Managed to get through the first half live and watched the rest about an hour later.
Disappointed but not unduly surprised. I’ll leave it to other sources to break down the game and just give you a few thoughts on a few players who likely improved or solidified their chances of making the final World Cup roster.
Jay DeMerit and Maurice Edu – both players for me showed why they were consistently a part of the national team prior to injuries last year.
Sconnie native DeMerit was solid throughout in central defense picking up right where he left off during his fine run last summer in the Confederations Cup and qualifying. Jay is one of the top three center backs right now in Bradley’s eyes.
Edu solidified the defense in the second half slipping in to the defensive midfield role. He consistently popped up in exactly the right spot to cut off Dutch passes and showed excellent poise on the ball and in distribution. I think as long as he stays healthy he has to be on the plane to South Africa as well.
DeMarcus Beasley – of course we know that he fell off the map last year following the Brazil debacle and the injury bug. Tonight he wasn’t brilliant or even consistent but he showed flashes of the talent he hasn’t brought to the team in a few years. I have a feeling that he may make the roster after all. Bradley knows exactly what he gets from Beasley and as long as he is healthy it may be a case of going with the devil you know.
A few quick hits...
Another example that the team goes as Donovan goes, if the best player on the squad is not involved they have a steep hill to climb to win games against top teams.
I wish Jonathan Bornstein didn’t have a tendency to make boneheaded plays in key situations.
Jozy Altidore had a few nice plays, the back heel was sweet, splitting the defenders for the final shot was slick – needs to be more consistent (I know Harkes, he’s young, blah, blah, blah).
Demerit is solid indeed. I have more confidence in him than any other center back right now. I missed most of Edu's time on the field; glad to hear you think he looked good. I like his game much more than Rico Clark's.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually more down on Altidore after games than I was today. I feel pretty good about where he's at right now and hopefully he can round into sharper form the rest of the EPL season.
Donovan though: really disappointing. I was really hoping he had outgrown his tendnecy to disappear from games from time to time. Was he still hung up on his miss against Tottenham?
I just realized this is not the Real Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Cool!
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