{"id":8685,"date":"2012-01-22T01:14:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-22T06:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=8685"},"modified":"2012-01-22T01:27:03","modified_gmt":"2012-01-22T06:27:03","slug":"player-ratings-u-s-mens-national-team-vs-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=8685","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: U.S. Men\u2019s National Team vs. Venezuela"},"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\u2019Connell, Julian Cardillo and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the USA\u2019s 1-0 victory over Venezuela<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Bill Hamid<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.17<\/strong> (Brian 6, Julian 6.5, Sean 6)
\nHardly tested; distribution average, but he organized the backs pretty well in the few instances when Venezuela pierced into the final third. (Brian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t have much to do but seemed to command his backline reasonably well. (Julian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t have to make a save, but commanded his box well.<\/p>\n

A. J. DeLaGarza <\/strong>\u2013 <\/strong>Average Rating: 5.67<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Julian 6.5, Sean 5)
\nMade a few nice runs forward, but his passing lacked polish and almost paid for it early. (Brian) \u2026 Excellent work by the LA wing back to transition from attack to defense. Was effective on the overlap and managed to float back to his position when the attack was done. (Julian) \u2026 Did well to recognized the lack of pressure from Venezuela and push forward, but was mostly ineffective in the attack and tried to force things. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Michael Parkhurst<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 7 <\/strong>(Brian 7, Julian 7, Sean 7)
\nDisplayed the mistake-free soccer that Revs fans saw during his stay in New England. Great anticipation and calm on the ball. (Brian) … Didn\u2019t get rattled or have any lapses. Paired up well with his entire backline and was able to shepherd the U.S. out of trouble when they were rarely caught on the back foot. (Julian) \u2026 Great positioning and distribution out of the back. Looked comfortable throughout and only negative was his poor header on a late set piece as the U.S. was pushing numbers forward. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Geoff Cameron<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.75<\/strong> (Brian 6.75, Julian 7, Sean 6.5)
\nAside from a couple of hiccups, Cameron’s muscle and man-marking helped shut down the center channel. Impressive debut. (Brian) \u2026 Like Parkhurst managed to keep his cool at the back. Looked very good with his backline. It\u2019ll be interesting to see whether he changes roles on this team. (Julian) \u2026 Used his strength to shut down the Venezuela attack. Partnered well with Parkhurst. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Heath Pearce<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.33<\/strong> (Brian 6, Julian 6.5, Sean 6.5)
\nQuietly put together a solid performance; forays into the final third weren’t of the world-beating variety, but certainly added to the attack. (Brian) \u2026 Consistent performance from Pearce, though he didn\u2019t quite have the same effect offensively as he had defensively. (Julian) \u2026 Pearce was solid all night defensively and showed his ability to add to the attack in the second half as the U.S. pushed more numbers forward. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jermaine Jones<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.67<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Julian 6, Sean 5.5)
\nA Dr. Jekyll\/Mr. Hyde performance; no question about fitness, tenacity, or the stoppage-time corner, but his touches were suspect and dropped in the backline far too often. (Brian) \u2026 Good cross on the goal but other than that had a quiet night. A few erratic passes and an otherwise inconsistent night in central midfield, though he did do well to track back. (Julian) \u2026 Fitness advantage of being in midseason was obvious. Confidence was clear and Jones was all over the field, but his touch was frequently poor and he wasted a dangerous stoppage time free kick. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jeff Larentowicz<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5<\/strong> (Brian 5, Julian 6, Sean 5.5)
\nUneventful night as he watched Jones essentially run the show; though not entirely his fault, he never really put his stamp on the game in the few chances afforded to him. (Brian) \u2026 Was hot and cold – but not bad. Did a good job tracking back and did an okay job of transitioning the ball from defense to offense with the help of Feilhaber. (Julian) \u2026 Played smart \u2013 stayed back when Jones ventured forward and went forward himself when he saw the opportunity. Nothing too fancy, but broke up Venezuela\u2019s offense in the middle and helped the U.S. keep possession. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Graham Zusi<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.33<\/strong> (Brian 5, Julian 4, Sean 4)
