US vs. Mexico Feb. 11, 2009 PLAYER RATINGS THREAD

(On a 6 point "average" scale)

Howard - 7.5
Hejduk - 6.5
Onyewu - 6
Bocanegra - 5.5
Pearce - 6
Dempsey - 6.5
Bradley - 8
Kljestan - 6.5
Beasley - 7
Donovan - 7 (edit upon further reflection)
Ching - 6.5

Altidore - NR (but looking 7ish)
Clark - NR (but looking rather 5ish)

 

Howard - 7.5
Hejduk - 7
Onyewu - 5
Bocanegra - 5.5
Pearce - 5.5
Dempsey - 5
Bradley - 8
Kljestan - 5.5
Beasley - 6
Donovan - 5.5
Ching - 5.5

 

Seems to me that numerical ratings just don't capture the essence of this one. Therefore:

Naughty:
Pearce
Dempsey
Kljestan
Onyewu
Boca


Nice:
Howard
LD
Bradley
Haydude
Beas
Ching

You can add Altidore, Clark, and Bob Sr. (for poor subs) to the Naughty list as well..

 

Howard - 7
Hejduk - 5.5
Onyewu - 5.5
Bocanegra - 4.5
Pearce - 5
Dempsey - 4.5
Bradley - 8
Kljestan - 4.5
Beasley - 6
Donovan - 5.5
Ching - 5.5

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Howard - 7.5
Hejduk - 7
Onyewu - 6
Bocanegra - 5.5
Pearce - 6
Dempsey - 6
Bradley - 8
Kljestan - 6.5
Beasley - 7.5
Donovan - 6.5
Ching - 5

 

A site accumulating ratings for the game.

http://fans-scorecard.com/main/demo_rate_players

 

Howard - 8 (Came up huge once or twice and looked confident otherwise)
Hejduk - 7 (solid defensively)
Onyewu - 6 (some great stops, but some shaky moments too)
Bocanegra - 5 (poor on the ball)
Pearce - 5 (meh, but I'm not sure we can do better at the moment)
Dempsey - 6.5 (strong 1st half, weak 2nd half)
Bradley - 9 (MotM)
Kljestan - 6 (did not create much, but worked hard defensively)
Beasley - 7 (set up two of our most dangerous opportunities)
Donovan - 6.5 (contributed to both goals but otherwise quiet)
Ching - 5.5 (did what was asked of him, but I feel he's too limited still)

 

Howard - 9 (Was Great when he needed to be, stayed in the game even after picking up a knock on his knee)
Hejduk - 8 (Best defender on the pitch)
Onyewu - 6 (Did some good, not too much bad)
Bocanegra - 5 (didn't notice too much, will give him benefit of the doubt for a clean sheet)
Pearce - 5 (Wasn't bad but wasn't himself either)
Dempsey - 4 (seemed like he was playing for the fouls)
Bradley - 9 (Scored 2 goals, worked hard)
Kljestan - 4 (Didn't notice him too much)
Beasley - 7 (Had some flair on the wings and caused problems for mexico's defense)
Donovan - 6 (not too much but played an important part on the first goal by heading the ball into the middle)
Ching - 5 (Worked hard by holding up the ball but nothing more than that)

 

Howard - 8
Hejduk - 8
Onyewu - 6
Bocanegra - 6
Pearce - 6
Dempsey - 5
Bradley - 8
Kljestan - 4
Beasley - 7
Donovan - 7
Ching - 6

 

Howard - 9
Hejduk - 7.5
Onyewu - 6.5
Bocanegra - 5
Pearce - 5
Dempsey - 5.5
Bradley - 9
Kljestan - 6.5
Beasley - 6.5
Donovan - 6.5
Ching - 5

 

There are no goals without Donovan tonight. You goobers giving him 5s and 6s are, well, goobers.

 

Agreed. I think people are just used to him scoring the goals himself! Typical game from him, which happens to be good and quality.

 

Howard-8
Hejduk-8
Bocanegra-6
Onyewu-7
Pearce-6
Bradley-9
Kljestan-6
Dempsey-5
Beasley-6
Donovan-6
Ching-5

 

Howard: 8
Hejduk: 7
Onyewu: 5
Bocanegra: 6
Pearce: 6
Dempsey: 5
Bradley: 8
Kljestan: 5
Beasley: 7
Donovan: 6
Ching: 6

Altidore: 6
Clark: 4

 

And other than those two plays, he was invisible/tripping over the ball/passing it to no-one, so all together a 6 is about right.

