OT: World Cup | Page 18 | The Boneyard

OT: World Cup

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I'm pissed as hell. That was a kick in the d$ck.

I would like to say that Jermaine Jones is a stud. He's been our best player this World Cup and my hats off to him.
 
intlzncster said:
I'm pissed as hell. That was a kick in the d$ck.

I would like to say that Jermaine Jones is a stud. He's been our best player this World Cup and my hats off to him.
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My only comps are Aaron Boone and Darius Rice. Still can't process. Staring off into space.
 
huskiesouth said:
The idea is to advance to the next stage.
If Germany/USA draw they both advance.
Germany is stronger team - if I am their coach I am thinking seriously of playing for a draw and making it obvious to USA very early in game that is my strategy and see if signal is received and returned.
No shots, no tackles, no risks, no mistakes, ball in mid-field, save energy for next round, let overall weaker of USA-Ghana advance, guaranteed advance for my team.
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No, you want to win the group. Better matchup the next round. Germany will be playing to win.
 
Gurleyman said:
I actually thought the same way you did live - but on the replay I was content with how Beasley defended. If you could do it all over, maybe Beasley could have gone way out with him and taken away the passing lane in the first place and used a "make someone else beat you" approach, but after a turnover the proper thing is to pinch in to protect the run up the middle, then fan out when the ball goes wide.
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You have to back off Ronaldo there. No choice. Great cross on his part. That said, the back end of that should have been cleaned up. We had a defender front and back iirc. That has to be cleared.
 
intlzncster said:
What? Seriously? That was one of the single worst plays I've seen from a defender this world cup. That 'clear' was amateur hour. Just as bad as Stevie Gerrard's 'clear'. That was an assist. Not a clear.

There were two defenders in position on the cross. Either could have made the play. Lack of concentration.

Two awful breakdowns by US defense costs them a chance to go through.
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I can't understand your post at all. I wrote Cameron blew the clearance.
 
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intlzncster said:
I get that; I do understand the reasoning. I would have let Dempsey just stand there. Why bother even chasing? Just camp 10 guys back and call it good. We lost because of lack of focus on the back line (much of which had to do with tiredness.
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Fresh legs up top when you are protecting a lead is huge. That one guy covers half the field by himself trying to chase down clearances and pressure the ball when their defenders are kicking it around. You basically tell him to sprint all over the place for 10 minutes. When teams play with a line forward, they will almost always make a sub there in the last 10 minutes (unless there's a possibility of OT where you might worry about taking your best scorer off the field).

It is very very rare to see center backs replaced late in the second half (when ahead or tied). A forward can take a bad touch while they are getting settled in and you can overcome it. You put someone in cold at center back and you worry about something like what happened on the first goal. A bad touch or a bad read is a goal.
 
iri10 said:
Here's a short clip of the moment of Bradley's turnover. Man, he could have kicked that ball almost anywhere and it would've resulted in a win for the US. Hurts, man. :(
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That was Tate Georgesque.
 
upstater said:
I can't understand your post at all. I wrote Cameron blew the clearance.
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You wrote: "I can't put either goal on the defenders other than to say Cameron had a bad clearance. Ronaldo's ball came from way out. And it's hard to say where it was going to go."

So I was saying that you CAN put the first goal on the defender. My point was that it wasn't just "a bad clearance". That goal was 100% on Cameron (a defender). Whether you meant it or not, your post reads as though, "ah, it was just a bad touch...it happens." That is a ball that has to be cleared 100% of the time. Your statement would have been closer to the truth if you said it was one of the worst defensive plays in the history of American soccer (note: I'm not saying that it was).

On the second point. Ronaldo's cross came from way out, yes. But the defenders, who were flanking Varela, had just as much opportunity to see the cross as Varela did. It should have been cleared.
 
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Gurleyman said:
Fresh legs up top when you are protecting a lead is huge. That one guy covers half the field by himself trying to chase down clearances and pressure the ball when their defenders are kicking it around. You basically tell him to sprint all over the place for 10 minutes. When teams play with a line forward, they will almost always make a sub there in the last 10 minutes (unless there's a possibility of OT where you might worry about taking your best scorer off the field).

It is very very rare to see center backs replaced late in the second half (when ahead or tied). A forward can take a bad touch while they are getting settled in and you can overcome it. You put someone in cold at center back and you worry about something like what happened on the first goal. A bad touch or a bad read is a goal.
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I've personally never been a huge proponent of the chase and harry technique. Let them kick it around in the back and waste time. Clog the middle and create a clusterf_ck whenever they try to move it forward. Heck, we would have been better served by simply clearing full field.

