Once the World Cup starts, a win is a win is a win, but a different standard is used to judge World Cup tune-up games. Yes, the U.S. finished with a comfortable 2-0 victory last night, but Ghana will not be shaking in their boots watching the U.S. performance against Azerbaijan.
Tuesday night's game against Azerbaijan was the first of three in what U.S. Soccer has dubbed the "Send-Off Series". The next two opponents are Turkey on June 1 and Nigeria on June 7. Arguably, the opponents become progressively more challenging, but the starting point is a very low bar. Azerbaijan has never qualified for either a World Cup or a European Championship. They've never come close. In their history, Azerbaijan has won four of their 48 World Cup qualifiers and five of their 50 European Championship qualifiers, and that puts them on par with minnows such as Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. Ghana, Portugal or Germany they are not.
The concerning thing about this is that a team of Azerbaijan's quality (or lack thereof) is not good preparation for teams the U.S. will play at the World Cup. Last night, Azerbaijan put most if not all their players behind the ball just trying to make it difficult for the U.S. to break them down. This won't be the case in Brazil. If anything, the script will be reversed somewhat as the U.S. will be the team trying to contain their opponents and strike on the counterattack.
Still, you play the team across from you, so the hope was that the U.S. would make light work of Azerbaijanis. Nope. The U.S. dominated possession (70% - 30%), but it was possession without much purpose. They struggled to create clear-cut chances, and the few they did create were more often the result of shocking defending than impressive attacking. Chris Wondolowski's wide open header in the first half is a good example.
The U.S. didn't really spring to life until the latter part of the second half spurred by the performance of their substitutes. The two goalscorers, Mix Diskerud and Aron Johannsson, were both sharp, and Brad Davis was the U.S.'s best player on the night. This will offer some interesting competition going forward as all three looked sharper than their first-choice counterparts: Graham Zusi, Alejandro Bedoya and Chris Wondolowski. Without further adieu, let's get to the grades.
Player Ratings: 1-10 (10 = highest)
GK: Tim Howard, 6 - Howard wasn't called into action much, but he was sharp on those few occasions.
D: DaMarcus Beasley, 5 - There's not much good or bad to say about Beasley's performance. It would have been nice to see him get into more promising attacking positions down the left flank.
D: Matt Besler, 6 - Besler organized the defense well and made some timely interceptions. He also showed composure distributing from the back.
D: Geoff Cameron, 6 - Cameron was steady in the back and used his height to clear out aerial threats. He also made an important one-on-one tackle in the penalty box.
D: Fabian Johnson, 7 - Johnson was one of the few bright spots in the first half. He beat defenders on several occasions only to have a return pass let him down. This was an encouraging performance as the U.S. will need Johnson to provide attacking support in Brazil.
M: Jermain Jones, 4 - Jones looked stagnant and delivered few penetrating passes. He failed to link well with Michael Bradley, and those two will need to improve their relationship in the next two games.
M: Alejandro Bedoya, 5 - Per usual, Bedoya showed good energy and tenacity. He won several balls in promising spaces but failed to turn those opportunities into dangerous chances.
M: Graham Zusi, 3 - Zusi will want to forget about this one. His touch was off, and other than an early free-kick his crossing was uncharacteristically poor. Zusi's grip on a starting spot isn't that strong, and questions will start to be raised if he doesn't improve.
M: Michael Bradley, 5 - This was a poor game by Bradley's high standards. He ceded possession more than normal, and he struggled to link with his fellow attackers. He made a few of his trademark forward runs, but the final touch or pass let him down.
F: Chris Wondolowski, 5 - Wondolowski got an unexpected start when Clint Dempsey was a late scratch with groin soreness. You take the good with the bad with Wondolowski, and both were on display Tuesday. He got into good positions and almost scored twice off headers, but his link-up play was poor. He remains an option for Klinsmann off the bench.
F: Jozy Alitdore, 4 - Altidore looked like a forward who's been struggling for goals. He received the ball in dangerous pockets of space but wasn't sharp afterwards. Several times, he opted for a pass when he could have taken a defender one-on-one. He badly needs a goal to get his confidence going.
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D: Omar Gonzalez, 5 - Gonzalez didn't have much to do after taking over for Cameron, and he'll look to the next two games as opportunities to beat out Cameron for a starting spot.
D: Timothy Chandler, 5 - Chandler came on for Beasley, and looked more energetic getting forward in attack. His speed was on display, but he looked a little out of control once he entered the final third.
M: Brad Davis, 8 - Davis was the U.S.'s best player against Azerbaijan. He brought their attack to life with clean touches and incisive passing, and his exemplary crossing ability was on full display. Both the U.S. goals came from Davis' deliveries.
D: DeAndre Yedlin, 5 - Similarly to Chandler, Yedlin showed impressive physical qualities that lacked refinement. He'll need to impress in his next opportunity if he wants a chance at playing time in Brazil.
F: Aron Johannsson, 7 - Came on midway through the second half, looked sharp, spurred the attack, scored a well-taken goal, and made a case for increased playing time against Turkey.
M: Mix Diskerud, 7 - See Johannsson, Aron.