) in a friendly before the cup. Almost an epic scissor kick goal for the draw. Random Thoughts: 1. Why did BB not replace DeMerit with Goodson to give him a look earlier instead of putting Bornstein at CB for a bit. We are going to be in BIG trouble if Bornstein plays at all in the WC, nevermind CB. 2. The Dutch are a great team and are ranked higher than England. They definitely dominated possession but didn't have many quality chances against us (besides two weak goals) in their stadium. If we can get our big guns back to health and play organized, we can play with an England team on neutral ground, imo. 3. We didn't lose because of the ref, but he was awful. I don't believe in the anti-american conspiracy as far as refs go, but I do believe that he recognized the world class players on the Dutch team and wanted to protect them from injury and could have cared less about our lesser known yanks. 4. Nigel De Jong is a douche. Horrible tackle on Holden and an absolute swan dive on no contact that drew a foul against Beasley that would have led to a 1v1.
Just wanted to jump in on Spector being beaten early by Elia. Getting beat happens as a defender but what really matters is how you recover and what is left for the attacker after your are beaten. IN THESE CASES NOT MUCH. Elia had his touch early on but was steadily slowed down as the game progressed game (with the exception of the break away) . Much credit should be given to the defender for adapting to the speed and skill of a world class player you have never faced. In the second half Elia was forced into the teeth of the defense (DeMerit, Edu, BOca) because he had nothing else. There was some really nice TEAM defense on display.
haha, sorry. I copied your format and accidentally hit enter half way through changing to my own ratings and comments. Edited now.
absolutely agreed. We defended fairly well (Spector included) as the Dutch didn't have many clear chances besides the two lucky goals and Elia's breakaway. Our touch and possession (and confidence) left a lot to be desired, imo.
*stream went out about the 80th minute Howard - 7/10. Nothing he could have done about the penalty, or the deflection. Another sturdy performance from him. Bornstein - 4.5/10. OK at times reading the passing lanes, but just got turned too often vs Robben. Often times had great positioning against Robben, but got hips turned with Robben's quickness although Robben could be the 2nd or 3rd best winger in the world right now. Sneijder really embellished that penalty, but nevertheless it was a penalty. DeMerit - 6.5/10. Too often content with bypassing midfield and hitting the ball upfield, regardless if there's a player there or not. He's just simply not that comfortable with the ball at his feet. Great defensively, especially in the air. Really plays his position well by reading the game and jumping into passing lanes. Truly a championship center back with his physical sturdy defense and his atrocious passing ability. I like what he brings to the team, even though he can't pass to save his life. Bocanegra - 6.5/10. Was great in the air and reliable. I always fear his lack of speed will get him caught out. He was at fault on one of the through ball's to Elia that really should have been a goal. Judging his play sans goal, missed it due to stream. Senior Bradley in my opinion has kind of dug a hole with Boca. He's give him the captain arm band, but i'm not sure he's been liking his play lately. DeMerit and Onyewu may just be a better pairing...... Spector - 5.5/10. Not one of his best performances for us. He contributed a few overlapping runs and put in some OK crosses, but was turned far too often by the winger. Had some great balls won in the air, but played on his heels a little too much waiting for the winger to make a move, which you simply can't do vs the Dutch wingers. I'm wondering if Spector may be better in the center of the field, as a CB or DCM. His crossing is fantastic, but he really struggles with extremely fast and agile wingers as evidenced with his play against Valencia, Aaron Lennon, and now Robben. Bradley - 7/10. The amount of ground this man covers is simply remarkable. He put in some great tackles to break up the dutch's flow. Work rate was incredible, the consumate box to box player. Such a pest defensively that many players simply get flustered and give the ball away. Equal qualities going forward and defensively, great player to have in the squad. His game is really coming around, I think the bigger teams in Europe will be really coming after him after the summer. Torres - 3/10. Inexcusable performance. Never appeared calm enough on the ball, especially for a player that's billed as a "creative center midfielder." A liability defensively, who simply wouldn't put in any tackles, and often shied away from defensive duties. For a player that is lauded for his vision and creativity, i'm stunned at how often he simply couldn't find the feet of his teammates to keep possession. And it's not like he was making fantastic through balls that his teammates couldn't see or catch up to. He just could not keep possession. Did have a great strike from midfield, but I think Feilhaber, Holden, and Edu all offer better options than him. I'd rather play with two DMF than play with 1 and Torres. Holden - 8/10. Our best player on the field before he went down. He really did well both defensively and offensively, putting in some great crosses, playing within the buildup, and overall had a sound performance. He's always