With games like this – friendlies in the January camp – you have to take everything with a grain of salt. That said, our competitive spirit means we want to win. That clearly didn’t happen. The US was completely outplayed by a novice Serbian squad, containing none of its World Cup contingent. To be fair, many of the US players were either uncapped, teenagers, or both as well. If we’re being honest, the expectations should have been low. Combine inexperience with precious limited practice time, throw in an unmitigated disaster of caretaker manager, and you get what you got today. Defeat. Not all is lost however. There were some moments of brightness, reasons for optimism, and perhaps even glimpses of guys who might play more meaningful roles with the national team in the future.
Before get into it, as per the usual we use a ten point rating system, with half points issued when I can’t make up my mind. In case you were wondering, there are no zeros, though they might have been appropriate for a couple of the guys. Ok, without further ado.
LB Jonathan Gomez – 6.0
One of the few bright spots today. No shortage of energy and effort with this fella. He’s a liability on defense but marauding up the left wing, he constantly had the Serbian defense on its heels. Let down a couple times by a brick-footed first touch, and a couple of others by Cade Cowell (more on him later) choosing poorly in distribution, he could have had more of an impact on the game. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of though.
LCB Jalen Neal – 4.0
What a mixed bag. The LA Galaxy youngster looks absolutely splendid on the ball. Firm, accurate passes. Confident in possession. Positive in his intent. He was fun to watch… parts of him anyway. Now for the bad. If you’re a center back, you can’t be blundering the ball away in the defensive third… which he did twice, once leading directly to a goal. He’s an absolute oil spill on defense at this point. He’s just 19, and may get a bunch of experience in the upcoming MLS season, but let’s get another look at him in two years.
RCB Walker Zimmerman – 3.0
Supposed to be the veteran presence among the youth. Was mostly anonymous, which isn’t always the worst thing for a center back, but he was directly to blame for Serbia’s equalizer, abandoning his post in the wall just as the shot was taken. Failed to keep an organized back line. His partner Neal’s passing was far more positive, not to mention accurate. One to forget for the World Cup veteran.
RB Julian Gressel – 5.0
Hit a beautiful cross right onto the dome of Brandon Vazquez for the US opener. That’s about where the positives end. Got turned inside out too easily on several Serbian attacks on his wing. Generally positioned himself well, but didn’t look at all capable of winning a one on one battle. He’s a marvelous MLS player but the international stage is just too big for him, based solely (and possibly unfairly) on this one performance.
LM Paxton Pomykal – 2.5
The Dallas FC veteran, which sounds funny to say because he’s only 23, doesn’t belong on an international pitch, even in a friendly. Consistently slow to react, second to 50/50 balls, uninventive in possession – what else is there to say? He’s a perfectly adequate MLS player – and maybe some of his rough performance is just not knowing the system – but I can’t imagine him seeing another minute for the USMNT in any scenario. Which probably means Hudson gives him 90 against Colombia.
CM Aidan Morris – 6.5
Another one of the few bright spots for the US. Most people have no idea who he is, mainly because he plays in Columbus. But there’s some real ability here. Absent a traditional holding midfielder – a role generally inhabited by the outstanding Tyler Adams – Morris was left to absorb a lot of those responsibilities. And while he didn’t look great defending, he was a force pushing the ball forward. Distributed nicely as well as intelligently, and had a suberb strike from 22 yards kept out by a very nice save from the Serbian goalkeeper.
RM Alan Sonora – 3.5
Could be even lower but we give marks for effort here. Scuppered several attacking opportunities for the US by being out of position, with a shitty first touch, or simply losing possession. I had hopes for him. Not high ones, necessarily, but considering his club pedigree, a better performance wouldn’t have been a shock. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Another guy who probably shouldn’t be invited back.
LF Cade Cowell – 7.5
Easily the man of the match for the US. Was at the center of about 80% of the US’ attacking threats. Hit the woodwork twice in a span of minutes in the second half, and fired a curling effort narrowly wide in the first. Could have conceivably had a hat trick, was savagely unlucky to not have at least one goal, and ultimately had zero. The future is bright for him though. On the negative side, on multiple occasions he either simply missed an overlapping, surging Gomez on his left or elected to force a pass into a more congested space. He’s marvelously talented, and always open it seems, but you have to also make the right choices. Given time, I would think, he will.
