Player Ratings vs Uruguay [R]

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by bostonf4lyf, Jul 11, 2007.

  1. bostonf4lyf

    bostonf4lyf Member

    Mar 18, 2006
    wmass
    I thought someone would have started this by now, anyway I'll get this going.

    Perk-5 wow i was nervous with him back there. lets hope seitz is healthy
    wallace-6 good defensively. didnt add to attack. fatigued in ET, but that is expected.
    sturgis-7.5 didn't make a mistake. smart play. our defense is nothing without him
    valentin-5 scared me with his clumsy play. he is too slow for this level. bring back sarkodie.
    beltran-6 only played like 65 minutes or so, tactical switch. i remember 1 good cross to altidore when he headed it on target.

    szetela-7.5 i thought he was or motm. played fearless, good defensively, made the simple pass on offense (which was needed).
    bradley-7 not as bad of game as all the bradley bashers made it out to be. but he really needs to work on not losing possession on silly passes. he can play the ball well to the outside. goal helped his rating. his post game antics were priceless:D
    zizzo-5 taken out before he got settled, but wasnt contributing while he played.
    rogers-7 played his ass off. put pressure on defenders. loses the ball on the dribble a little too often
    adu-7 captained the team brilliantly. was marked and pushed around so much. never really got his touch going until late 2nd half and into ET. you could tell he wanted to win

    altidore-7.5 before his injury he was our best player

    subs
    akpan-3 crap. didnt do anything.
    ferrari-5 not as crappy. but still didnt do anything notable
    mccartey-8.5 filled in great at RM. stepped up even more when he was called to play RB. Rongen should start him next game at RB
     
  2. The Big Ticket

    The Big Ticket New Member

    Jan 30, 2004
    MN -> UIUC
    Perk - 4

    Wallace - 7 (has been a pleasant surprise so far as a makeshift left back)
    Sturgis - 7
    Valentin - 6
    Beltran - 5

    Bradley - 5
    Szetela - 5
    Adu - 6
    Zizzo - 5
    Rogers - 6

    Altidore - 6

    Akpan - 3
    McCarty - 6
    Ferrari - 3 (he was just as crap as Akpan, if not more)
     
  3. kingshark

    kingshark Member+

    Mar 3, 2006
    About Rogers, I think he was very good at blowing past opponents but very bad at passing and accurate first touch(At a few times he touched ball 10 inches away and lost the possession).

    Our CM pairs lacked creativity and sometimes the passing foward or outside was too strong and inaccurate. If this team has Feilhaber, I will expect more in attack.

    McCarty is so good this game. Smart with ball.
     
  4. NBlue

    NBlue Member

    Jun 17, 2002
    Orlando, Florida
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Perk 5
    appeared shaky at times but got the job done.

    wallace-7 MOTM
    completely shut down the right side of the Uruguyan attack. Made innumerableone v. one stops without seemingly losing a single battle. Was a rock at the back.

    sturgis -7
    Played very well in leading and organizing our defense. Solid.

    valentin-6
    Shaky and occasionally clumsy in the back. Played a large part in BOTH goals off the initial play otherwise would have been much lower.

    beltran-4
    He scares me. He tries hard but I think he is out of his depth.

    szetela-7
    Good all-around match. Was a bit overly selfish on the play near the end but won a decent amount of balls and kept possession nicely.

    bradley-6
    would have been lower if not for the goal. He gave away to many balls though he did win possession a bunch. Though he turned the ball over a lot, he was also our midfielder that attempted to do the most with his passes. He was aggressive but many of his attempts failed to connect.

    zizzo-5
    Sure hope that limp wasn't something bad -- we'll desperately need him against Austria.

    rogers-7
    If he had a better first touch he'd be my MOTM. Dude was a fighter and a battler all night and tried to create though he lost the ball too much for my liking. Good play overall.

    adu-6
    Good leadership but was taken out of the match by the Uruguayan strategy.

    altidore-6
    should have finished the first Adu cross but looked good overall until the injury.

    subs
    akpan-4 slow.
    ferrari-5 less slow but nothing of note.
    mccartey-7 our best RB I've seen in the Cup.
     
