Player Ratings: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Guadeloupe

After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the United States National Team players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Brian O’Connell and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the USA’s 1-0 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group C victory over Guadeloupe.

Tim Howard – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
A few frustrating sequences ahead of him, but really wasn’t tested often; communicated better this time around. Solid performance. (Brian) … Little to do. Caught a bit off guard on a deflected early corner. (Sean)

Eric Lichaj put in a much improved performance on Tuesday. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

Eric Lichaj – Average Rating: 6.5 (Brian 6.5, Sean 6.5)
Strong game for the attack-minded back; defended OK, added fire to the attack; early hiccup on a sloppy ball deep his only glaring error. (Brian) … Looked confident in the attack and added a lot going forward. (Sean)

Carlos Bocanegra – Average Rating: 6.25 (Brian 6.5, Sean 6)
Anchored the defense; effective in the center, linked with the midfield; Bradley would be wise to keep him there for the rest of the tournament. (Brian) … Added the leadership and stability the U.S. needed in the center of the defense. Wasn’t tested often. (Sean)

Clarence Goodson – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Allowed an early Guadelope corner to squirt into the box; aside from that, could have done better to mark the ambitious Guadelupe attackers. (Brian) … Hard performance to judge with a general lack of pressure, but at times looked shaky defending set pieces. (Sean)

Steve Cherundolo – Average Rating: 7.75 (Brian 8, Sean 7.5)
A one-man wrecking crew; did everything but put on the goalie gloves; injected life in the attack, solid in the rear, excellent communication and ideas.  (Brian) … Fantastic performance. Played a huge role in the attack and shut down his side on defense. (Sean)

Landon Donovan – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
Should’ve given it a go on the weak goal kick early; effort was there, but unfortunately, the execution was largely absent. (Brian) … Back-to-back average performances from Donovan. Had some chances, but the finishing wasn’t there. (Sean)

Jermaine Jones – Average Rating: 6.5 (Brian 6, Sean 7)
Offered support to the rear, made smart passes; very few mistakes made. (Brian) … Credit where credit’s due: Jones’ Gold Cup performances had been underwhelming until this point, but outside of a couple misplayed passes in the first half, Jones did an excellent job keeping the ball moving and came up big on defense a few times. (Sean)

Michael Bradley – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5):
The ambitious shots were thankfully missing, put in a good effort everywhere on the field, but never really factored into the offense. (Brian) … Assisted Altidore’s goal and should’ve had an assist on a Dempsey chance had his finishing been better, but overall didn’t have the impact on the game he has recently. (Sean)

Clint Dempsey – Average Rating:  4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Talk about a game to forget; found a ton of chances, but missed on each of them; clearly fell asleep on the open netter in the 76th. (Brian) … Dempsey should have had a hattrick fairly easily with the chances he had, but his finishing was dreadful and combined with another lackadaisical effort tracking back, it wasn’t a great night for Clint. (Sean)

Jozy Altidore – Average Rating: 7.25 (Brian 7, Sean 7.5)
Scored a wonder goal to put Guadelope on notice; matched well with the physical Guadelope center backs; one of the best performances we’ve seen from the 21-year-old (other than, you know, his hat track against Trinadad & Tobago in ’09). (Brian) … Fantastic goal and set up Dempsey for what should’ve been a sitter. Earned some dangerous free kicks for the U.S. and battled hard all night. (Sean)

Chris Wondolowski – Average Rating:  4.75 (Brian 5, Sean 4.5)
Poached a couple of early chances, but seemed to fall out of the picture in the second half. (Brian) … Finishing was lacking again and Wondolowski didn’t have enough of an impact on the match. (Sean)

(sub) Alejandro Bedoya – Average Rating:  6 (Brian 6, Sean 5.57)
Another good cameo for Dempsey, Jr; unafraid to enter offensive forays; almost put one through via the header in the waning minutes. (Brian) … Put in the effort a coach wants from a substitute and added needed energy to the attack as the U.S. was slowing down. (Sean)

(sub) Sacha Kljestan – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 6, Sean 5.5)
Fit right into the attack, gave Dempsey a beautiful ball late; would’ve like to have seen him get more involved despite the limited minutes. (Brian) … Nice set-up for Dempsey, but the U.S. didn’t have enough offensive forays to showcase his talents during his time on the pitch. (Sean)

(sub) Maurice Edu – N/A

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