possessed this technique, but it appears this Bolton spell has put a hop in his step and gave him some confidence. Hope the injury is nothing serious. Donovan - 4/10. Abysmal performance from him. Outside of his freekicks, I could have been convinced he didn't even play. What is with this guy? He was completely out of sync with his teammates and the flow of the game. Performances like this are perplexing from such a great talent like him. How bad has that miss over the weekend affected his psyche? Findley 4/10. The quality isn't there yet, and he's really not ready for this level. Dribbled away from the goal with players waiting in the box on a few occasions. Had one really nice touch from a long ball that he brought down, but really had no creativity and honestly looked lost and intimidated. Altidore 7/10. Unfortunately didn't get much help, but even so played a pretty good game. He's holding the ball up very well, and looks quick and composed on the ball. I still have a problem with how much he "jogs" while chasing defenders down and putting pressure. This is a characteristic of most strikers in the world, but it is still frustrating. Especially when you watch strikers like Torres and Rooney absolutely give center backs fits when they're in possession. Hull City has improved his game though, as his touch and feel of the game seemed to have gotten better. Edu - 7/10. Took a good 10 minutes to find his ground in the game, but once he did he really played solid. Tracked back well defensively. I think he's our best pure defensive midfielder we have in the pool. Disrupted the other team's buildup, and played simple passes out of the back that started our buildup. I liked his play last night. Bedoya - 6.5/10. This was my first look at Bedoya, and I came away pretty impressed. Firey player with a great motor. Looked very quick and hungry. Made an absolute gem of a run that Beasley ignored. Created a good free kick opportunity, and looks to have a good soccer IQ. Not sure what his position is, is he a winger, attacking midfielder, or forward? I like him regardless, maybe he gets a shot at SA? Johnson - 5/10. Still possesses the first touch and soccer brain of an AYSO player. He plays with no awareness of where he is on the field, where his teammates are, or his opposition. He is quick, but in my opinion offers nothing else. Eddie Johnson cannot compete effectively at this level. Heal up Charlie Davies. Beasley - 6/10. Not sure what to make of Beasley. Apparently he really started playing well right when my stream cut off. I'm not convinced he can help us in SA. Maybe those last 10 minutes that I missed really convinced some of you, but I don't know. He's just so fragile. He had one dreadful giveaway on an overlapping run from Spector. I mean, that was the kind of pass i'm sure most kids learning the game can make. Perhaps he wasn't up to speed with the match at that point, but i'm just not a fan. If it weren't for Di Jong's horrible dive, he would have been in on the keeper 1 on 1. Classless from Di Jong..... Pearce - 6/10. When did he develop these crosses with his left foot? I thought for sure he was done about 2 caps ago when he looked atrocious. With Bornstein's bad game, the plot thickens even more at LB. I'm still thinking from a purely talent perspective we're best off with Cherundolo at RB and Spector at LB. Goodson - NR. Didn't see enough of him due to stream. John Harke's ability to pronounce foreign clubs - 10/10. Harkes can be a bit redundant, but he really knows the game and provides some good insight.
Howard - 6 - solid, although still do not love his distribution at times Spector - 5 - did ok in a very tough match up DeMerit - 7 - very solid game Bocanegra - 5 - nice header (although completely unmarked), ok defense, and very bad distribution Bornstien - 4 - very tough match up for any full back, but penalty was inexcusable Donovan - 5 - not nearly enough from our best player Bradley - 7- great effort, had a few too many give aways but also had some very nice looks and runs Torres - 5 - looked shaky, good shot Holden - 6 - solid Altidore - 7 -very good game despite playing alone up top (EJ and Findley do not count) Findley - 4 -he tries, just does not have the quality yet Subs Edu - 6 -solid effort, no mistakes Beasley - 7 - back to the old Beasley, great pace and work rate, touch and Bedoya - 6 - looked decent, did not appear intimidated at all EJ - 4 - most think he was better than Findley, I'm not so sure Pearce - 6 - came on when US had most of possesion, but looked solid Goodson - 6- solid in limited action
Just some quick impressions: Torres just wasn't on the same page with the other players and needs to learn to play defense if he's going to be teamed with Bradley or other non Dmid. Too raw for 2010 but still a decent possession player for a possession-type team; too bad that doesn't describe this team. Findley looked lost out there in the final third. Too raw. I was wondering what the heck Beasley is doing out there but he looked like he might still be useful. Bornstein sure looked like a goat but the shirt tug didn't look that bad on replay. Still, he's got to avoid that in the penalty box or be a bit less obvious about it. I don't know how he does it but Altidore has been very dangerous; he also seems to have a knack for another useful skill Louganis won Gold medals with... I want to see a bit more of Bedoya; he looked quite active and had a nose for making runs. Maybe put him in the 23 just for the experience with an eye towards 2014.