 

Truth

 

Howard: 8
Hejduk: 8
Onyewu: 7
Bocanegra: 3
Pearce: 3
Dempsey: 4
Bradley: 9
Kljestan: 7
Beasley: 7
Donovan: 6
Ching: 5

Altidore: NR
Clark: NR

What amazes me about this game is that there were some truly bad performances, but we still pulled out the 2-0 win. I'd move Boca to LB and put Califf in at CB immediately. Dempsey was just a down game, but he's not a long term problem that needs fixing.

Give the Bradley-Kljestan pairing some time. I think those two could be a very good partnership.

 

That would be a good point if it wasn't completely incorrect.

Donovan also created the third best opportunity of the night by making a beautiful pass back to Dempsey in the box a few minutes prior to our first goal. It took a brilliant save to prevent a goal. And he sent in a rather dangerous free kick that he barely missed after Ching drew a nice foul earlier in the half. He was also the dude with three Mexicans draped on him just about every time he touched the ball -- allowing opportunities for his other teammates.

So, to review. Was significantly involved in both of our goals. Check. Created and excellent opportunity for a third goal that was saved. Check. Took a nice free kick that just drifted wide on a windy night. Check. Allowed opportunities for his teammates based on Mexico's focus on him defensively. Check.

Dude sucks. Bench him. I'd give him a 3, at best.

 

Howard - 7...Solid

Hejduk - 7...MOTM until Bradley's second goal.

Onyewu - 6...Recovered from somewhat shaky start.

Bocanegra - 5...Not up to his recent level.

Pearce - 5...This guy is the luckiest man in the world. He brings little to the team, yet he's a virtual lock.

Dempsey - 5...Not a mudder, but he worked hard.

Bradley - 7...His best game by far as a nat. MOTM.

Kljestan - 4...What is it you guys see in him? This is the same guy that sucks pretty much every time I watch him play against decent competition.

Beasley - 6...All over the place and showed a nifty move or two.

Donovan - 5...He was the focus of Mexico's defense, but he worked hard and made an impact. Still, too many errant passes and dribbles to nowhere for anything more than a 5.

Ching - 4...A combination of what I said about Pearce and Sacha (though not as harsh on the Sacha side of things).

 

In general, I often feel that too many posters are too generous with their ratings. The US played a fairly plain game overall, and looked quite disjointed for much of the 2nd half, after a good 1st half. There were only 2 standout performances and maybe a couple of good performances. The rest was forgetable.

Bradley = 9. His best match in a US kit. Very composed on the ball, excellent passing, active, and the goals were well deserved.

Howard = 8. The guy is becoming a leader in addition to being good.

Hejduk = 6. Gutty, tough, active effort, as always.

Donovan = 6. Active and set up 2 goals. Mexico wrapped him up tight most of the time, though.

Beasley = 5.
Onyewu = 5.
Kljestan = 5.

Dempsey = 4.
Bocanegra = 4.
Pearce = 4.
Ching = 4.

Altidore and Clark not rated (although Clark looked dubious in his few minutes).

 

Several passes to no one.check
Tripping over the ball.check
Passing to the wrong team.check
Invisible for parts of the game.check

I am not saying he played aweful or anything but I dont think he had one of his better games.

 

What game did you watch? Donovan was so much the best player on the field that the mexies had two (sometimes three) players molesting him at all times. And still he was the catalyst for both goals, which you seem to be attributing to luck. If you can read spanish, check out the mexie press reports sometime. There's a very good reason he's the one player they all fear and hate.

 

That's actually compelling. Given that, between a 7 and 8 seems right. Too often we expect our forwards to have the completion percentages of our defensive midfielders, when what they really need to do is create and finish chances. Donovan did that. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

Someone said that the Beasley corner that led to the goal was a planned play, but I don't buy it. Since when has Beasley been able to pinpoint a cross or corner? No, that was all Donovan. Look at his awareness getting to the ball at the far post, rushing by Mexican defenders who were totally oblivious and looked as if they had given up on the play. Donovan headed that ball into an absolutely perfect spot (credit to Onyewu for losing his man and getting there to put a head to it). It was a brilliant play, and typical Landon.