Friendlies are by nature lower intensity than competitive matches. Throw in the fact that this wasn’t during an international break and an ill-timed red card…and voilà, you have the recipe for this particular USMNT match. It was dull, nobody played particularly well, and after writing this article I don’t want to think about it ever again.
The contest wasn’t exactly off to a roaring start before the red card and frankly, B&H looked about the same with 10 men as they did with 11. A couple of the US subs looked interesting, but I don’t think we learned much from this experience.
Grading Beverage: Pabst Blue Ribbon – PBR is my personal favorite cheap beer. It also felt like a fitting drink for this match.
If you haven’t read one of these USMNT (+/-) Player Grades articles before click here for an explanation of the system.
Grades
MOTM – Walker Zimmerman (+7)
Zimmerman looked like a varsity player slumming it with the JV team. He wasn’t amazing or anything, but he was competent and unbothered for the full 90 minutes. He even got into the attack a time or two in the second half when there was nothing going on.
That may have been the most creative moment of passing/movement from the midfield in the half. I’m not sure where Zimmerman falls on the full national team depth chart right now, but it’s no lower than third CB. He is very defensively aware, wins everything in the air, and is okay with the ball at his feet. We could do much worse than Zimmerman at the back.
Other Positive Performances
Not really. There were a whole bunch of “It’s fine” level showings from Roldan, Morris, Kessler, Ferreira, etc. Nobody made a case to be included on the full team in January. The only truly positive showings were from the subs.
It’s tough to take anything too seriously when the player is coming on in the second half of a friendly against Bosnia’s U23 team down a man, but a couple guys looked interesting.
Brian Reynolds (+3.5 in 28 minutes for +11.3 per/90)
In the least surprising turn of events ever, Reynolds has not found Mourinho’s favor at Roma. He’s played very little and the fact that he even played in this game shows how far down the pecking order he is in Rome. In this match though, he looked dangerous coming up the right side. He played in more threatening balls in 28 minutes than Brooks Lennon did in 72. The goal that did get scored started with a cross from Reynolds. He was also able to play a couple clipped balls into advanced areas that weren’t there earlier in the match.
Reynolds has gotta go somewhere and get minutes. Brugge and Hull are rumored to be interested atm so hopefully something shakes out for him.
Gyasi Zardes (also +3.5 in 28 minutes for +11.3 per/90)
Not sure what to say about Zardes anymore. He’s not exciting to see on a roster, but he’s a professional soccer player that knows what he’s doing out there. He’s in the right spot, making the right runs, and he knows where to put the ball for it to be dangerous. We didn’t see a single knock down like this (below) when Pepi was out there.
That’s a great spot to place a ball for something good to happen. Nothing did, but Zardes help create a possibility here.
Room for Improvement
The Fullbacks: Bello and Lennon (both -1)
Neither of these guys added much. They contributed very little to the attack (Lennon did have 1 very nice cross), and both had a rough moment or two defending as well. I’m not going to go back and look at the matches right now, but off the top of my head it seems like the USMNT plays well when the full backs play well (Jedi’s goal against Honduras, Dest’s against Costa Rica, etc.). Maybe it’s more team wide, but Lennon/Bello’s impotence in attack contributed to the US’s lack of cutting edge against B&H.
Ricardo Pepi (-0.5)
He’s a kid and it was a meaningless game against a crap opponent, so let’s not take too much from it (Imma go ahead and over-analyze now, but you knew that was coming, right?). Pepi didn’t look great though. Zardes was a noticeable improvement when he came on. Pepi’s touch wasn’t great and there was a time or two when I thought his vision was lacking.
Pepi is a promising young player and I hope the kid kills it and becomes the American Lewandowski. I also think he’s a long way from being a lock for the 11. The starting #9 spot remains very much up for grabs imo.
The End of 2021
It’s been a good year for us USMNT fans. Not totally without angst, but two trophies and three victories over Mexico are a solid return on your investment of fandom this year. There’s no telling what the future holds, but for now…pour yourself a nice bourbon, light up a cigar, and enjoy remembering the successes of 2021. (Here’s my recap/analysis of 2021 if you missed it)
Let’s hope a year from now we are looking back fondly at a World Cup run (the WC final is scheduled for 12/18/2022). Cheers.
~Ben
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Great content! Keep up the good work!