{"id":5159,"date":"2011-06-22T23:11:15","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T03:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2011-06-22T23:13:24","modified_gmt":"2011-06-23T03:13:24","slug":"player-ratings-u-s-men%e2%80%99s-national-team-vs-panama-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=5159","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: U.S. Men\u2019s National Team vs. Panama"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0USA\u2019s 1-0 CONCACAF Gold Cup Semifinal victory over Panama<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tim Howard<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.25<\/strong> (Brian 6, Sean 6.5)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tim Howard picked up a fairly easy shutout on Wednesday. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA\/aduama.com) <\/p><\/div>\n

Wasn’t really tested by the tired Panama players; could\u2019ve done better to organize the backs late. (Brian) \u2026 Pretty easy night for Howard, but made a big save when called upon. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Eric Lichaj<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5<\/strong> (Brian 5, Sean 5.5)
\nLiked what he did going forward, but didn’t really stand out on the attack. Defending was OK. (Brian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t add as much offensively this match, but still kept his side quiet on defense. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Carlos Bocanegra<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/strong> (Brian 6, Sean 6)
\nYellow was harsh, but otherwise, looked very much the part of the capable veteran. (Brian) \u2026 Let Tejada through in one early mistake, but otherwise put in a very strong performance to lead the U.S. backline. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Clarence Goodson<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
\nStill not sold on Goodson, had some noticeable defensive lapses; burned on the late Panama chance. (Brian) \u2026 A better performance from Goodson, who looked a bit more comfortable out there. Still caught on a few mistakes. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Steve Cherundolo<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.75<\/strong> (Brian 7, Sean 6.5)
\nIs there anything he can’t do? Having the tournament of his life; good crosses, smart runs, and sound tackles. (Brian) \u2026 The 32-year-old Cherundolo has been the most consistent U.S. performer throughout the tournament and continues to impress with his ability to add to the attack while not giving up much defensively. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Michael Bradley<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5 <\/strong>(Brian 5, Sean 6)
\nDecent performance, but should’ve gave the late Adu pass a go rather than defer; seems to be allergic to shots inside the box. (Brian) \u2026 Helped start the play that led to the U.S. goal and worked hard defensively all night. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jermaine Jones <\/strong>– Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
\nOff night; passes weren’t there, played right into Panama’s tactics. (Brian) \u2026 Decent distribution and runs in the first half, but struggled in the second. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Alejandro Bedoya<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.5<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 4.5)
\nIt was clear he and Dempsey weren’t on the same page; tried to do too much. (Brian) \u2026 Quiet night offensively. Never got much going offensively. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Sacha Kljestan <\/strong>\u2013 Average Rating: 3.75<\/strong> (Brian 4, Sean 3.5):
\nDidn’t even realize he was on the field until he got the hook at halftime. (Brian) \u2026 After a good performance against Jamaica, Kljestan looked lost on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Clint Dempsey<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.75<\/strong> (Brian 5, Sean 6.5)
\nGood finish on the goal, but suffered from an obvious lack of chemistry with Bedoya and Agudelo. (Brian) \u2026 Active as always going forward and took his goal well. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Juan Agudelo<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Brian 4, Sean 5.5)
\nOutmuscled by Panama’s center backs, and aside from the header off the bar, he was way too quiet. (Brian) \u2026 Played a role in a pair of early U.S. chances, but faded in the second half before being subbed for Adu. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Landon Donovan<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.25<\/strong> (Brian 5, Sean 5.5)
\nNice pass on the Dempsey goal, but had a sub-par game overall. (Brian) \u2026 Great set-up on the goal, but Donovan has struggled to make an impact off the bench the past two matches. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Freddy Adu<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 7<\/strong> (Brian 7, Sean 7)
\nGame changer; brought energy, skill, and was astonishingly patient and cool with the ball. (Brian) \u2026 Adu was the best player on the pitch after coming on. Excellent, unexpected performance. (Sean)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Howard got the shutout and Clint Dempsey the goal, but a surprising performance from Freddy Adu earned our highest rating of the match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/howardfeature2.jpg?fit=490%2C225","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5166,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions\/5166"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}