Instant Analysis of US/Chile match

I was fortunate enough to have access to ESPN3, so I could watch the US C-team take on the Chilean B-team while listening to the dulcet tones of John Harkes rather than hearing it in a language I barely understand on Telefutura.

I'm not going to bother grading every player. I'll just pick out some performances I thought stood out.

The Good

Diskerud - With his gorgeous assist to Agudelo in South Africa still fresh on US fans' minds, there was some pressure on Mikkel to maintain that standard, and he didn't disappoint. The US has a wealth of holding central midfielders and wingers, but few mids who can hold their own in the offensive center, and that seems to be Diskerud's area. He was confident on the ball and provided a number of accurate, well-weighted passes through the offensive third. The attempted bike was a little silly, but I forgive him.

Loyd - His dangerous overlapping runs kept the left sideline alive despite the presence of Shea (more on that later). And his Delap-esque throwins looked lethal. Decent defense. I could see him opposite Lichaj in 2014.

Bunbury - Not much game time, but the left wing became dangerous the moment he replaced Shea. Took the penalty confidently. Deserved a ball back from Agudelo in the 85th that would have turned into a great chance at another goal.

The Bad

Shea - Wow. On the heels of a disappointing showing in his first senior team game in October vs Columbia everyone was hoping the Brek would bounce back with a strong game. Instead it was even worse. I lost count of the number of giveaways on what should have been easy, short passes. A number of them came in the US defensive end, which is unforgiveable. And playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation requires the wingers to provide service back to the center, but I can't recall a single threatening ball from Shea on the wing. On the plus side he had a decent flick in the box in the second half and he earned a yellow with a dive.

Franklin - The Galaxy's right back is one of the best in the league at his position, but he didn't show much tonight. He provided no offensive threat coming out of the back, leaving Bedoya alone to hold the right wing. The one moment on offense I can recall from him is a cross from midfield in the 91st minute that was 15 yards too long. You'd hope that such a total commitment to defense would shut down the defensive right flank, but he didn't show much there either. He was inches away from giving up a penalty early in the game and was beaten a number of other times.

Wynne - What's he doing at center back? Oh, giving up goals.