On a night when the US national team played friendly visitors Canada a little too by the book, the resulting 0-0 stalemate draws a list of average grades.
The January camp group generally handled the fundamentals capably, but never showed the inspiration needed to bust apart their organized guests.
US PLAYER RATINGS
Sean Johnson (7) – He only had one save to make, but it came very early and he cruelly denied Dwayne De Rosario.
Tony Beltran (5) – It was a cross-tracking gaffe by the right back that teed up DeRo for that early golden chance. The rest of his 45 minutes was acceptable, if undistinguished.
Matt Besler (6) – The debutant didn't have a great deal to do, but largely made light work of it. Besler did err near midfield on one high pressure incident that led to a late Canada corner kick.
OPTA Chalkboard: US solid in possession, but fail to make it count in final third
Omar Gonzalez (6.5) – It was a clean outing from the LA Galaxy defender. Gonzo would have been the star if he'd been able to put away one of those restarts.
Justin Morrow (5) – Overall, the Earthquakes left back showed some good foundational wingback skills in his first cap. However, Morrow twice got away with leaving De Rosario unmarked on set pieces.
Kyle Beckerman (6.5) – In his first game wearing the US armband, the midfielder kept his gate well and provided a few incisive passes forward.
Brad Evans (5.5) – After effectively helping Beckerman build a midfield fence in the first half, he ably held down right back after intermission. Still, Evans never broke out the cutting edge.
Graham Zusi (6) –
The Sporting KC attacker was solid in the first half, providing much of the team's early invention.
Brad Davis (5.5) – The Houston set-up man enjoyed a decent outing, but didn't test the defense enough and fell short of making the needed big play. Two of his three restarts did ask questions, though.
Check out the full lineups and stats
Chris Wondolowski (5.5) – Not so sound like a broken record, but the MLS Golden Boot man excelled in link play and found some good positions, only to come up empty in the strike zone.
Eddie Johnson (5) – The Seattle ace made some things happen, but they were all out wide. Johnson's interior play was more indecisive.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (5) – Off the top, give the boss points for integrating several newbies into a performance filled with solid fundamentals. Beyond that, a draw seemed a little too much like the plan. I've griped for two USMNT coaches now about things like playing in the trite "empty bucket" formation during home friendlies against lesser CONCACAF rivals; you all saw why tonight. There's too much math out there, and not enough music.
Subs:
Josh Gatt (6) – Motor revved? Check. Not sure why playing him on the left was the thing to do, but Gatt will still think he should have done better with a few of set-up passes and teammate releases. He'll be right.
Benny Feilhaber (6) – A lot of good things happen when Feilhaber steps on the field. It would be even better if they could happen around the area. Wasting two danger free kicks in a scoreless game is rough.
Juan Agudelo (5) – The intention was definitely there, but his ideas and executions often went awry.
Alejandro Bedoya (6) – There was some good work at both ends of the field in a 26-minute appearance. Bedoya probably needed more of the ball, to be fair.
Alfredo Morales (6) – The Hertha Berlin handyman made several nice plays in short minutes, reinforcing the notion (shared here) that his best fit is defensive midfield.
Will Bruin (-) – The Dynamo debutant never really found an opportunity to make an impact.
