Wanted: Player Ratings

Tony Meola 1: The first goal was clearly his fault. It seems like he was asleep at the wheel the entire game. I used to LOVE Tony in 94 and 98, but good lord, good riddance.

Landon Donovan 10: Congrats on the assists title.

Frankie Hejduk 8: In the relatively few Jamaican posessions, he made some great saves.

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Pat Noonan did very well too.

And did anyone see Clint’s footwork? It was Brazilian.

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Meola – 4 (tested once, found wanting)

Albright – 6 (bright spot amongst the starters, but the goal?)

Mastroeni – 5 (central defense is a different position from defensive mid, Mastroeni belongs in the mid. And boo to ‘Celo’s idea of having him drop back into the defense. Must bear some responsibility on the Jamaica goal)

Pope – 5 (not much of a presence.)

Hejduk – 5 (Like the energy. Fouled too much. What happened on that goal?)

Ralston – 4 (nothing much )

Noonan – 5 (couldn’t get around a defender. Bad possession, bad service.)

Donovan – 5 (assist, but it was wily not skillful. Some nice crosses, some bad ones too. Vanished for long stretches like he seems to do.)

Olson – 6 (goal, but the credit should go mostly to Ricketts. At least he pulled the trigger a few times. I also like that he stood up to the Jamaican defenders after a couple of bad challenges)

Wolff – 5 (Nice runs, no finish. The usual)

Twellman – 4 (no service, no Twellman)

Johnson – 4 (He’s got speed, let’s use it somehow.)

Ching – 4 (The invisible man, as usual. But at least he came back to get the ball occasionally)

Dempsey – 6 (The one playmaker on the field, needed more touches)

O’Brien – 5 (Nice to see him on the field, but what did you expect?)

Are these too generous? I think the midfield ratings might be too high, where was the possession and the service?

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Dempsey — 8. Dangerous everytime with the ball. Clearly a star in the making for the US side

Pope — 6. Played solid D when he didn’t commit fouls in dangerous areas.

Forwards — 1. Glenn Davis said we played a 4-4-2. I must have missed the forwards. Did we really have 2 of them?

Midfield — 1. No control, no touch, no talent. Donovan has to play better. Would have been a 0 if not for Dempsey.

Backline — 1. Can’t decide which was the worst of the 3: Mastro, Albright (can he be any slower?), or Heyduk. Would have received a 0 if not for Pope.

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Do we have to take 23 to Germany in June? I can’t think of more than 21 that deserve a spot. It will be a shame if Ralston, Noonan, etc get a spot by default. Think of all the $ US Soccer could save by not bringing those two space-fillers.

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Meola – 4 Largely a non factor but showed his age on the goal.

Hejduk – 3 Beaten on the goal, a few bad fouls, typical out of control runs forward.

Pope – 5 Solid overall but nothing spectacular

Mastro – 4 Needs to improve his passing

Albright – 3 Spent most of the game on the ground and picking up his shorts

Olsen – 4 Did score the goal but did nothing to control the midfield

Noonan – 4 Sorry, but he just isn’t a national team player

Ralston 3 Looked slow and outclassed by some mediocre Jamaicans

Donovan 4 A few typically nice runs, but he needs to be more dominant against a team like that

Twellman 3 Did he even play?

Wolff 3 Like a blackhole sucking the life out of the offense
–
Subs

O’Brien 4 A no factor but he didn’t get hurt so that is a positive

Dempsey 5 Clearly has the skill to be in Germany

Johnson 4 Did create a few opportunities but failed to finish

Ching 3 See comments about Wolff and Twellman

Has Dempsey gotten a look at forward with club or country? I’d like to see him have a shot up top in one of these warmups. If we’re thinking about playing Donovan out of position up there, why not take a look at Dempsey too since we don’t seem to have any forwards not named McBride.

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Dempsey-8+ Our only inventive player, needs more time.

Donovan-7 Steady. Needs to show some Donovan and convert his scoring opportunities

Pope-6 Unspectacular sound defender who needs to put away gimme headers

Hedjuk-5 Made some mistakes but runs and hustles for 96 min.

No one else in th Jamaica match should be going to Germany-Lets stop wasting our time with Ching and Johnson-MLS players only

Officials-0 3 Mexican Officials??!! That’s like letting Carolina alumni officiate a Duke tournament game.

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I am apparently the only one who felt that Ben Olsen did a very good job in last night’s game…

I felt his presence as a holding midfielder was solid, and even outside of the goal he scored, I felt he contributed offensively as well.

I think he should be placed ahead of Ralston and Noonan, considering his play so far this year.

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[...] Grading the friendly. Is it possible to give every player a failing grade? (USA Blog) [...]

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Ethan, I have to agree with you about Ben Olsen. I argued for him to be named as our last player for this blog’s WC roster. I thought Olsen proved it again last night, creating scoring opportunities and showing trademark grit. While Ralston is in theory more versatile for our weak right side, his injuries can’t be ignored.

I will rate only those players on the bubble (and I give them odds of making the team).

Olsen – stock went up. 3:1 chances of making squad.

Noonan – stock went down. 4:1 odds.

Ralston – stock went down due to injury (but not his play). 2:1.

Ching – stock went up, because his situational awareness is strong, plus his teamwork with Donovan is excellent. But forward slots are limited. MLS play will count for a lot. 2:1.

Wolff – stock did not change. 1:1.

Albright – stock went up, looking recovered from injury. However, despite quality offensive contributions, he got burned several times and must face a deep bench. His injury probably cost him a spot. 3:1.

Hejduk – stock stayed the same. You know what you get: aggressiveness. 1:1.

Johnson – stock went up, he’s returning to form and showing an ability to contribute in other ways than one-touch goals against Panama. 1:1.

