US v Paraguay Player Ratings by Greg Seltzer - July 3, 2007 |
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It was technically a smaller loss than the one against Argentina, but it was no softer defeat. The Paraguay match carried a lower degree of difficulty, less to celebrate and more to throw your hands up about, so the scores must come down - in some case, a lot. |
 JB has not sufficiently stirred the drink. (photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty) |
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| ▪ Paraguay Tops Wasteful US | ||
| ▪ Benny's Gotta Wear Shades | ||
| ▪ US v Argentina Player Ratings | ||
| US Player Ratings Kasey Keller (5.5) - Looked jittery in the first half, but much more commanding in the second. Still, his positioning and aggressiveness seem rather off. I think it's now time to give younger keepers playing time. Can't really be faulted too much on the goals, but didn't make the big play either. Drew Moor (6) - I nudged the debutant up a half-bonus point on moxie alone. After a solid first half, he seemed to be melting down at the start of the second, but composed himself to close strong. A decent contributor to the attack despite the overly polite late header in front of goal, he needs to stay a bit cooler when the pressure's on. Let's not get caught up in critique, though, Moor showed a lot to like. Jay DeMerit (6) - Another generally commanding air show from DeMerit, who would probably benefit playing next to a Gibbs/Parkhurst-type instead of someone so similar. Still a couple of risky passes in his own half to eliminate, but the long balls are slowly shaping up to look quite dangerous. Jimmy Conrad (4.5) - A second straight case of the shakes, and it was a surprise. I generally expect a certain calmness from Jimmy, and it went missing during several stretches. It was even stranger to see him fail to make an effort to escort Jonathan Bornstein's fatal back pass through the lush Venezuelan grass. Jonathan Bornstein (4.5) - After a very solid effort against Argentina, Bornstein relapsed into the timid speedster and overt defensive liability of previous caps. Absolutely should have scored on Johnson's exquisite cutback and absolutely should not have sent that awful back pass. On top of that (as if anyone needed more reason), he had several chances to show why he can be so exciting on the wing and rarely even made a somewhat aggressive effort. It is high time we see more of other left backs, and let Bornstein continue to grow his game in LA for a while. Ben Olsen (5.5) - All the fight from the Argentina loss was there, but the effectiveness dropped a good bit. To be fair, he had a tough assignment in the elusive Santana (not to mention helping on Santa Cruz) - but then again, Riquelme didn't waltz through Benny as many times. Not bad, but we need our veterans to do better. Ricardo Clark (6) - Perhaps we need to get Ricardo more shots from 20? With all the big plays he made, this grade should have been higher. However, he had several lapses in defensive concentration that put the back under heavy strain. Benny Feilhaber (5.5) - Same deal as Clark; enough good, but too much sloppiness. He did well to settle on the bouncing ball before Paraguay's first goal, but should have continued to run trough the fray to put out for a corner if he had to. With so many delicious lead passes spinning off some part of his foot, I am left wondering why he is still being burdened with so many defensive responsibilities. When does he get to be a #10? Sacha Kljestan (4) - Missing the early easy header may have stayed with him because his best moments were the invisible moments. Kljestan abandoned his aggressiveness, which is the thing that got him this far. It would be difficult to point out many strong plays from this performance, which to be fair, came out of his positional comfort zone. Taylor Twellman (4.5) - I can't figure out what's going on here. He was awful in the first half and should have scored just after the break... then he suddenly turned useful in the build. I keep wishing that my fellow St. Louis native will put it all together one night, but this wasn't it. Eddie Johnson (7) - The best US player on the night, and he can still improve (such as not giving up on broken plays so easily). He started poorly, but his touch-and-go game was terrific most of the evening. Showed up all over the field, even helping defensively in the second half, and would have had two sweet assists were it not for poor US finishing. Coach Bob Bradley (5) - I can't really beef with the tactics or choice of subs too terribly much... okay then, why am I not smiling? This Chivas USA youngster express line thing is getting ridiculous. Both Bornstein and Kljestan NEEDED to come out on Monday. If there is no Heath Pearce on Thursday, there is no excuse. Subs: Danny Califf (6) - Filled in well for the injured DeMerit, and was unlucky on the late foul because he tangled knees with Cabanas and both players had to collapse to avoid injury. Justin Mapp (5) - Dude, where's my cross?!? It's great to see some moves, but they aren't going to let you dribble it into the net. Hit the early ball when you have the chance and gadzooks, man - show some urgency when the team is trailing! Lee Nguyen (Incomplete) - Not enough time for a grade, but he did look awfully slow on the first step. Hopefully, that's just rust. |
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| Greg Seltzer spends his free time playing pick-up soccer at Museumplein and riding around Amsterdam on his bike in search of the perfect döner. You can email him at gseltzer@americansoccerdaily.com | ||