  5. Owlette

    Owlette New Member

    Jul 5, 2003
    Southern California
    You guys have got to b He kiddiing me about Perk!!!! He allowed one goal. He made some very good saves. Yes, he allowed a rebound. So did Seitz, a much weaker one I might add. I give Perk a 7.5. He is 17 years old, came into a very tough position against a physically tough Uruguay team. He took a pair of studs to the back of his head and still remained composed. He made one very good save and covered the goal pretty well without missing 2 low bouncing shots (that you see pros miss all the time). Give him a break. I think he'd do well in penalties, too.
     
  6. Newcastle77

    Newcastle77 New Member

    Feb 15, 2006
    Washington
    Perk-5 played ok but looked nervous
    wallace-7 I like him. Has had a solid tournament and works hard. Passes well from the back.
    sturgis-8.0 Sort of a young Laurant Blanc. Not fast but always positioned in the right spots. Please don't get hurt
    valentin-4 Not a very good player. He is slow and follows the ball instead of tracking his man....why was sarkodie not playing after a good game against Brazil?
    beltran-5 did not seem confident on the ball and seemed like his head was somewhere else. What the heck was that backheel...you don't do that in a knock-out game.
    szetela-7 played well but should have passed the ball off after that brilliant pass by Adu. Composed with the ball.
    bradley-8 I like Bradley. He covers a lot of ground and though not every pass is 100% he has an obvious football brain. I like how he swiched the play today.
    zizzo-4 was he even playing today? He also looked a little out of sorts like Beltran. Not sure if he was hurt but he needs to be better against Austria.
    rogers-8 I felt he was our most dangerous player. He torched the Uruguayan on the left wing all day. I counted him getting fouled at least 8 times. Took man on all day.
    adu-7 seemed to be marked out of game but once the 2H and ET came he was the best player on field. His talent is unquestionable and frankly should have had 3 assist

    altidore-7 I feel for him. Should have buried at least 2 chances but did not deserve to be out of tournament with such a cheap shot. Almost looked intentional.

    subs
    akpan-3 horrible. You could see the drop off from him and Altidore. Not sure what some people see in him. Did pressure for own goal though.
    ferrari-5 was ok but gave up ball too much. Needs to finish Adu pass but skill is obviously there.
    mccartey-8 great job at rightback. His attacking down the flank help to put pressure in ET. Unlike Beltran played within himself and was not trying to be cute while showing good skill with the ball

    Rongen 6-Not sure why he did not start Sarkodie and the Akpan sub was questionable. However, had his hands tied by injuries to a certain extent.
     
  7. newjerseyboy

    newjerseyboy New Member

    Apr 13, 2005
    Perk(GK) 4--Spilled the ball on Uruguay first goal, almost did it a second time. Couldve cost US the game. Seitz needs to get fit

    Wallace(LB) 7--Not that its hard to upgrade from Tim Ward, but solid in the tackle and very composed. Excellent performance tonight s

    Valentin(CB) 6--Solid performance, although Ofori Sarkodie shoudl be in his place

    Sturgis(CB) 8--good game, reads the game outstanding, almost gave the US soccer nation a heartattack when he limped off injured with no subs left. Shut down URU best striker Cavani

    Beltran(RB) 4--obviously not his best game, backheels in a knockout game? Either he has a HUGE pair, or no brain. take you pick. Got subbed for Ferrari

    Rogers(LW) 8--Good game from Rogers, looked dangerous at times. Very adept at gettin down the flank, showed no fear as he seemed convinced he was going to beat his man everytime and 90% of the time he did. Won too many FKs to count. MOTM by a country mile

    Szetela(CM) 7--Solid defensive performance, not too much on offense. set up the tying goal with a good composed move to beat first URU defender. Got greedy on a 3 on 1 that could sealed the game and didnt pass to WIDE open Ferrari. Couldve came back to haunt him, but it didnt

    Bradley(CM) 8--got the winner, but almost "Beasley-ed" it. solid effort. Excellent vision and switch of play tonight. Tried to step up and control the midifeld when no one would. He may have given some balls away, but he was the only MF trying to take charge and that says alot

    Adu(CM) 7--clearly he was the focal point for URU, 2 corners led to 2 goals. Kept cool while constantly being hacked. needs to stop drifting out of games

    Zizzo(RW) 5--not sure why he was subbed out, injury maybe? but a bad game doesnt diminish what he's done for this team out wide

    Altidore(FW) 6--got into good goal scoring positions despite being targeted by URU. Subbed out injured after a horror challenge by URU

    SUBS

    Akpan(FW) 3--he forced a own goal from URU, other than that you couldve put my dead grandpa in there and he'd have been more active

    Ferrari(FW) 2--Now we know why we hadnt seen him all tourney long. But to be fair its a difficult thing to do to sit for basically 4 games and then be asked to come on and save the game. Him and Andre Akpan, were clearly not ready for this type of pressure cooker game.

