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Player Ratings vs Italy

June 19th, 2006 | By: Daryl | 65 Comments »

As always, player ratings are up for debate:

Kasey Keller 7: beaten by another header, but made some great saves in the second half

Steve Cherundolo 7: up and down that touchline all day long. not quite as solid as Bocanegra defensively, but some effective attacks down the right flank.

Carlos Bocanegra 8: below average going forward, he just can’t cross like Lewis. luckily he doesn’t defend like Lewis either and was really impressive, giving the Italians more or less nothing down that flank. must have won the spot from Lewis, and we can only dream of what might have been had he played against the Czech Republic.

Oguchi Onyewu 8: looked clumsy early on and failed to get out for the failed offside trap, but from there on out he was an absolute rock. hope he took Toni out of his pocket after the game, or will be in trouble for kidnapping.

Eddie Pope 5: unlucky to be sent off, but didn’t inspire confidence while on the field.

Mastroeni 7: outstanding before he saw red. made a lot of strong tackles, distributed well and had one great long range shot that could have snuck in. was also part of the reason Lippi felt Totti had to come out. the tackle to get sent off wasn’t too clever, but 9 / 10 times (maybe more?) it’s just a booking.

Clint Dempsey 8: full of running, and confident enough to make some aggressive forward runs. his swagger is what was missing against the Czech Republic. Italian defenders didn’t quite know what to make of him.

Bobby Convey 6: crossing wasn’t fantastic, and not as threatening as Dempsey, but worked hard. withdrawn by Arena for tactical reasons after the red cards, mostly based on his inexperience.

Claudio Reyna 8: ran around like a man in his 20s, not 30s, setting an example as captain. great touch and vision as usual but also won his share of challenges.

Landon Donovan 9: more like it. ran hard, tackled hard and always looked dangerous on the ball. he was everywhere in midfield, always making himself available in central positions, back making challenges and forward often enough to support McBride. most importantly, he had the confidence in himself to dribble (often successfully) at the Italian defence.

Brian McBride 7: missed one golden chance from Donovan, but his bravery is unquestionabe. determined to play on after De Rossi’s elbow when lesser men would have left the game. most impressive was his willingness to simultaneously play the forward role and fill in everywhere else while we were down to 9 men (and remember this isn’t a young guy we’re talking about). can you imagine Ronaldo doing that for his team?

Subs:

Jimmy Conrad 6: had a decent enough game, especially when compared to Pope, but was a little too eager to exchange shirts with Iaquinta and lucky not to have given away a penalty.

DaMarcus Beasley 6: looked (a bit) more like the DMB we know and used to love, though could have put his pace to better use in such an open game and didn’t always track back. had the ball in the net and unlucky not to be the matchwinner.

Man of the Match: Cristian Zaccardo.

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 65 comments.

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By Kaya | June 20th, 2006 at 4:04 am

We only need to beat Ghana by 5 points to guarantee we advance… Woot!
On the other hand, that bunch o divers have started to grow on me… Andiamo i azzurri!
Gyan and Muntari are out for Thursday’s game… that’s good news, right? Now what to do about Essien…

Posted from United States

By Jono | June 20th, 2006 at 4:27 am

All we need to do if beat Ghana, and have Italy beat Czech!

I’m confident Italy will win their game, but the US - Ghana match will be tough!

By Jono | June 20th, 2006 at 4:28 am

IS IT OFFICIAL NOW, THAT GYAN IS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PLAY AGAINST THE US TEAM THURSDAY?

By Kaya | June 20th, 2006 at 4:48 am

Jono,
Yes, both Gyan and Muntari are out, and they scored the goals in the game against Czech Republic. I was only able to watch the v. Italy of Ghana’s 2 games… my feeling was that Ghana’s best defense was a good offense, which is now relying on the bench.
I’m very worried about Italy beating Czech Republic. If they draw, they still win their group. Czech Republic will be fighting like crazy to avoid Brazil. This is a good setup to our worse-case scenario, an Italy-Czech draw.
For our match, I don’t know who we mark Essien with…. but our plan of attack must be very offensive.

Posted from United States

By Kaya | June 20th, 2006 at 5:08 am

“…I’m very worried about Italy beating Czech Republic. If they draw, they still win their group.”

I retract that statement….This of course is only true if we win. If Ghana wins, Italy needs to win in order to avoid Brazil. Therefore, I guess another M.O. is to rest all first half (assuming the backup strikers don’t cause us a lot of trouble), and help give Italy the urgency they need to win as we both take halftime breaks.
I say we beat Ghana 5-0 and therefore Brazil gets scared and purposely takes 2nd place in Group F

Posted from United States

By Thomas Andrikus | June 20th, 2006 at 5:08 am

Oh com’on America, you can do it! We Singaporeans have high expectation for you ppl to advance to the Round of 16… All you have to do is beat Ghana later and pray that Italy beat Czech! Good luck to you hillbillies…

Posted from Singapore

By Vin | June 20th, 2006 at 5:13 am

Kaya… you think the US is going to be able to rest during the first half VS Ghana?

