By IVES GALARCEP
It was supposed to be a match to help finish the year on a positive note, but there wasn’t much positive to take away from the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 4-1 drubbing against Ireland.
The Irish dominated most of the match, and the number of good performances by the Americans weren’t enough to offer even a slim amount of consolation. Defensive mistakes, midfield turnovers in bunches and missed chances by the team’s forwards made the match the kind of disaster that even the ever-positive Jurgen Klinsmann couldn’t spin into some sort of consolation.
As lopsided as the match was, there were a few bright spots for the Americans, such as the play of Alejandro Bedoya, the continued impressive form of Greg Garza, and the debut of Jordan Morris.
Here is a rundown of how the U.S. players flared individually against Ireland:
IRELAND 4, USA 1: SBI Player Grades
Bill Hamid- 5. Made some top-shelf saves, and couldn’t be blamed for any of the four goals, but it’s tough to give a better grade to a goalkeeper in a blowout.
Fabian Johnson- 4. One of the best U.S. players at the World Cup, Johnson endured his second straight terrible performance, which shows just what a lack of playing time can do to form.
Geoff Cameron- 3. Had a hand in multiple Ireland goals, including a mis-hit clearance that led to one, and a foul committed that set up an Irish free kick goal.
Matt Besler – 3.5. Though he showed some improvement in the second half, Besler’s first half was a nightmare. He looked a step slow for pace, and his reaction time also looked off. A long vacation will do him some good.
Timmy Chandler – 5. Wasn’t really tested defensively, and worked hard to get involved in the attack. Though he didn’t really help produce anything too dangerous, he fared better than the rest of the defensive starters.
Kyle Beckerman – 4.5. Didn’t have nearly as good a showing against the Irish as he had against Colombia. Allowed Ireland to attack through the middle, and while he seemed to be doing the work of multiple players, he just never got a hold of this game.
Mix Diskerud – 5.5. The goal was well-taken, and earns him a boost in grade, but the rest of the match saw him committed far too many turnovers under light pressure, while he didn’t seem to put in much effective work defensively.
Alfredo Morales – 4. Deployed on the left wing in a role he didn’t seem too comfortable in. Really wasn’t a factor in the match, even as he floated centrally. Looked miscast in the role, and would be much better suited to play in a 4-3-3 than wide in a 4-4-2.
Alejandro Bedoya – 6.5. The biggest (and some would say only) bright spot for the U.S., Bedoya showed an ability to at defenders and provide an effective threat on the flank. Having been used centrally often this year, Bedoya showed in this game that his best position is as a wide player.
Jozy Altidore – 6. Did not find the net but quietly had himself a strong game that showed signs of a player improving. His hold-up play was strong, as was his passing. Came very close to scoring when he hit the woodwork, and once again looked like a player much better suited for the 4-4-2 rather than a one-forward attack.
Chris Wondolowski – 5. The assist on Diskerud’s goal was excellent work, and helped salvage a decent grade in an otherwise forgettable 45 minutes. His positioning, touch and passing left something to be desired.
Bobby Wood – 5.5. The youngster continues to put himself in good spots, and while some will get frustrated at the misses, the fact that a 22-year-old is continuously creating chances is still promising.
Greg Garza – 6. Looked very good during a cameo stint as a left winger, with his touch, passing and movement offering more than we’ve seen from the likes of Julian Green. Nearly scored before returning to his normal left back role.
Jordan Morris – 5.5. The youngster showed some real promise in his debut, nearly setting up a goal when he combined well with Garza.
Rubio Rubin –Â 4.5. Wasn’t as effective coming off the bench vs. Ireland as he was in his start vs. Colombia, but was recovering from illness.
Tim Ream – NR. Came on late.
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What do you think of our grades? Who do you feel was rated too highly? Think anybody wasn’t given high enough of a grade?
Share your thoughts below.
“Matt Besler – 3.5. Though he showed some improvement in the second half, Besler’s first half was a nightmare. He looked a step slow for pace, and his reaction time also looked off. A long vacation will do him some good.”
Besler is average and it showed vs Ireland’s second team. The Irish were way better and that’s a team with their second string players. US 2nd string? Can’t beat a group of tortoise in a game of footie.
