SoccerAmerica - U.S. Player Ratings 06/06/2010

[USA-AUSTRALIA REPORT CARD] Soccer America's Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players after the USA'S 3-1 win over Australia in Roodepoort on Saturday.

USA
SUBS:
Rating/Player (Club/Country) GP/G
5 Tim Howard (Everton/ENG) 51/0
Handled cleanly, distributed quickly, not at fault on Aussie goal.

5 Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96/GER) 60/2
Burst free on the right flank to serve excellent cross Buddle headed for second U.S. goal; beaten himself twice one-v-one, let Tim Cahill’s goal sneak between him and the goalpost.

3 Jay DeMerit (Watford/ENG) 19/0
Stooped to head a clearance right to an opponent, stumble gave Aussies a free header in a forgettable showing.

4 Clarence Goodson (Start/NOR) 13/2
Confused and out of position as gaping holes provided chances Australia didn’t convert.

5 Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/FRA) 74/12
Not much of a factor in the box on set plays, clipped balls up the flank well.

6 Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG) 62/18
Active before tiring in second half, raced up left side to force excellent save from Fulham teammate Mark Schwarzer, played great ball Findley failed to finish.

5 Ricardo Clark (Ein. Frankfurt/GER) 29/2
Tidy and quick on the ball in a mainly holding role, too slow to shut down service on a few occasions.

6 Michael Bradley (Borussia M'Gladbach/GER) 43/7
Triggered two dangerous attacks with early balls out of the back, drilled fierce shot that Schwarzer saved.

6 Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) 123/42
Started quietly, gained momentum late in first half, typically precise diagonal ball to set up third goal.

5 Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake) 6/0
Fluffed three excellent chances, including one stone-cold sitter; pressure helped produce first goal, runs distracted opponents on all three goals, nice touch in lead-up to Gomez goal.

8 Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy) 4/2
Scored his first two international goals with right foot and head, hit excellent square pass that Findley squandered.

SUBS:
Rating/Player (Club/Country) GP/G
5 Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves/ENG) xx/1
Thwarted the Aussies twice with excellent saves, but flapped at crosses in obvious distress from a setting sun and swirling ball.

5 Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA) 32/2
Other than an aimless square ball that rolled right to the opposition, he stayed out of trouble.

5 Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan/ITA) 54/5
Not especially quick or sharp, made the plays when called upon.

NR DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers/SCO) 92/17
Rarely got involved in 12-minute stint.

6 Herculez Gomez (Puebla.MEX) 4/2
Very smart and sharp in build-up before tucking away third goal.
(Ratings: 1=terrible; 5=average; 10=brilliant.)
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How do you feel the U.S. players did against Australia? Agree with our ratings? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.

0 comments

Philippe Fontanelli

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 9:34 a.m.

I disagree with the ratings of Ricardo Clark, Bradley and Findley. Clark just was just terrible (as he has been lately) The defensive midfield was terrible, the main culprit of the backline's performance. The gates were wide open to the goal. Torres is a must player. Findley yes is fast like Davies but missing those chances of open nets only shows that he is just an runner and akward forward. Opportunities like that not often will happen with the "big boys" and those have to be and must be converted. Bravo to Buddle and Gomez.

Don Cohen

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 9:56 a.m.

I thought the defense as a whole was very poor in defending the weak side on crosses. If England makes near post runs and plays the ball to the far post, I'm afraid only England players will be there to clean up easy opportunities.

Thomas Sullivan

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 10:11 a.m.

If Goodson is on the field the English will shred us with crisp balls played on the ground through the 18. Our defense looks very vulnerable.

alfredo gaudry

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 10:14 a.m.

Three points....Clark is not one of the top 11, even top 15. Torres has to be there. Demerit will be used by any of the forwards, he just is not good enough and is a whiner. Why not go to 5 in the midfield to get better control of center of the field where we usually have problems agst better teams. Your thoughts?

Mike Gaynes

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 12:09 p.m.

Findlay a 5? Based on what? How fast he runs? He's a complete bungler on the ball, unable to convert the simplest chances or make the simplest passes. As for the Saturday's impending disaster in the middle, there is clearly only one answer if Onyewu isn't fit -- a central pairing of Bocanegra and Spector. Admittedly they haven't played together and it's a patchwork solution, but at least Spector is a capable professional defender, which puts him miles ahead of DeMerit and Goodson. And Spector has played against Rooney, Crouch and Defoe multiple times, and at minimum knows what to expect. Otherwise, I'm picturing Goodson standing there looking bewildered and DeMerit on the ground, yelling at the referee, as the fifth English goal flies in.

