The Soccer Thread

[Jon]

There's a reason you don't see the wave with 70,000 people in the US.

[wolf stansson]

They didn't show it but Marquez took a cleat to Onyewu leg while he was on the ground.

Like I said earlier; vagina.

[TruffleShuffle]

sounds like i am missing a well-officiated game

[shnsajax]

They didn't show it but Marquez took a cleat to Onyewu leg while he was on the ground.

Like I said earlier; vagina.

 

His little hair do says it for you.

[Jon]

Disappointing effort.

[shnsajax]

Disappointing effort.

 

The midfield play was sloppy and the marking in the corners at the back was bad. The back has to work on getting stronger off of set pieces. Allowing two goals to a full back both off of set pieces is just horrible. Altidore outplayed both Dempsey and Bradley which was disappointing. Then again Dempsey was screwed.

[wolf stansson]

Beasley and Cherundolo were sorely missed. Clark is not a National team caliber midfielder with all the players we have. Altidore is class. Dempsey scored, we actually won this game 3-2.

[Guest]

I really, really despite Mexico.

[USSoccer]

My first instinct reactions:

 

-Bobby Convey played an awful, awful game. I still think he's a useful member of a 22 man WC squad, a backup mid, but he sucked. How much of that was due to him, and how much of it was due to...

 

-Drew Moor is TERRIBLE. Why the hell BB decided it was a good idea to play 2 MLS scrubs, one of whom hasn't played a USMNT game of note since like 2004, is beyond me. Corrales and Moor were so, so terrible. It's getting to the point where we need to think long and hard about converting someone (DMB) to play one of the wing back spots. Mexico's ability to exploit the wings affected everything else that happened.

 

-Gooch and Boca played well, considering they were under siege most of the game.

 

-Our midfield overall was total crap. Donovan vanished completely during the 2nd half-what a passive, meek effort after what I though was a good 1st half. Michael Bradley was so, so terrible. Bad decision after bad decision, made up for only by a lot of effort tracking back to clean up his own screwups. Rico Clark wasn't good, either. BB needs to figure out his midfield ASAP, because this ain't going to cut it. Edu and Benny were meh. I saw a lot of the same problems out of them as I saw from MB and Clark. Either Mexico was so dominant in the middle that it didn't matter, or all 4 guys were really off.

 

-Jozy was very, very good. I don't have to elaborate because he is absolutely going to be the real deal. Also, I don't care what John Harkes says; Clint Dempsey played very well. Not because he's my guy, but because he made something out of nothing every time the ball came near him, and he had a goal criminaly disallowed. Freddy Adu was NOT ready for this game. He didn't look good at all.

 

Overall, this game feels like a loss, and a very telling one at that. To have led twice, and given up equalizers on set pieces AND to have been pretty much owned in the midfield makes me very nervous about WCQ. Mexico has some players coming up that are going to be very worrisome. Imagine Vela, Castillo, Bautista (he was probably the MOTM tonight), Guardado and Dos Santos all on the field at once? Sheesh.

 

They were the better side tonight by far. BB needs to take note and adjust accordingly.

[wolf stansson]

The only positive that can be taken is that not only was Jozy our man of the match, but he was man of the match against an elite defender who was marking him the whole time. He got the better of Marquez.

 

I like the idea of Trying out Edu or DMB in the back.

 

----------------------Jozy-------------------

--------Dempsey-------------Adu--------------

 

---Feilhaber/whoever---Bradley---Donovan

 

-----DMB---Boca---Gooch---Cherundolo-----

 

-----------------timmy-------------------------

[USSoccer]

The only positive that can be taken is that not only was Jozy our man of the match, but he was man of the match against an elite defender who was marking him the whole time. He got the better of Marquez.

 

I like the idea of Trying out Edu or DMB in the back.

 

----------------------Jozy-------------------

--------Dempsey-------------Adu--------------

 

---Feilhaber/whoever---Bradley---Donovan

 

-----DMB---Boca---Gooch---Cherundolo-----

 

-----------------timmy-------------------------

 

I think DMB's pace and work rate would serve him well as a back.

