Oh boy was that bad. Our possession, the officiating, the USA/ES fans ratio, etc. But we won. Which is the good thing. But still it's not fun watching our team look like this. Here's my player ratings. My average: 5 Howard - 6 ( Misjudged goal, but made up for it with the great save at the end) Altidore - 6 (Still looks a bit shaky, but will get better with more PT) Davies - 7 ( Great game by Davies. Beautiful skill on the ball) Donovan - MOTM 8 ( 2 assists. Was all over the place first half and part of second half. Was not hlped by Bradley at the end leaving him alone up top) Feilhaber - 4 ( No comment.) Bradley - 5 ( No comment) Dempsey - 6 ( was quiet and being same old Dempsey before his goal. He woke up after the goal but started to get cute with his "tricks") Bornstein - 3 (BAD) Bocanegra - 4 ( Can we get a different captain?) Marshall - 5 ( ehh...) Spector - 4 (would like to see him on the left and Cherundolo at right) SUBS Holden - 5 ( great energy and some good crosses into the box at the end) Beckerman - NR ( Why Bob?) Torres - NR (Would love to see Clark or Bradley and Torres in the middle for T&T)
dempsey a 5 for me for missing some inexplicable sitters, and Stu a 6, he brought good energy, , and bornstein a 2. other than that u got it i think
People stop asking for Spector on the left... he's not a good left back. Why do you guys push for shit just because you've never seen it? Bornstein - 0 Marshall - 0 Beckerman - 0 Donovan - 10 Altidore - 10 Dempsey is pathetic. Had 3 wide open chances tonight. Put in 1. Is that supposed to be our best player abroad? PATHETIC. Davies needs to develop a first touch and stop diving to hide the fact that he has no first touch. Also missed a gimme.
Considering it was El Salvador at home Altidore - 6 Davies - 7 Donovan - MOTM 8 Feilhaber - 5 Bradley - 4 Dempsey - 6 Bornstein - 4 Bocanegra - 4 Marshall - 4 Spector - 5 Game was disjointed, over all a less than confidence inspiring performance.
Howard- 5 - saved our butt on that save in the last few minutes but was terribly out of position AGAIN on the goal. Spector - 6 - good crosses and pretty solid defense Marshall - 3 - not talented enough Bocanegra - 3 - too slow, poor passing/clearances Bornstein - 2 - not a defender Bradley - 3 - played no defense, gave the ball away often Feilhaber - 4 - not sure what he did Donovan - 8 - great as usual Dempsey - 7 - great finish on the goal, missed several others, played hard Davies - 7 - plays 100%, great creativity, great pace, but needs to watch his diving Altidore - 7 - great goal, disappears at times though subs... Holden - 7 - good runs, good defense Beckerman - 3 - not ready Torres - 6 - didn't get much of a chance but did well
I've seen it...and it's truly dreadful. Spector played left back against Spurs two weeks ago and got burnt and burnt and burnt again.
I normally like Beckerman just due to his effort, he's one of those guys who gets the most out of limited physical ability. That said, he looked out of his depth against El Salvador, I can't imagine him against a quality side.
Davies - 7: So dangerous in tight around the box. Altidore - 7: Did what he is supposed to do. Twice. Donovan - 8: Typically superb. Dempsey - 6: Up and down. Too many blown sitters, and the goal was offside. Feilhaber - 7: Great one-touch play Bradley - 4: Very poor going forward. Time for some pine. Bornstein - 4: Awful at both ends. Spector - 5: Very shaky start, got better as the game wore on. Bocanegra - 6: Some questionable positioning Marshall - 6: A bit flat-footed on the pass that set up the goal. Holden - 7: Composed defending. Beckerman - 5: Invisible. Torres - 6: Good run, nice header.
He was thinking Central America and he had a guy who looked like the Predator. He thought some damage could be done.
He might be bad, but the question is.... Is Spector that worse of a LB than Bornstein, Pearce, or Bocanegra to not play him their? You could argue that the answer is no.
Altidore - 8 Two great finishes. For some reason only one counted. Donovan - 8 The best American soccer player of all time was his usual self. Dempsey - 7 taking into consideration that his very nice assist shouldn't have been deemed a foul. Davies - 7 Not afraid to try to beat someone! Howard - 6 one great save, one crapping of the bed Bradley - 3 couldn't control the ball worth a dime store crap (yes, that phrase doesn't make any sense, but neither did the fact that Bradley went 90 tonight) Spector - 5 some nice crosses, not much else either way Bornstein - 2 bad, but not quite Heaps bad. That's something, I guess. Boca - 4 should take off the armband and throw it to Donovan Marshall - 5 Torres - 6 shouldn't be on the bench for 83 minutes. Kudos for the good scoring opportunity he produced. Holden - 5 non-factor Beckerman - 3 Bradley 2.0
Starters: Howard- 5 - Wow what a howler on the first goal but saved us two points in the end. Spector - 6 - Got beat on the goal but he is the best defender going forward. Marshall - 4 - Booted the ball upfield too much. Bocanegra - 4 - Didn't play liked our veteran defender. Bornstein - 3 - Horrible clearance leading to their goal. Not very good pushing forward. Bradley - 3 - Did nothing to support us going forward and looked very slow defensively. Feilhaber - 5 - Benny did well at controlling the ball but was unable to thread the final pass. Donovan - 8 - Landon and Charlie were on fire. Dempsey - 6 - Dempsey has to finish another of the chances he had. Was really winded at the end. Davies - 8 - Charlie was doing work all game and Altidore - 7 - Winning goal and held the ball well. The subs: Holden - 6 - Brought energy and did well pushing forward Beckerman - 3 - wow, why did he come in Torres - 5 - Could have had a nice goal in his brief minutes. Ref- 3 - Lost control of the game really earlier and was a joke thereafter.
