By IVES GALARCEP
It was as crazy a game as the U.S. Men’s National Team has played in recent memory, with the kind of stirring comeback that surely had U.S. fans excited at the potential of a young team not given much of a chance.
By the time the final whistle blew on the USMNT’s 4-3 victory against the Netherlands, it was easy to feel good about the performance, even though it was definitely far from perfect.
The immediate impact of Jurgen Klinsmann’s second-half substitutions helped turn the tide in a match the Americans trailed 3-1 at one point, but as compelling and promising as the three-goal rally was for the U.S. attack, it should not be forgotten that the Dutch could have scored five or more goals on the day.
There were plenty of positives to go with the defensive negatives, and for a rundown of some of the key points to consider from the match you can read my Goal.com breakdown.
For a closer look at how all the U.S. player fared against the Netherlands, here are the SBI Player Grades for the match:
USMNT 4, Netherlands 3: SBIÂ PLAYER GRADES
BRAD GUZAN- (6). The U.S. goalkeeper couldn’t do much on the three Dutch goals, but made some key stops, including a crucial one in the final moments.
TIM CHANDLER (4.5). Though he got forward at times, it’s tough to give Chandler much better given how much he was torched by Memphis Depay. Now it should be noted that there isn’t an American fullback who wouldn’t have suffered the same fate, but for a player who has yet to show he can be a consistent and reliable defender for the U.S., it felt like a missed opportunity.
JOHN BROOKS (5). From a defensive standpoint, Brooks left plenty to be desired. Carried part of the blame on the first two Dutch goals, and looked uncomfortable at times. His grade received a boost courtesy of his excellent interception, run and finish on the second U.S. goal.
VENTURA ALVARADO (4.5). Had some good moments, and didn’t look shy, but positioning needed to be better on a couple of occasions, such as on the Dutch team’s first goal. Only had 45 minutes in his first pairing with Brooks, but he was active and his passing was efficient. He should get another look against Germany.
BREK SHEA (4.5). Better in the first half than the second half, Shea provided a threat getting forward at times, and used his pace to hep deal with a few dangerous moments. In the second half he simply didn’t apply enough pressure on Dutch wingers, who were allowed to deliver a steady stream of service.
ALFREDO MORALES (4.5). Not nearly productive enough in central midfield, saw little of the ball and didn’t do much to pressure the Dutch.
KYLE BECKERMAN (6). Made some vital stops to bail out the defense, and was his usual efficient self in possession. He completed 24 of 26 passes and kept the ball circulating well during his 62 minutes of action.
GYASI ZARDES (6.5). Could have scored a higher grade if not for those handful of wasted chances that he squandered throughout the match. Deserves credit for putting himself in good positions, and his goal was well-taken. Worked to set up a Michael Bradley shot that hit the post, and headed a pass that gave Bradley a good look in the second half. Quietly enjoyed an effective passing day, with the notable exception being one pass to Aron Johannsson he over-hit that wasted a very good run.
FABIAN JOHNSON (6). Set up the opening U.S. goal with an excellent cross to Zardes, and converted all but one of his passes. Could have done more to help deal with Depay on his side of the field, and could have provided more service, but still a solid showing.
MICHAEL BRADLEY (8). Set up the winning goal with a beautiful full-field run, and nearly scored a goal of his own only to have his shot rattle the post. Very active and was better at pressuring the Dutch in possession than his midfield counterparts. A commanding performance in the middle of the field.
ARON JOHANNSSON (5). Made some good runs that deserved better service, with Johnson and Zardes both wasting opportunities to put him through on goal. He finished the match without a shot and without much involvement defensively in terms of pressure. Will need to do more against Germany.
JORDAN MORRIS (7). Made an immediate impact with his speed against a tiring Dutch defense. Forced a good save in the 88th minute before delivering the game-winning assist in the 89th minute.
DEANDRE YEDLIN (6.5). Another substitute who made an instant impact, Yedlin helped set up Brooks’ goal and gave the U.S. an infusion of pace on the wing.
MICHAEL OROZCO (4.5). Beaten on the third Dutch goal, Orozco was active in his 45 minutes, though he didn’t have as much of the ball as Alvarado had in his 45 minutes.
MIX DISKERUD (5.5). Looked more impressive in his substitute’s appearance than Morales did as a starter, Diskerud was active, efficient with his passing, and contributed on both sides of the ball. Came close to scoring, but sent his shot just wide.
BOBBY WOOD (6). Scored the winning goal, but his performance wasn’t confined to that. He drew fouls, made himself available, nearly set up a Diskerud goal and took a pair of shots and played with confidence during his 25 minutes of action.
