Duck Rodgers
Well-Known Member
You know why I'm glad the US lost? Because somebody yesterday compared Jozy Altidore to Lebron James while talking to me. It will be nice not hearing rubbish like that for a few more years.
World Cup Thread
- Thread starter Qman
- Start date
Shaggy
Well-Known Member
WARNING WARNING WARNING ------------------DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU GET OFFENDED EASILY!----------------------WARNING WARNING WARNING
Since they play different sports, what context was used while comparing them?
Shaggy
Well-Known Member
WARNING WARNING WARNING ------------------DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU GET OFFENDED EASILY!----------------------WARNING WARNING WARNING
USA soccer isn't there yet, but we're getting there. We need to develop more player that are more technically gifted and can aim the shot like Archie was saying. Most of our players hit the shot straight at the goal keeper where as other countries have players that can make it bend around the goal keeper.
Fielhaber should have been playing more minutes along with Edu.
USA soccer isn't there yet, but we're getting there. We need to develop more player that are more technically gifted and can aim the shot like Archie was saying. Most of our players hit the shot straight at the goal keeper where as other countries have players that can make it bend around the goal keeper.
Fielhaber should have been playing more minutes along with Edu.
Altidore was awesome in qualifying, nearly worthless at the WC. He looked very slow yesterday (much of the team did). I thought Findley, even though he was unable to convert anything, did a better job up front, overall.
ShaggyReAL said:
I couldn't agree more.
CONAN
Well-Known Member
Ghana is no slouch and no surprise they are a good team. I think they dominated U21 and this team is made up of a lot of those guys. So a young, athletic group going against older vets. They were quicker to the ball and had a lot more possession.
Big changes on the horizon for US. Bring in Klinsmann (sp?) and lots of old vets probably played their last WC.
Big changes on the horizon for US. Bring in Klinsmann (sp?) and lots of old vets probably played their last WC.
Loki
Member
OK now that I'm not so upset I could puke I will give you my thoughts on the USA match.
Ghana's goalie wasn't great as much as we sucked. He didn't do anything special we just didn't convert.
Findley should be drawn and quartered for not converting that one-on-one. Kicking it right at him? What a screw up.
Clark is a total idiot and yes he should not have started but that first goal was also Tim's fault for centering too much in the goal when the opponent had a player shadowing the far-post-side. He should have cheated to the near post and if he was 3 or 4 feet to his right he would have stopped that goal.
The reason Ghana was so effective during the first half is because they had a 4-5-1 formation compared to our 4-4-2 and our midfield was overloaded. Ghana is a technical team that passes extremely well and so with 5 in the midfield they were able to keep control of the ball and wait for great opportunities for their striker.
Taking Findley out and putting Feilhaber in to convert to a 4-5-1 was a good move and effective but I have to wonder why he started Clark as the holding midfielder against a 4-5-1 in the first place.
Edu is immature and doesn't handle the ball well under pressure but he's still a lot better than Clark.
Feilhaber should have converted his strike too and tried to flip it too soon - if he'd touched it left for two steps he would have flown by the goalie and had an open goal. Yet another one-on-one that should have been converted.
Something was wrong with Jozy all night long. He was slow and not in control.
But why put Gomez in and not Buddle? Buddle is bigger and stronger and is much better equipped to be the lone striker up top. I don't understand that choice by Bradley at all.
Nothing could have been done about Ghana's 2nd goal cuz that was fairly solid defense and the striker did a great job dealing with a tough ball and a foul at the same time.
Yes Bradley shares some of the blame for starting Clark but at least one goal was also Tim's fault and there were two more strikes that should have been converted.
Here's hoping for a full recovery for Charlie Davies that's all I can say. Using Findley as a striker up top for his speed was kind of like using Mark Eaton for his size and block-shot ability because Shaq is injured. Still good at something that really stresses the other team but just not an offensive force.
Maybe now that people are seeing just how special the World Cup is they will start paying more attention to World Cup Qualifier matches and even Friendlies. Sure hope so. I am excited to see what 4 years will bring for this team. We have a pretty young solid team and they should remain super competitive all the way through to the next World Cup. Landon is only 28 and will still be a force next time around. Feilhaber is 25. Jozy is 21. Michael Bradley is only 22 so there are 3 super strong players right there that will be in the prime of their playing years at the next WC. Davies is only 24 and hopefully will be able to fully recover and stay fast. Gooch is 28 and will be back in full form next time around. Bocanegra and DeMerit are both 31 and will probably be gone by the next time around so I worry about our center defense by the next WC if Omar Gonzalez doesn't step up and start playing world class ball. Edu is 25. Stuart Holden is only 25.
Ya we are pretty darn set up for the future with this team if we can find another big strong defender for the center back line. The next 4 years are going to be fun to watch because I think we'll be able to do more damage in the next WC than we did in this one.
Ghana's goalie wasn't great as much as we sucked. He didn't do anything special we just didn't convert.
Findley should be drawn and quartered for not converting that one-on-one. Kicking it right at him? What a screw up.
Clark is a total idiot and yes he should not have started but that first goal was also Tim's fault for centering too much in the goal when the opponent had a player shadowing the far-post-side. He should have cheated to the near post and if he was 3 or 4 feet to his right he would have stopped that goal.
