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USSoccer

By USSoccer,
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USSoccer

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I was going to post this today. Deuce is [expletive]. They respect him a ton over there.

 

Adu is going to end up at Aris with EJ. He just needs some tick anywhere at this point.

 

Did anyone else check out the commercial SBI had up with LD in a sombrero and Zapata moustache? Fricking hilarious.

 

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t84/ussoccermvp/video-1.jpg

wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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what a beauty.

 

If there's a chance Clint plays at this level during the World Cup, I think the US has a great chance to do some damage.

It's all down to Hodgson & the freedom he allows Clint. Allegedly there was an exchange between Clint & Bradley Sr. after the group stage match v Brazil at the Confed's Cup where Clint raised some of his frustrations. After that we saw the results, 3 goals in 3 matches, the highest Castrol Rating in the tournament iirc, 2 wins and the Bronze Ball. Hopefully it's a thing that continues.

USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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what a beauty.

 

If there's a chance Clint plays at this level during the World Cup, I think the US has a great chance to do some damage.

It's all down to Hodgson & the freedom he allows Clint. Allegedly there was an exchange between Clint & Bradley Sr. after the group stage match v Brazil at the Confed's Cup where Clint raised some of his frustrations. After that we saw the results, 3 goals in 3 matches, the highest Castrol Rating in the tournament iirc, 2 wins and the Bronze Ball. Hopefully it's a thing that continues.

 

Fulham also build out of the back very well. Their centerbacks don't just hoof it upfield and bypass the mids. Their center mids are also better than Mikey + whoever at this point.

 

Adu signed with Aris today.

circlechange College Ball

circlechange

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Thats the United I thought we'd see all year.

 

Good for Leeds. Nearly bankrupt a couple years ago.

 

Awesome, I love the FA Cup.

 

When Wayne Rooney is going back to his own 18 to receive the ball, you know your midfield sucks. I think Valencia was a poor signing. Yeah, he has pace, but he's not a consistent league scoring threat. Berba needs good service. Rooney's pressing, trying to carry the team and Owen is a great guy to bring in for offense, but they're lacking a midfield scoring option. Park Ji Sung is a sub on a good team-a poor man's Dirk Kuyt. Giggs has played wonderfully, but Gibson isn't ready, Fletcher isn't consistent enough, Carrick isn't good enough and their defense is patchwork. They are going to struggle to break teams down without an extra attacking option. I know it's an obvious and easy thing to say, but I think maybe United fans overlooked how much Ronaldo carried them the past two seasons. He created so much chaos and saw so much extra marking that it freed a ton of space for everyone else, hiding their weaknesses.

 

I didn't notice if the Duke University grad, Mike Grella, saw the field for Leeds. They're going to be back in the Prem in two years, and good for them.

I haven't been on NSBB in a while but checked in to see the comments on Dawson in the HOF and thought I'd check in on this thread.

 

My thoughts on MU: To be fair, Rooney often tracks that far back for balls. The desire and effort is nice to see but it's maddening at the same time. The midfield is severely lacking, though, I'll agree with that. Valencia's been getting more comfortable and I don't think he was brought it as a scoring threat. He does need another move aside from knock it forward and beat his man for pace, though. Problem is he refuses to use his left leg so cutting inside doesn't work well. Berbatov needs better service and/or better runs around him, and has had some trouble finishing. Rooney is pressing and has had some awful halves this season. Agree about Owen, Park, Carrick (he's gone downhill drastically in 2 years). Giggs has moments of brilliance sandwiched between his own collection of dreadful halves. Gibson is not United quality - great shot on him but I've never seen him do anything else decent and therefore whenever he gets the ball 30 yards out he's looking for the wondergoal. I love Fletcher but he's one of those guys that fans of the team like a lot more than opposition or neutral observers.

 

The back line has been ravaged by injuries, but should be getting some of those guys healthy soon. Long term needs include a GK, too, but they can probably cope in the Prem this year with what they have. I don't anticipate a deep run in the CL, though. Obviously they miss Ronaldo but what they really need is a creative CM.

 

Strange year over there. Seems like Chelsea should be walking away with it but everyone has enough flaws to make the top 6 + Liverpool pretty interesting. Oh, and I watched the entire Leeds game and don't remember hearing the name Grella, but I didn't know he had connections in the US so I wasn't looking out for him either.

wvcbxl ACL Cubs

wvcbxl

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Great start for Africa in 2010, with the Togo National team's bus getting hosed with gunfire on the way to Angola for the ACN.

 

Three people died (the driver, an assistant-coach and a press officer). Several players are slightly injured, and apparently Abdebayor (unhurt) is already on his way back to Manchester (at least, that's what a City official has said)

Togo are contemplating pulling out completely.