    McCarty(MF) 5--Came on for Zizzo, looked so bad it had everyone saying the same thing "McCarty for Zizzo? What?!" Play picked up when US got the tying goal, moved to RB and played solid. Its easy to play RB as a MF when the other team is tired and content to play for penalties, but when US got the go ahead goal he looked great there for the last 15. Lets not go replacing Beltran just yet though, if the Zizzo injury persists we will see Dax starting against AUT. He looked awful against Brazil

    COACHES

    Rongen 1--Had the US lost this game, it wouldve been his fault. Subbing Zizzo out of nowhere, Akpan before Ferrari on the Jozy sub, even though it turned out neither of those 2 were any good today. He is the most relieved man in Canada tonight.

    Overall--Clearly the URU gameplan was to cut out all flankplay by the US and make them come straight down the middle. Gutty performance for the win marred by the fracas at the end. Kudos to Michael Bradley for not turning the other cheek. May not have been smart, but it let his team know that they werent going to be played for some punks. US couldnt string together 5 passes for long periods, content to play long ball virtually the whole game. US needs to get Jozy fit or we may have problems up top. Preston Zimmerman anyone? Lemme know what you guys think of this assessment
     
  8. dark knight

    dark knight Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 15, 1999
    Club:
    Leicester City FC
    Perk - 6 suffered heavily in comparison to the guy he was filling in for, but was an adequate understudy. Really miss seitz's calm on the ball, distribution.

    Beltran - 5.5 Had one very good cross to Altidore, but had a number of giveaways and bad passes. Shaky performance. What the heck was that cheeky backheel in Uruguay's penalty area that blew a great chance?

    Sturgis - 6 - Don't remember him being involved much, which is probably a good thing for his position in a game like this.

    Valentin - 6 - Shaky at times - I think assisted on Bradley's goal?

    Wallace - 6 - Also had shaky moments but worked very hard.

    Szetela - 6.5 - Set up the first goal with tough work - and was a calming presence during the 2nd OT when we were up a goal. Not a perfect outing but came up big when it was needed.
    Bradley - 6.5 - finished his goal well, still had shaky moments and was reckless in the first half. The yellow was a poor call I thought but not surprising.
    Zizzo - 5.5 - had one very nice run up the right and cross and that's about it.
    Adu - 6.5 - Couldn't get seem to get it going tonight - had some poor touches and passes, and showboated at the end when perhaps going to the corner would have been wiser from our captain. Amazing pass to set up the chance that died at Szetela's foot in overtime.
    Rogers - 7.5 - Easily my MOTM by a wide margin - created most of the dangerous moments and won free kick after free kick. Our only attacking player that seemed to have his mojo today.
    Altidore - 6.5 - incomplete grade - should have done better on 2 headers but was active and looked like a goal might have been coming before he was hacked out of the game.

    Akpan - 6 - active and involved in some chances - and in good positions. Not quite Altidore, but not sure he deserves the torching he's getting here. Tracked back on defense.
    Ferrari - 5 - Yellow card - blew a chance and otherwise didn't do much of note other than lose the ball.
    Dax - 7 - His play at right back helped us get some possession going and settle us down - nice change from Beltran's turnovers.
     
  9. Tony in Quakeland

    Jan 27, 2003
    Pleasant Hill, CA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What the hell more can you want from a guy? He totally stood up to the challange tonight. Probably MothM
     
  10. uiriamu

    uiriamu Member

    Mar 16, 2005
    Philly, (NC)
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In general, I thought we escaped defeat this game rather than seizing victory. If you want to factor in the guts and balls shown by the team, add 0.5 or 1 to every players rating.

