If you haven’t read one of these before click here for an explanation of the grading system.

I’m not gonna lie. Grading this was a chore. I watch it on mute and take breaks every 15 minutes or so, but I was looking forward to this one being over. The game confirmed what most people already thought. The current US depth chart is paper thin. Once the starters are out there’s not many difference makers left.

The starting eleven against T&T produced 23 events that I graded +2 or higher. The eleven out there against Panama produced four. I suppose Panama is better than T&T (this wasn’t their best 11 either though) and all that, but still…nobody out there (maybe Altidore?) was capable of producing a “moment of magic” that could create danger. To the grades…

Previous +/- game grades:

USA-Guyana

USA-Trinidad & Tobago

Notes:

Final +/- Grades from notes:

That’s ugly

MOTM – Matt Miazga (+9)

It wasn’t going to take a lot to be man of the match here, but Miazga did play well. Frankly, it’s a credit to him that he was able to rack up 9 points with Panama being as incompetent as they were. He was excellent in the air, moved pretty well for his size (although that could be in comparison to Omar’s aircraft carrier-like agility), was good at stepping to press the ball, and passed the ball nicely (several passes to teammates in stride). It looks to me like Berhalter is playing one CB that is responsible for passing out of the back and another speedy, athletic-type that is more defensively oriented. I’m not sure who the better passer is between Miazga and Zimmerman, but Miazga gave GGG something to think about. (My take: I think Zimmerman is more aggressive/risky with his passing while Miazga plays it safer.)

Anybody else play well?

Not really. Jozy ended up at (+6) due to his goal (+3) and another couple nice moments, but looked out of sync with his teammates (in fairness, his supporting cast wasn’t great).

Morris was (+5) which should really be a low to middling grade not worthy of any attention…but in this game it gets you a mention here. He pressed well and won the ball a couple times. Yay.

Room for Improvement

Daniel Lovitz (-6)

After watching Ream struggle to defend and not really play any great passes (which is his selling point) I was ready to see Lovitz get a shot. I’m good now. He’s comfortable enough with the ball I suppose, he just doesn’t know what to do with it. He turned it over with loose touches, bad passes, and indecision throughout the game. This weird CB/LB spot is an issue for the USMNT. I think Berhalter identified LB as a problem spot and tried to create a system that doesn’t use a real left back, but if you don’t have a competent center back to play out there…what’s the point? Maybe give Long a shot? I think we are just going to ride or die with Ream for the rest of the way though.

He attempted several of these passes. None of them connected.

Cristian Roldan (-3)

I wish Duane Holmes hadn’t gotten hurt. I wish Paxton Pomykal was here. I’d like a pony too, please. We’re stuck with Roldan as a back up for now. He’s not very good, so let’s all light a candle for Weston McKennie and pray we only see Roldan in mop up time from here on out. His touch was bad, he lost the ball a couple times, and for the 8/10 role he was playing his passing wan’t dangerous enough.

Reggie Cannon (-2)

I saw a couple people on Twitter last night mention how good Cannon was. I didn’t see it. His defense was pretty good and he had one very nice pass to create one of the very few dangerous moments in the game, but by and large, I thought he was poor. His crossing was bad, his passing wasn’t good, and he seemed slow of thought. He drew a foul in a dangerous area in the play below, but how did he not play that ball earlier?!

Play CP the freakin’ ball already

Wil Trapp (0)

Technically, Mihailovic had the next lowest grade (-1), but at least Djordje was out there trying things. I only had Trapp down for seven total events. I’ve worried that this grading system overvalues CMs because they tend to get more of the ball and get more chances to build points. Trapp was anonymous out there in arguably the most important position in Berhalter’s system.

Conclusion

Let’s not let ourselves get too negative here. The US went 3-0 in the group, scored 11 goals, and conceded zero. Clearly, the sky isn’t exactly falling. I even think the plan to play Berhalter’s system and stick with it through thick and thin is encouraging.

To repeat myself from the intro…this game simply showed the team’s lack of depth, which shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. The “missing generation” has been talked about ad nauseam because it’s true. It’s going to be difficult, but we are going to have to wait a little bit longer on the young guys because they are going to be busy with the Olympic team. I’d be shocked however if we don’t end up with an exciting young team at the 2022 World Cup that is hopefully hosted anywhere other than Qatar.

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