Garwilly ACL Cubs

Garwilly

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Great start for Africa in 2010, with the Togo National team's bus getting hosed with gunfire on the way to Angola for the ACN.

 

Three people died (the driver, an assistant-coach and a press officer). Several players are slightly injured, and apparently Abdebayor (unhurt) is already on his way back to Manchester (at least, that's what a City official has said)

Togo are contemplating pulling out completely.

 

 

This report says they have.

 

http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/149216-togo-withdraw-from-african-cup-of-nations/

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Landon Donovan had an assist in a 2-2 tie at Arsenal today.

 

Anyone watch this match and know how Donovan looked?

Mark Priors Calves Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Mark Priors Calves

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Great start for Africa in 2010, with the Togo National team's bus getting hosed with gunfire on the way to Angola for the ACN.

 

Three people died (the driver, an assistant-coach and a press officer). Several players are slightly injured, and apparently Abdebayor (unhurt) is already on his way back to Manchester (at least, that's what a City official has said)

Togo are contemplating pulling out completely.

 

 

This report says they have.

 

http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/149216-togo-withdraw-from-african-cup-of-nations/

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/09/togo-withdraw-africa-cup-of-nations-attack

 

A player, Kodjovi Obilale, now has reportedly died. What a mess. Ghana and Ivory Coast are looking at dropping too.

wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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Landon Donovan had an assist in a 2-2 tie at Arsenal today.

 

Anyone watch this match and know how Donovan looked?

I streamed it. He looked exactly as you'd expect against top-flight European competition. By that I mean to say he looked excellent. I've watched a handful of Everton matches this year and I can say that from what I've seen, his speed up the right flank (he was wide right mid all 68 minutes he played, NOT withdrawn up top or even target man *cough*Kilnssmann is a moron*cough*) brought a dimension to their attack that they've not had. Their bad performance this year is in my opinion down to Arteta's injury and their pathetic back line. And it is pathetic. Poor Timmy. Anyway, Landon didn't fix their back line, but what he did do was open up a ton of space and do some serious class passing from the right. His speed on the right really opened up play for Pienaar, Cahill and Saha. I think Cahill looked better than he has all year with Landon on his flank. Since they can't play through the middle using Arteta, they've been lost without a real stylistic identity. It looked like they had that today. The 2-2 score line flatters to deceive, big time. Everton was by far the better team today.

 

I can tell you one dude who is absolutely not a Landon Donovan fan after today, and that's Armand Traore. He got a heaping helping of Landon's dust for 68 minutes straight until Landon was taken off with a cramp. Understandable in the cold and after such a long layoff.

 

What was most surprising was how at home he looked with the style of play. Landon, being the great white hope/hype that he is for us Nat fans, has had no small amount of speculation on why he never made it in Europe and if he should choose to go back, which league would cater most to his strengths in order to assure most likely success. Popular notion was that Spain would be ideal. The weather, the style etc. Now, I have no doubt he'd do well in Spain, but what I saw today was a Premiership player. He did not mess around. He was fast, he was decisive on the ball, he was physical (for him) and he was direct. You could see he was in lock step with the flow of the game.

 

Now, of course there's every chance he'll flop in subsequent games, but I doubt it. This time last year I was all heated up on him going to Bayern. When he failed it sucked because it tarnished my fondness for that club, as well as Landon. My Landon love was of course restored by the time the Confed's cup rolled around and I was only too happy write off the way things played out in Munich as being down to Klinssmann's being a bad tactician, Bayern's management having too many hands on the beer stein and Landon stepping into an unwelcome situation. I believed all that but there was that nagging little twinge in the back of my mind that it was Landon's fault and he just couldn't hack it. Then of course he ran Egypt ragged, Spain and then Brazil and it became easier and easier to believe that anyone who could put in a shift against international competition like that could surely do it in a top-flight club environment and all recent previous failure was down to forces he could not control. What I saw today went a long way to justify that belief.

 

Now of course, I'm a huge homer and his performance today probably doesn't justify the extended tongue bath I've just given him in this post, but god damn it's nice to be right after so many chances showed otherwise. I feel good for him, I feel good for me and I feel good for Everton. Sean Wheelock, a journalist as close to Landon and the USMNT as you'll ever find and probably the foremost expert on the concacaf region you'll find in our country is adamant that this is a loan, yes, but if Landon makes himself indispensable, it could be more. I hope it is, because it is damn fun watching our guy do it against a team like Arsenal. I can't wait for April 24th when we could conceivably see Landon on Everton's right and Clint on Fulham's left going up and down the pitch. That would be something that's never happened to see probably the two best attacking footballers our country has produced going head-to-head in the best league in the world. That would be special.