    Perk - 5 was very shaky and visibly nervous to start the game; had a couple of very good stops but shouldn't have spilled the ball on the goal. On one of our defense's atrociously bungled clearances, Perk went flailing in there. The absence of Seitz definitely made the whole team more tentative to start the match IMO.

    Wallace - 6 held up against some direct runs at him; lucky not to pick up a second yellow 30 seconds after his first (which was deserved). Such a big kid: hard to believe he's playing up an age-level.

    Sturgis - 7 Seemed pretty good but bears some responsibility for the team's woeful clearances.

    Valentin - 6 His physicality turned out to be an asset today against the rough Uruguayans. His speed wasn't exposed. His heading ability was key in our goals. An ideal game for his talents.

    Beltran - 5.5 underwhelming. Kid's got heart but Dax played much better in his place.

    Bradley - 5.5 REALLY not generative offensively; seemed to lack urgency until we got behind; is he just exhausted? Thought he maybe ought to have been subbed, but Dax wasn't very good in the midfield today; well-taken goal though

    Szetela - 5.5 together with MB, failed to control the midfield and/or adapt to Uruguay's high pressure play and their scheme to mark out/deny Freddy; nice cross to cause the own goal

    Adu - 6 quieter game from Freddy, but if Altidore buries that free header off his sweet cross or either Ferrari or Szetela finishes his set-ups, we'd be feeling pretty good about Adu's contributions. The wingers did a poor job of taking advantage of the attention Freddy was drawing. Freddy also only seemed to catch fire after we went down, which was disappointing.

    Zizzo - 4.5 very ineffective, couldn't adjust to the fouling; seemed timid, as if worried about exposing the defense with the new faces back there. I found myself wishing that Johann Smith had been an option for this kind of game.

    Rogers - 5 better defense than Zizzo and benefited from still being in once the game opened up due to goals and Uruguayan fatigue. Otherwise could just as easily have been subbed out as Zizzo.

    Altidore - 6 Played pretty well; the play of his replacements showed (by contrast) Jozy's quality; he's legit; just wish he would have scored that early header - would have made for a prettier overall game. hope he's ok.

    Akpan - 5 started off scared but did some decent stuff. Still nowhere near as good a Jozy.

    McCarty - split rating. For midfield play in replacement of Zizzo - 3 (really poor). In at RB after we scored - 7.5 (could even be higher but he was a sub against tired players; settled down really nicely once he was playing defense; a very good option for next game).

    Ferrari - 5 didn't show me anything to suggest that he should be starting in place of anyone; maybe just needs game time to round out his play; hopefully he won't NEED to play on Sat because Altidore will be able to go
     
  11. uiriamu

    uiriamu Member

    Mar 16, 2005
    Philly, (NC)
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd say their game plan was to play super high pressure on our defensive midfield (and defense), hounding our holding mids and trying to deny passing lanes to the wingers and especially to Adu. When Adu got the ball they would immediately swarm him to dispossess him. If anything their gameplan was to shut down Adu (who was playing down the middle) and disrupt distribution to him and to the wingers from the middle.

    They wanted to discourage the short pass build either through Adu or out to the wingers, and we obliged by going long ball and passing poorly. Luckily, they were expending crazy amounts of energy executing this plan and we benefited at the end of regulation and during extra time.
     
  12. newjerseyboy

    newjerseyboy New Member

    Apr 13, 2005
    you might be right uiriamu. i just noticed how in the first 3 games all the US chances were created from the wing and in this game virtually nothing, granted Rogers was getting fouled everytime he beat his man. No flank play is the direct result of URU stuffing the midfield and Adu from supplying Zizzo and Rogers.
     
  13. oldguyfc

    oldguyfc New Member

    Sep 26, 2006
    Chicago
    Bradley- 5.5 for the match, gets lost sometimes on the defensive side and his lack of athleticism hurts him at times. By shutting off Adu, Uruguay forced the US to play thru Bradley and he lost the ball too many times under pressure.
    Gets the goal, tho, and that's huge in anyone's book.

    Bradley- 10 after match, that's what a leader should do. He gained respect from plenty of naysayers, including me, for his "That's right, we beat you punks" attitude after Uruguay turned into the sore loser.
     
  14. sidefootsitter

    sidefootsitter Member+

    Oct 14, 2004
    Perk - 6.5 : very solid, quicker than Seitz in getting off his line, good hands, may have controlled the rebound better but he did parry it where he should have ...

