re: US (1) v. Jonathan Bornstein (2) - Final

It's twice as funny considering that Chivas's nickname is the Goats.

Ching is 30 times better than Findley and Casey.

like seeing the Ajax players rep

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like seeing the Ajax players rep

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Jews (seriously)

But yeah Ajax is the reason Dutch Football is so consistently solid. If you looked out on the field today, only Robben, Sneijder and that young forward (name escapes me) had the athleticism of Jozy, Findley, Landy or Gooch. If Ajax built an academy here, we would be contenders in every tourney.

Resident soccer analysts:

Questions that beg:

1. Bornstein? World Cup? Really?
2. Where the hell was Donovan? Looked absent all game.
3. The guy with the Spanish last name (not Torres) that came on as a sub late, who was he, and why don't we see more of him? He looked pretty good to me.
4. Was I hallucinating, or did DMB acutally look like a good player last night?

Comment: Muck the dutch funkies.

1. Please. God. No. There has to be a better option for us at LB. There just has to.
2. He definitely played Disappearing Landon. Reasons/excuses could be that he's sick, or that he's been playing too many minutes recently, or that the Dutch marked him into submission. Probably a combination of all three.
3. Bedoya. It's hard for him to see the field b/c of how many midfielders we have. If Holden's hurt for long and Dempsey or Donovan plays up top, you may see more of Bedoya and/or Beasley in upcoming matches. Rodgers is the weakest link here (well, really it's the Dax, but he's off the radar now).
4. Beasley did look good, much improved over his last USMNT showing over the summer. If his confidence on the ball is back now (even if his speed isn't as high as it once was), he'll earn himself a shot to be on the squad.

Other than a few big weaknesses (Bornstein's D, Findley's O, and the Amazing Disappearing Donovan), it was a pretty solid match. We lost, but we finally scored a goal against The Netherlands. One more thing now scratched off the tally.

The Dutch were able to attack like everyone knew, but the core of our D played pretty solid. With average but solid play out on the left, the whole would be better.

On offense, it was launch-it-foward Bob Ball mode for most of the game. We need better possession through the midfield to keep improving. When we did have chances going forward, Findley squandered them. Once he came off and Donovan moved forward, the offense started to open up. Not even an Eddie Johnson sighting could kill it.

The official was fairly inconsistent, and did a pretty poor job during the first half. Screw him, and screw de Jong.

As for our guys:

GK, Howard: 7.5 - Yes, they scored two, but he was solid as usual without the "optimal" back line.

LD, Bornstein: 1.5 - Bad foul to give the PK, "unlucky" on the other goal once he'd been moved to the middle (although that's on Bradley... if you're going to play Goodson to give him a look, pull goat boy when you put Pearce on and put on Goodson when you pull DeMerit). We know who Bornstein is. Thanks for playing. The only "plus" for him is that he's a bit more mobile than Cherundolo on the left, but he gets out of position when he goes forward and winds up getting burnt. Might have done better if Donovan had been more active, to be fair. But still, GTFO the national team.

CD, Bocanegra: 7 - Scored the only goal for the Yanks, and was pretty strong in defense. Seemed to get his feet caught up a few times, but that will happen when you've got to cover for goat boy constantly.

CD, DeMerit: 7.5 - Solid effort again. His positioning and marking were pretty good. The one weakness in his game is that he didn't do a good job of moving the ball forward into the midfield without just launching it deep (which would've helped get Torres more effective touches), but that's probably just as much a result of Bob Ball as it is of DeMerit's ability.

RD, Spector: 5.5 - Covered his space well for the most part, although he did get rounded a few times too. His crosses weren't up to par today, and that's what we need him for. Findley probably would've just choked on them like he did all the other service he got, though.

LM, Donovan: 4.5 - Didn't do much while he was in the midfield, and many passes were substandard early. Was much better up top when he replaced Findley (and when other players were moved to their better positions, too), which further enforces the idea that either Donovan or Dempsey should play up top with Altidore to give the team more offense. May have been playing sick or tired, but those are really excuses when you're talking about our "best" player.

CM, Bradley: 6 - Covered a lot of ground and was pretty good on defense. Average on offense and distribution. He has to get better at distributing the ball if we're going to play two defensive mids. He did a poor job defending during the leadup to the "unlucky" second goal, IMO. Also, congratulations on not getting carded in a heated match against a quality opponent. Baby steps for baby Bradley.

CM, Torres: 4.5 - Had a slow start with his passing and control (which is what he should be bringing to the squad), and is not as good of a defensive option as Edu when paired next to Bradley (who goes forward a bit). Did seem to be improving during the first half, and it would be interesting to see him and Edu paired in the middle or a three CM set.

RM, Holden: 6.5 - Was our best player in the midfield until de Jong took him down, and has proven that he's an option on the right.

FW, Findley: 3 - Not ready for this level of play yet. He did a pretty good job of getting into position to receive balls, but then was pretty garbage once he had possession. He's not a good option to pair with Altidore or the Ching/Casey(/Cooper) machine at this point.

FW, Altidore: 7 - Pretty solid 90+ for Jozy, getting into position and getting the ball into Findley only to have it repeatedly wasted. Did a decent job drawing fouls. With a better strike partner and a bit more possession in midfield so Jozy could play a little higher up, the offense would be pretty sweet. He's a better option than Ching/Casey/Cooper for this role, and his touch and awareness are still improving.

Sub, RM, Beasley: 6 - Came in for Holden and was decent at RM. Really played well when Donovan moved forward for Findley and Beasley went to the left. Had much more confidence on the ball and with his movement up and down the field than in his last few USMNT caps. If he can maintain this, he and Holden are the clear options on the wings behind Donovan and Dempsey.

