The US looked terrible on Saturday.  Not only did El Salvador look like the more skillful team, but they actually looked like they wanted to be there.  Here is my quick analysis of the game just to get it out of the way:

US = poor defending, poor passing, no energy, poor dribbling —–> watching a bunch of retards hump a door knob!

El Salvador = passionate, skillful, dangerous but naive.

The US didn’t show up to play and they paid the price.  I truely believe that our players are better than what they showed on the field . . . with a few exceptions.  El Salvador scored two great goals and should get all the credit in the world for taking it to the US.  Unfortunately for the El Salvador, they are still too naive and let their lead slip away to the far more experienced US team.

Quintanilla picked up a Beasley give away to creat the counter attack that led to the first goal.  A series of passes by El Salvador around the US’s box left Bocanegra on the ground after a missed tackle and Quintanilla wide open for their first goal.   In the second half, Zelaya, for El Salvador, beat Beasley down the wing and crossed the ball to the on coming Castillo. Castillo out jumped Hejduk and put the ball under Guzan for the second goal.  El Salvador was up 2-0.  With 15 min left in the game, Hejduk broke free on the right side and put in a perfect cross to a wide open Altidore for the US’s first goal. With two minutes left Hejduk earned the US a point when he headed home a loose ball in the box.

Here are my player ratings for the US team:

Guzan: 5, he  got scored on twice but did little wrong. Some were left with the question, “would Howard have stopped those goals?”

Hejduk: 6, poor defending, Castillo was eating him up.  The cross for the first goal, granted the El Salvador left back was tending to the left mids leg cramp leaving Hejduk tons of space, and the game tying goal.  Man of the match for the US.

Bocanegra: 4, late to challenges, was beat several times by Quntanilla, and poor passing.

Califf: 4, see Bocanegra

Pearce: 2, the worst player for the US on the night.  He couldn’t handle his attacker, never linked up with Beasley, and never got into the attack.  He was on the field too long in my opinion.  Bornstein got a call up today for the game on Wednesday.

Dempsey: 5, showed some flashes of skill and insight but he also turned the ball over way too much. He worked hard on both sides of the ball.

Bradley: 5, the only player who really came out to play.  But tonight we saw the Michael Bradley of a year and a half ago. Tons of youthful energy, but showing up late to tackles and missing the mark on his passing.

Kljestan: 3, lucky for Sacha, Pearce was also on the field, so Sacha doesn’t get the honor of worst player on the field.  He looked out of place with the national team.  He was too slow physically and with his thought process.  He is supposed to bring the offense through the middle, but spent most of his time on the field passing the ball to El Salvador players.

Beasley: 3, another bad night for the jitter bug.  He constantly killed offensive plays and only linked up a few times well with Donovan and Ching.  His giveaway led to the first goal.  He was moved to left back for the woeful Pearce and got eaten alive for the second goal.

Donovan: 5, quiet game for Landon.  He didn’t see the ball much but did what he could when he had it. He caused the most trouble of any of our attackers and drew the defense out for the first goal.  El Salvador did a great job taking him out of the game though.  If El Salvador can neutralize him I wonder what he is going to do when he goes up againts a good defense.

Ching: 4, Did what he could but failed to take advantage of his size.  He looked slow and without ideas.  Ching doesn’t do well in isolation, he needs a complimenting striker. With Donovan neutralized Ching looked hopeless.

Subs:

Torres: 6, played a big role in the US’s comeback.  With the exception of one bad giveaway he was one of the few bright spots for the US.  He should start next game.

Altidore: 6, came in and immediately made an impact.  He showed more energy and athleticism than Ching and might edging his way into a starting role.

Edu: n/r

The first week is in the books and there was a lot of exciting soccer on display.  Here is an updated Power Rankings, predictions, and Best XI.

Green Army MLS Power Rankings:

1. (Last week 1) Columbus Crew: Stays on top with after their 1-1 tie with Houston, one of the better games over the weekend.

2. (2) Chicago Fire: With the exception of a Kenny Cooper bomb that caught Busch out the Fire destroyed Dallas, in their 3-1 win.

3. (5) Houston Dynamo: They looked like the team to beat in the West.

4. (3) Real Salt Lake: did not play this weekend, but drops one spot for Houston.

5. (6) Toronto FC: Offensive powerhouse, that isn’t likely to get scored on unless the opposing team is sending in 25 yard bombs like Davy Arnaud.

6. (10) Seattle Sounders: Ball-errific!! Came out strong in their opening game with a 3-0 win over NY. Look like a playoff calibur team.

7. (7) New England: An inexperienced squad took the field against SJ and managed to squeak out a 1-0 win.

8. (8) KC Wizards: If not for Davy Arnaud’s two spectacular goals and De Ro’s miss from the PK spot this game could have gotten ugly for KC.

9. (9) Chivas USA: When your goals come from Paulo Nagamura things can’t be going well. Still, they pulled off a 2-1 win.

10. (11) Colorado Rapids: Looked much, much better defensively . . . and then they fucked up. Poor clearance by Kimura gave Nagamura a gift for the game winner and the Rapids go home without any points.

11. (4) NY Red Bulls: Awful first game for last year’s MLS Cup runner’s up. They were missing a few players and should improve, but this squad could be one of the worst teams in the league . . . if the following four teams weren’t in the league.

12. (13) DC United: Gave up a two goal lead to LA. On the bright side, rookies Pontious and Wallace looked great.

13. (12) FC Dallas: No surprise here. They had their moments but the defense is a disaster.

14. (14) LA Galaxy: Lucky for them DC has one of the worst defenses in the league.

15. (15) San Jose: Can’t score goals you can’t win games. This weekend might have been a taste of this season is going to go for San Jose.

How did my predictions turn out?:

Prediction: NY 3-1 Seattle, actual NY 0-3 Seattle

I knew Seattle was good, what I didn’t know was how bad NY is.

Prediction: Columbus 2- 1 Houston, actual Columbus 1 -1 Houston

Could have gotten this one right if Houston’s defense didn’t all apart at the end of the game.

Prediction: Chicago 3-0 Dallas, actual Chicago 3- 1 Dallas

Basically got this one right.  A 60 yard bomb from Cooper was the only way Dallas could score.

Prediction: Toronto 2-2 KC, actual Toronto 3-2 KC.

Both teams offense was on display as was poor defending.

Prediction: Colorado 1-0 Chivas, actual Colorado 1-2 Chivas

Could have gotten this one right if it wasn’t for 6 minute defensive collapse by the Rapids. Chivas really had no hope of scoring.

Prediction: NE 0-0 SJ, Actual NE 1-0 SJ

A fortuitous goal made the difference for NE.  I think the easiest prediction anyone can make is putting a 0 by San Jose.

Prediction: DC 0-1 LA, actual DC 2-2 LA

LA was able to break a weak defense and so was DC.

Green Army Best XI:

Keller (Seattle)

Brennen (Toronto)         Kennedy (Seattle)        Conde (Chicago)

Nagamura (Chivas)          Alonso (Seattle)

Arnaud (Kansas City)        Guevara (Toronto)      Schellotto (Columbus)

Donovan (Los Angeles)       Montero (Seattle)

Subs: Shalrie Joseph (NE), DeRosario (Toronto), Brad Evans (Seattle), Justin Mapp (Chicago), Sebstian Le Toux (Seattle)