    Beltran - 5 : Uruguay was a little too physical for him and he didn't do much in the "half-court" offense.

    Valentin - 4.5 : lost his marker (Suarez) on the goal, passed horribly ... gets extra half-point for his pass/shot to Bradley for the winning goal. His size was of some benefit as Uruguay went to a lot of high crosses into the box but I'd much rather see Sarkodie in there otherwise.

    Sturgis - 6 : Sort of a non-eventful day for Nathan.

    Wallace - 7 : provided speed and muscle against a tough team.

    Bradley - 7: scored the winning goal but should have avoided that early yellow ... his ability to provide aerial presence on both ends is, as usual, underrated by many.

    Szetela - 6 : when Uruguay kept falling back in numbers, it was his job to go forward a little more but he did a little too much backpassing.

    Zizzo - 4 : not sure if he was hurt but he surely did nothing out there tonight.

    Rodgers - 8 : MOTM ... the guy goes hard on both ends of the field and was the only one consistently beating his coverage.

    Adu - 6 : disappeared for too long stretches of time ... with him being the guy behind the striker, he has to get involved more and find the damn ball ... when he did find the ball, he was intermittedly effective but more effective later in the game as the players got tired.

    Altidore - 6 : had some chances but was corralled by the numbers ... the South Americans were very dirty and he didn't know how to respond ...

    Subs:

    Akpan - 4 : ... was completely out of his depth until he sort of kind of helped tie the score ... am amazed that Rongen put him out there.

    Ferrari - 5 : struggled to find himself in the game but began to get more noticeable as the time went on .. forced a nice save late but could have put it away ... he reads Adu a lot better than Akpan ... should have been the one to come off the bench for Jozy ...

    McCarty - 7 : I wrote on the USMNT N&A thread when the roster was announced that I would play him at right fullback ... he looked very good out there but he is not a winger ...

    Coaching:

    Rongen/Dir - 4 : didn't adjust when the Uruguayans were defending in numbers and were saved a little by the own goal and the post ... the Akpan sub and even his inclusion on the roster is bewildering...
     
  15. sportscribe

    sportscribe Member

    Jul 2, 2007
    The MOTM definately came from someone in the back four, or perhaps McCarthy, but I refuse to give that honor to a sub. :)

    Perk- 4: Looked a very shakey player. The first goal was a direct result of his blunder.

    Beltran- 4: Looked out of his depth. Poor judgement from him, and weak tackling. He happens to be a player I really like. I expect better from him. He is good at adding width to the attack however

    Valentin- 5.5: Drifted in and out of the game. Some shakey clearances here and there. Looked a yard slower than the opposition. Perhaps this rating is generous.

    Sturgis- 6: Not his best performance, but still made the tackles when they mattered.

    Wallace- 7: Best player on the field for me. Made one or two errant passes, but that was due to a lot of pressure. Pretty much shut down that side of their attack. MOTM.

    Bradley- 6: Didn't have as bad a game as many people are crying. Needs to make better decisions and work on his short passing game. Defensive Mids are technically supposed to be the best short passers on the team. He is fearless in the tackle; would have given him a 5 but for the winning goal.

    Szetela- 5: A lot of graft from him, but nothing to show for it. I can't understand for the life of me how anyone would think he was the MOTM. His position may have been rendered ineffective due to Bradley occupying a lot of the same space. Not a great day.

    Zizzo- 6: Still ever the sparkplug. If not for his limited playing time, I'm sure he would have had a higher rating. Had one or two good touches before he was subbed.

    Rogers- 6.5: Third best player for us on the pitch behing McCarthy and Wallace. He is tireless with a phenomenal work-rate. Final ball could be a bit better. Shows a lot of promise for me.

    Adu- 6: And a generous 6 at that. In open play, he was completely castrated. Got nudged off the ball way to easily, but it was his delivery from set piece that led us to both goals, otherwise had one of the worst days out of all the players. Will definately bounce back.

    Altidore- 6.5: Looked strong in the box. Probably would have scored if he stayed on. Should have really put the first chance in the back of the net in my opinion.

    ------

    McCarthy- 7: Made one or two good moves to create space while in midfield, and did well filling in for Beltran. It wouldn't surprise me if he replaced Beltran at RB for the rest of the tournament.

