Another friendly to chew on, who’s rising and who’s falling?

First let me single out who is sorta sucking right now…

DaMarcus Beasley – Very inconsistent of late with his touches and runs. Not providing that game changing element that he is usually counted upon to bring. After what was in my opinion a very good and promising summer for the Beezer, he is now looking like he is in a bit of a slide. As of now he is not at all a lock for Bradley’s WC starting XI in my mind. It’s all peaks and valleys with this guy, just don’t valley again at World Cup time.

Benny Feilhaber – Not a right mid. Not even close. On top of his less than Beckham-like display out on the right against South Africa, his move to Derby has been a complete disaster and it finally seems to be catching up with his national team play. Seems to be a very awkward and tough point in Benny’s career and let’s all hope he gets a ticket out Derby in January.

Now onto the positives and the rankings…

10.) Landon Donovan – Two consecutive Landon-less matches has shown both good and bad signs. The good is that we are winning without the poster boy, the bad stems from how static the US attack is. By way of others not showing those game-breaking abilities, Landy moves into the top ten.

9.) Jozy Altidore – Got his first cap, with Real supposedly sending reps to New York to discuss his transfer. Red Bull says he is not for sale. Regardless, people are starting to take notice. Can’t really judge his SA performance; look forward to seeing him get a run in the Mexico game.

8.) Ogouchi Onyewu – Is starting to turn his good club play into solid national team play. Just as the Boca/Gooch pairing was being questioned, he showed well for himself and held the back together during South Africa’s most dangerous second half attacks.

7.) Steve Cherundolo – He will be the right back for 2010, and although he had a few shaky defensive miscues early on he was able to tighten up his play and made the difference with an absolutely unstoppable top cheese ripski.

6.) Carlos Bocanegra – Another good performance from the man with the armband, this pairing may just work after all.

5.) Maurice Edu – Arguably the MOTM against South Africa. After what I thought was a way over-praised performance against Switzerland, he proved me wrong by showing that same grit yet controlling himself a bit more and helped in setting up Cherundolo’s goal.

4.) Freddy Adu – Showed really well in my opinion for his first international start. Did his best to be inventive when he could, missed his opportunity at goal and sort of disappeared in the second, but without a doubt the kid belongs out there and will only get better.

3.) Tim Howard – Made the saves when he needed to, a top class keeper who is excellent and commanding his back four.

2.) Clint Dempsey – Really being played out of position with no true forward to help. Not his fault though, would like to see him moved around a bit more, too much skill on the ball to be left up top to dry.

1.) Michael Bradley – Bob Bradley doesn’t edit this blog so you can’t call it nepotism. Every game he brings solid passing, intimidating tackles, and a never ending motor. Constant beastliness, what else can you say?

It’s only the second rankings so the kinks are just starting to be worked out.

Got beef? Hit up the comments…

Welcome to the first of hopefully many US Soccer Player Power Rankings. Sorry we don’t have a fruit basket to give you for your attendance; I’ll try and work on that for next time.

To state once again, the point of this is to somewhat chart the progress of US players throughout the cycle. See who’s hot and who’s not.

We’ll go up to ten, because if you’re not top ten in my book you’re nobody.

Honorable mentions…Landon, Gooch, Jay Demerit…

10. Carlos Bocanegra – The captain. Despite having a penalty called on him against Liverpool, he is the captain, and has had a great season so far on both he club and international level.

9. Benny Feilhaber – For his lack of playing time at Derby, as well as having to take a perpetual beating from every premiership team, his form in the last friendly was pretty good.

8. Maurice Edu – Gets his second call-up in a row from Bob. He earned it. MLS Rookie of the Year winner. Kid is ridin’ high.

7. Jonathan Spector – Had a rebirth of sorts at West Ham over the weekend. Slotted in the D-mid role, Spector played good and should have had his first goal if it wasn’t for fellow American Eddie Lewis claiming it for his greedy self. (It was an own goal for Derby). Some guys will do anything to get their name on the score sheet. When you’re playing for Derby, an OG is probably the only way possible.

6. DaMarcus Beasley – Been on the mend for a while and is now starting to get his legs back after a slight knock picked up in the US vs. Sweden friendly. Look for him to make up missed time when the US squad takes on South Africa.

5. Jozy Altidore – MLS season ended disappointingly for his club side Red Bull New York, but that didn’t take away anything from the kid’s season. He battled through mssing some time due to U-20’s and injuries to put up 9 goals and 4 assists in 22 games. 18th B-day was a few days ago and now gets his first nat team call up. Welcome to the good life.

4. Tim Howard – Kept it close at the Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and his Aussie teammate Tim Cahill rewarded him with an extra time bike to give Everton the away point. Confidence is high on the blue side of town, and Tim Howard’s play in net for Everton this year is a big reason why.

3. Freddy Adu – Quite the return to the semi-spotlight. His minutes haven’t been there the last couple fixtures, but Camacho knows what he has. You can just see the improvement this kid has made and his confidence could be at an all-time high. More importantly he is working hard every day in training, and that is what truly makes the difference. Let’s see if Bob rewards him with the start in South Africa…

2. Michael Bradley – If he keeps scoring like this we don’t even need Jozy…
It was a joke, relax.

1. Clint Dempsey – Been quite the premiership revelation this year. Answered all questions asked of him if he could make it over in England after a less than spectacular start to his stay at the Craven Cottage. If he keeps this up he’ll be Brian McBride status over there. As Deuce spits it in his own rap track, “Don’t tread on this”.

The format is still a work in progress for who gets put where. As of now it’s a kind of combination of club and country form mixed in with my thoughts.

Got a bone to pick? Hit up the comments…