\nGood two-way performance, but he was more of a force when helping out in the back than pushing forward. (Brian) \u2026 Inconsistent and unimpressive. Should have been subbed out much earlier. Crosses were poor and he seemed unable to shoot on target, even from point blank range. (Julian) \u2026 Hesitated in the attack allowing defenders to close in on him. Crosses were often off target and final pass was lacking. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Brek Shea<\/strong> – Average Rating: 5.67<\/strong> (Brian 6, Julian 6, Sean 5)
\nLooked far more effective on the left than right; should’ve finished on the Feilhaber pass; had he stayed on the left, he could’ve been a difference-maker. (Brian) \u2026 Looked good early, but got tired as the match went on and needed someone to support him on the wing. Should have scored on the Feilhaber feed early and was robbed on a save off a freekick, but otherwise an average night for Shea. (Julain) \u2026 Dangerous early and had a great header saved, but should\u2019ve done better on Feilhaber\u2019s pass and was ineffective after switching to the right.<\/p>\n

Benny Feilhaber<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.83<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Julian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
\nMade a few probing runs, but aside from the classy dish to Shea, he wasn’t his normal playmaking self. Made some clumsy tackles as well. (Brian) \u2026 Looked really good when on the ball. U.S. didn\u2019t seem to have the same flow in midfield once he was subbed out. Combined well with Brek Shea early and was all around good at keeping the ball moving. (Julian) \u2026 Showed his quality with some great passes, but didn\u2019t seem to connect well with Bunbury and let his frustrations with some (bad) non-calls take him out of the game at times. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Teal Bunbury <\/strong>\u2013 Average Rating: 4.5<\/strong> (Brian 4, Julian 5, Sean 4.5)
\nHad some good ideas, but execution was his biggest problem. Never looked in sync with the rest of his teammates. (Brian) \u2026 Had two shots, but in reality didn\u2019t contribute that much. Didn\u2019t combine particularly well with his teammates and struggled to get himself in scoring position. (Brian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t seem well suited for the role of a lone striker. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Ricardo Clark<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.17<\/strong> (Brian 6, Julian, 6.5, Sean 6)
\nThere’ something to be said about coming through in the clutch; game-winning header was a fine display of deception and deadly accuracy. Form in the middle was decent. (Brian) \u2026 Good job to break free of a marker and put the U.S. on the board. Didn\u2019t make much of a difference in midfield, but didn\u2019t do anything negative to take away from his late goal-capped performance. <\/strong>(Julian) \u2026 Great finish, though he didn\u2019t make much of an impact otherwise. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Chris Wondowski<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.83<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Julian 6.5, Sean 5.5)
\nPositioning was excellent, but still couldn’t buy a goal. An opportunistic striker has got to start burying those kinds of chances or else it’s bye-bye. (Brian) \u2026 Had a few looks and was unlucky to score, especially on a diving header at the death. Wondolowski found himself in good positions, he just needed to put the ball where the keeper wasn\u2019t. (Julian) \u2026 Resourceful at finding chances, but needs to finish. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Zach Loyd<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.17<\/strong> (Brian 6, Julian 6, Sean 6.5)
\nAdded spark to the left side after coming on for Pearce; good crosses and lively runs. (Brian) \u2026 Did well to get forward and still defend. Put some needed pressure on the Venezuela backline. (Julian) \u2026 Filled in seamlessly for Pearce. Looked very dangerous going forward and sent in some dangerous balls. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) C.J. Sapong<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Julian 6, Sean 5)
\nBrought some much-needed physicality up top, played confidently, and nearly got his noggin on a Loyd cross late. (Brian) \u2026 A possible charge on the Venezuela keeper, but you had to admire his determination. Combined well with Wondo and was able to play the target a few times. (Julian) \u2026 Failed to make much of an impact off the bench. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Brad Evans<\/strong> \u2013 N\/A<\/strong> (Brian 5, Julian N\/A, Sean N\/A)
\nDidn’t make any glaring mistakes, but didn’t seem to make any noteworthy contributions. (Brian) \u2026 Not enough time to make an impact. (Sean)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Parkhurst was our man of the match for the U.S.’s 1-0 win over Venezuela. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1334,"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\/2010\/10\/parkhurstfeature.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\/8685"}],"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=8685"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8690,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685\/revisions\/8690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}