OT: World Cup | Page 22 | The Boneyard

OT: World Cup

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I'm pretty sure I could watch 90 minutes of the camera focused entirely on Miguel Herrera. Most entertaining coach at this tournament.
 
Pudge said:
The Klinnsmann pick up of 5 German kids shows that America has reach beyond MLS and our College system. In the future, I expect that we could see a lot of good young kids through our system; far more insuring future better teams than England.

Then ... I think MLS - after what I am watching & feeling - is a good buy. Buy a Franchise here. It's not going to be $2B like the Clippers & you are bound to see upside as there WILL be more soccer on TV. (think it costs $50m for a MLS franchise).

I think I read 32% of the EPL are English today. And not a lot of kids go to other leagues because of pay. Doesn't seem their Apprenticeship system is promoting speed and solid kids. I think the Central, South, African countries all have more impressive athletes. With skill.
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Agreed on money. If a kid can't grow up to think he'll be rich and famous from soccer (or at least make a great living), it's more difficult to get the youth movement committed for the long haul.

I personally love the fact that JK has gone overseas to poach players. It's about time. I'm thankful he has the clout to convince them to play for the USMNT. Other countries do this all the time, including many of the best teams. How many Brazilians have you seen playing on National Teams around the world. A fair number in my time watching.

On England, even their transcendent guys from this generation haven't panned out on the international stage. Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard....not great results.

Let's face it, there aren't a ton of world class English athletes (in soccer). Some great, great players, but nobody you'd mistake for a . Gareth Bale was born too far to the left.
 
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djct1999 said:
Couldn't disagree more. If Germany and the US tie, Germany wins the group. The question to me is how aggressive does the US come out and play. Usually in a decisive game 3 where a tie advances both teams, you will net a nil-nil result. Germany will almost certainly sit back, play conservatively, and by the 70th minute, have its 3 key players on the bench resting. The wild card for once is us.
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You're welcome to disagree. But we'll see on Thurdsay if you're right. I've NEVER in my life seen Germany play for a tie. Literally NEVER. And why would a team play for the tie when they feel they are the superior team on the field? But hey...I've been wrong before...
 
intlzncster said:
I'm pretty sure I could watch 90 minutes of the camera focused entirely on Miguel Herrera. Most entertaining coach at this tournament.
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“He asked me for a photo,” wrote Herrera. “I don’t know who he is … but I made the kid’s day.”
 
One of the great and truly astounding indicators of the growth of the game with the American sporting public is that there were 200,000 World Cup tickets bought by Americans(per FIFA). Far and away the largest allotment. And when you combine that with number of packed(with hysterical American fans) city centers with large screen TVs across this country and in Rio(by the way), it is testimony of the "love" for the game that is developing border to border. Granted the World Cup is a hyper-example for lack of a better term; but "football" is here to stay thank God. The international passion that comes along with it not only energizes the game but brings us all closer together( if only for awhile).

GO USA!!!
BEAT GERMANY!!!
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UConn Hoops1 said:
One of the great and truly astounding indicators of the growth of the game with the American sporting public is that there were 200,000 World Cup tickets bought by Americans(per FIFA). Far and away the largest allotment. And when you combine that with number of packed(with hysterical American fans) city centers with large screen TVs across this country and in Rio(by the way), it is testimony of the "love" for the game that is developing border to border. Granted the World Cup is a hyper-example for lack of a better term; but "football" is here to stay thank God. The international passion that comes along with it not only energizes the game but brings us all closer together( if only for awhile).
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Both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roberto Martinez said they were astounded by scenes of US support. It lead them to conclude that US Soccer has arrived and will only take off in popularity from here.

I give ESPN a lot of (deserved) on here, but I will say one thing, when they decide to support a sport (in there own interest obv), it plays a significant part in that sports growth nationally. It's definitely helped soccer over the past 5-10 years.
 
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the man! Love this dude, brings it every night!
 

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intlzncster said:
True, but I'll be more happy to have Altidore back. I'm hoping he'll be able to go. That said, if he can only play one half at less than his normal work rate, that could hinder the US more than help. I miss Brian McBride.

I'd most rather have help on the back line though.
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I was thinking about that back line, but the twp studs were Pope and Sanneh. Besler and Johnson are pretty good replacements for them. I wouldn't want Agoos.
What this team needs is another creative attacker, but a world-class target man like McBride wouldn't hurt.
 
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intlzncster said:
I don't think he even bothered to pay attention on D yesterday, never mind put forth the effort to play some.
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I streamed the game in terrible quality and got about 20 minutes of the second half. In that time I saw Bradley dispossess Portuguese midfielders twice in our defensive third. I'm not sure I agree with all the Bradley criticism. The reason he doesn't look dominant is because it's Portugal. Guy played a great game.
 
breezy said:
I streamed the game in terrible quality and got about 20 minutes of the second half. In that time I saw Bradley dispossess Portuguese midfielders twice in our defensive third. I'm not sure I agree with all the Bradley criticism. The reason he doesn't look dominant is because it's Portugal. Guy played a great game.
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Ok, so you admit you didn't see most of the game? There was a stretch where he played well, but it was made completely irrelevant in context of the total game. At the end of the day, he was one of the 4 worst players for the US against Portugal. Maybe even number 2 behind Cameron (who only gets it because of gaffs).

There were times when Bradley literally jogged and let offensive players run right by him for attacking chances. He missed one of the bunny's of the tournament. His lack of headiness about game situation resulted in Portugal's final goal as well. It's possible to go on and on, but it's beating a dead horse at this point.

Remember, this is our center midfielder and supposedly one of our top players. A guy who lives off his ability to pass and posses properly. Yet he's one of the bottom 5 or so right now of the starters in WC play.
 
