Howard (B) Saw lots of pressure and made a couple good reaction stops. Effective distribution. Neither goal really stoppable. Berhalter (D+) Whole back line was dismal, but particularly the middle, where ALL of Turkey's attacks went. Much too slow for this level. Is he just riding the hype of one great half against Vieri? Hejduk (C-) At least his work effort and speed put him marginally ahead of the central guys. His horrible "lean back" technique on every cross and shot is ridiculous though: skyballs EVERY time. Califf (D+) With Berhalter, formed the main thoroughfare for the Turkish attack. Vanney (C) Best defender we had, but not saying much. Got into the attack a couple times with some success, and saved a sure goal in the first half with a nice marking job. Convey (C-) Looked very good and active early in the game, but totally disappeared after that. Beasley (B+) Our bright spot today. Nice finish on the goal and lots of good running all day. Donovan (B-) Very good when he was able to get the ball. Great pass to Beasley, and then again to Mathis late. His ball skill and composure showed at times, but not one of his better games. Lewis (B-) 3-4 very dangerous crosses from his side--not sure what else we can ask from him. I didn't notice any major holes in his defensive side of the field either. Basically a pretty standard game for Eddie. Armas (D) Useless with the ball, and didn't disrupt Turkey's attack much. Our second worst player on the field. Kirovski (D) Pretty much a black hole for any attacking play we had. Horrendous first touch killed us many times. Had a fairly open header and missed the net by 10 feet--actually hit Beasly with the ball.
Convey (C-) Looked very good and active early in the game, but totally disappeared after that. I agree with most of your assesments, but I thought Convey was a bit better than you give him. If he was playing next to someone instead of Armas who was virtually invisible, he could have been much better. Kirovski (D) Pretty much a black hole for any attacking play we had. Horrendous first touch killed us many times. Had a fairly open header and missed the net by 10 feet--actually hit Beasly with the ball. [/B][/QUOTE] I noticed that header too. If he runs his hands through his hair after another miss like he is surprised I'm gonna do him bodily harm. I expect the worse when Jovan plays. Twellman, Mathis anybody. Bring back Lassiter or Wegerle instead of him. Four words I want to hear in the near future JOVAN KIROVSKI, INTERNATIONAL RETIREMENT
Armas's time is over. I have never seen an international player so worthless and scared on the ball. I don't care if he hassles opponents, he sucks on the ball and ruins our offense. Pablo is so much better. Vanney also blows, too old and slow. Same for Califf, although he may get better with time. But his performance today was shite. Burned on both goals. I thought lineups like that were finished when Sampson got the ax. Some of those players need to retire.
Howard gets a C at best....with Kasey or Brad we walk away with victory.... And DMB....after reading earlier coments and than watching the game, I was expecting great things from Beas, but I didn't see it. I would give him a C+, just because he scored.
Re: Re: USA Player Grades vs. Turkey Umm, no. Not unless Brad was going to score twice on direct free kicks that he had been secretly practicing in his spare time.
Howard (B-) His foot save on Sanli was excellent. He was a bit indecisive on when to come off the line, but there is a world of potential in Tim. Berhalter (D) After his games against Mexico and Germany, it would be foolish to write off Berhalter. This game, though, was a bad one. That's disappointing since Greg has finally gotten consistent time for his club. Hejduk (C) A lot of heart, but a lack of skill. Typical Frankie, but one game will not disqualify any player. On the bright side, a couple of his runs from the back were extremely well timed. Next step - production. Califf (D) Really not a good game. Exposed a bit by Armas' poor game, but if Califf wants to play at this level, he has to improve. Vanney (C) We need better options on the left. Vanney is not athletic enough to get forward and then recover, and he lacks skill on the ball. Convey (C) Convey played a stronger defensive game than the assigned "destroyer." Offensively, he disappeared, but that might be expected considering the dearth of options for him today. Beasley (B) Good finish on the goal. DaMarcus played a good game, but could even have been better had he gotten into the middle of the field and gotten more involved. MOTM Donovan (B-) Nice cross, but I was disappointed that Landon didn't work harder today to get open. He can still improve away from the ball. Lewis (C+) Eddie played an OK game, but he was one dimensional in his approach. He did do a very good job of defending, and really helped Vanney on the left. A quiet side of the field today. Armas (D-) Very poor game. See my thoughts here. Kirovski (C-) I would like to see Kirovski in the AMid position, but not at the expense of other players like Convey, JOB, Reyna, or Martino. I've never believed he was a comfortable fit up top.