I'm aware of the second point, and you are not wrong. But the back line cost us the game (along with a garbage play from Bradley--that Vine depresses me). Which is why I would have liked to see Yedlin go back, as he was warmed up.
 
intlzncster said:
He never plays D. After our 2nd goal, he should have been relegated to the bench. Cameron and Beckerman should have been on the pine then too.
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can't say much for beckerman and cameron i though they were good, but bradley two games in a row just jogging on defense... if those two are going to play like that(beckerman and bradley in the center) we need another fwrd up top with dempsey to get the ball or get the ball and turn and attack because beckerman and bradley cant... but not with germany they have so many weapons and play so smoothly idk what to do now... need to recoup and think
 
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huskiesouth said:
I m completely winging this but if there is a draw I would think Germany would be winner of group based on total goal differential - but that is a total guess.
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Ah, you are right, my bad. That said, I don't see Germany risking it by laying back. They will play to win.
 
Yeah, I'm probably a little irrational right now. A bit drunk, and frankly, gutted. But I'll be surprised if the US goes through now. Mainly, it's due to the fact that I believe Portugal is the worst team in this group (as they are currently constituted and playing).

Hence, Ghana will beat Portugal; the unknown is the margin of victory. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ghana crush Portugal.

I also think that Germany will win the game against the US; the unknown is the margin of victory.

It will be tough to make it through with those two results.
 
huskyharry said:
Incredible match. Have to agree, Bradley not moving to get that pass set it up...but perfect pass by Ronaldo.
USA has a quality team but will need to play their best to have a chance to tie Germany.
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Not to pick on you in particular, as I think you are in the majority, but...
The idea that Germany is so much better than the USA, as the above comments seem to suggest, is plain wrong. You are absolutely right, the USA has a quality team. The USA plays very good soccer ("in my country they call it 'futbal'";)). They create chances and play with spirit and skill. Their defense is suspect at times, but otherwise, they are very good. There is a misconception, I think, that the USA is not on the same level as the other "name" teams. I do not buy it. It makes no difference that "there is no USA player good enough to make the German team". It is meaningless. Furthermore, things change. I have seen Costa Rica, Algeria, Iran, Australia, the USA and my eyes tell me a different story. There is a new age of soccer ahead of us.

As for today's game, Cameron screwed up in the beginning and Bradley in the end. I was upset the referee gave 5 minutes of stoppage. It was too much IMO.
 
intlzncster said:
Yeah, I'm probably a little irrational right now. A bit drunk, and frankly, gutted. But I'll be surprised if the US goes through now. Mainly, it's due to the fact that I believe Portugal is the worst team in this group (as they are currently constituted and playing).

Hence, Ghana will beat Portugal; the unknown is the margin of victory. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ghana crush Portugal.

I also think that Germany will win the game against the US; the unknown is the margin of victory.

It will be tough to make it through with those two results.
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I do not think Germany will beat the USA. On the contrary, if Germany is willing to risk beating the USA, they will lose.
 
intlzncster said:
You wrote: "I can't put either goal on the defenders other than to say Cameron had a bad clearance. Ronaldo's ball came from way out. And it's hard to say where it was going to go."

So I was saying that you CAN put the first goal on the defender. My point was that it wasn't just "a bad clearance". That goal was 100% on Cameron (a defender). Whether you meant it or not, your post reads as though, "ah, it was just a bad touch...it happens." That is a ball that has to be cleared 100% of the time. Your statement would have been closer to the truth if you said it was one of the worst defensive plays in the history of American soccer (note: I'm not saying that it was).

On the second point. Ronaldo's cross came from way out, yes. But the defenders, who were flanking Varela, had just as much opportunity to see the cross as Varela did. It should have been cleared.
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I can't see where in the world we disagree on Cameron. The first post I responded to criticized the defenders on that goal. I didn't think anyone was at fault other than Cameron. You seem to disagree?

On the Ronaldo cross, there are times when things are so perfectly done that you tip your hat. You can't expect a defender to be perfectly positioned n those situations.
 
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housekeys said:
Not to pick on you in particular, as I think you are in the majority, but...
The idea that Germany is so much better than the USA, as the above comments seem to suggest, is plain wrong. You are absolutely right, the USA has a quality team. The USA plays very good soccer ("in my country they call it 'futbal'";)). They create chances and play with spirit and skill. Their defense is suspect at times, but otherwise, they are very good. There is a misconception, I think, that the USA is not on the same level as the other "name" teams. I do not buy it. It makes no difference that "there is no USA player good enough to make the German team". It is meaningless. Furthermore, things change. I have seen Costa Rica, Algeria, Iran, Australia, the USA and my eyes tell me a different story. There is a new age of soccer ahead of us.
As for today's game, Cameron screwed up in the beginning and Bradley in the end. I was upset the referee gave 5 minutes of stoppage. It was too much IMO.
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This is the problem though. The US back line is not strong. Germany's attack is so deadly, far superior to Portugals (even with one of the top 2 players in the world); they run Mueller, Ozil, Khedira and crew at you and it's tough to stop. Khedira hasn't even played his best yet. Then if they want, they can bring Podalski, Schweinsteiger, and the great Miroslav Klose in to continue pummeling you. They are fit and athletic, just like the US.

