U.S. Player Ratings

1. Thomas Sullivan, May 26, 2010 at 7:36 a.m.

   I feel like I watched a different game.
   Goodson may have contributed to the US scoring but he looked totally flat footed on the second and third goals. With Onyewu clearly in recovery, if Goodson is the answer, plan on a short trip to South Africa. Goodson was exposed by an inexperienced Czech team playing through balls inside the 18. I thought he clearly played himself off the team.

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2. Ian Plenderleith, May 26, 2010 at 8:11 a.m.

   Bradley specifically praised Goodson straight after the game, so perhaps he saw things differently. I thought he was a little unlucky on the third Czech goal. A six for Rogers is too generous - he came out firing after the break and looked great, but then disappeared for the last 20 minutes. Though Holden was probably the best player overall (not saying much), at least in terms of work rate, he wasted a ton of dead balls in the second half.

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3. Gregory Weiss, May 26, 2010 at 9:37 a.m.

   I would rate a few players much lower as well. Guzan, Borstein, Pearce, Edu, Gooch, essentially anybody who played on defense can't score too highly for this game. I agree with the comments that Holden and Rogers are over-rated as well. Rogers never created much danger with his active play except with his one long shot. Holden may have been decent at holding possession in the center field but he did not use the ball wisely and the first half combination of Torres and Edu was much better overall. I think the only real winners that significantly improved their standing were Torres, Edu, and Beasley.

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4. Rick Taylor, May 26, 2010 at 9:49 a.m.

   What did Bedoya do that merited a 5? Buddle probably deserves a 6 given that he was the one who actually knocked down the ball for the first goal. I think Holden did great considering how often he had to track back to help on defense. Put Landon or a couple of other starters in the mid who can hold the ball and see how his work rate pays off.

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Mike Gaynes, May 26, 2010 at 10:18 a.m.
I've always felt that the US had a nightmare situation at left back, and this game confirmed it. The two worst players on the field were Bornstein and Pearce. I have never understood how Pearce even had a place in the national team program, so I hope his disasters last night have finally persuaded Bradley to banish him for good. But if the US doesn't advance to the second round in South Africa, this position will be the reason. Every wing and right-side midfielder in our group must be licking his chops.
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Daniel Lann, May 26, 2010 at 12:27 p.m.
I think that Bradley really didn't expect much from most of the players. I think he was curious about Buddle, and wanted to see if Gooch is going to be recovered enough to play in a few weeks. I believe that he wanted to check out Beasley, Torres and Gomez on a hope and a prayer. I think that his mind was pretty made up as to who would go to South Africa before the game began.
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beautiful game, May 28, 2010 at 10:08 a.m.
No player on this squad has the ability to focus 75-80% during the game...too many players go in and out of the zone too frequently...the mentality is soft and it shows on the pitch...Rogers deserved a 4 just like Sacha...both players showed zilch and concentrated on not making mistakes, that's a terrible mindset for a footballer on the WC bubble.
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