Re: Re: USA Player Grades vs. Turkey Stupid. He could have played the second goal better, but then again, if Califf and/or Berhalter had hustled back into the goal mouth (the proper play when an attacker gets in on your keeper 1v1), one of them could have saved the shot. Howard at least forced the attacker wide to make the play, buying time, and may still have made the play had he not slipped. Plus, unless you assume he also should have saved the controversial penalty, it would have been a tie.
Howard:B+ One or two great reactions saves (especially that kick save in the first 20 minutes). I thought he was a little slow off his line on the 2nd goal but you can hardly fault him after being complete exposed by his defense. He has the athleticism to make that stop and with 2-3 years of top flight football he snuffing those kind of opps. Berhalter and Califf: a collective D Slow and slowerer. Lets just hope we don't have to see this pairing ever again. To be fair, even though Califf is "the human penalty kick waiting to happen", he was wrongly convicted this time. Still, both central defenders were exposed time and time again. Its time to blood Gibbs. Hedjuk:C+ You know what you get with Frankie: hustle, grit, tenacity, horrible crosses, and bad give aways. The + is for that great reach around clearance when on a Turkish break away. Vanney:B- Had some good offensive forays and was decent defensively but I still feel he is too slow to play outside back at this level. Unfortunately we don't seem to have a great deal of options at this position Armas Noticed him only when he gave the ball away. Several times I saw a mid-fielder tracking back to successfully break up turkish attacks and assumed it was Armas, but only closer inspection is was... Convey:B+ Don't really know what game those who said he was invisible were watching. He had some great offensive runs in the first 20 and was plenty active throughout, but mostly on the defensive end (see above). He is not JOB or Reyna yet but he was basically doing the work of two. I would love to see him paired with Mastro or even Martino in an all out attacking move Lewis:B Some good crosses and defense but I wasn't really wild about him. Overall a good preformance but not up to the level form of his recent friendlies. Beasley: A- Scored a great goal and was our most consistently dangerous player even though he played most of the game out of position. Gave the Turks fits all night and won several dangerous free kicks, yet still tracked back and played some great D. Even revealed some giant hops and great finishing on the goal (Beasley:Target Forward!). Has no ball skills, but who cares? Have fun in Europe Demarcus! Kirovski: B- Doesn't deserve the crucifiction he gets here but I also don't think he fits into this team. He is NOT a target forward. He has a good shot and is a good possession player but not a great (or willing) passer and therefore doesn't match well with Donovan and DMB. I don't hate him, but I don't want to see him again either Donovan: B Invisible for much of the game but still showed glimpses of his ability and touch. Was much better the second half and matches much better with Mathis. His stamina however is unreal: in the 84th minute or so and he tracked all the way back to our penalty box and forced turnover, played a short give and go with Beasley and took the bad all the way back to their penatly box. Running a full sprint the entire time. In the 84th minute. Amazing Subs Mathis:B+ Looked sharp and was unlucky not to score the equalizer. I guess the plan was to save him for Brazil? Not sure that was the right strategy but it's understandable. Twellman:B Active and dangerous in limited minutes. It was his pressure that lead to Beasley's shot at the keeper that was disqualified for offsides. The jury is still out on him but I felt it would have been better tactically and developmentally to play him 90 rather the Kirovoski since he actually IS a target man. Stewart: B Worked hard and had a couple dangerous crosses near the end. Clearly nearing the end of his career and highlights our lack of options on the right.
how about bruce arena - f on the lineup califf over bocanegra?!?!? hejduk aka the attack staller armas over mastroeni?!?!?! what the hell WAS that?