DANNY WILLIAMS (7). Scores a deflected equalizer late, but also made his presence felt in midfield, making several defensive stops and passing the ball well. Showed enough to merit a start against Germany.
——————
What did you think of the U.S. performance against the Netherlands? Which player impressed you the most? Who do you feel played well enough to go from substitute to starter against the Germans?
Share your thoughts below.
Stop arguing with each other, it won’t solve anything
Also, Morales played fantastic the first 10 minutes of the game. He was shaky and made some bad reads, but overall I feel his score is a bit harsh. Yedlin should be higher, Morris a tad too high, and Aron Bacon gets penalized for our midfielders not picking their heads up to find him? I don’t get it, I would almost give him a N/R as he needed some service to make an assessment of his game. He made plenty of intelligent runs and just needed the ball to be played to him. Chandler was man handled by Depay.
I want to see this vs Germany.
Fabian ——- Aron ——— Morris
—————- Mix ——————
——- Bradley — Beckerman —–
Shea — JAB — Orozco — Yedlin
————– Guzan —————–
i bet you also want your groin to be healthy…
I don’t see how any defender deserved more than a 3. The Dutch could’ve easily scored 7-8 goals. I’ve never seen Chandler play in Bundesliga, but I have to assume, because he plays there, he must have at least some defensive abilities. Unfortunately, I’ve never seen him play any passable defense for the USMNT. At times, his defense is so inept that you just have to laugh.
Yedlin, I thought, had a great game. His best ever for the US team. Wish he gets playing time at the club level next year.
Make no mistake- they came to win- this match was important to the Dutch trying to get their footing going into quals. Clearly the Dutch are not in their best form, mostly due to defensive issues. That said, times past, the US only chance against a team as talented in the defense would be to bunker, counter and hope for the best- that perhaps they were not as clinical/opportunistic. To think that we could sustain offensive pressure and actually win in a wide open shootout would have been unthinkable….. let alone with such a raw, inexperienced roster. Nothing conclusive here, but it does indicate progress in development as well as the US approach.
Wow! I gotta stop getting smashed before the games, I had no idea Memephis Depay torched by Chandler several times. Lol!
yea i didn’t really see that much either, i thought he was getting after Shea more. also i thought Chandler looked good, at least helping in the attack. he’s also faster than i’ve given him credit for. he and yedlin were retreating once and yedlin caught him but not as quick as i’d have thought.
Chandler was bad….I know he was at fault for at least one goal and it would have been his fault had Brooks not broken up the pass that De Jong couldnt put on net
I don’t really follow the Dutch but do know that they are struggling in Euro qualification. How close was the team the fielded to their first team? How motivated to win were the Dutch? And given their struggles how big a feather in the USA’s cap is the victory? Inquiring minds want to know.
Holland are clearly having a rough transition but lets not forget we are in a transition as well.
As for motivation, do we like to lose to teams we think we should be better then at home? 3 players scored there first goals for the US against a good side. The confidence they can take from that is, what is important.
they were somewhat motivated especially considering RVP was trying to score a milestone goal in front of a home crowd. They used a good amount of their current stars (Blind, Depay, RVP, Sneijder, Huntelaar, some i’m missing perhaps) so i wouldn’t say it was Holland ‘B’ by any means… it was like Holland ‘A-ish’ lol. kinda like ours was an ‘A-ish’ team.
After seeing the affect Jordan Morris had on the Dutch I want him starting alongs AJ. I think the two of them could make some headaches for the German defense although I don’t expect the German defense to be made of Swiss cheese like the Dutch defense was.
It is also important to showcase Jordan Morris to European scouts to furthur encourage him to jump into the pro ranks.
Since pace and size rattled the Dutch why not see what Yedlin can do as a starter.
AJ Morrison
Zardes Yedlin
Bradley Martin
Johnson Brooks Alverado Chandler
We may give up some goals with this formation but we will look good going forward.
Come to think of it I can’t wait to see a Jozy/ Morrison pairing.
This might awaken memories of Jozy/Charlie Davies in the Confederations Cup even if Morrison is not quite as fast as Charlie Davies used to be.
Part of what made Yedlin and Morris so effective was that they were inserted into the game near the end when the Dutch defense had to chase their speed with tired legs. Not sure if Morris is ready for the full 90 yet and I certainly don’t think he should start over Jozy or Deuce, but as a super sub he can be an absolute game changer.
Then again, this is a friendly, so why not see what he’s got. Either way, he’s proven in the last 2 weeks beyond a doubt that he needs to turn pro right now. His upside is too great to waste time in the college game.
Agreed, both Yedlin and Morris highlighted the Dutch lack of pace at fullback.