I don't particularly fear their defense though. If we can get two goals, we should stand a good chance to tie.

I will be elated to be wrong. I'm going to go sulk now.
 
upstater said:
I can't see where in the world we disagree on Cameron. The first post I responded to criticized the defenders on that goal. I didn't think anyone was at fault other than Cameron. You seem to disagree?

On the Ronaldo cross, there are times when things are so perfectly done that you tip your hat. You can't expect a defender to be perfectly positioned n those situations.
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I'm not fired up at you or anything. I guess I would have phrased it differently than "I can't put either goal on the defenders other than to say Cameron had a bad clearance".
 
iri10 said:
Here's a short clip of the moment of Bradley's turnover. Man, he could have kicked that ball almost anywhere and it would've resulted in a win for the US. Hurts, man. :(

https://vine.co/v/MTlw9hwUAva
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You know, that was a foul. Notice that Bradley is first to the ball and posses it (even though he does not touch it), the Portuguese player makes no contact with the ball, but pushes Bradley off, allowing him to gain possession. If they reached the ball at the same time, or there was contact with the ball, the same time, I would see it different.

Of course, it should never come to that. That is the pisser.
 
intlzncster said:
I've personally never been a huge proponent of the chase and harry technique. Let them kick it around in the back and waste time. Clog the middle and create a clusterf_ck whenever they try to move it forward. Heck, we would have been better served by simply clearing full field. I'm aware of the second point, and you are not wrong. But the back line cost us the game (along with a garbage play from Bradley). Which is why I would have liked to see Yedlin go back, as he was warmed up.
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You still want to put the trailing team under a little bit of token pressure just to kill some time. And if you clear the ball out of your box and your one guy up top can be the first one to it, he may be able to clear it all the way downfield or draw a foul and then you can kill 30 more seconds to a minute and take a breather. You're basically having one guy do the work of 2 or 3 up top and giving players some sort of target when they clear it. Abandoning all the space up to the top of your defensive third and not even fighting for clearances just means balls continually pinged into the box, and the more chances for a crazy bounce or hand ball or something going wrong.

If we replaced a center back late in the game for something other than an injury, it would be the first time I've ever seen it. Although we could have blamed it on conditions and aomeone being too fatigued to continue. The closest I've seen is a team putting a mid in for a center back and having a defensive mid who is already warn and into the flow of the game, slide back to center back. Not sure if Jones or Beckerman could do that.
 
housekeys said:
You know, that was a foul. Notice that Bradley is first to the ball and posses it (even though he does not touch it), the Portuguese player makes no contact with the ball, but pushes Bradley off, allowing him to gain possession. If they reached the ball at the same time, or there was contact with the ball, the same time, I would see it different.

Of course, it should never come to that. That is the pisser.
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It was a foul but why isn't he blasting the ball away before it even gets to that?
 
Gurleyman said:
You still want to put the trailing team under a little bit of token pressure just to kill some time. And if you clear the ball out of your box and your one guy up top can be the first one to it, he may be able to clear it all the way downfield or draw a foul and then you can kill 30 more seconds to a minute and take a breather. You're basically having one guy do the work of 2 or 3 up top and giving players some sort of target when they clear it. Abandoning all the space up to the top of your defensive third and not even fighting for clearances just means balls continually pinged into the box, and the more chances for a crazy bounce or hand ball or something going wrong.

If we replaced a center back late in the game for something other than an injury, it would be the first time I've ever seen it. Although we could have blamed it on conditions and aomeone being too fatigued to continue. The closest I've seen is a team putting a mid in for a center back and having a defensive mid who is already warn and into the flow of the game, slide back to center back. Not sure if Jones or Beckerman could do that.
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The thing is, Portugal had no one strong in the box who could go over the top. Ronaldo is a little weak when it comes to that. When you pack it in like say a Greece would do in that situation, the way to make a team pay for doing that is to keep going for a header. But who on Portugal can threaten like that?
 
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upstater said:
It was a foul but why isn't he blasting the ball away before it even gets to that?
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Exactly, that is what I meant by it should not come to that (hoping to get a call from the ref). He absolutely should have blasted it out. In retrospect, I am sure he would agree.
 
Gurleyman said:
If we replaced a center back late in the game for something other than an injury, it would be the first time I've ever seen it. Although we could have blamed it on conditions and aomeone being too fatigued to continue. The closest I've seen is a team putting a mid in for a center back and having a defensive mid who is already warn and into the flow of the game, slide back to center back. Not sure if Jones or Beckerman could do that.
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Heck, he seems to be able to do everything else, so why not?
 
I think I'm starting to calm down. Not sure though.
 
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