A Look back at the 23 / Player grades

I'm excited about the team going forward

Green, Yedlin, Brooks, Bacon, etc

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Brad Davis belonged nowhere near Brazil

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This x's 10000000

Yedlin was excellent. He and Fabian on the right is a promising future. Who do you move up to the wing and who do you keep back on D though?

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Brad Davis belonged nowhere near Brazil

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Not even worth me mentioning

Clearly Brad Davis was a terrible decision and you're right that Donovan should have been included if we took our best 23.

But on the other hand, I actually liked not bringing Donovan. One thing is for sure: With or without LD, we were not going to bring home the cup. Klinsmann knew that. But I think not taking Donovan really sent a message to the World and the players coming through the ranks that there is no room for complacency within our squad. We aren't necessarily going to take the best 23, but we are going to take the hardest working guys and the ones who want it the most.


RIP Landy Shades

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T Boyd esp with Jozy down could have filled that void and has the willingness to mix it even when he doesn't have the ball.

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Him or GAM. In hindsight really the worst decision of the 23 was not to have a backup physical #9 for Jozy especially how we saw it all panned out after he went down

Waiting for a Bradley grade

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Waiting for a Bradley grade

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He got way too much shite but I'd still grade him at a B. He was thrust into a role that isn't his and he looked uncomfortable. However he also covered more ground than any player in the entire group stage. Look at his 65+ yard sprint back at the end of the Portugal game for evidence of this. His first touch seemed off for most of the tournament. But like at the end of the game yesterday when we actually started attacking (and even earlier once Yedlin came on) when he was able to get the ball in a deeper role and distribute he looked like his old self. Not having Jozy as an outlet really made our offense sputter and he suffered the most for it.

I was disappointed in Zusi. In prior qualifying games and friendliest you could see that even though he was overmatched physically, he wasn't afraid to try some things, made early deliveries when he had space, or even occasionally made quick moves to get a little room to cross.

This World Cup, he just looked scared and timid. Too many times he received balls and immediately passed it backwards instead of making a turn to see what was in front of him. He made some decent runs and was more active against Portugal though, but as a whole, our linking up between midfield and the attack was pretty poor

Tim Howard - A+, do I really need to explain?

Beasley - B, did well getting forward, defended ok, recovery speed made up for a lot of his defensive mistakes.

Besler - B, defended well in all 3 games in group stages, looked overwhelmed in the Belgium game.

Cameron - C+, looked fantastic against Ghana, awful in the Portugal game, did well vs Belgium in the midfield (but nothing spectacular).

Gonzalez - B, made some crucial tackles/break ups, but his poor positioning put him in a spot to have to make these desperate tackles.

Brooks - B+, in his short play time played very well, his goal was crucial.

Johnson - B+, did well getting forward and linking up play with the midfield, defended well

Yedlin - A-, thrust in the spot light rather unexpectedly from a fan point of view, looked super confident with the ball, did great going forward. Needed help when playing defense, but held his own.

Beckerman - B+, did well on the ball and tracking back to help on defense.

Jones - A+, easily the most hustle and heart on the field. Left his heart and soul out there.

Bradley - C+, obviously not his preferred position, but hustled his tail off, made a few over the top passes that were gorgeous (see green), had some costly turnovers and did not possess the ball well for most of the tourney.

Zusi - D, minus his corner to Brooks, did very poorly in his crosses and link up play, made countless horrid touches and wasted countless corners/crosses. Did ok in tracking back to help on defense.

Bedoya - C, hustle was there, made some good runs of the ball, just didn't get the link up play.

Davis - F, shouldn't have seen the field, or even Brazil for that matter.

Green - Not enough time played to grade, but his first ever touch in the world cup was a goal, made a beauty of a run to get on the end of that perfect pass from Bradley.

Dempsey - C, minus his first 5 minutes in the Ghana game, and his typical Dempsey goal vs Portugal, was virtually non-existent in the game and selfish when on ball anywhere near the box (see bedoya), very lazy off the ball.

Wondo - F-, shaking my got damn head. :(

Bacon - C, did well when on the field, just a completely different type of player trying to play a position that only Jozy can play.

Jozy - not enough time on the field for a grade.


Where was Mix all tourney????


All in all the US played well at times, and has something to be proud of and to look forward to. Future looks bright!



ETA: forgot about Chandler, but obviously no grade, as he didn't see the field.

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- "B" players
Dempsey
Bedoya
Besler
Beckerman

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I've been a Bedoya advocate for a long time, but I think a B is generous for him. He often looked gassed early on and rarely made a good first touch. He hustled his arse off, though but I think that was his only redeeming quality when he was on the pitch. He certainly has a lot of upside that is visible when watching him with Nantes but I just don't think he brought it this WC. I'd give him a C-.