Besler had a great first half. I hope his sub was just precautionary and he is ready to go for Portugal. Immense performance by Brooks. Cameron and Johnson were fine. Beasley was poor. He fell down way too much. I know I lack perspective because of my euphoria, but I wouldn't mind to see a Johnson-Brooks-Besler-Cameron backline. So what if it means shifting everyone's position!
Cameron was awesome. Besler and Brooks both were mostly good. Johnson was fine. Beasley wasn't as bad as you thought.
Cameron was beast Johnson was good, but let his man get in for the goal Bester was nervous, but made up for it with good play Beasley was good, certainly better than some of the ratings here BROOKS started shaky but improved and held well... I told everyone watching with me that if I ever meet Brooks I will smack him in the face, then kiss him. After he scored the goal he put this face that seemed like the goal was called back...i had nightmare flashbacks of 2010 and that is not cool haha
Cameron was awesome. Beasley was old. Besler was meh. Johnson and Brooks decent back there. -Actually I'd say Brooks was pretty meh too on D
I think Besler and Cameron were fantastic in the first half. Ghana whipped in dozens of crosses (many of them admittedly bad) but almost never got into anything like a threatening position. And pretty much every time Ghana tried to dribble at our central defense or pass through it, they coughed the ball up. Some if that is on Ghana, but some of that is because our CBs (and Beckerman) were just smart and disciplined.
Beasley was frighteningly bad in the first half but invisible in the second. Invisibility in this case being a good thing. All 3 CBs were very good. Brooks had some early wobbles but that would be expected. And he made a fairly notable contribution in the end. Fabian was not really a factor, good or bad. If Besler is hurt then Beasley-Brooks-Cameron-Johnson is our back line, sink or swim. No way I trust Chandler at LB after what I saw in the friendlies and Omar is a disaster waiting to happen.
Came in here to praise our two CBs in the first half. They don't play immense, the Brooks goal doesn't happen. Praying both of them are alright for the next game.
Beasley improved in the second half. He was left hanging out there defending one of the fastest players on the planet. Cameron was great. Besler was good. Brooks after his bad clearance was solid Johnsons was good going forward. Howard was a motm contender until he once again left his near post wide open for an easy goal. Guess he will never learn.
With almost no possession, we did an amazing job at limiting good chances despite giving up too many crosses for my liking...
Beasley was the weak point, caught in on man's land, not dropping back to mark or getting out to contest the cross. The center backs were mostly solid, Johnson was OK. Bedoya was fantastic defensively, as were Beckerman and Jones. Ghana had a lot of the ball and few decent chances to show for it.
@PCarrESPN: #USMNT made 45 clearances against Ghana, most by any team in a #WorldCup game since 1966 (our whole data set).
This confirms what I saw. For almost the whole first half Ghana attacked Beasley. Clearly their scouting report said "Johnson>Beasley." Once Brooks entered the match, they attacked his left center side of the defense hoping to take advantage of the new guy trying to get into the flow of the match.
I don't know how you can say Beasley was bad, we pushed the attack that way and he was on island with help n the wau and the goal came from where?? Can't really blame DMB for being shite when MB was stuck in Rico Clark mode all nite made more passes to Ghana than our guys . Yet DMB never cracked.
I tend to disagree. While offering little going forward, Beasley was on an island the entire game. Jones and Beckerman picked up the slack for a slumping Bradley, an oxygen-deprived Dempsey, a shell-shocked AJ, so that left side was open all game long. And their goal was scored from the right.
For as much grief as people are giving Beasley, Christian Atsu kind of sucked. He kept going in on Beasley time and time again, the space was there in the diamond, but Atsu kept sending in lame cross after lame cross and/or taking harmless shots from distances that Howard was not going to have any problem with. Beasley held his own in that matchup. Atsu got the space, but once there he couldn't do anything with it with Beasley hounding him once he got to the edge of the box. Atsu killed countless Ghana attacks, and Beasley was certainly a part of that effort.
I'd add that Beasley was fine, except for his slips which were a bit weird. Most importantly, he slowed the attack and allowed the defenders to coordinate behind and support him, covering well for the slips. Ghana's goal came off a play that had the same earmarks as Dempsey's. Rapid play, quick feet and an excellent shot. Fortunately, the combination of the defenders plus Beckerman and Jones kept that at bay for nearly the whole game. Really nice defense; I enjoyed it.
BTW, I just want to say about my earlier post that I am only observing that the attack tended to focus on Beasley's side, and this was likely due to a scouting report. That said, for all the attacks down his flank, Ghana did not succeed in scoring a goal, which speaks well of his performance. In short, I don't think he "sucked" today.