Howard (B) Neither goal really stoppable. Well on the game winning goal, if you remember the first pass the dribbler made before the forward pass was a horizontal square pass to another player. As soon as I saw that pass I knew the player that made that pass was going to go verticle in front of that receiver for a return pass. That is how you start a square passing game at times. I knew it right away because that is what my teams do at times. I guess Howard does not see much of that in the MLS, and he won't see it in the EPL either. You will see it in south American soccer, and in middle eastern soccer. If he was used to seeing it he could have got to that ball first. Another thing that hurt him was the inside backs pushing up on the square pass. Looking for an offiside on the pass. You do that on the back pass and not on a horizonatal pass. There was a hole of onside space on the inside of the field. ---------------- On the pk goal. That pk had very good placement and his save attempt was technically pretty good. He dove up field to the side trying for that save, cuts the goal size. But one thing I absolutely hate,. and a lot of keepers do it. Howard is very hurky Jerky before the pk. Stands very tall at times which i don't like. Better to be low to start with against low shots then be high and have to go low for low shots. Easier to come up from low on a high shot. Then to be high and go low on a low shot. But the chances are he would not have gotten to that ball. Overall he had a good game. ------------------------------------------------ Berhalter (D+) Whole back line was dismal, but particularly the middle, where ALL of Turkey's attacks went. That is how they like to attack, outside of the first long pass when they win the ball. ---------------------------------------- Convey (C-) Looked very good and active early in the game, but totally disappeared after that. He was not that good in the center of the field. ------------------------------------------------ Beasley (B+) Our bright spot today. Nice finish on the goal and lots of good running all day. MOTM. ----------------------- Lewis (B-) 3-4 very dangerous crosses from his side--not sure what else we can ask from him. I didn't notice any major holes in his defensive side of the field either. Basically a pretty standard game for Eddie. I must have missed all his good stuff. ---------------------------------- Kirovski (D) Pretty much a black hole for any attacking play we had. Horrendous first touch killed us many times. Had a fairly open header and missed the net by 10 feet--actually hit Beasly with the ball. Did he play that bad?
i don't understand why no one is also blaming hejduk for the second goal - he didn't hold the line, keeping tuncay onside by himself
armas was useless. stewart's and mathis' introductions improved play a little bit but they weren't much better than lewis or kirovski. both kirovski and lewis spent all game neutering every U.S. attack, neutering all day like a pair of intoxicated moyels. why the hell was howard convulsing on that PK?? LD, Bease, Convey were the bright spots but even they had terrible handling skills. Kirovski was being manhandled all game. McBride or Razov don't take that ************. berhalter was not that bad. califf was. vanney needs to go, or learn how to pass/dribble. hejduk did nothing offensively for us today. --------- Where is our center mid? Where is Reyna Jr.? I'm going to continue whining until one shows up. i thought that was clearly CALIFF holding tuncay onside.
On the lighter side, biggest shocker was seeing "coca-cola" sponsoring a nat telecast. I thought "pepsi" was our sponsor. Kirovski just doesn't do much against the heavyweights. Could be a great MLS player though. Armas is still a valuable backup. But the job should belong to Mastroeni. Our goal was against the run of play. I thought Howard kept us in the match up to the time of our goal. After the goal, Bruce signalled to calm down and focus, but they didn't get it. They gave up the equalizer two minutes later. Mathis provides creativity, something Kirovski just doesn't get. I still think our best combo is Mathis+Wolff. When will we ever see them playing together on the nats? The difference is this match was that Turkey had better teamwork or call it understanding of what they were doing. Players anticipated each other better. As a result they passed better, controlled better (probably had better skills too), and had more scoring chances. They deserved the win. Despite it all, the US made it pretty competitive. I would have liked to have seen Kyle Martino. We lack an offensive minded ball controlling center mid. Offensive pressure is the best defense, and the lack thereof exposed our defensive weaknesses.