So they should be able to do the same to the Germans. Im not sure if guys like Durm are in their team yet but it doesnt matter. There arent too many faster than Yedlin that play the game at the international level. Walcott for England said he ran a 4.6 and Yedlin runs a 4.2-4.3 according to Caleb Porter…..personally I wanna see him starting but he is a weapon off the bench about the 60th minute. He adds width offensively and some pretty good crosses as well, he also is like adding an extra defender which is also really helpful. At this time he is the perfect sub
martin?
Yedlin’s speed caused havoc with the Dutch defense and game plan. It was literally game-changing and reminded me of his eye-opening World Cup performance. I don’t think we know if Yedlin is a 90-minute player at an international level just yet, but its apparant that the opposition has to account for him in their game plan or they will be run through. Add Morris to that equation, and the US may be on the verge of a blazing fast attack.
i wonder if JK has already started converting 9th grade track sprinters into soccer players in prep for 2022… lol
I’m an Aron Johannsson fan, but he didn’t not shine in this game. Regardless of whether or not he made good, unrewarded runs or not, he did get knocked off the ball time after time. The other guys going forward held up to the physical play much better. MB – the best we have by far. Zardis works hard, is involved and dangerous – I just hope that he can continue to improve.
I also like Aron but he needs cut out, throwing his hands up in the air. Everyone knew it was a bad pass from Zardes and Fabian would have done better to lay it off to you. Everyone knows its frustrating but standing around complaining just isn’t a good look.
Meh. he has every right to be pissed about his service and to let his team mates know about it on the field. I have no problem with it, in fact as a fan I prefer to know he cares enough to be frustrated.
AJ at the moment is not the aggressive, physical striker this team needs to thrive. The insertion of Bobby Wood was like a light switch for the offense. He made an immediate impact with his style of play. Morris, in his 10 minutes up top also seemed to fit the style of play better than AJ.
I believe AJ his a much better striker at this point than Wood or Morris, but for this team, Wood and Morris were more effective.
Time will tell if AJ can develop that relentless physicality that our national team is known for, but until then he’s going to struggle.
Everyone paying attention, knows Zardes screwed that one up, none more so than Zardes. Noone feels worse about it than Zardes, Aron needs to get over himself.
Throwing up your hands in a teen-aged hissy-fit is no way to endear teammates to you. Maybe next time Zardes just keeps the ball. (would not be too smart on Zardes part, but it would not be surprising).
i think people are over reading his reaction. it wasn’t a hissy fit, it’s a fairly common reaction. it happens literally every game. it’s just a teammate calling attention to his teammate that “hey you had me, bro! look for the option next time”. now if this was something that happens every game then you can address it as a team in film etc. but it’s not like he’s gonna give him the silent treatment the rest of the trip. it’s one play
PS- after seeing it several times, i still think AJ could have just barely run down that ball, it had fortunate spin and was lofted more than directly hit so it had some time before it went out. just my op
I think Zardes had an excellent game, despite the hiccups. He created more than a few chances, His passing was better than fair in the final third, and he energy level, and movement off the ball was excellent. Remember, he is only 23!!
I think Klinsmann may have told him to stay higher up the field. In his previous matches he played defense more, came back in the midfield more and generally was out of scoring range more,
Against the Dutch, he stayed higher and made more goal runs and caused the Dutch defenders a lot of grief with his speed an athleticism, I think this was not lost on Klinsmann as Yedlin and then Morris gave the Dutch the same problems.
The downside of this is that he exposed the wings a bit more and put a lot more pressure on Brek Shea.
Just two years ago Zardes was taking more shots than anyone else in MLS and missing just about all of them. By last year he showed better judgment and more poise, had learned to put his shots on frame and achieved a very respectable standing among the league’s leading goal scorers. He showed his continuing growth against the Dutch, with a lovely goal and several additional hard, on-frame shots that were blocked or saved. Let’s give the kid credit and hope his growth continues on the same trajectory. I, for one, think its rather harsh of Ives to downgrade him for “wast[ing] chances that he squandered throughout the match.” For me, his achievements on the day equaled or exceeded everyone who played except Bradley. On another day, developing similar opportunities, he might well score multiple goals. But he should not be downgraded, in effect, for his failure to get a brace or hat trick against the Dutch.
Yedlin deserves so much more than a 6.5. That is all.
Bradley has looked great against Mexico and now the Dutch-a dominating two-way player, constantly himself in position to have the ball at his feet and to make a significant amount of critical decisions on offensive moves, making the correct decision more often than not. This isn’t the Bradley Jr of 2007-11, running all the way to the centerbacks at the edge of the box to take the ball off their feet far too deep in their own half, nor is it the “#10” Bradley forced too far afield into an unfamiliar role in 2014-right now he seems to be finding the perfect balance of picking off the opposing ballhandler on defense, then passing away from pressure, then going into an open spot, getting the ball back and unlocking the opposing defense with either a quikc pass down the flank, or pushing forward himself toward the box and then passing to the wing cutting in for a clear shot. Is it a case of consistent playing time in MLS and his maturity hitting at the right time?
