OT: World Cup

[Waquoit]

If you are a fan of Klinsmann, I assume you were critical of Bradley. If so, what were the reasons? And if you were critical of Bradley, why can't people be critical of Klinsmann?

That a huge, yet inaccurate assumption. I thought Bradley did a great job. I still root for him. The timing was right for a change.

 

[UConnDan97]

More and more rumblings coming out today that Jozy might be good to go on Tuesday for the Belgium game. He's apparently already back to running. That's good news for the US if he's healthy...

 

[bobbygt]

That a huge, yet inaccurate assumption. I thought Bradley did a great job. I still root for him. The timing was right for a change.

Just conjecture- I stand corrected.

 

[Gurleyman]

That's huge actually. Even if he plays, we should run right at him. Groins don't hold up well over the course of a game. He's their captain/leader too. They've got a fair amount of defensive guys on the trainers table.

He's on the short list of the best defenders in the world. Would be a huge break, especially if Altidore can go.

 

[intlzncster]

More and more rumblings coming out today that Jozy might be good to go on Tuesday for the Belgium game. He's apparently already back to running. That's good news for the US if he's healthy...

Please no setbacks. Please no setbacks.

One setback and he's done. They need to keep him isolated in a climate controlled oxygen chamber for the next 4 days. Oh yeah, and horse placenta. He needs some of that.

 

[intlzncster]

More and more rumblings coming out today that Jozy might be good to go on Tuesday for the Belgium game. He's apparently already back to running. That's good news for the US if he's healthy...

I edited my response above. Lets get this done.

 

[UConnDan97]

Please no setbacks. Please no setbacks.

One setback and he's done.

To be quite honest with you, I don't think that he would see more than 65 minutes of the game. But maybe that's enough time to make the difference...

 

[intlzncster]

To be quite honest with you, I don't think that he would see more than 65 minutes of the game. But maybe that's enough time to make the difference...

Yeah but horse placenta....

 

[intlzncster]

To be quite honest with you, I don't think that he would see more than 65 minutes of the game. But maybe that's enough time to make the difference...

In all seriousness, I'd be ecstatic to get 65 minutes from him. Yes, you are conceding one of your subs from the start, but for what he does for this team, it's worth it.

Besides, you can pull him and bring in somebody like Yedlin, then mix and match with guys in the field.

 

[intlzncster]

For what it's worth, JK 'very, very satisfied' with Bradley. I like that he has his guys back. You've got to appreciate JK's attitude.

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/...sfied-with-michael-bradleys-play-at-world-cup

Really interesting stat in there:

According to FIFA's statistics, Bradley has covered more distance than any other player at the World Cup. The 23.6 miles he has run during matches are three-quarters of a mile more than any other player in Brazil, and nearly three miles more than the next American, Kyle Beckerman.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Please no setbacks. Please no setbacks.

One setback and he's done. They need to keep him isolated in a climate controlled oxygen chamber for the next 4 days. Oh yeah, and horse placenta. He needs some of that.

Klinsmann should call his good ‘friend’ Kobe Bryant for advise on how to recover from injuries as Kobe’s treatments go from wild to extreme

 

[bobbygt]

For what it's worth, JK 'very, very satisfied' with Bradley. I like that he has his guys back. You've got to appreciate JK's attitude.

http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/...sfied-with-michael-bradleys-play-at-world-cup

Really interesting stat in there:

According to FIFA's statistics, Bradley has covered more distance than any other player at the World Cup. The 23.6 miles he has run during matches are three-quarters of a mile more than any other player in Brazil, and nearly three miles more than the next American, Kyle Beckerman.

How did they come up with that one??

I'm sure most of that distance was covered while the Germans were playing keep away.

 

[Gurleyman]

On further watching, the Ghana goal vs Portugal might be one of the top goals of the tournament due to the pass. A bending ball with the outside of the foot. Essentially the same as Ronaldo's pass against us - just a screwball instead of a curve. Brilliant. They had some class goals in this thing with the back heel pass against us and a couple great finishes against Germany.

Van Persie's header against Spain and the Australia volley out of the air against Netherlands might be 1-2.

 

[intlzncster]

How did they come up with that one??

I'm sure most of that distance was covered while the Germans were playing keep away.

Absolutely no idea how that is measured. They talk about it every match.

 

[intlzncster]

On further watching, the Ghana goal vs Portugal might be one of the top goals of the tournament due to the pass. A bending ball with the outside of the foot. Essentially the same as Ronaldo's pass against us - just a screwball instead of a curve. Brilliant. They had some class goals in this thing with the back heel pass against us and a couple great finishes against Germany.

Van Persie's header against Spain and the Australia volley out of the air against Netherlands might be 1-2.