Sub, CM, Edu: 6 - Replaced Torres at half, and did a solid job on defense and pushing the ball forward. If he can continue to improve his game while getting back to 100% after his injury, he should be a force. Sorry, Ricardo Clark, your services won't be required.

Sub, RM, Bedoya: 6.5 - Came on when Findley went off, Donovan went forward, and Beasley went left. Did a pretty good getting into position, setting up his teammates, and pressuring the Dutch. We'll need to see more to see if he'll be consistent at this level, but in this particular game he was a plus.

Sub, LD, Pearce: 5.5 - Came on late when DeMerit came out and Bornstein moved to center, and was a marked improvement on the left (although, to be fair, Beasley was more active on the left than Donovan was). He had some nice crosses and got forward to support the late surge, and didn't do a bad job on defense.

Sub, FW, Johnson: 4 - Well, he's still Eddie Johnson, but he's also better than Findley. At this point Donovan or Dempsey are better options alongside Altidore. May get another chance, but I think it'd be more likely to see his club teammate get a shot at the smaller, faster forward position.

Sub, CM, Goodson: 5 - Didn't get enough time, and he should've come on when DeMerit went off. He's shown over several appearances that he's an okay option (better than Danny Calif) to sub on, but he's no Gooch or DeMerit (or Bocanegra) over the course of a match. I'm sure he'll make the squad, although I might play Edu over him at CD in some situations.

TLDR tacos.

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LD, Bornstein: 1.5 - Bad foul to give the PK, "unlucky" on the other goal once he'd been moved to the middle (although that's on Bradley... if you're going to play Goodson to give him a look, pull goat boy when you put Pearce on and put on Goodson when you pull DeMerit). We know who Bornstein is. Thanks for playing. The only "plus" for him is that he's a bit more mobile than Cherundolo on the left, but he gets out of position when he goes forward and winds up getting burnt. Might have done better if Donovan had been more active, to be fair. But still, GTFO the national team.

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Ok, Stabstein was bad but he did recover on Elia's breakaway and disrupted him. He was at least a 3.

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CD, Bocanegra: 7 - Scored the only goal for the Yanks, and was pretty strong in defense. Seemed to get his feet caught up a few times, but that will happen when you've got to cover for goat boy constantly.

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Really sloppy play by him leading up to the 2nd goal for the Dutch. 6.

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CD, DeMerit: 7.5 - Solid effort again. His positioning and marking were pretty good. The one weakness in his game is that he didn't do a good job of moving the ball forward into the midfield without just launching it deep (which would've helped get Torres more effective touches), but that's probably just as much a result of Bob Ball as it is of DeMerit's ability.

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DeMerit was our best defender, he was a rock. I'd give him an 8.

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RD, Spector: 5.5 - Covered his space well for the most part, although he did get rounded a few times too. His crosses weren't up to par today, and that's what we need him for. Findley probably would've just choked on them like he did all the other service he got, though.

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About right, he wasn't up to his normal standards although he tracked back well and at least got in between his man and the goal. I'd agree with a 5.5

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LM, Donovan: 4.5 - Didn't do much while he was in the midfield, and many passes were substandard early. Was much better up top when he replaced Findley (and when other players were moved to their better positions, too), which further enforces the idea that either Donovan or Dempsey should play up top with Altidore to give the team more offense. May have been playing sick or tired, but those are really excuses when you're talking about our "best" player.

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Landon's worst game in a long time, he looked like he didn't really care.

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CM, Bradley: 6 - Covered a lot of ground and was pretty good on defense. Average on offense and distribution. He has to get better at distributing the ball if we're going to play two defensive mids. He did a poor job defending during the leadup to the "unlucky" second goal, IMO. Also, congratulations on not getting carded in a heated match against a quality opponent. Baby steps for baby Bradley.

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Too low, MB kept us in the game yesterday with his defense and work ethic. His distribution could have been better but he gets at least an 8.

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CM, Torres: 4.5 - Had a slow start with his passing and control (which is what he should be bringing to the squad), and is not as good of a defensive option as Edu when paired next to Bradley (who goes forward a bit). Did seem to be improving during the first half, and it would be interesting to see him and Edu paired in the middle or a three CM set.

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Torres wasn't bad, he was just a square peg in a round hole yesterday. He was trying to play controlled, and we were trying to play controlled chaos. I'd say 5.5 because he gave us our best scoring chance in the 1st half.

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RM, Holden: 6.5 - Was our best player in the midfield until de Jong took him down, and has proven that he's an option on the right.

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Did very well until de Jong had to be a queer and break his leg. 7.

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FW, Findley: 3 - Not ready for this level of play yet. He did a pretty good job of getting into position to receive balls, but then was pretty garbage once he had possession. He's not a good option to pair with Altidore or the Ching/Casey(/Cooper) machine at this point.

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Findley gets a 1, he had the decision making of a middle school girl. He shite his pants literally 15 times yesterday. Awful.

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FW, Altidore: 7 - Pretty solid 90+ for Jozy, getting into position and getting the ball into Findley only to have it repeatedly wasted. Did a decent job drawing fouls. With a better strike partner and a bit more possession in midfield so Jozy could play a little higher up, the offense would be pretty sweet. He's a better option than Ching/Casey/Cooper for this role, and his touch and awareness are still improving.

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Jozy did well, he held the ball up and drew a lot of fouls. Some of his distribution was subpar but he's definitely getting there. 7 I'd agree.


Beasley -- 6 is fair, he was smart with the ball but still seemed somewhat timid.

Edu -- 8 for defense, 4 going forward. I was impressed, he was rusty but he was fantastic on defense.

Bedoya -- he was a sparkplug, he gets a 7 as far as a sub is concerned. He got forward very well and helped create chances.

Eddie Johnson sucks.