The reason Ghana was so effective during the first half is because they had a 4-5-1 formation compared to our 4-4-2 and our midfield was overloaded. Ghana is a technical team that passes extremely well and so with 5 in the midfield they were able to keep control of the ball and wait for great opportunities for their striker.
Taking Findley out and putting Feilhaber in to convert to a 4-5-1 was a good move and effective but I have to wonder why he started Clark as the holding midfielder against a 4-5-1 in the first place.
Edu is immature and doesn't handle the ball well under pressure but he's still a lot better than Clark.
Feilhaber should have converted his strike too and tried to flip it too soon - if he'd touched it left for two steps he would have flown by the goalie and had an open goal. Yet another one-on-one that should have been converted.
Something was wrong with Jozy all night long. He was slow and not in control.
But why put Gomez in and not Buddle? Buddle is bigger and stronger and is much better equipped to be the lone striker up top. I don't understand that choice by Bradley at all.
Nothing could have been done about Ghana's 2nd goal cuz that was fairly solid defense and the striker did a great job dealing with a tough ball and a foul at the same time.
Yes Bradley shares some of the blame for starting Clark but at least one goal was also Tim's fault and there were two more strikes that should have been converted.
Here's hoping for a full recovery for Charlie Davies that's all I can say. Using Findley as a striker up top for his speed was kind of like using Mark Eaton for his size and block-shot ability because Shaq is injured. Still good at something that really stresses the other team but just not an offensive force.
Maybe now that people are seeing just how special the World Cup is they will start paying more attention to World Cup Qualifier matches and even Friendlies. Sure hope so. I am excited to see what 4 years will bring for this team. We have a pretty young solid team and they should remain super competitive all the way through to the next World Cup. Landon is only 28 and will still be a force next time around. Feilhaber is 25. Jozy is 21. Michael Bradley is only 22 so there are 3 super strong players right there that will be in the prime of their playing years at the next WC. Davies is only 24 and hopefully will be able to fully recover and stay fast. Gooch is 28 and will be back in full form next time around. Bocanegra and DeMerit are both 31 and will probably be gone by the next time around so I worry about our center defense by the next WC if Omar Gonzalez doesn't step up and start playing world class ball. Edu is 25. Stuart Holden is only 25.
Ya we are pretty darn set up for the future with this team if we can find another big strong defender for the center back line. The next 4 years are going to be fun to watch because I think we'll be able to do more damage in the next WC than we did in this one.
Last edited:
Fixed.
Loki
Member
True that.
At least The Netherlands took care of business today.
I would love to see Netherlands vs. Brazil.
Argentina vs. Germany is going to be an incredible match.
And we've got a massive match coming up with Spain vs. Portugal.
Here are my picks:
Rd 16
Brazil smokes Chili (that match starts an hour from now)
Paraguay beats Japan
Spain beats Portugal on penalty kicks
Quarters
Uruguay beats Ghana
Netherlands beats Brazil (hey I can hope)
Argentina decimates Germany
Spain crushes Paraguay
Semis
Netherlands beats Uruguay
Argentina beats Spain
Final
Netherlands beats Argentina
I know I know it's a pipe dream to see the Netherlands make it but it's time for the Orange to win their first big one
At least The Netherlands took care of business today.
I would love to see Netherlands vs. Brazil.
Argentina vs. Germany is going to be an incredible match.
And we've got a massive match coming up with Spain vs. Portugal.
Here are my picks:
Rd 16
Brazil smokes Chili (that match starts an hour from now)
Paraguay beats Japan
Spain beats Portugal on penalty kicks
Quarters
Uruguay beats Ghana
Netherlands beats Brazil (hey I can hope)
Argentina decimates Germany
Spain crushes Paraguay
Semis
Netherlands beats Uruguay
Argentina beats Spain
Final
Netherlands beats Argentina
I know I know it's a pipe dream to see the Netherlands make it but it's time for the Orange to win their first big one
Was that something about a pipe dream and the Netherlands?
Archie Moses
Well-Known Member
Question for the soccer fans. Does it bother you that you don't know when games are going to end? I mean, at the end of the US game, no one had any idea when the game would end. Do you like that, or do you dislike that?
DutchJazzer
Banned
huh what ur talking baout acher
CONAN
Well-Known Member
I'm ok with it. You know the ref is going to give one team a last chance at a run. That's basically what it comes down to and not necessarily time.
Loki
Member
I like it a lot. It adds a ton to the intensity of the last few minutes. If you're behind you're begging that the ref will not blow the whistle yet and if you're ahead you're begging that the ref will hurry up and blow the whistle.
Loki
Member
1 striker - quite possibly. It would go against what has been done the last 4 years but based on our personnel it's not a bad idea. Heck we could even go to a 4-6 and probably be better off.
I don't think Bradley's going to get fired. He did a lot better job with the MNT than Bruce Arena did by far. I know there's the spector of Juergen Klinnsman hanging out there but Bradley really has done a remarkable job with what he's had and he's learning just like everybody else and I wouldn't be disappointed if he got more time on the job.