I know Van Persie's looked the coolest, and took a lot of skill, but from this player's perspective, Tim Cahill's volley is one of the hardest things to do technically in soccer.

On the run. Ball coming from behind you, over your shoulder. Having to use your non-dominant foot. Ball coming completely across your body. Picking the ball cleanly out of the air. Redirecting it accurately, keeping it down and on goal.

It's so freakin' hard to do that, especially allowing it to come completely across your body like that.

Video of the goal

 

[auror]

Absolutely no idea how that is measured. They talk about it every match.

How did they come up with that one??

I'm sure most of that distance was covered while the Germans were playing keep away.

Apparently it's sophisticated video-tracking software on a bunch of cameras, but apparently very accurate. Bradley was actually 2nd in per-game distance last World Cup as well. Dude is fit.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I know Van Persie's looked the coolest, and took a lot of skill, but from this player's perspective, Tim Cahill's volley is one of the hardest things to do technically in soccer.

On the run. Ball coming from behind you, over your shoulder. Having to use your non-dominant foot. Ball coming completely across your body. Picking the ball cleanly out of the air. Redirecting it accurately, keeping it down and on goal.

It's so freakin' hard to do that, especially allowing it to come completely across your body like that.

Video of the goal

I thought the most impressive part of Van Persie's header was that he managed to control a cross which was basically played in from midfield, hit it at around the 18 on the dead run, and get it over Casillas, who was off his line, but still under the cross-bar. Cahill's volley was nice but Van Persie gets the edge from me.

 

[intlzncster]

Funny write up on the USMNT. Rest of the article was ok, but the US bit was hilarious to me:

4. How far can #belief take the #USMNT?

OK, fine, it came down to Cristiano Ronaldo. Fine. The United States men’s national team’s path to the knockout stages of the World Cup was let’s just say considerably eased by the most carefully moussed head in world football, while the eyebrows attached to that head arched superciliously and the mouth attached to that head pursed with distaste and the brain inside that head fantasy-popped a million pastel collars. The USMNT didn’t technically need Ronaldo’s goal against Ghana to clear its path out of the group, but the Real Madrid star’s left-footed goal abated what was starting to feel suspiciously like panic. Fine. Credit where it’s due. Ronaldo might not be the most likable figure ever to self-brand his own line of gigantic rhinestone belt buckles, but this is the World Cup. If your squadron of hard-fighting patriots is going to lose 1-0 to the German Mannschaft, you might as well find some comfort in a guy named after Ronald Reagan.

All things considered, it was one of the weirder imaginable runs to the round of 16 for the American team. The results got progressively worse (a win, then a draw, then a loss), only they did so in ways that felt progressively more triumphant (we played badly in the win, then really well in the draw, and then escaped the group in the loss). Literally all of our players broke their noses. We wound up celebrating after losing to Germany, which is exactly the kind of non-regulation historical shenanigans that make the Greatest Generation think soccer is for ballerinas and communists.

And you know what? It makes no difference. We’re through to the last 16. We get Belgium next, which should at least give us a chance to stomp some actual ballerinas. (I’m sorry, but “Eden Hazard” is a name that was born to be followed by “as the Sugar Plum Fairy” on a theater marquee.) Whether we can win is a different question. The Belgians field a small army of European club stars, from Chelsea’s Hazard and Romelu Lukaku to Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany. They entered the tournament as a dark horse favorite. Everyone’s saying that they looked vulnerable in their group-stage matches, and that’s true, although the way people are saying it does kind of tend to overlook the fact that the USMNT spent the majority of its group-stage matches one Beasley or Gonzalez or Beckerman clearance away from being goal-scored-on back to the Stone Age.

We could win this game. It could happen. The narrowness of Belgium’s attack will play into the USA’s defensive strength in the center of the pitch. Clint Dempsey is so haunted and broken and grimly determined at this point that I wouldn’t bet against him in a gunfight, much less a soccer game. It’s also possible, and indeed to be hoped, that Jurgen Klinsmann will surreptitiously field Ronaldo as a naturalized American winger called “Kyle Perfecto.” You’ll recognize him by the portrait of Abe Lincoln shaved into his left temple.

If we make it to the quarterfinals, we’d likely play Argentina, which, hoo boy, OK, but let’s say Messi eats some bad churrasco. The biggest win in U.S. soccer history would then lead us to a possible semifinal against Mexico, which we would obviously win 2-0. That would land us in the final against Brazil, where we would lose 3-0, because even my absurd fantasy has limits, but there would at least be enough bad calls that we could blame the referee.

