There is a decent-sized disparity in the grades handed out following the US national team's 3-2 collapse loss away to Chile on Wednesday night, with coach Jurgen Klinsmann most guilty of dragging down the average.
The move to a 3-5-2 (that oddly featured Jermaine Jones holding a roaming license as the middle man of the back line) invited the hosts to launch 20 shots and 41 crosses. The main problem on the night was Chile obliging the formation with flank play that not only turned the wide corner repeatedly, it also sapped influence potential away from the US' spine stars.
Nick Rimando (7) - The Real Salt Lake veteran really could not be faulted much on any of the goals, while deserving credit for a couple of huge saves. Rimando also had a couple of good stops nullified by the offside flag, but one might expect a bit more catching and punching when faced with 41 crosses.
Steve Birnbaum (5.5) - Until the debutant tested his own netminder with a knee bobble in the 62nd minute, he was quite solid and on his way to piling up eight total defensive stops. After that came the shakiness, which eventually saw him slow to react on both the winning goal and the initial shot that spawned it.
Jermaine Jones (5) - This is a tough grade to tabulate. Jones had seven clearances, but a few were very shaky. He picked off three passes, but those were away from the back on one of his frequent forays forward. The World Cup standout helped move the ball forward smoothly several times, but also was guilty of a few very bad giveaways. The deciding straw falls on the side of badly overplaying to the crossing side on the first Chile goal.
Matt Besler (6) - The defender's night started off with a bang, as his diabolical lead pass teed up Brek Shea for the opener. It was not Besler's best outing, to be sure, but he was probably the least culpable member of the back on all the goals and made six total defensive stops in the US box after the break.
Michael Bradley (6.5) - Both the first half wandering of Jones the center back and the formation choice dulled Bradley's influence on both sides of the ball. While Chile were leaving him out of defensive relevance by running wide, the usual USMNT traffic director incredibly went from the 19th minute until halftime without a single pass attempt. Let that sink in for a moment. He found time to make some plays going forward and rattle the post with a nice drive from distance.
Mix Diskerud (6) - It's a funny thing; Mix completed every pass he attempted in the attacking half, including a calmly-served area assist. Problem is, he only attempted four of those in an hour of work. This is still pure miscasting, especially if the coach now wants to wait for counters from a possession disadvantage.
DeAndre Yedlin (4) - As with Jones, there's too much good and bad to talk about in this space, but Yedlin may just be rusty. Or it may be unfair to continually change the role of a developing prodigy. Either way, he did manage to notch a smart second assist and rallied to notch seven defensive stops over the last 35 minutes. Of course, he also was among those at fault on all three Chile goals, got away with slacking on a back post mark and squandered a couple of great opportunities in attack.
Brek Shea (6) - The Orlando City recruit scrapes an average mark thanks to a cold-blooded finish on the opener and some good pressure valve work. However, he was a major liability tracking back and got away with one very bad passing turnover.
Clint Dempsey (6) - We should start calling him "30-Deuce" because the Seattle star is the USMNT's version of NFL Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown. He may rumble and stumble and can't get a call, but you know he's going forward somehow. Plain and simple, the guy needed more touches, but when the game doesn't go through Bradley, it doesn't go through Dempsey.
Bobby Wood (4) - Inactive with his club, it's fair to note Wood should not be starting this game. He certainly looked out of it, and no more than when he fell asleep on a back post mark six minutes before coming off at the break.
Jozy Altidore (7) - The big guy definitely tired some time after the hour and it affected his hold-up game. Before then, Altidore certainly did not look like a guy low on confidence. In addition to a sweet finish for his 26th USMNT goal, several other fine team moves went through the striker.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (3) - Most of the problems experienced against what was, at best, Chile's "B" side can be attributed to tactical and personnel decisions. At this point, it's as hard to detect what constitutes the overall plan as it is to tell what position Jones is playing at any given moment. There's no organization on the field, no continuity from game to game and the result is getting daft-punked late yet again.
Subs:
Lee Nguyen (5) - Mostly confined to possession passing, the Revs spark-plug lacked an edge in the final third. His inability to slip Altidore in alone on 57 minutes came back to bite moments later.
Wil Trapp (5) - The Columbus Crew SC talent was miscast in his debut, but showed a few times what he can do moving the ball into attack. Still, the team needed him to be more active and he was among the culpable on the Chile winner.
Gyasi Zardes (6) - The Galaxy attacker mostly played it safe with the ball, but did show a bit of bullishness to put one shot on goal.
Chris Wondolowski (6.5) - The San Jose ace provided 15 solid relief minutes up top, drawing one good save.
