There were bright spots for the US national team during their final match of 2014, but Jurgen Klinsmann's highly experimental side eventually suffered in Tuesday evening's 4-1 friendly loss to Ireland in Dublin.
The mistakes were numerous, especially on the defensive side of the ball and in the team approach. With some players out of optimum position and the tactics never adjusting to the opponent, the Nats above all looked disorganized in deservedly conceding four goals for the first time in 33 games.
GKBill Hamid (5.5) - The D.C. United youngster made one big save and was not to blame on three of the goals, but the winner got through him low. His long distribution was nothing to write home about, but Hamid just missed lucking into an assist when Bobby Wood was robbed at the end of a second-half punt.
RB Fabian Johnson (4.5) - The right back occasionally supported the urgency of Alejandro Bedoya's industry in attack and shaved the post with a shot off a short corner. However, he was rather sloppy in his own end, with six incompletions out of 13 forward passes there. One of those misfires resulted in the Ireland winner, and Johnson was also badly caught up on their opener.
CB Geoff Cameron (3.5) - The Stoke City handyman enjoyed a nice opening phase of the contest, pushing the attack a couple times and forcing a handful of Ireland turnovers around the midfield stripe. If that wasn't enough clue that Cameron is still likely miscast by Klinsmann, the point was driven home by several glaring errors at the back after halftime. His lack of proper intervention aided in all three second half-leaks.
CBMatt Besler (4.5) - The Sporting KC man was solid through the middle third of the contest but took a bad angle Ireland's ice-breaking goal and was also guilty of a couple of late errors. It can also be argued that neither center back communicated well overall.
LB Timothy Chandler (4.5) - On the plus side, Chandler did get forward more often than he typically does from left back, and he even notched three of his four tackles across midfield. Events on the other side of that stripe did not go so well, with six dangerous Ireland crosses coming out of his corner.
CDMKyle Beckerman (4.5) - The World Cup standout did not enjoy one of his better nights in a US shirt, often being overrun after the team lost possession in the wrong areas. Beckerman did send several helpful passes into attack on the night, but he also committed a handful of those bad turnovers. One of these incidents led directly to Ireland's opening goal.
CM Alejandro Bedoya (7.5) - Easily the brightest US player on the night, Bedoya was downright beastly in the first half. He successfully breached the home box six times, half on the dribble and half via some sort of pass, with another four crosses into the area causing trouble. The Nantes man also tested Shay Given with a back-post header and did all of it without once losing the ball in possession.
CM Mikkel Diskerud (6.5) - Our man Mix also worked without a single turnover in possession and spent large portions of the opening 50 minutes directing the US offense with an array of passes to send his targets running. He also started the goal play with pressure and finished it with a karate kick. On the other hand, Diskerud didn't do much defensively on the night, and his physical work evaporated late into his 77 minutes of action.
CM Alfredo Morales (5) - Miscast by being shoved wide when a second holding midfielder would have done wonders, the Ingolstadt ace faded in and out of involvement. He did continue to show a talent for the odd key pass in attack, with his forceful effort bouncing to a teammate on the USA's scoring play. Morales is chief among of the players who could have been utilized more soundly on Tuesday night.
FW Chris Wondolowski (5) - Aside from his fine knockdown assist on the temporary US equalizer, Wondo's first-half shift was quite disappointing.
FW Jozy Altidore (6) - The Sunderland striker participated in most of the dangerous US advances, most notably when he picked up the secondary assist on Diskerud's goal with a perfectly weighted short cross. Still, it is the opinion of this space that the coach needs to go back to making Altidore the focal point of their offensive maneuvers. You want a key stat for this game? The No. 17 shirt had just five touches in the Ireland end after the 53rd minute.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (4) - Since the new cycle started, the boss has been throwing so much at the drawing board it gets hard to keep track of it all. Facing an Ireland side that shouldn't ordinarily scare us, both the formation choice and its staffing directly played into the team's worst defeat since May 2012 (to Brazil, it's worth noting).
These were no Samba Kings, but the disorganized US backline undeniably set the stage for some celebrations on the banks of the Liffey. The structure wasn't much better in attack, with the only plan seemingly to have Diskerud find Bedoya, and then he'll do... something. And Klinsmann now appears more desperate to get cute with a set piece or invert the fullbacks than he does to serve the team's top hit man. He is currently a chef over-manipulating the natural ingredients.
SUBSTITUTES
Bobby Wood (7) - In what was easily his best USMNT appearance to date, the halftime sub gloriously galloped up the gut for a golden chance to pull the visitors level on 66 minutes, only to be robbed by Shay Given's fingernail. Wood was not done there, cleverly releasing a few teammates into midfield space after that event.
Greg Garza (5) - The left-back sub fared no better defensively than Chandler, but he did cause some havoc at the other end. Garza forced a good save on his 80th-minute bid for an equalizer.
Rubio Rubin - (5.5) - Largely invisible in 14 minutes of work, the FC Utrecht handyman did offer up one slick pass. Rubin can do much better becoming available around the area, though.
Jordan Morris (6.5) - The college man made no errors and certainly did not look awed by the stage when given a chance to deal in attack.
Tim Ream (-) - A mere cameo, not really any glimpse into Ream's viability at defensive midfield at this level.