They play an exhausting match. I know the US is a fit team, but these Ghanans run like crazy until the 80th minute or so.

Posted from United States

By Harry | June 20th, 2006 at 5:33 am

The Fifa technical study group says that the Italy game was the “most exciting game so far.”

http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/060617/1/7s1m.html

Posted from United States

By hillbilly | June 20th, 2006 at 6:10 am

some good comments, some dumb ones

Keller is fine–at least an 8
McBride Heroic–but lonely and should be subbed at the 60 minute point (no point winning the goal kick if there is no one there to retrieve his header)–7
Dempsey–exciting! Best one on one soccer of the Cup for the Americans–9.
Donovan worked hard and used his dribbling skills well–7
Convey–Unforgivable shot over the goal–lean back and punt! Run a lap!–5
Onewyu–better effort than against Czech but needed a little more tact. Also, whose idea was the offside trap on the six yard box? Italy’s goal was the coach’s responsibility–7

Posted from United States

By Kaya | June 20th, 2006 at 6:16 am

Vin…
I mentioned that scenario half sarcastically, and then upped the ante by suggesting we “decide” to win the game 5-0.
I do hope that our supposed fitness is our strength and therefore our matchup with Ghana, especially sans starting forwards, is a good one (for us). If we play like we did against Italy, I feel very positive about the game. If we play like we did against the Czech Rep, we’ll get torn to shreds. Anyway, what an exciting end to round play! Go red, white and green/blue!

Posted from United States

By harry | June 20th, 2006 at 7:03 am

I guess I am the only one who sees Claudio Reyna as a week spot in the team.

McBride v. Johnson at the end: if Arena didn’t want to put in Johnson because he was playing for the one point… then sub in fresh legs of a defender. Still don’t understand not using the last sub. It’s like punting on third down.

Posted from United States

By Greyhawk | June 20th, 2006 at 7:06 am

We need to be on the attack against Ghana and hope the Italians pull off a superb performance against the Czechs in order to advance. It would be an accomplishment to be in the knockout stages but it’s dubious how long we would last in the knockout stages as we would be facing Brazil in the Round of 16.

Posted from United States

By Jono | June 20th, 2006 at 7:33 am

If we make it out of the group, we have accomplished enough for this world cup!

If that happens, we would have overcame all odds.

I would glady make a bet that the US beats/draws Brazil. I know it’s dreaming, but it’s just one of those feelings lol)

Before jumping ahead, let’s see if we even beat Ghana and Italy beats Czech. I’m worried that we may only tie with Ghana.

Wish our team the best!

By ETucker | June 20th, 2006 at 2:51 pm

Harry-

I’m pretty sure Claudio Reyna has had two impressive performances (he was the only decent player in the Czech game) and may be the greatest player ever to wear a US jersey.

He has incredible vision and controls a game’s tempo. He may not do stepovers like Dempsey, but the US team without him would be unfathomable

Posted from Dominican Republic

By Steve A | June 20th, 2006 at 4:06 pm

ETucker: Thank you for clearing that up about Reyna. You are spot on correct.

No disrespect Harry, but you may be the only one who thinks Reyna is a weak spot. He is the exact opposite. He is the glue.

By Iwanna_Win | June 20th, 2006 at 4:50 pm

Look, we all have our favorite or un-favorite players. I bet many comments are based upon how players play with their respective club, not on the USMNT. The fact is that the USA has scored no goals and basically other than Reynas post shot, the only other highlight was the called back shot by DMB thanks to the “striker” that can’t use his feet and with the formation used by Arena, won’t succeed. We’ve seen what the players do together; now field a team with players that can best use that. One up top with McBride isn’t that. Heck, if you wanna see McBride, then use him as a sub but the 2 games show that he should not start as he hasn’t produced; more so he cost us a goal and didn’t come close to finishing when the ball was at his feet. Put youth and hunger up top with EJ and perhaps Ching. Keep Dempsey and Convey on the flanks, Reyna and LD in the middle and sub out Reyna when he gets tired at 60-70 minutes and use OB.

The current “strategy” has produced zero goals and zero wins. This is the World Cup and the next game is the game of their lives; pull out all the stops and try something different.

Posted from United States

By ETucker | June 20th, 2006 at 7:11 pm

Iwanna_Win-

The Italy game had several good scoring chances for the US team that was on the field (before the red card) and a few after. I wouldn’t change a thing.

