Their Grades, My Grades

The USMNT put in a strong opening game to the Gold Cup last night, knocking off a Canada team looking to beat the US for the first time in 3 decades 2-0. Here are the player grades from FoxSoccer. Here are mine...

(FoxSoccer Grades in parenthesis)

Tim Howard - 8 (8)
Outstanding, as usual. Although his second great reaction save of the night was his own fault for not pouncing on a loose ball inside his six.

Carlos Bocanegra - 6 (7)
I didn't think he got forward as much as usual, and he missed a sitter in the first half. Wasn't as effective on set pieces, but I'll take him (or anyone, really) over Bornstein every time.

Steve Cherundolo - 5 (8)
Cherundolo was abused by Josh Simpson all night. Simpson regularly went right around and past him in dangerous situations. He might be beginning to show his age (32) and I'm wary of him getting exposed further by the Mexican attack.

Tim Ream - 7 (7)
I love this call by Bradley. Onyewu is done. Ream is much more calm and collected, every bit as imposing, and doesn't make all the stupid fouls Onyewu does. On top of that, he knows all these MLSers in this tournament which makes him a smart choice assuming he keeps playing this well.

Clarence Goodson - 6 (7)
Good partnership with Ream for a player that keeps getting better. He seems a lot more comfortable knowing he's not going to have to clean up for Onyewu all night.

Landon Donovan - 6 (7)
Moves all over the place, and did a great job tracking back on defense and saving Cherundolo's ass. I'd like to see him be a little more selfish on the attack. He seems hesitant in the final third.

Jozy Altidore - 6 (8)
He scored a (lucky) goal and setup Dempsey's, but he just doesn't move well. Furthermore, every time he tries to take on defenders, he loses. Every. Time. And then he makes dumb fouls trying to win the ball back.

Michael Bradley - 8 (8)
The mercurial Bradley. You never know what to expect. Maybe it was having Jones - and his crazy speed and tackling - alongside him, but Bradley was great last night.

Jermaine Jones - 8 (7.5)
The best athlete to ever dress for the USMNT. He is faster and stronger than any player on the USMNT and, dare I say, anyone in CONCACAF. I hope his partnership with Bradley only gets better.

Juan Agudelo - 6 (5.5)
The scorecard won't look as favorable for him as it did Altidore, but Agudelo seemed more dangerous all night. He had great movement and was willing to try things on the attack that few of his teammates would.

Clint Dempsey - 8 (7.5)
As Colin said on Twitter last night, no one is even close to Dempsey on the USMNT. People give him a bad rap, but I still believe it's because he gets frustrated when players around him aren't up to his level. If you give him the ball and room to operate, anything is possible.

SUBS
Maurice Edu - 4 (5)
Huge drop-off from Jones.

Chris Wondolowski - 3 (4)
Token MLSer. I don't remember him touching the ball for almost the entire 30 minutes he played.

Sacha Kljestan - 4 (5)
Really? This guy is still on the team? I know he had a good season and Anderlecht, but his favorite move last night was holding up a pending attack and passing back to Ream or Goodson. Also, he looks exactly like Ethan Hawke.

The USMNT showed last night that it's capable of winning this tournament. The biggest concern is their lack of depth. Bradley is already carrying a yellow card and a lot of guys are coming off long seasons overseas. The subs last night (and over the weekend against Spain) showed the shocking drop-off in skill from our regulars to the backups. An injury or suspension here or there and the wheels could come off pretty quickly.