I guess what I’m saying is this: The United States men’s national soccer team is the best soccer team in the world.

http://grantland.com/features/world-cup-questions-knockout-messi-neymar-suarez/

 

[Gurleyman]

I know Van Persie's looked the coolest, and took a lot of skill, but from this player's perspective, Tim Cahill's volley is one of the hardest things to do technically in soccer. On the run. Ball coming from behind you, over your shoulder. Having to use your non-dominant foot. Ball coming completely across your body. Picking the ball cleanly out of the air. Redirecting it accurately, keeping it down and on goal. It's so freakin' hard to do that, especially allowing it to come completely across your body like that. Video of the goal

Yeah - mentally I was thinking "1-2 in either order" but I didn't type it that way. After I posted, ESPN had a show where they did the top 10 goals of the group stage and they debated it for a little while. They took RVP 1, but a couple of the panelists disagreed and complained that they didn't get to vote on it. (Jermaine Jones was 5).

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I know Van Persie's looked the coolest, and took a lot of skill, but from this player's perspective, Tim Cahill's volley is one of the hardest things to do technically in soccer.

On the run. Ball coming from behind you, over your shoulder. Having to use your non-dominant foot. Ball coming completely across your body. Picking the ball cleanly out of the air. Redirecting it accurately, keeping it down and on goal.

It's so freakin' hard to do that, especially allowing it to come completely across your body like that.

Video of the goal

That was a sweet goal. If I tried that shot, I would have blown out my plant leg (right) trying to twist around to the ball and if I somehow got my foot on the ball at that angle and speed, I would have either broken my nose hammering it into my own face or I would have skied the ball into the second deck. And that is why Cahill is a professional soccer player and I am a unpaid U8 soccer coach and arm chair coach of the USMNT.

 

[intlzncster]

That was a sweet goal. If I tried that shot, I would have blown out my plant leg (right) trying to twist around to the ball and if I somehow got my foot on the ball at that angle and speed, I would have either broken my nose hammering it into my own face or I would have skied the ball into the second deck. And that is why Cahill is a professional soccer player and I am a unpaid U8 soccer coach and arm chair coach of the USMNT.

In fairness, that's a pretty important position right now.

 

[Strummer]

Well yeah because Ghana fell short. When Ghana tied the game today and the US needed a goal, Klinsman had... Bedoya... it worked out but let's not act like it makes it a good decision.

If winning doesn't, what, then, would prove it was a good decision? It's like saying, "St. Joes missed its chance and Florida and Kentucky had bad games. It worked out, but let's not act like benching Calhoun and starting Giffey was a good decision."

 

[UConnDan97]

If winning doesn't, what, then, would prove it was a good decision? It's like saying, "St. Joes missed its chance and Florida and Kentucky had bad games. It worked out, but let's not act like benching Calhoun and starting Giffey was a good decision."

I think what WOULD have proven it to be a good decision was not having to rely on someone else's play to advance us through. Which is exactly what happened late in the game as we were all sweating out the Ghana-Portugal result. Had Ghana broken the 1-1 draw instead of Cristiano Ronaldo, this would be a very different conversation today. We would have had no answer to help us get back that tie with 10 minutes left in the game against Germany.

But like others have said, we got through, we're playing against Belgium in the knockout stages, and let's look forward from there. Hopefully, Jozy is healthy and Dempsey hangs 3 on the Belgians...

 

[intlzncster]

If winning doesn't, what, then, would prove it was a good decision? It's like saying, "St. Joes missed its chance and Florida and Kentucky had bad games. It worked out, but let's not act like benching Calhoun and starting Giffey was a good decision."

In that situation sure. But, benching Calhoun and starting Giffey was clearly a good decision based on objective analysis.

There's a ton of factors that play into it. Sample size and luck being two of the biggest.

If the Heat benched LeBron for a game, and somehow managed to beat the Spurs, you couldn't claim it a good decision. Just pure luck.

 

[intlzncster]

I think what WOULD have proven it to be a good decision was not having to rely on someone else's play to advance us through. Which is exactly what happened late in the game as we were all sweating out the Ghana-Portugal result. Had Ghana broken the 1-1 draw instead of Cristiano Ronaldo, this would be a very different conversation today. We would have had no answer to help us get back that tie with 10 minutes left in the game against Germany.

But like others have said, we got through, we're playing against Belgium in the knockout stages, and let's look forward from there. Hopefully, Jozy is healthy and Dempsey hangs 3 on the Belgians...

I keep having dreams of the US tied in OT. Klinsmann reaches deep into his bag of tricks and inserts Julian Green(!!!) into the mix up front. The tired and slow footed Belgian defense can't keep up with his pace. The US starts to press the issue up front and JG eventually breaks through to poke one home on Thibault. The country goes nuts.

At this point, I wake up briefly, note the wet sheets, and comfortably fall back to sleep with a smile on my face. Could happen.