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Bradley covered more ground than anyone else in the game last night, by literally a kilometer. He made some bad plays, but after running 7.6 miles in 90+ degree heat and 90+ percent humidity, he probably wasn't at his best, and I'm not surprised that he got pushed off that ball at the end. Given that Jurgen had another sub available, I would have liked to have seen Mix there.
 
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I don't think that Germany will pull a West Germany-Austria with us. But I do think that there are certain conditions where they will dial down the intensity level and be content to coast it out.

If Germany goes up 2-0, I think they start subbing out their important players and taking their foot off the gas. Not that that helps the US; if we lose 2-0 we have a good chance of being out of the World Cup.

If the game is tied at 1-1, 2-2, or what have you after 75 or 80 minutes, I think they stop making strong moves on offense, especially if the US has already managed to burn them on counters for our own goals.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Isn't this game the reason why the final group matches now start at the same time?
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Exactly. And that's why it really hasn't happened since. And there's also the thing about not wanting to finish second in the group to make the next round twice as hard. And there's also the thing about Germany feeling like they are twice as good as us, which would make playing for the tie unthinkable in their minds. But hey, I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. We'll all see how it goes down on Thursday...
 
intlzncster said:
Ok, so you admit you didn't see most of the game? There was a stretch where he played well, but it was made completely irrelevant in context of the total game. At the end of the day, he was one of the 4 worst players for the US against Portugal. Maybe even number 2 behind Cameron (who only gets it because of gaffs). There were times when Bradley literally jogged and let offensive players run right by him for attacking chances. He missed one of the bunny's of the tournament. His lack of headiness about game situation resulted in Portugal's final goal as well. It's possible to go on and on, but it's beating a dead horse at this point. Remember, this is our center midfielder and supposedly one of our top players. A guy who lives off his ability to pass and posses properly. Yet he's one of the bottom 5 or so right now of the starters in WC play.
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I'm not sure I "admit" to anything, but I said I only saw 20 minutes. Against Ghana jones coughed it up multiple times in the midfield. A midfielder has good and bad touches because they have lots of touches and the U.S. is asking Bradley to do more than any other player and he's doing it. Maybe he doesn't have any points but his positioning and dictation is critical, and it'd be naive to think we'd have 4 points in this group without him.
 
I don't see how people are blaming the last goal on Bradley. He barely had a chance to control that ball before Eder shoulder checked him. There were many far more egregious defensive mistakes by other player that people are forgetting because they didn't result in beautiful goals assisted by the world's best player.
 
Leebo said:
I don't see how people are blaming the last goal on Bradley. He barely had a chance to control that ball before Eder shoulder checked him. There were many far more egregious defensive mistakes by other player that people are forgetting because they didn't result in beautiful goals assisted by the world's best player.
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He had plenty of time/space to control that ball. He fumbled the trap. That said a lot more went wrong after that, but if he controls that ball the match is likely over.
 
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I dunno, I've read that he picked it up with his hands and laid it down in front of Ronaldo...
 
UConnDan97 said:
Exactly. And that's why it really hasn't happened since. And there's also the thing about not wanting to finish second in the group to make the next round twice as hard. And there's also the thing about Germany feeling like they are twice as good as us, which would make playing for the tie unthinkable in their minds. But hey, I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. We'll all see how it goes down on Thursday...
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Germany finishes first in group with a draw. They have nothing to gain by trying to win.
 
Leebo said:
I don't see how people are blaming the last goal on Bradley. He barely had a chance to control that ball before Eder shoulder checked him. There were many far more egregious defensive mistakes by other player that people are forgetting because they didn't result in beautiful goals assisted by the world's best player.
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Time of the game. The last minute is not like the middle of the game. In that last minute, you blast the ball away. No reason to do what he did.
 
intlzncster said:
Ok, so you admit you didn't see most of the game? There was a stretch where he played well, but it was made completely irrelevant in context of the total game. At the end of the day, he was one of the 4 worst players for the US against Portugal. Maybe even number 2 behind Cameron (who only gets it because of gaffs).

There were times when Bradley literally jogged and let offensive players run right by him for attacking chances. He missed one of the bunny's of the tournament. His lack of headiness about game situation resulted in Portugal's final goal as well. It's possible to go on and on, but it's beating a dead horse at this point.

Remember, this is our center midfielder and supposedly one of our top players. A guy who lives off his ability to pass and posses properly. Yet he's one of the bottom 5 or so right now of the starters in WC play.
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Disagree with this and I did see the whole game. I thought he was our worst player against Ghana, but among the best against Porugal. His play did slip in the second half, but he played a strong two way game, getting ahead when needed and coming back frequently to disrupt the counters from Portugal. He did look gassed by the end, and hence the lazy play that lead to the final goal, but to be fair, the whole team gave up, thinking it was over.
 
upstater said:
Time of the game. The last minute is not like the middle of the game. In that last minute, you blast the ball away. No reason to do what he did.
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I'm thinking of a play by Jones, also in stoppage time, not random plays in the middle of the game. Wasn't there a play where he just straight up gives it with a bad pass to Portugal that resulted in a chance? But he's forgiven because it didn't create a goal, while Bradley's is unforgivable because it did.

I also see it as a 20:20 hindsight thing. Imagine he blasts it out of bounds, and then Portugal scores on the throw in. Everyone can then go "Why didn't he just keep it and run out the clock?"
 
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intlzncster said:
I give ESPN a lot of (deserved) on here, but I will say one thing, when they decide to support a sport (in there own interest obv), it plays a significant part in that sports growth nationally. It's definitely helped soccer over the past 5-10 years.
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One thing they did right was to stop foisting clueless American announcers on us. Something Fox hasn't learned yet.
 
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