{"id":6174,"date":"2011-09-06T23:04:02","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T03:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=6174"},"modified":"2011-09-06T23:26:46","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T03:26:46","slug":"player-ratings-u-s-men%e2%80%99s-national-team-at-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=6174","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: U.S. Men\u2019s National Team at Belgium"},"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 Julian Cardillo and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the USA\u2019s 1-0 friendly loss to Belgium<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Tim Howard<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/strong> (Julian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
\nCame up a big on a variety of occasions, did very well to anticipate much of Belgium\u2019s play. Nothing he could do on the goal. (Julian) \u2026 Made a pair of nice saves, but also got lucky on one occasion in which he left his line, but didn\u2019t get to the ball. Was shielded on the goal, but it was one of the rare occasions on which Howard let up a goal it looked like he had a chance at saving. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Timmy Chandler<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.5<\/strong> (Julian 5, Sean 4)
\nSlowly starting to recognize what it means to start for the national team. Nevertheless, caught out of position a few times and needs to control drive to shoot from distance. (Julian) \u2026 Are the natural left back choices so bad that the U.S. must keep trying players out of position? Inability to use his left foot made him ineffective in his runs forward. Not his best performance defensively either. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Steve Cherundulo<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.25 <\/strong>(Julian 5.5, Sean 5)
\nWhenever he made a mistake, he would usually help clean it up. Not bad from the veteran, but not brilliant either. (Julain) \u2026 The right back spot is clearly Cherundolo\u2019s, as it should be, but this wasn\u2019t one of his best performances. Committed some fouls in dangerous areas and service going forward was unusually lacking. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Carlos Bocanegra<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.75<\/strong> (Julian 5.5, Sean 6)
\nClearly the guy who has to organize the defense. Did okay at best. The U.S rarely won the second ball when Belgium attacked- and that\u2019s something Bocanegra needs to tell his defense. (Julian) \u2026 Looked better paired with Goodson than Orozco. Generally positioning was solid and dealt well with Belgium\u2019s attack. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Clarence Goodson<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.75<\/strong> (Julian 5.5, Sean 6)
\nPaired okay with Bocanegra, though looks a little lost when someone comes at him at high speed. (Julian) \u2026 Used his body well to defend and looked much more comfortable than Orozco on Friday. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Maurice Edu<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/strong> (Julian 6, Sean 6)
\nGreat job tracking back and helping the midfield maintain possession. Might have had a good shot for a goal in the second half. Edu looks like he\u2019s slowly figuring out defensive midfield under Klinsmann. (Julian) \u2026 Given a tough role once again and did well. A few saving tackles and put in a strong performance. Unlucky to have his goal called off. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Clint Dempsey<\/strong> – Average Rating: 6.25<\/strong> (Julian 6.5, Sean 6)
\nBasically, one of their only offensive engines. He was inventive and had great presence on the ball. (Julian) \u2026 Was hindered by not having many options to work with in the attack. Often had to go it alone and create chances for himself. Would benefit either playing up top with another striker or playing behind two strikers. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jose Torres<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.5<\/strong> (Julian 5, Sean 4)
\nHe can move the ball, but can he create? His lackluster corner kicks say no way Jose. (Julian) \u2026 Struggled with Belgium\u2019s higher pressure and more physical defending. Passes were off at times and had trouble breaking down Belgium\u2019s defense. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Robbie Rogers<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Julian 5.5, Sean 4)
\nHe has a wonderful spark, but sometimes looks like he doesn\u2019t have any options. Needs to be cultivated more. (Julian) \u2026 Another lackluster performance. Struggled to make an impact. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Brek Shea<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/strong> (Julian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
\nDid a lot better to utilize the wings tonight. Had great drive and attitude on the ball. Needed to be a bit quicker when making decisions though. (Julian) \u2026 Some decent runs, but not as involved as he was in the past two games. Looking a little gassed from the rough schedule this past month. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jozy Altidore<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4<\/strong> (Julian 4.5, Sean 3.5)
\nSo disappointing for Altidore. Having a really hard time taking shots and getting open. (Julian) \u2026 Needs help up top. Lack of support allowed Belgium to completely mark him out of the game and he was unable to find ways to get the ball. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Kyle Beckerman<\/strong> \u2013 Average: 5.75<\/strong> (Julian 6, Sean 5.5)
\nLooked good coming in, but needed to push up more. Needed to keep some shots low and maybe got a little too excited. (Julian) \u2026 Provided some needed support for Edu, but decision making getting forward was questionable. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Juan Agudelo<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/strong> (Julian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
\nIf there\u2019s anyone on the field that wants to make something happen, it\u2019s Agudelo. Good runs and pressure, probably should have started. (Julian) \u2026 Provided a spark off the bench, but, like Altidore, clearly isn\u2019t ready to be a long striker. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Jeff Larentowicz<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.75<\/strong> (Julian 6, Sean 5.5)
\nHis willingness to move up is great, and he covered a lengthy distance while he was on the field. (Julian) \u2026 Kept it simple when he entered. Nothing too ambitious, just simple, smart passes to help the team keep possession and moving forward. (Sean)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A mediocre U.S. performance leads to many average – and below average – ratings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4859,"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\/howardfeature.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\/6174"}],"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=6174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6176,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6174\/revisions\/6176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}