Califf was awful, and spectacularly so, but Berhalter was equally bad, for having absolutely no ability to mark someone if the ball wasnt coming from the air.
i thought the same thing - his hustle and workrate keep him in the lineup, but pretty dismal that he's wearing the captain's armband - how many times did the first touch just bounce away from him - and he tried that crazy bicycle kick in the first half trying to clear a ball and almost gave them a great opportunity - ugh
it's hard to blame bruce for the lineup without knowing what he's planning for the next two games given the CC schedule - that wasn't my top 11, but i'm not sure that top 11 is the way to go i was not as impressed with beasley as others apparently were - a nice finish on the cross, but fortunate that he was left unmarked - he otherwise seemed pretty lost on the right side - eddie played decently, so a decision has to be made, but i didn't think the left-right experiment worked - dmb looked significantly more comfortable in the last portion of the game when he got to move back to the left overall, a pretty poor performance for us unfortunately - and next up is brazil - we'll have our work cut out for us
Who did Beas have to play off of? We sorely SORELY missed O'brien and Reyna. Somehow none of the youngsters were able to get much going apart from the Dononvan to Beasley goal which was beautiful! But Beasley definitely didn't have a great game. You can't assume Kasey or Brad stops that PK. The other goal wasn't a mistake. It would have been a really good save had he made it. He did make a few others that were pretty good too. For the Brazil game I hope we see Gibbs, Bocanegra, Convey, and Cherundelo on the back line. No one who played there tonight deserves to see the field again, although some will have to against Cameroon. The only players that deserve to get back out there again are Lewis, Beasley, Donovan, and Howard. But, as far as blaming Arena for the lineup... its a 3-game series. I disagree with some of the choices, but there might be some reasons behind it. If we show well against Brazil (who looked average and eminently beatable against Cameroon today) then i'll reserve my judgement. Just remember this is all to get players some international big-game experience and we are in a very tough group.
Kirovski : C+ moderately threatening Donovan : B+ only really got into the game a couple time but when he did some great touches Convey : C Mr. Invisible Beasley : B+ Nice finish and created some threats Lewis : B- Had some nice crosses, not heavily involved in the game Armas : C Had some fault in the goal, didnt add much going forward Vanney : C Did his job defensively but wasnt really tested either, wasnt good but wasnt exactly bad offensively Hedjuk : C- Walked the razors edge a number of times defensively, awful going forward Califf : F Failing grade, out of control challenges right and left Berhalter : F Couldnt mark a parking meter, would need a roll of quarters though Howard : B+ Nice kick save, came out to save the central D a couple of times, no real chance on the goals Mathis : B Was decent, nice effort on the ball cleared off the line Twellman : Incomplete Stewart : Incomplete
Berhalter played him on as well (actually he just kind of stood there checking to see who was going to go mark that guy that just ran by him).
and version # 3 I have the frozen frame in front of me and it is Califf who royally screwed up here. Both Berhalter and Heydude played the offside trap, while Califf is sitting there making sure to stay behind the far attacker.
I am surprised that Lewis got a 6 in Soccer Times. He was kind of invisible. USMNT right now is lacking a central attacking midfielder for the tournament. I think Convey is a left mid and Beasley kind of proved he can play right. Donovan or Martino has to start as attacking midfielder and Martino did not play much. Armas is older than Mastroeni and Mastroeni has size over him.
My thoughts on the game: Our defense sucked a$$, especially in the middle. Howard is an excellent keeper but he's not Superman, I mean Friedel. He can only do so much. Califf - it's bad enough being a hack, but a slow hack! Vanney - poor corners, Lewis probably would of been better choice Heydude - showed hustle, is getting unfairly flamed by some Pope is the anchor in the defense and it really showed! Armas - international against a quality Euro side once again highlight his 'short'comings Kirovski - why is this guy still doning the red, white and blue?? The attack picked up once the subs came in. We were unlucky not to equalize. Beasley was the best attacking player for the U.S. plus he came back numerous times to help out on defense. Bottom line is we got outplayed! Parting shots: Those fans were disgusting. A big eff-you to them!! Hey Bruce, how about picking a better lineup on Saturday? Unfortunately Brazil is coming off a loss as well.