A little late, but I went to bed right after the game.
Brooks is a beast. He could very easily become the best defender in USMNT history if he keeps up his progression. He's not there yet, but the guy is turning into a brick wall that the opposition can't break. The only thing to worry about with him is recovery from grueling games like the one last night. Thankfully the schedule plays out in the USMNT's favor, but he's going to be one sore and tired guy when the tournament is over.
I can't believe that Bobby Wood has gone from a player that elicited
when he was first brought into the National team, to a player that is going to be hard to replace. That speaks well of his work ethic and attitude. He's become a permanent fixture on the USMNT going forward in the current cycle.
Zardes played a very good game, IMO. His touch was good enough and he made pretty good decisions most game, along with tracking back deep on defense at times. His goal was easy as can be, but a good forward will be in the right spot when he's needed to be. He's likely going to carry a bigger load with Wood out in the semifinal match, but his play has really gotten better as the tournament has progressed.
Guzan has turned into the top-choice keeper going into the heart of qualification play. His decisions have been great, and he's been very steady in goal. The Ecuador goal wasn't really his fault. Good set up by Ecuador and good shot.
Bradley had an up and down match. Nearly gifted Ecuador a breakaway goal in the first half, but overall played decent. Dempsey was his normal self, but tracked back on defense a little bit more last night. Maybe I'm just caught up in his play in this tournament, but I think he's playing some of his best soccer of his career right now. Maybe it has to do with him closing in on Donovan's goal record, or he knows he can't take his 2018 WC spot for granted, but he's putting in some really good work.
On the Jones red card, I get the reason the rule was put in place, but I'm not a fan of that being a red card. Granted, JJ's intent is up for interpretation, but to me it looked like Jones was going to push the Ecuador player in the shoulder, missed, and grazed his face. Sure, by the letter of the law, that's a red, but I think that was the ref's excuse to even the teams at 10v10. Another reason why I think that was a ridiculous red was minutes later, Bobby Wood nearly got his face shredded by a high kick. The ref only gave an apologetic yellow for the high kick. So in one instance, a debatable swipe to the face is a red, while a definite high kick/dangerous play was given an "I'm sorry I have to do this" yellow. If the face/head area is going to be sacred, it has to be sacred at all times, not only when the ref feels comfortable changing the outlook of the match. With that said, Jones has to be smarter, and can't blame anyone for missing the semifinal match.
So, in the semifinal match, I'm going to guess that Beckerman starts in JJ's place, and Zusi starts in place of Bedoya. Not sure what JK will do with Wood's position. Wondo seems like the safe choice, but Wondo won't have the work rate that Wood does. Whatever the lineup, I'm hoping the US goes out and puts together a great performance against (likely) Argentina.