O’Brien – stock stayed the same. Only a disabling injury will keep him off roster. 1:1.

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I think ‘Celo may have been right last night, about the team taking 7 defenders, and using Mastroeni as the “8th Defender.” Although, if Albright continues to play well…

If we take 7 defenders than that could open another midfield spot.

I think Ralston’s injuries are tough to ignore, and he doesn’t have nearly the talent that O’Brien does, to overlook that…

Noonan just isn’t playing at a decent international level right now. He did …nothing… last night.

I think that if Olsen continues to play well, he makes the team. Which would open a spot for a wing player. You could take Ralston, or Noonan. But, ideally, you’d have someone with a lot of pace, and the ability to play both wings…someone like…

…Freddy Adu…

Is he overmatched right now? Yes, obviously. But for someone who isn’t going to play that much anyway, why not? He gets experience for future WCs and he can provide the speed on the outside that the others lack.

I think if Olsen makes it, I think Adu’s chances go up.

I also thing the Ching/Wolff battle will be interesting. Both have done good things before, but one will have to step up and take the spot.

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Can we rate the announcers?
‘Celo – negative 20. it was probably some of the worst I’ve heard from him. I counted at least half a dozen times where he would start to say something and then stop, because he didn’t know what to say. Then if he did continue to talk, he would spend 30 seconds saying words, but the collection of words didn’t mean anything. it was dreadful. i wanted to mute, but continued just for the train wreck that it was. god i hope telemundo is televising every game or univision or something. i’ll become well-versed in espanol if i have to.

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Meola – 5 – looked old, slow

Albright – 6 – struggled on the left. better on the right. unlucky on the headers.

Mastroeni – 5 much less of an impact on the game at central defense

Pope – 6.5 – made some quality stops. always around the ball in the penalty area. unfortunately, no finishes

Hejduk – 4 – great energy as always, but reckless tackles merited either 2 yellows or 1 red. could be a liability in the WC

Ralston – 3 – can you feel the rust?

Noonan – 5 – we’ve seen much better from him. looked slow.

Donovan – 7 – nice runs, poor service. tried to inspire with his persistent pressure up front. should’ve finished better.

Olson – 6 – Looked better than I’ve seen him in a long time. Got lucky on the goal

Wolff – 4 – Still don’t see what he can add to the WC team. Poor finishing.

Twellman – 4 (no service, no Twellman) agree with what was said previously.

Johnson – 5 – Still trying to find touch. However, didn’t lose the ball, kept attacks going with good distribution.

Ching – 4 Was he out there? Got lost among the trees.

Dempsey – 8.5 – Could be better in defense, but put constant pressure on the defense and created lots of fouls, more of which should have been yellow.

O’Brien – 6 – An average O’brien is better than 9/10ths of MLS players, but touch was clearly off.

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Meola – 4 slow (and no, he had no chance at going to Germany except as a fan)

Albright – 5 – Just couldn’t seem to find a passing route; however, I like his effort usually and would take him to Germany.

Mastroeni – 4 I just didn’t see him as a factor. No WC for him in my book.

Pope – 7 – some good stops but he still won’t make the team–or shouldn’t over Spector who is having one hell of a great run at Charlton.

Hejduk – 3 – lacked control; fast but lacked skill for the WC starting squad–but I think they’ll take him anyhow. Warm the bench. Share experience. His speed once made up for his negative skills. No more.

Ralston – 3 – Too bad; he was a much better player once; I saw him limping more than once…No, not healthy enough for WC squad.

Noonan – 2 – (a 5???) He looked like he was running in place and had absolutely zero impact besides taking up space on the field. Shouldn’t make Wc squad if it were my choice.

Donovan – 6 – Decent, but he didn’t have much of a supporting cast until Dempsey was put on. I’d be tempted to start him as a striker up front with McBride at the WC, and have Reyna, Obrien, Demspey and Beasley at MF.

Olsen – 4 – goal was so-so…Still, I think i take him to Germany.

Wolff – 4 – Worried about his finishing too, however, I’d take him to WC just in case he suddenly decides to unjinx himself. He won’t play much anyhow.

Twellman – 4 Going to WC, but we need Reyna to be healthy or he’ll never see the ball from the ground, and he is too short to win the ball in the air.

Johnson – 4 There is hope here yet. But I think I’ll take him in 2010. He should try to play in Europe a couple years.

Ching – 3 I agree, did he play?

Dempsey – 8 – Best player out there last night. Def taking him to WC. And I’d start him too.

O’Brien – 4 He’ll get better. We’ll need him healthy for WC.

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Olsen 6 – The man of the match. 1 goal in addition to several shots. That’s more then the forwards out there could say, not bad for a “defensive” midfielder. He was also the one yelling at Hejduk to mark his man right before the Jaimaica goal.

Hejduk 3 – After this match and the Germany debacle, looking more like a liability than an asset.

Dempsey 6 – Clearly should be on the field more.

Donovan 5 – not his best, but still making good runs.

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This would be my starting XI for the World Cup. I think Maestroni as a second holding/defensive midfielder is superior to any of our options at left back (Eddie Lewis is good, but he’s a midfielder.) Donovan should play forward and let Reyna create. However, Donovan as the playmaker with Johnson as the second forward is also a good option.

—————–Keller———-

—-Cherundolo—Onyewu—Gibbs

———Mastroeni—O’Brien—-

——Dempsey—-Reyna——-Beasley

———Donovan——–McBride

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———————-–Keller———-

—-Cherundolo—Onyewu—Gibbs–Lewis

————–Mastroeni

——O’Brien—-Reyna——-Beasley

—–——Donovan——–McBride

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