If their was anything to take away from the match vs. Scotland, it’s that the United States should have built some confidence.
For some lengthy stretches including the opening 17 minutes, they did just that. Then their confidence eroded and they played with the same skittishness that U.S. fans have long been accustomed to seeing. Sure, Brazil played a keeper in Rafael who practically stood on his head, but 4-1 is still 4-1.
So how did the players do? Let’s find out:
Tim Howard GK – 4
Had a stellar save or two. However, though he was left hung out to dry, 4 goals is still four goals.
Steve Cherundolo RB – 3
A bad night for the veteran. Looked ok at times going forward, but was victimized on the right.
Oguchi Onyewu CB – 2
Was sloppy, slow, not physical, out of sync with his right side partner Cherundolo. It’s a wonder Clarence Goodson didn’t make an appearance in this match. A chance for redemption went off the crossbar. It might be time to finally move on from Gooch.
Carlos Bocanegra CB – 4
A weak night for the captain. Caused his fair share of nerve-wracking moments along the backline. He also should have buried that header off a perfect service by Donovan.
Fabian Johnson LB – 6
So-so night defending, but he remained very dangerous offensively and sent a nice ball in that Gomez buried.
Michael Bradley CM – 7
Looked the calmest on the ball, did a solid job clearing out of the back. However, it was a bit of a head scratcher that he was moved back and Edu closer to the top after Saturday
Jermaine Jones CM – 4
Jones’ matches are like the Star Trek movies. Every other one sucks. Was a little more lively in the second half.
Maurice Edu CM – 4
Started the sequence that led to the U.S.’s only goal…and that’s it.
Landon Donovan RW – 5
What a difference three days makes. Awful in the first half, a little better in the second, but not enough.
Jose Torres LW – 3
After seeing the internet disagree with my assessment on Torres’ Saturday performance I made sure to watch him closely. I saw even less.
Herculez Gomez F – 6.5
Great header home and nearly had a second in the second half. When his team got timid, he remained aggressive.
Subs:
Clint Dempsey F – 5
Nearly got on the end of Gomez’s blocked header, but otherwise was a sub that was too little too late. Probably should have come on at half.
Michael Parkhurst RB – 5
Didn’t have much affect on the game after being subbed in.
Terrence Boyd F – 4
Has to put away the rebound of Gomez’s shot.
Kyle Beckerman CM -INC
Too short an appearance.
Edgar Castillo LB -INC
Too short an appearance.
The positive I can take front this game is we looked dangerous for a long stretch in the 2nd half. Almost made it 3-2 about 4 times with the guys you gave high marks having a hand in those plays.
I can’t say I’m surprised though by the performance of Gooch, Boca, and Dolo. I don’t mean this in a bad way but I’ve seen them play at this level before. Slight chance 1 of them scores a goal but u can’t count on it. Better chance all 3 will be shaky on defense against the highest quality attack. That’s the reality. Solid defenders but they can be broken down by high quality offense, i.e. goal by Marcello and goal by Pato. Not so much crappy defending as it was a smart clinical offense.
I’m stopping here. Man that was some gooood coffee.
When will the love affair with Gooch end? I get it, he’s big. And once in a while he heads the ball well.
He never, ever seems to be 100% comfortable. His clearances usually seem errant if not flat out miss-hits. He’s just not that quick. He doesn’t seem to communicate well. Basically he is the biggest liability in our side. And the up-side just doesn’t seem to be worth it.
As much as I am a Metro/RB fan I’m not sold on Ream (yet) but Goodson has put in a number of solid performances. It’s actually a bit surprising that USA doesn’t have an abundance of center backs like we do solid keepers, especially considering the body type and playing style required of a center back.
Brazil looked fresh and the US looked a step slow. This is a new style of soccer for the USMNT and very entertaining. Clearly our defense was subpar and it’s hard to know how much was Brazil and how much was tired legs. Probably mostly Brazil. The refereeing was atrocious, and while no one can say the handball was totally out of line, that’s a pretty unusual call and highly questionable. The referee showed deference to his fellow Latin Americans as best as I can determine. Didn’t change the fact that Brazil was the better team, but he was appallingly bad at times.