Most of these comments sound like ex girl friends.
I told you he was a jerk?
You invited him?
Are you happy now?
You did what?
Your hanging with the wrong crowd!
I love you but you should listen to me, I know these things.
Second.
Arg, bra, hol, Fra, spa, ger, ita. 7 consistent finishers. Does the us deserve the 8th seat? When EVERY other country fights for te other spots? And guess what? When every kid in those countries dreams of soccer, unlike here.
Last. You want to help. Watch mls. Go see games, even the lower leagues. You know what I’m saying. Until it’s visible and viable here, the Lebrons and gronks and capernecks are gonna go the other way.
The USA couldn’t even maintain possession against bad opponents. This was a big disappointment.
Sorry, but Hamid gets a lower grade to me. His distribution was nervous and forced, and exacerbated our difficulty bringing the ball out of the back, which was a big part of why we had such a tough time getting any kind of foothold in the game. Some good saves, but that is baseline for a keeper at this level.
I think Hamid could be a world-class keeper someday, which is why we need to keep shining a light on his weaknesses. On the free kick goal, his first move is to drop into a wide-legged crouch. That completely kills his ability to spring. I don’t know that he could be expected to have gotten to that particular shot, but his dive was sabotaged by bad footwork. Gotta stay on this kid, and not let his incredible natural ability blind us to where he needs work.
Worst part is we walk away from camp with only one positive, Rubin. A chance to see what’s going on in Europe and we see Wondo, Beasley, Besler, Jones, and Bedoya for way too long.
I am going to be a kind-of optimist and pretend every single player either had or was recovering from the same illness mentioned in Rubin’s grade. It is the only thing making me feel better after that drubbing.
Bad lasagna? A few too many pints the night before? They do sound better that just a straight up bad performance to a mostly Irish B side, don’t they.
A few pints the night before would explain a lot. I remember when the US destroyed Scotland 5-1 in a friendly in Florida and heard rumblings about the Scotland players basically being on vacation, hating the heat, hung over from the night before, etc.
I think as a fan base we need to move on and look forward to next year with some new faces. Who do you guys wana see in camp in january? I put together a way too early mock roster for january:
GK- Rimando, Hamid, S.Johnson
CB-Besler, Gonzo, Hedges, Okugo
OB-Klute, Sinovic, Farrell, Sarkodie
DM-Jones, Bradley, Edu, Kitchen
AM-Dempsey, Nguyen, Zusi, Gil, Akindele, Ibarra
ST- Zardes, McInerney
I wouldnt mind seeing some other guys like o’nei, rowe, trapp, shipp, luis silva
A few other names off the top of my head are Finlay, Acosta, and Rowe.
My thinking with acosta is that he’ll be with the u-20s there, i like rowe as well. I’m gona be honest havent seen much from the crew this year so cant really rate finlay
Finlay and Rowe are on the top of my list, we need wide options badly.
No need to bring in the likes on Besler, Bradley, Edu, Zusi, Jones, Dempsey or any of the other veterans(already capped by the USMNT) from MLS because JK knows what they bring to the table. The January camp are more for the unknown players who he has yet to see up close and who have shown well throughout the year and may be able to make an impact at the next level(international). Let’s not waste time on the known products and look for that surprise or up and coming product that can infuse some life and depth into the pool because from the looks of it we need it!
I agree except for perhaps Jones if he’s going to be a center back going forward.
I disagree, i want experiment but not everywhere on the pitch, if you slot besler bradley zusi jones and dempsey on the field it will give us a solid core and let us get a fair look at those other guys trying to break through. Instead of them playing with a bunch of other experiments and everything blowing up
One possibility is that the US simply had great performances from most of its players in the W.C. over multiple games played in the heat. It is hard to know how much of a toll that took on individual players.
I know that when, as a decent runner, I had an over-performance in a hot Boston Marathon that it took me over a year to regain my previous level of performance, about 3 months to get my heart and head back into it and another 9 months to recover physically. I never really got any better after that one outstanding performance despite trying very hard to do so. I hope that not be the case for the USMNT players.
Only Besler, Bedoya, Cameron, and Beckermen were in the World Cup. Everyone looked bad except Bedoya, who was in the World Cup.