 

I should be clear that this wasn't the EPL debut on the level of Fernando Torres or the like, where the guy just whipped it out and told the world to have a little of this and a taste of that, but it was a good, fun game for me to watch. I'll say that for sure. The reason for my excitement is that Landon looked like Landon. He wasn't an unstoppable force of nature, but when is he? His strength is in his speed, his cleverness and his vision. All of that was on display today and mostly, he looked like he belonged from the go. There was no adjustment period. There is no work in progress. Today, right now, he belongs as a well above average premiership player without any qualifications that we've had to use in the past. "Oh they just aren't using him right. Oh he looked bad there but in that one exchange he looked great." None of that necessary for the first time in his club career outside of the friendly confines of MLS.

 

David Moyes enjoyed him some Landon Donovan.

Landon's Thoughts

Player Ratings - Landon Top

Soccernet's Kevin Palmer sees how Landon shines.

NoShortCorners with the full package including some Landoncentric highlights and some other notes.

 

The Guardian

Although Everton's gritty nature provided the foundation, there was much craft to admire too. With Louis Saha's clever runs and Cahill's waspish presence augmented extremely well by the expert dribbling of Landon Donovan, Everton caused Arsenal serious concern from the off. Moyes was more than satisfied with a classy debut from the American, who was withdrawn after 75 minutes of endeavour. "He cramped up," said his manager. "After four weeks of holidays and four days training with us he played really well. I think the weather played a part. He is just back from Hawaii." Brrrr.

 

The only shock to the system, though, afflicted Arsenal, as Everton took the lead in the 12th minute. Donovan floated in an enticing corner, and Leon Osman leapt prodigiously above William Gallas and thumped in a header.

Edited by wolf stansson
USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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Awesome work Wolf.

 

I'd add that Donovan looked more tentative in the first half than in the second, and if Louis Saha could figure out first how to pass, and second, that Landon is faster than anyone else on Everton, he would have had a goal today.

 

My only caveat was that Arsenal is the perfect team to debut against if you're Landon. I want to see him respond when Stoke or Sunderland start beating and hacking him.

 

Overall, I think Wolf is dead on. He showed he belongs there. Not in a Torres way or anything, but he was absolutely not out of his depth. It's going to be a fun 10 weeks.

 

Finally, at Bayern the problem was that Klinsi was a poor tactician (makes Low look much better in retrospect in 2006) and that even then, LD can't be faulted for that team running everything down Ribery's side of the field no matter what. FC Hollywood was the worst fit at the worst time, but it clearly lit a fire under him.

wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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Those Bayern league games where he subbed in were some of the most shocking tactical set ups I've ever seen. By that I mean that there were no tactics. One game Landon came on and the lineup was:

 

-----Lucio----DiMichelis---

 

--Schweinsteiger--Lahm--ZeRoberto--Landon--Toni--Klose--Van Buyten--Ribery--

 

There were the two centerbacks and then a 6 and under indoor league swarm the ball mob of attackers and Van Buyten and Lahm playing as forwards with the rest of the pack. Weirdest thing I've ever seen.

sweetpeteman Chicago Cubs

sweetpeteman

Old-Timey Member
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Great start for Africa in 2010, with the Togo National team's bus getting hosed with gunfire on the way to Angola for the ACN.

 

Three people died (the driver, an assistant-coach and a press officer). Several players are slightly injured, and apparently Abdebayor (unhurt) is already on his way back to Manchester (at least, that's what a City official has said)

Togo are contemplating pulling out completely.

 

 

This report says they have.

 

http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/149216-togo-withdraw-from-african-cup-of-nations/

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/09/togo-withdraw-africa-cup-of-nations-attack

 

A player, Kodjovi Obilale, now has reportedly died. What a mess. Ghana and Ivory Coast are looking at dropping too.

 

 

 

According to ESPN, the Togo players have voted to play, in order to honor the ''memory of the dead.''

 

 

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=723184&sec=global&cc=5901

wvcbxl ACL Cubs

wvcbxl

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
Great start for Africa in 2010, with the Togo National team's bus getting hosed with gunfire on the way to Angola for the ACN.

 

Three people died (the driver, an assistant-coach and a press officer). Several players are slightly injured, and apparently Abdebayor (unhurt) is already on his way back to Manchester (at least, that's what a City official has said)

Togo are contemplating pulling out completely.

 

 

This report says they have.

 

http://sport.stv.tv/world-sport/149216-togo-withdraw-from-african-cup-of-nations/

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/09/togo-withdraw-africa-cup-of-nations-attack

 

A player, Kodjovi Obilale, now has reportedly died. What a mess. Ghana and Ivory Coast are looking at dropping too.

 

 

 

According to ESPN, the Togo players have voted to play, in order to honor the ''memory of the dead.''

 

 

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=723184&sec=global&cc=5901

 

According to this BBC report, the government of Togo officially withdrew the team from the competition, but the players will play anyway. No confirmation of Obilale's death either.

 

Stay tuned ....

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