Expect a lot of report card hiding from the involved US national team members in the aftermath of a 4-1 friendly loss to Brazil on Tuesday night that was painful to watch.
Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann will need to find a remedy before next month's vital CONCACAF Cup showdown with Mexico, as their last tune-up performance should be moved into quarantine. There was so much about this game one wouldn't want to touch on, but let's go ahead and do it anyway. Be advised to grab your HazMat suit.
Brad Guzan (6)
- Not really sure what more the netminder could have done with this mess. Guzan made a few saves and nearly got to Neymar's spot kick.
Geoff Cameron (4.5)
- The right back actually had a pretty decent first half, which featured most of his defensive stops and many of his 13 positive passes in or into Brazil's half. Cameron's night then fell apart after the break, when he was heavily culpable on two goals. The punished penalty foul came from a situation caused by his own slack marking on a long ball target.
Michael Orozco (4)
- Next to Cameron, we have a defending tale of two halves even more extreme. Orozco was a US standout during the opening 45, with six stops made in or directly in front of the home area. And even though he moved the ball well all night long, a string of errors marred his second half. He came out looking particularly bad on Brazil's third goal.
Ventura Alvarado (4)
- Not to sound like a broken record, but play it again. Alvarado made 10 of his 12 defensive plays in the first half, including a few impressive interceptions. Then, he was among those at fault on two Brazil goals and a late nightmare turnover in the US box could have easily made it three.
Tim Ream (5) - The left back was golden on the ball and made some nice stops while under pressure in his corner early in the contest. Eventually, Brazil's flank speed got the better of Ream, but they had to work in high volume to crack him.
Jermaine Jones (3.5) - While the New England ace improved greatly on the ball after a rough start, his revolving door seemed open from whistle to his 72nd-minute subbing. More disturbingly, his effort output often looked to be on the low setting; witness the soft midfield challenge that led to Neymar's second.
Alejandro Bedoya (4) - Miscast in defensive midfield, Bedoya opened brightly with a big pass pick in the US area. It was mostly downhill from there until he was replaced after just 36 minutes. Before anyone goes casting him as goat of the night because of it, do realize things got worse at the gate without him.
DeAndre Yedlin (5) - The new Sunderland loan item went the other way from most of his teammates. Yedlin started miserably, with a bad touch/bad pass combo killing a promising early US rush and a bad turnover leading to Brazil's opener. After that, the speedster steadily improved and ended up putting a healthy handful of dangerous balls into the Brazil box. Still, he could have been more aggressive in taking on defenders wide.
Michael Bradley (5) - It had competition, but putting Bradley in the No. 10 slot against Brazil counts as the staffing gaffe of the night. It took him almost completely out of the defensive game, all for the grand total of one completed pass in the final attacking third – and that was a feed toward the flank. Sure, he can pull this off against many foes, but this was too much to ask with too little support.
Gyasi Zardes (4) - The left winger had a couple of moments (a dribble here, a defensive help play there), but was the invisible man for most of his 45 minutes of work. He needed to be much more present tracking back.
Jozy Altidore (5) - The Toronto FC striker started quite well, with three successful hold-up plays in the opening moments. He could have been a lot stronger on an early shooting chance in the box, though, and effectively disappeared from there. It was certainly not all his fault; Altidore had more touches in the first 10 minutes of the game than he had in the next 47.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann (3) - Oi vey... let's just start with the defensive midfield mess. It was bad. Baaaad. And never corrected. Against a Brazil, this will be a problem every time. The same could almost be said for taking Bradley out of the traffic director's role against an opponent prone to running wild.
More upsetting, however, is what appeared to be a startlingly low effort level from the team. They were ineffectual in too many ways to list in this modest space and repeatedly waved off far too easily in physical confrontations. Were they overworked in training? Is there some other problem? I don't know what it was, but this was not a display close to the usual USMNT intensity.
Subs:
Daniel Williams (5) - Aside from one terrible turnover in the US end just after his entrance, Williams passed fairly well. He also came up with three tackles and a couple of pass picks, but those exploits were well overshadowed by his inability to slow Brazil's roll. That consolation strike, though? Woof!
Bobby Wood (3) - It must be said that Wood looked extremely timid, both with the ball and while defending. He gave Ream less help than Zardes did, and that's saying something. A trio of poor giveaways in the US half didn't help any.
Jordan Morris (5.5) - The Stanford student tried to get something going when given the ball in a good spot, which wasn't often. Not to his demerit, but it's unnerving when Morris was arguably the most aggressive US player in the final third.
Mix Diskerud (5.5) - Like those before and next to him, Mix had little impact in halting Brazil moves. However, he played some nice passes in 18 minutes and worked into position for a good scoring chance that he sadly put straight at the 'keeper.
Jonathan Spector (5.5) - Though among the guilty on one Brazil goal, Spector notched a pair of tackles among four defensive stops in just 17 minutes. He also pushed forward late for a sweet cutback that deserved a better finish.
Aron Jóhannsson (-) - Not much to complain about from this 11-minute cameo. The Werder Bremen substitute completed all four of his passes and aided a couple team moves with distracting runs.