    Akpan- 4: While I am tempted to give this lug a lower rating, it was his sheer mass and cumbersomeness that led to our equaliser. Should be converted into a defender due to his size, but shows nothing whatsover in attack. He was just thrown into the fire, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I was shocked to hear he scored 3 goals in qualifying.

    Ferrari- 5: Sampdoria, huh? Looks a very quick player, but seemed to come on in a lethargic manner. Shows some promise though. Would definately love to see him on with Altidore next match.

    -------

    Rongen- 4: Very poor tactically. Threw a Hail Mary by taking off Beltran and putting on a striker. It wasn't an adjustment, it was a prayer. Even though the midfield was clearly overloaded, he lacked the huevos to take off one of the Defensive Mids and add on a striker earlier on. Seems to show little faith in Ferrari, when he is clearly a better player than the sloth, Akpan. We are too talented to result to conservative play.

    We will be better next game. I can't see it getting any worse for us.
     
  16. B Rock

    B Rock Member

    Oct 7, 2004
    Did you actually watch the match or just the highlights?

    Our central midfielders were awful for the first ninety minutes of the game. Uruguay's strategy was to close down players all over the pitch and force quick decisions, and far too often those decisions were poor.

    The reason we were practically dominated in regulation is because Szetela and Bradley were overrun in midfield. Thats also what forced Rongen into a more conservative sub of Dax for Zizzo as we were struggling to hold posession.

    The only midfielder who consistently stood up to the pressure was Rogers, and generally he just ran past the defender. Unfortunately, his final ball was lacking tonight.

    I thought our midfield was awful.
     
  17. wanchope

    wanchope New Member

    Sep 26, 2006
    I agree completely. Perk stepped in to an extremely difficult situation and rose to the occasion. A U-18 in a U-20 world championship knock out round match where his team was on its heals defending much of the game in front of a packed house. Are you kidding me? The kid came through.
     
  18. NBlue

    NBlue Member

    Jun 17, 2002
    Orlando, Florida
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Huh?

    His adjustment clearly worked. His decision to move McCarty back to defense and bring on Ferrari plainly opened up the game a bit AND solidified our defense. This, despite the fact that if Ferrari is indeed "clearly a better player" than Akpan, he didn't show it on this nite. Yes, Akpan looked slow, but Ferrari did not provide any play of note either.

    If he had done as you suggest, whose to say he takes out Bradley and we never get the winning goal? Geez, I can understand questioning tactical adjustments when you lose, but criticizing them when we win and the adjustments clearly played a part in that just seems kinda silly.
     
  19. s0ccerguy

    s0ccerguy Member

    Mar 25, 2004
    I disagree, he practically pushed his coach out of the way when he tried to calm him down, no respect. He's got to realize that crap like that could get him the boot from the full team if daddy wasn't the coach. It's a big win for the US I agree, but they haven't won anything yet, nobody will remember this game unless they keep pushing into the final rounds.
     
  20. lmorin

    lmorin Member+

    Mar 29, 2000
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Can't comment on individuals because my 45 min of second half feed was too blurry to distinguish players effectively. However, I can understand why the US had so much difficulty creating opportunities. Uruguay defended very well with high pressure. Very little passing time made worse by lack of anticipatory runs off the ball or checking to the ball as quickly as possible. There were way too many occasions in which the guy with the ball found himself forced to pass back because nobody was moving to space. In contrast to the sudden shifts in play quality often seen in soccer games, this one seemed to show the US gradually putting together more passes and slowly but surely beginning to gain control the game. By about min 70, I felt pretty sure a solid chance for the tying goal would arrive. Good job overall. A few significant defensive lapses, particularly that instance where a left-sided URU player rounded the defense leaving his marker on the turf and nobody left but the keeper. Then, thankfully for the US, the guy dribbled the ball out of bounds. That was the play of the game, right there.
     
  21. GersMan

    GersMan Member

    May 11, 2000
    Indianapolis
    Yeah, there are some people who will never, ever get a fair shake on here and Thomas Rongen is one of them. The team came from behind to win a tough match. He is looking at overtime through 75 minutes so it makes sense not to be making all of his subs, but when they go down a goal well by all means its time to throw an attacking player out there - and it's not like the own goal wasn't in part due to the U.S. attacking the Uruguayan goal, yet it's explained on here as if the coach was somehow hampering their ability to get an equalizer (plus the comments above on his use of McCarty).