Ric Fonseca

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 2:56 p.m.

Hey Ridge, what did you put in your coffee? Findley a 5?!? Bradley a 6??? Dmerit and Goodson a 3 & 4 respectively? Were you watching the same game or were you lulled to sleep by the Tyler/Harkess tandem? And Hanemann and Bornstein a 5??!!?!??! Aw come now!!! I'r rather have Spector and Beasley instead of Banal Bradley's kid! He'll cause is some problems!!! He together with Goodson will be a bad thing for the "Gruinguitos!" Now why didn't Banal Bradley play Torres????

Matthew Reber

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 3:27 p.m.

The defense was very untidy. Too many balls left in our box waiting for a clever attacker to pounce on. Australia has their own issues with finishing. Rooney and Walcott won't have those issues. No one on the USA back line deserves a 5. Sorry. I agree that Cherundolo was briliiant going forward. The problem is every EPL team has two marking backs that can do that. We are extatic that as a country we have one. Buddle's moves that impressed me were not his goals, but his ability to check down into the space in front of the center back. We have never had someone who can do that for old Landy-cakes. Maybe Buddle can finally be the target that Donovan can work with.

Kenneth Barr

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 6:42 p.m.

Once again, these number games are a nonsense. Why Clark and DeMerit? Because this is a prep friendly and Bradley wants to see what the would do in that particular environment. Stop over analyzing these friendlies. They gave up one goal to a poacher, let's see if they learn their lesson on the 12th. Also, stop pulling a Sampson and panicking over England. They put their trousers the same way we do, one leg at a time. Rooney has to perform and he has ton of pressure on him as England has lost Rio Ferdinand in the back and their form has not been the greatest. The good news is that the tactics are sound, the players seem prepared, now the execution has to be honed.

Kevin Leahy

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 8:53 p.m.

How can you even give Clark a rating when he was completely invisible? Two months ago I thought this team might score one goal in round robin play. I believe we can score now, but the defense is looking shaky.

Philippe Fontanelli

commented on: June 6, 2010 at 8:56 p.m.

Mike Gaynes and Ric Fonseca thanks you guys understand the game. Look at my comments above. It seems that no one has the courage in the media and the tube to speak up against nepotisnm and Bradley the coach who is an idiot by the way.

Robert Kiernan

commented on: June 7, 2010 at 6:14 a.m.

Well on the plus side... we actually have now seen two straight matches where our players have scored multiple goals from the run of play as opposed to set plays...this is a welcome change, BUT... Our defense and our defensive midfield looked like garbage and must either change or we must learn to lose with dignity because we aren't going to out score our opponents like we're the Brazilians. Certainly we must look at Torres and Edu getting back in the side... our defense has got to do much much better than this... and just because the Aussies couldn't finish doesn't mean they didn't have ample opportunity to do so. Why Bradley risked Dempsey getting either a second card or being injured in the second half over this game that counted for nothing is just mind numbing... I think Clark had a very mediocre match and would rate him lower than you have him...but then he played like total crap against Turkey, so maybe you think this was an improvement. But seeing Clark limp off at the end got me thinking... has he re-injured his calf/thigh? He looked hurt and I'd say he won't be ready to play next Saturday... but then he shouldn't be starting in the first place... we NEED Torres and for that matter Edu should be used in the back four since none of the three CB's looks up to the task... and yes Bornsteins little square pass to nobody didn't wind up in the back of our net... but you gave Feilhaber a 3 in the Turkey match based on a similar play yet you rate JB a 5? Really? Bornstein is a menace and just because he didn't totally melt down yesterday doesn't mean he had a good match. Very simply...Findley did help trouble the Aussie defender for Buddle to get the ball for the first goal, but that open net miss was just AWFUL, and instead of scoring he hit a post on the disallowed goal...he did not play "well" he has speed but his decision making is suspect... give that play to either Buddle or Gomez and it would be in the back of the net!

James Madison

commented on: June 7, 2010 at 1:31 p.m.

Where, oh where, was Torres when we needed him?

I w Nowozeniuk

commented on: June 8, 2010 at 1:10 p.m.

Defense and midfield did a mediocre job on defense and in supporting the strikers...on too many occasions the strikers were abandoned...too many times outlet players were missing in the proper positions...LD didn't get 30-40 touches that the team needs in order to put their stamp on the game...where was Torres?...too technical for this rugged opponent according to Bradley's view.

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