He’s already the best central midfield performer since Reyna in the early 2000’s for USMNT, but he could really be set up for a monster run the next couple of years. I do not begrudge his move back to MLS, but I also would have loved to see him put his imprint on the European game in his current form ( yes, I know it’d be harder to find playing time to be in his current shape, blah, blah)
No Bradley changed b/c of his time at Chievo and Roma. He was who he is now during the world cup… no one gave him credit… and the games were against harder teams. But he is who he was then. Definitely our best MF since Reyna though. Another couple seaons in Italy could help him jump to the next level… or not. Not sure if he can be a Xavi or not. I would have to see him playing week in and week out somewhere at that level of competition… sadly I think that will fall to the next generation.
I don’t get the scores for Shea. He was easily the worst player on the field. He has the defensive prowess of an already knocked over traffic cone. I will be shocked if Fab J isn’t at left back and Yedlin at right wing against Germany.
Fabian needs to be in the midfield, he’s probably the second most consistent creator in the team. Putting him at fullback would be a waste.
Klinsmann doesn’t look at fullback as just another defender. That’s why Cameron isn’t at right back and Tim Ream never gets a look. You saw with the one run from Shea what Klinsmann does want out of the position (probably more often).
I think Klinsmann has realized just yelling “move the ball” “press forward” isn’t working. A lot of these guys just naturally fall into a defensive shape. So now he’s just going to start putting attacking players all over the field to see if that get more attacks going.
Michael Bradley was just phenomenal the best performance I have ever seen from him
You’ve got to be kidding, right?
Michael Bradley was just phenomenal the best perfoemance I have ever seen from him
Yedlin grade should be higher than Morris’s ….he contributed an onslaught of attacks and was a nightmare for Holland’s left back…yes Morris played well for the short time he played, but the reason he was getting space was because of Yedlin’s pace, making the Dutch have to spread there defense to not be caught sleeping.
Agreed. Yedlin should only be scored behind Bradley. Aron’s score is a bit harsh and Zardes’ score is a bit generous.
Aron’s was fair but not worrisome, he just wasn’t passed to at certain open times. soccer is a game of options. sometimes you just don’t get the ball as much, he was in good positions tho, so no real fault but you can’t give him a high score.
Agreed about Yedlin. Blind looked like he didn’t know what hit him.
After watching Yedlin blurr by him several times.
Daley Blind, in Dutch, to himself, “Holy crap! A yank with world class sprinter sped and a soft first touch, and good dribbling skills, and I just got burnt again. Shit goddamn I want my momma!!!”
I’d have to disagree with giving Williams a higher grade than Beckerman. Clearly Williams deserves accolades for the game tying goal, and he was solid in the midfield. However, I thought Beckerman’s composure, intelligence, passing, and work rate were a huge factor in allowing Bradley to shine.
————Johannsson—–
–Johnson———-Zardes–
—-Williams—-Bradley—
———-Beckerman——-
Shea-Brooks-Alvaro-Chandler
————–Guzan—————
for the next game?
sure but i’d use williams as becks’ understudy. so start one and sub the other in for him. that’d allow you to start mix with MB in the CM roles.
Beckerman was lucky his horrendous give away leading to the Dutch goal right before halftime was disallowed by a dubious foul call…
so DePay forcibly throwing FJ to the ground is a dubious foul?
Absolutely not. Beckerman got roasted when getting beat off the dribble twice. He only made 1 forward pass that was any danger. He slows any counter down when winning the ball. He gets in good positions defensively, but it is like the team plays a man down offensively.Williams added a lot of dynamism to the offense and the athletic difference was obvious. He was a huge upgrade over Beckerman.
i am a KB fan but i agree with your overall point. again, i think d williams should be groomed as an understudy to KB/JJ; he can be a great mobile CDM for us that’s not afraid to help offensively when applicable. KB’s offensive help is limited to pretty much his great distance shot he has, other than that he’s purely defensive. d will has the ability to facilitate the ball with his movement, not just back passing.
I think we are becoming too enamored with the pass completion statistic. Beckerman had an awful turnover which I believe led to a goal and lost his mark on another goal. His completed passes weren’t of particular note but he did come back and break up 2 plays in the box. but this was a bad match for beckerman. willing to bet williams starts over him in germany.
MB90 – MotM