In fact, your “bottom line goals” approach would lead to us benching Donovan (who has not scored in 14 games) and Johnson (who last scored…when?) Correct me if I’m wrong, but McBride scored against Angola.

Also, DMB hasn’t scored in a while, but was an offsides blunder away from getting the game winner in the Italy game.

The US team on the pitch at teh start of the Italy game is the one we should use against Ghana. (Obviously subs for Mastro and Pope)

How would replace Reyna? Ben Olsen? Ha. An injured JOB? Eddie Johnson? (He’s not much of a midfielder). Even when Reyna’s tired, his positioning and passing make up for a lack of pace.

Posted from Dominican Republic

By Anthony Gutierrez | June 20th, 2006 at 9:34 pm

Dempsey, Convey, and Johnson are everybit as inexperienced as McBride and Reyna are old and slow.

McBride as a forward has to be able to shoot, period.

Having said that, I remember Convey squandering a great chance as well, and Johnson and Dempsey still have the same amount of goals as McBride for all their royal greatness.

The key is balance.

I agree with others that the key is the formation that arena uses.

If McBride has service to his head, then he is without question the top forward on the team. Without service, one can argue that he shouldn’t be the lone striker, especially with his tendancy to back track into the midfield.

He should still start though because he draws and absorbs defenders. He should be paired with Johnson in the Ghana game, help control the flow of the game, and come out for fresh legs toward the end of the game.

Reyna is the glue, that holds the team AND that holds the team too much.

I think that if the younger players can learn to make their runs with him on the field, he is essential, BUT I would rather see him behind the attacking midfielder, not AS the attacking midfielder. He seems to have different ideas of where to play the ball then most of the MLS and former MLS players and this needs to be addressed.

Posted from United States

By Mark T. | June 20th, 2006 at 10:14 pm

The Italy v. US game was very entertaining and a step in the right direction for soccer in America. However, the team we have right now is not going to go anywhere. There is not one player on the squad that would see the field on any European team. Until we begin to develop players with creativity, soccer in the US will not be successful.

Posted from United States

By ETucker | June 20th, 2006 at 11:55 pm

I’m pretty sure McBride sees the field for Fulham (Premiership, team’s player of the year)

Reyna sees the field for Manchesther City of the EPL

Bocanegra sees the field for Fulham of the EPL

Dolo sees the field for Hannover of the bundesliga

Gooch sees the field for Standard Liege of Belgium

Convey sees the field for Reading of the EPL (recently promoted)

Keller sees the field for Borussia whatever of the bundesliga.

Beasley plays for PSV of Holland

That’s 8/11. Not too bad if you ask me…lightyears better than it has been.

Although Donovan should go back to Europe, and stay for at least a year (the first year is always rough, but look at Bobby Convey). He is the only player who could maybe make it.

Posted from Dominican Republic

By harry | June 21st, 2006 at 2:46 am

I think we need un-glued (O’Brien for Reyna) for Ghana. We have nothing to lose…

Posted from United States

By Neeva | June 21st, 2006 at 3:28 pm

If Beas never played another game for the MNT I’d be happy. Dempsey was great. Loved him!

Am I the only one who would much rather see JOB in for Convey or the very least take Mastroeni’s place? We need JOB’s vision and playmaking abilities against Ghana for sure!

Posted from United States

By Rob | June 21st, 2006 at 5:28 pm

You guys are delusional if you think that Kasey Keller (man of the match) deserves a lesser score than anyone on the roster. If you don’t want to give a 10, fine…technically he got scored on…but dont give anyone else a 9 over him. He is the reason this game is in the books at 1-1 at least 2 times.

Next up the 2nd highest rated player…if it is not Brian McBride the integrity of this post has been compromised. Are you kidding me? The guy wins every header like a target should and because Donovan and the others are too tired he ends up chasing down balls into space AS WELL AS tracking all the way back into the defense to follow a forward who made an off the ball run. I was at the game and am not sure what they showed you on tv…but 7 of the 8 field players literally WALKING around the pitch at the end DONOVAN INCLOUDED!!!!! except McBride still working hard til the final whistle…

Finally, we have a problem with the final pass. Every other team has a player or two who feel the need to go to goal the moment they get it…and they ant to. 1v1 is an advantage for them. We now have CLINT DEMPSEY. The first US player i have seen who is not scared to attack opposing defenders no matter what their world ranking is. DONT TREAD.

These 3 players are your top three rankings, and if thye are not, the media must not have shown all of the game.

Posted from United States

By Anthony Gutierrez | June 21st, 2006 at 8:38 pm

Well played Etucker! 6/20/06 11:55 PM

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