Generally agree with your rankings, but disagree re: marshall. He "booted" the ball to our guys a good deal of the time. I was pretty surprised by his touch on his aerial passes.
Avg.=5 Howard: 5.5- Poor positioning on the goal, but great job to save our azzez near the end. Spector: 5- Good crossing, decent defending. Let a couple of guys turn him Marshall: 4- Looked like he belonged, but his lack of speed was exploited a few times. Boca: 4.5- Not impressive in any aspect of the game. Bornstein: 1.5- Atrocious, just bloody rubbish. Dempsey: 6- Came up big, but was his same frustrating self for the majority of the game. Bradley: 4.5- First touch was awful all game, and made some poor decisions with the ball Feilhaber: 6- Had a nice subtle impact on the game. Didn't gel that great with Bradley. Donovan: 8- This performance has come to be expected. Davies: 7- Beautiful first 30 min. Altidore: 7.5- Needs to file a police report after that robbery. Holden: 6- Exactly what you want from a sub. Great defending and what a cross again after the one in Mexico. I think he has some kind of GPS in leg or something. Beckerman: 4- Wow, he did the complete opposite of what he was suppose to do, hold possession and be a busy body on defense. Torres: 5.5- Good power header from the little man and held up possession a little bit which we desperately needed.
Donovan - 7 Altidore - 7 Dempsey - 6.5 Davies - 6.5 Marshall - 6 Feilhaber - 5.5 Bocanegra - 5.5 Howard - 5 Bradley - 5 Spector - 4.5 Bornstein - 4 Holden - 6.5 Beckerman - 5.5 Torres - NR
Howard-4- gave El Salvador a goal, but was sharp on everything else. Spector-4- alright offensively, weak defensively. Marshall-5- shaky with the ball at his feet, but i see promise Bocanegra-5- past his sale date. Bornstein-1- horrible offensively, and one of the worst defensive performances in USMNT history (considering it was El Salvador at home!) Bradley-5- alright. not great not bad Feilhaber-5- same as Bradley. Donovan-8- great game. clearly above the rest of the team. Dempsey-7- he did what Dempsey normally does...5 seconds of brilliance that keeps us in the world cup race. and the rest? ...nothing Davies-6- he shows a lot of promise and i felt like he might struggle some against El Salvador at home anyways. Altidore-7- his ball control is bad, but he had TWO goals... i don't see how on god's green earth that was counted as offsides. Holden-7- for a sub, did almost everything you could possibly ask for. should have had two assists. Torres-6- again for a sub, had a good header that nearly was in the back of the net. had good control on the ball. Beckerman-1-please, god hurry up and get well Jones and Edu. El Salvador played great, and we were lucky to come away with a win. I'm sad by the fact that Alvarez would have been a better LB today than Jonathan Bornstein.
We saw him against a quality side in the Gold cup. it ended up 5-0. And we saw him in the Copa America in 07. How did those turn out? He's not ready yet.
Howard - 6.0 (out of 10) Spector - 5.0 Marshall - 5.0 Boca - 5.5 Bornstein - 3.5 Bradley - 4.5 Feilhaber - 5.0 Donovan - 6.0 didn't think he had one of his better games Dempsey - 5.5 Altidore - 6.5 Davies - 7.0 MOTM keep him healthy please! Holden - NR Beckermen - nervous Norvus nearly a 100% success for the other side! Torres - NR Coach - 4.5
Avg - 5 Howard: 5. One great play, one bad mistake. Average. Spector: 4. Poor first half, decent second half. Marshall: 4. Definitely a step down. Boca: 4.5. Defending was good, distribution was worse than usual (which says something) Bornstein: 2. Worst player on the pitch. Dempsey: 6.5. As usual, made some poor plays and some excellent plays. A part of two goals, even if only one counted. Should've had another. The excellent outweighed the poor. Feilhaber: 5. Average. Bradley: 4.5. Average early, got worse. Donovan: 7.5. A couple lazy passes, but he makes so many things happen. Altidore: 7.5. Good first half, killer second half. Davies: 7.5. Best player in the first half, good in the second. Holden: 6. Good in limited time on both ends. A couple great crosses. Beckerman: 3. Why? It was a 1 goal game. Torres: 6. Good in limited time. Almost had one. Our best players were without a doubt Donovan, Altidore, and Davies. Hard to choose just one of them. Dempsey was also good. None of the other starters distinguished themselves, although a couple subs played well.
I use the 6 point "average" scale. Howard - 6.5 Spector - 6 Marshall - 5.5 Bocanegra - 6 Bornstein - 5 Feilhaber - 5.5 Bradley - 6 Donovan - 7 Dempsey - 6 Davies - 6.5 Altidore - 7 Holden - 6.5 Beckerman - NR (but poor, on his way to a 5 or lower) Torres - NR