CF Brandon Vazquez – 5.0
Well, he scored a goal on a marvelous header. Other than that, he did jack shit. Also took a goal right off the foot of Julian Gressel as the Serbian defense fumbled their way around a US corner. Hard to get too mad at him for that since a center forward’s job is to be greedy around the net… but he literally did nothing apart from the goal. Maybe he had… what, a dozen touches total? Only one of them good. But hey, a goal is a goal.
RF Alejandro Zendejas – 5.5
It took him a half, but he grew into the game. Got himself out of position a bunch early on, which jacked up the US formation in transition and congested the field. On the plus side, showed some real ambition in the second half. The final product needs some work, and he was unlucky not to win a penalty in the second half (announcer Kyle Martino, a former US international himself, said the referee got the no call correctly, but the slow motion replay showed a clear foul, even if it wasn’t an egregious one). We haven’t seen the last of him.
The Substitutes
Aaron Long – 4.5
Came on for Zimmerman into the heart of the US defense. Let’s just throw it out there. He isn’t good enough. Another guy who isn’t out of place at all in MLS, but put him against quality opposition and he’s a liability. To his credit, he came forward on all set pieces and attacked them well. Just didn’t get anhy results out of it.
Matthew Hoppe – 1.5
Came on for Vazquez. Just useless. From Bundesliga hat trick scorer to… what even is he now? I can’t imagine he’ll last even at Middlesboro.
Kellyn Acosta – 2.0
I had come nearly all the way around on Acosta after initially praying for his banishment from the national squad. From playing brilliantly in World Cup qualifying, to acquitting himself well in somewhat limited time at the big tournament, what wasn’t to like? To start, today. His trademark excellence at set pieces was nowhere to be seen (how the fuck do you smash a cross right into a one man wall?) and from open play he either underhit or overjuiced nearly every one of his passes. Just a sinkhole of a performance form him.
Eryk Williamson – 5.0
Williamson is an interesting one. He’s a hard worker and a tremendous athlete, and immensely popular with Portland Timbers fans. He was unlucky to see a fizzing effort from 20 plus yards go narrowly over, and generally had a more positive impact than negative. The problem with him is, he’s already 25, and the finer points (first touch, passing, etc.) are lacking in his game. He will probably get some more minutes against Colombia, and he earned them, but he’s not one for the future really.
DeJuan Jones – 4.5
Came on for Gressel. He actually looks to be an interesting prospect. Had one unforgiveable turnover in defense and was lucky it didn’t result in a goal. You simply can’t do that as a defender. But showed real gumption getting forward, and fired no less than four dangerous crosses in from the right wing. He’s one we’ll need to see more of, and if the defensive brainfart was the aberration rather than the norm, there’s a future for him. We saw the God awful Shaq Moore get World Cup minutes, after all.
Paul Arriola – 6.0
Did his usual bit. Worked hard. Ran hard. Wasted a glorious opportunity by rolling his shot tamely at the keeper. Also had a much better effort kept out by a brilliant save. And importantly, made all the right runs on attack. They generally didn’t work out because he was relying on the likes of the hapless Matt Hoppe to provide some service to him, but nonetheless, quality showing from the popular and dependable veteran.
Coach Anthony Hudson – 5.0
In history, and I mean since these things were tracked for coaches, no coach has a more futile record than Hudson. He’s literally never had success as a coach, anywhere he’s coached. That’s fucking impressive, in its own way. So no, keep this man far away from the full time job. That said, not a ton to lambast him over. The formation was fine. He gave minutes to some guys we needed to see. But, as they say, results matter and they lost. Additionally, it would have been nice to see Paxten Aaronson get in the game…and John Tolkin too… and while we’re at it, Emmanuel Sabbi.
Did we get it wrong? Right? Indifferent? Let us know on Twitter @thestainsports. Thanks for reading.