If you haven’t read one of these before click here for an explanation of the grading system.
Previous +/- game grades:
That was a lot more fun to watch and more enjoyable to grade. The team came out to a +5.9 average which is the second highest average after the U20s +7.1 against Nigeria during the U20 World Cup.
It appears that Jozy is critical to the success of the system/team. The team played better and with more intensity than in the previous couple games, but play flowed so much better with Altidore to grease the wheels. Again, it makes one wonder about the inclusion of Zardes over Sargent. Josh is the closest player to Jozy in terms of touch, combination play, and passing that the USMNT has in the pool. Berhalter went with the safe choice in Zardes (and we’ve won five straight games so who am I to criticize?), but Sargent would’ve been a much more like-for-like replacement for Altidore.
To the grades.
Notes:
Completed +/- Grades:
| 15+ | Excellent game |
| 9-14 | Played well to very well |
| 5-8 | Solid |
| 0-4 | Not great, Bob |
| Below 0 | Listening to my kids argue 😑 |
*The Adjusted Total uses the Elo ratings to take into account opponent and competition factors.*
MOTM – Michael Bradley (+17)
Michael turned the clock back and had himself a game. The normal criticism of Bradley is that his defense is poor. That was emphatically not the case in this game. Usually when I grade the USMNT most of Bradley’s positive events are passes. He still did that this game, but he also had seven, notably good, defensive actions. I’m not sure what the difference was, but he was excellent on both sides of the ball against Jamaica. If you are a Bradley-disliker and this angers you…*shrug*
Also Good
Weston McKennie (+14)
If Weston were a NFL quarterback the announcers would call him a “gunslinger.” This is code for a QB that takes risks and throws some interceptions, but backs himself to make the throw. That’s Weston. He’s never seen an aggressive, first-time, through ball that he doesn’t like. It’s part of what makes him so good, but he’s also gonna turn the ball over sometimes. He had a great game though. After an off performance against Curacao he was back to hitting penetrating passes and making aggressive runs. If Schalke jerks him around again this year and doesn’t give him a long look in central midfield somewhere I’m going to have to get rid of my Schalke t-shirt.
Christian Pulisic (+13)
Christian was just torturing whatever right-sided Jamaican defender that dared attempt to guard him in the first half. Even with the two goals his performance during the second half wasn’t quite as electric, but that would have been near impossible to keep up. I’m not a big Paul Arriola fan, but the chemistry between Paul and Christian has been evident and beneficial to the team.
Christian Pulisic vs Jamaica
— USMNT Videos (@USMNTvideos) July 4, 2019
Happy 4th of July, folks. 🇺🇸
pic.twitter.com/e3hUmG28Dz
Room for Improvement
Tim Ream (+1)
This feels harsh. Watching the game live I thought he was pretty good and I’ve heard a couple people I respect mention his performance was good. So it is certainly possible I’m wrong here, but I just didn’t see it on re-watch. His passing was noticeably better than the previous games, but he still had a couple of really dangerous, bad moments in defense. Those two moments (77′ and 81′) take him down into poor performance territory.
Gyasi Zardes (-5)
I’m not going to bother with gifs and frankly I’m not even sure what to say anymore. His bad touch led directly to Jamaica’s lone goal, his teammates look hesitant to play him the ball at times…Shawn Brooks has a nice article out that demonstrates what he does well, but imo it doesn’t add enough value that he should be a realistic option for a first choice NT roster ever again.
Conclusions
Development isn’t linear. I usually hear that phrase applied to youth player development, but I think it also applies to the growth of the USMNT under Gregg Berhalter. Maybe they’ll wet the bed against Mexico in the final and I’ll be all angry and negative again, but I would say the team’s performance has generally been trending upwards during this tournament. That’s basically what I was hoping for.
Mexico is a better team than the US and should probably win the final on Sunday. I hope that’s not the case, but after a couple hours of being buzzed and upset Sunday night…let’s look at the Gold Cup in the cold light of day and see what we think.
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I’ve been a huge Bradley critic the last couple of years and frankly, I thought the 2014 Bradley was long gone. He’s looked way better with the role Gregg has given him. I noticed him trying his ass off on defense the last game, more than I’ve ever seen Trapp do. And that pass you gif’d was fn sublime. I wonder if he’s getting positively influenced by Christian, Weston, et al, as much as being asked to do what he does well. He seems to be celebrating more on goals too, rather than do the stoneface thing.
Here’s hoping Gregg is filing away how much better Bradley has been over Trapp and how much better Jozy makes us over Zardes. Someone over at the Stars & Stripes FC blog wondered if the striker role is being tailored for Sargent’s eventual possession. I don’t know enough about Gregg’s system to comment either way.
Do you ever grade opponents too? Or does that require more time than you have?
PS it irks the f out of me that Zardes’ Twitter handle is ‘Gyasinho.,’ because he sucks.
1. Lol @ Gyasinho
2. I think Berhalter is doing a better job w/ MB than previous coaches. Makes me sad that Juergen wasted his prime.
3. If I’m ever miraculously paid for doing this grading both sides would be an fun exercise, but his is just a fun hobby and like you said doing both sides would take forever.