And Johnson and Wondo and Mix (though I do not think either Wondo or Mix did so much that they would still be recovering form the effort).
Good points, Dennis. I think you are on to the right explanation but I don’t think it really needs to trace back to the WC necessarily.
As a distance runner, you would certainly know and appreciate the importance of peaking at the right time. Unlike the World Cup selection, which was assembled after a planned multi-week camp during a fortuitious period of the soccer calendar, this team was cobbled over a few days from group of 1) guys who aren’t playing for their clubs for a number of reasons 2) guys who have been off of MLS for a few weeks 3) guys whose MLS teams are still involved and have limited availability and lastly 4) a few guys like Bedoya who are actually playing on a normal curve, and are on a good calendar to be fit in mid November. Unspurprising that Bedoya looked best, in this sense.
Over the past couple of years, the team seems to have hit its peak in June (where most int’l teams would obviously want to). Whether this is luck, or whether it persists remains to be seen. But these are the dates worth planning for– the interim friendlies are rarely indicators of much besides individual form.
Why will a long vacation do Besler good?
Did we get a grade for Coach Bora Klinsmann?
Its so difficult to judge a friendly result because the thing we fans never really know about a friendly is what was the manger’s mindset going in. Did he really care about getting a result, or was he more concerned with trying out strategies from practice (e.g., short corners). Was he playing a 4-1-3-2 formation because that’s what he really wants to use when games count, or was he trying to look at more offensive players than he could in a more defensive formation? Did he use players at certain positions because that’s where he really sees them, or because he was pushing them to work on certain aspects of their game that don’t pop up as much in their regular position, or because his preferences were not available? Are his subs tactical subs designed to get/keep a result, or simply to give those players some experience? All we fans see is the group presumably trying to perform as a group, and we can judge them in that limited context, but the truth is we really don’t know what’s going on unless its a game that counts for something.
This is where, after the game, the coach explains what his intentions were. The way Klinsmann threw everybody under the bus leads me to believe this was his game plan all along…. if there was one.
I think JK was disappointed in the effort. Even if you are playing in an unfamiliar position so the coach can see if you belong there or somewhere else, for example, you can always try hard. US players got beat so often and so badly, I think JK had problems with their lack of effort, their lack of fight. I think he had every right to call them out. Ireland out hustled the US almost the whole game.
Does the lack of effort say something about the coach?
It usually does …. Except for this coach. Nothing is ever his fault. He’s a master tactician and as such he’s above questioning.
I think you have hit the nail on the head.
Say what you want about trying new strategies and tactics, but you should never stray away from basic fundamentals such as defending at the back. This was the worst defense I’ve seen since Oguchi Onyewu in that Ukraine game. Absolute nightmare from the center backs.
Also Kyle Beckerman has turned into a complete hack. Ugly, ugly soccer.
Thanks for this, Ives. I know you hate doing it ;). Agree with most of these.
For me, while Cameron deserves his 3, I can’t rate Besler better. He was terrible. For a guy who has had an amazing year (MLS Champ, World Cup, new contract, etc.), he looks so beat. His drop-off in form is astounding. Cam is played out of position and performs poorly, but Besler is supposed to be our top center back right now. He was a 2 for me. Hope his much deserved vacation lets him reset.
Also, I would love your rating/take on Klinsmann. I don’t understand his decisions for this game. I understand he is looking to try guys out and test them to see what he’s got. Its the beginning of the cycle, coming off a good World Cup, you want to see how veterans respond while adding young guys to the player pool. What is Wondo doing starting? Shouldn’t Wood or Rubin deserve a longer look up front with Jozy? Why are so may guys (Cameron, Morales, Johnson) played out of position? It sometimes seems the line up is quite haphazardly thrown together.
