A free-flowing January friendly in Chile started off well for the United States men’s national team before devolving into an all-too-familiar result: a blown lead.
While losing a second half lead or three isn’t the end of the world — the bevy of substitutions in friendlies provide lots of slop — allowing 9 goals and scoring zero over their last five second halves is a big concern for Jurgen Klinsmann.
[ MATCH RECAP: Chile 3-2 USMNT ]
Klinsmann opted for a 3-5-2 to start, a formation that provided some offense early and often but was anything but strong in the back. Let’s take a look at how each participant fared.
Starters (1-10, with 1-minnow, 5-average, 10-World Cup winner)
Nick Rimando – Made a couple of brilliant saves in the first half and had a heck of a time organizing his defense, but his work on the second Chilean goal was ugly. It’s easy to forget that Tim Howards don’t grow on trees. 5
Matt Besler – Beauty of an assist on Brek Shea’s early goal, and really calmed down in the latter stages. Couldn’t react on the first Chilean goal and, while you’d like to give a mulligan due to Jones’ newness at center back, Besler had some poor moments. 5
Jermaine Jones – Watching Jones play center back has a lot of Looney Tunes/Tasmanian Devil qualities to it. Jones lost his man on the first Chile goal and was out-jumped on what could’ve been a second (ruled out for offsides). Made some athletic plays as usual, but he may want to burn this match film. 5
Steve Birnbaum – Faded down the stretch but looked good for the better part of an hour, especially considering it was his first USMNT cap. Throw in doing a job in an unfamiliar formation and a decent scoring chance, and he was okay. 6
Brek Shea – He’s infuriating. Gifted with great size, pace, attacking instincts and a rocket for a left foot, Shea made Klinsmann look like a genius with his sixth minute goal. But he had a number of lackadaisical moments on-and-off the ball, and his petulant tackle late in the game could’ve easily landed him a red card. He didn’t show the defensive acumen to have, really, much defensive responsibility at all. 5
Mix Diskerud – His movement and assist on Jozy Altidore’s goal earned him a trip to high-five country, but there weren’t too many more standout moments for the New York City FC midfielder. There also weren’t glaring errors. 7
Clint Dempsey – His pace looked a touch slow , a bit like a veteran who hasn’t played since the MLS Cup Playoffs. Nothing too much to be worried about, as his link-up play with Altidore was good to see. 6
Michael Bradley – Klinsmann had him in a more comfortable, set back role, but the head coach must’ve smirked when Bradley lashed a shot off the cross bar in an advanced role late. 6
DeAndre Yedlin – Gave Chile nightmare moving forward, but also gave the opponents reason to be excited when was defended. Certainly wasn’t bad, though his raw nature shone through when he had a chance to score on a 1v1 in the first half. Was instrumental in the second U.S. goal, but also played a role in the second and third goals conceded. 6
Jozy Altidore – He continues to score goals with a USMNT jersey on, and Toronto FC fans should be plenty excited to see what the big man does in MLS. Made some strong, instinctive hold-up plays and the goal was super solid. Looked dead tired by the time he subbed out, and for about 20 minutes before that. 6
Bobby Wood – His poor club form was not fixed on Wednesday. Wood struggled to be a part of the play and may’ve made Yedlin’s missed cross look worse than it was by not going hard to the back post. Pulled after 45 minutes. 3
Subs
Lee Nguyen – Picked up a quick yellow and found the real estate pretty congested for most of his time on the pitch. Couldn’t put the game on his own terms, like we saw with New England this summer. 5
Chris Wondolowski – Flashed a good header across goal but the chances were limited by the time he subbed into the match. 5
Wil Trapp – Looked lost on Chile’s third goal and didn’t have a wondrous debut. That said, you can forgive jitters and ineffective play from an otherwise promising 22-year-old. 4
Gyasi Zardes – Like Trapp, he faced several, “This ain’t MLS” moments, but he looked more comfortable than the Crew midfielder. Created a dynamic chance late that almost fooled Herrera into giving up what would’ve been a huge equalizer. 5