    People say they felt Akpan and Ferrari played at the same level last night, but in the same sentence criticize his choice of which one to bring on first. Well if they were the same what is the mistake?

    He did a good job with this age group in 2003 and he's doing a good job with it now. If we beat Austria people will say it was in spite of him, and if we lose they will say it is his fault. Bring on the mob psychology and lemmings.
     
  22. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    Just a few ratings-
    Perk-6 Started the game very nervous, and I suppose his lack of confidence affected the rest of the team, particularly the back line. Even before the Uruguay goal he had a few shaky moments. Nevertheless, despite allowing the goal, he hung in there and gained confidence as the game wore on. By the end of the game he looked a like a battle-hardened veteran. He showed very good resolve.

    McCarty-6.5 I don't think he was quite as bad in the midfield as others have said. Clearly his time at RB was very effective. But what I like most about his play was that he was disciplined and under control. Many of the other players were playing almost frantically. He brought a bit of a calming effect to the team. Excellent sub decision by Rongen.

    Wallace-6 He is a tough competitor, and hung in there all night. I didn't rate him higher because his lack of ball skills almost exposed him a few times. This is the area he needs to improve if he is to make the next leap up.

    Szetela-6.5 He made his share of mistakes, but his proactive play was evident all night. Why do I get the feeling that he is serious in his audition for a spot on a European club? Prior to his stint here I don't recall him playing with this passion and purpose.
     
  23. Naples39

    Naples39 Member

    Feb 1, 2004
    Perk - 6 - Spilled a rebound on his first demanding save of the match, but did a good job late to hold off Uruguay's increasing pressure

    Beltran - 6 - Got forward to contribute to the attack

    Valentin - 5 - Didn't really notice, which isn't a bad thing for CB

    Sturgis - 6 - Broke up a lot of plays, but makes me nervous because he usually takes a few extra touches before getting rid of the ball.

    Wallace - 5 - Battled, but struggled more tonight than in his other appearances.

    Bradley - 6 - Played his usual game, though many of his passes forward were off the mark. Gets extra points for putting in the winner. His display at the end though was embarrassing IMO, particularly when Rongen had to literally grab his mouth to try and shut him up, yet he still kept yapping.

    Szetela - 5 - didn't make much of an impression

    Freddy - 5 - Couldn't find the ball in the first half though he did send in one great right-footed cross to Jozy. Got a little frustrated in 2nd half.

    Zizzo - 4 - Not a factor at all tonight

    Rogers - 7 - My man MOTM. Was the focal point of the attack all night, and showed a great work rate even if he didn't create a goal.

    Jozy - 6 - Took a beating. This teams need him desperately.

    Subs
    McCarty - 6 - as someone else has said, was a disaster at first, but was probably the best player on the field during extra time
    Akpan - 5 - Battled for 50-50s, and covered a lot of ground. Unfortunately seems to be quite limited in his ability though.
    Ferrari - 3 - Total disaster. Didn't win any 50-50s, lost the ball every time he received it, and didn't strike the ball cleanly on a great chance in the dying moments. Also picked up a yellow. Maybe there's some ability there, but he certainly didn't show it last night.
     
  24. fscat

    fscat Member

    May 2, 2005
    Chicago, IL
    I didn't think he had a great game. He had alot of sloppy passes, and that crap he pulled in the post game where Rongen and other coaches/players had to restrain him was garbage. And then when Adu came over to calm him down he was telling Adu "don't lecture me". Uhhh... he's the captain. I hope BB flies up to Toronto and slaps Michael around. He needs to act better than that. If the Uruguayans want to be sore losers, then let them, just walk away and enjoy the victory.
     
  25. Naples39

    Naples39 Member

    Feb 1, 2004
    Although I just criticized him myself, in fairness to Bradly, Ives said on his blog that replays clearly show that Uruguay number 7 sucker punched Michael Bradley with no provocation when Bradley was celebrating with his teammates. Add in the all the cheapshots and dives during the game, and the fact that after the game Uruguay players were complaining that the refs stole the game from them, and Uruguay are just a bunch of classless punks.
     

Share This Page