Read Ives’ post match article. I don’t think he would give Klinsmann a high grade.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1679/us-national-team/2014/11/19/6289051/ives-galarcep-us-exits-2014-with-more-questions-than-answers
Thanks for the link. Interesting article. I guess Ives has no explanation, either. I guess we wait for the January camp and friendlies to see if the young guys are progressing and Jurgen’s “master plan” to test the veterans is working. Here’s hoping…
I think the master plan is coming up against the hard reality that there is a bit of a gap between the Dempsey-Donovan-Jones-Howard generation and the next one – which would seem to be a Bradley-Altidore-Bedoya-Guzan core right now. Klinsmann needs to identify and pull some of the younger talent along faster than ideally desired to fill the gaps. And with the German-Americans all in a bit of a funk, it is looking rather muddy at the moment. And all of this happening under a coach who *seems* to be emphasizing toughness, fitness and machismo over skills and tactics. Perhaps the tactical nuances will come later in the cycle, but I have my doubts with Klinsmann. He seems to undercut his own good ideas with a bunch of psychobabble nonsense and unnecessary mind games. I do hope there are enough players in that 19-23 group ready to make a leap, otherwise it will be a very difficult slog through CONCACAF this time around.
It really is quite amazing the difference in Jozy when we play with a 2 forward attack. He is so much better playing with a second forward than being up top by himself. Would love to see a Jozy/Johannsson pairing when both are healthy.
I thought Bedoya was excellent, as was Garza when he came in, except for when he got roasted by Shane Long.
For everyone whining about Jermaine Jones taking over the CB spots…well, there’s your answer. Besler and Cameron were terrible all night. Miscommunication, lack of quickness, poor decision-making – you name it.
Feel bad for Wood. He’s gotta score one of these days.
Re Jozy, I think this is the reason he has struggled so much at Sunderland. Poyet usually plays him as a lone striker. It was obvious last year he does much better with two up front.
In order for Jozy to be successful, the entire team and formation need to be set up just for him, and all the players must provide perfect service to his feet.
same can be said for reasoning with the USMNT and we’ve known this about Jozy for about 5 years
I personally would rather see Terrence Boyd and Aron Johannsson get the start up top.
Even Charlie Davies is better than Altidore
What’s the grade for #3 over there on the the right. Looks princely.
You forgot about #3 on the far right.
Graded on a curve that kid got a 7.
Ireland: the only national kit where there is an ad on the replica. Ads work on club jerseys, not national jerseys.
Steve Nicol Jr. was our best performer.
Ives, why does it take so long for you to put up player grades? I am already trying to forget this game ever happened.
I believe Ives takes the mindset that there is no way you can accurately grade a player 30 minutes after the game has ended. Multiple game viewings are necessary.
He was trying to decide whether to grade on a curve or on merit. If he graded that on a curve he had to come up with some As. His mind exploded.
I think Ives likes to take some time to see which way the wind’s blowing then goes with the flow.
Altidore a 6? for what? Hold-up play lmao Numerous bad touches and passes to the other team. All the ratings go out the window if he rates Altidore a 6
When it comes for grading Altidore, Ives has a soft spot for him. I remember before he used to argue that he was young but now….. he’s been around with the National Team for just about 6 years now. At his point Kinsmann keeps playing him because there is no more players available who play his position.
I was a huge Jozy fan but…… he is not 18 or 19 anymore, time to move on….
Yeah, let’s move on to the other players in our pool who have scored 20+ goals in a season for a team in a top 5 league. Oh wait.
HAHAHHAHAHAHAH, the dutch league is top 5? HAHHAHAHAHHAHA. Please tell me which of the prem, bundesliga, Serie A, la liga or ligue 1 falls to the juggernauts in the netherlands?
Even if I said top 10 the point still stands. Find me someone better in the pool than Altidore. He’s a top 5 goalscorer for our national team, and the only player who had more goals for the Nats at his age was one Landon Donovan.
You are right, the only guy they ever play at striker has the most goals.
What everyone is saying is that we could have MORE goals if we played someone other than stonefeet Jozy
Jozy doesn’t play in a top league anymore. He sits the bench in a top league.
I think Altidore has been given more than enough time to produce and has not. Game in, game out..no goals, few if any shots. His fanboys make every excuse possible for him but the bottom line is, he’s a hard working bust. JK needs to start trying other options and stop wasting minutes on Jozy
I saw Bedoya 6.5, then ALTIDORE 6, then WONDO 5!!!!!!……..I stopped reading after that
who’s the little dude in the team photo? At first I thought it was Wayne Rooney but then noticed the glasses…
His name is Dandon Lonovan.
He’s the future of US Soccer.