 

BTW, two blown calls cost the US 2 goals tonight. Dempsey was on, I don't give a crap what the linesman saw, and Bocanegra cleared the ball off of the Mexican played and it was inexplicably called a corner, upon which Magellon scored his 2nd.

 

I really don't think Adu is ready to start. He really looked out of his depth.

 

I suppose it's nice that we drew 2-2 despite how poorly our mids and wing backs played, but I'm still dissapointed.

[USSoccer]

FYI, Seth, the ref is named Carlos Batre, and he's hosed the USMNT before. Keep an eye out for him in qualifying.

[brinoch]

cleats up on the keeper? I would have elbow dropped him.

 

I've done more to forwards for less.

[brinoch]

FYI, Seth, the ref is named Carlos Batre, and he's hosed the USMNT before. Keep an eye out for him in qualifying.

 

I believe he's Guatemalan. Whatever. It doesn't matter. He was awful. He cost the US two goals and actually called the ridiculous, whiny dives by the Ital... I mean Mexican players. I swear, we need only Canadian or Caribbean refs against Mexico or we get hosed.

[sethuel1]

I agree that Adu didn't show a whole lot after he came on, but i think that's more a product of the fact that Jozy and Landon were both very tired and not running much. Adu basically tried to take everyone on every time he got the ball. He did do an incredible job to win the last gasp free kick, where he basically decided to make a run until he got fouled, and did so perfectly.

 

I would like to see a central midfield of Bradley and Edu, I think. I certainly expected more out of Bradley tonight considering his form at Heerenveen this year, and was disappointed. Clark, while he has shown flashes of being a decent midfield controller, doesn't have the passing ability of Maurice Edu.

 

Drew Moor blows. Blows, blows, blows. Blows. I can't believe he got abused on EXACTLY the same run by EXACTLY the same player twice. horrific.

 

Corrales actually isn't an MLS scrub. he plays in Norway. In no way does that take away from the fact that he's still a scrub. When Dos Santos picked that ball up in the 85th or so minute and drew that ugly Dan Califf-style foul and yellow card from Corrales, i recall thinking that that was actually the best possible play Corrales could have done in that situation.

 

I thought Feilhaber looked very good, especially considering the circumstances in which he came in and the manner in which his club season has unfolded this year. He had a good touch and displays a much better sense for where opposing players are around him than do any other US mids.

 

Boca and Gooch were both pretty good, i thought.

 

Timmy was excellent, as always. No fault on either of the two goals, as those were pretty much entirely on Moor. Bonus points for absolutely abusing that mexican forward that slide-tackled him.

 

I spoke about Convey already, but I would just like to reiterate that he sucks. At this point I would seriously put him on the same plane as Justin mapp. He was sooooooo slllloooooowwww with every single one of his moves, it was incredibly painful to watch. A "1v1" (thanks, John Harkes! ***hole!) match between him and Dan Califf would result in both players eventually giving up and going to sleep on the pitch..

 

Jozy rocks. He actually had marquez beat a couple of other times, which of course resulted in Marquez falling down to draw the foul like he always does. I swear to God, if Rafa Marquez played for Juve it would be a match made in heaven. Anyway, back to jozy. powerful, decisive, has some great moves (did you notice toward the end of the first half he got stuck out wide after bringing down a long pass and juked the hell out of Mexico's left back?) Just awesome. We have a target forward for years and years to come, and a player who in my mind is a virtual lock to break Donovan's eventual scoring record, whatever it is.

 

We need some wide fullbacks like nothing else. Sweet god.

 

Ok, I'm done for now.

[sethuel1]

 

BTW, two blown calls cost the US 2 goals tonight. Dempsey was on, I don't give a crap what the linesman saw, and Bocanegra cleared the ball off of the Mexican played and it was inexplicably called a corner, upon which Magellon scored his 2nd.

 

The first mexican goal was on a set piece from a complete BS "oh I lost the ball guess I'll dive!"-type play that we saw, oh, only about every 30 seconds, so i'd say he gave Mexico both of their goals in addition to taking Dempsey's away.

 

The fact that the US was called for significantly more fouls than Mexico is unbelievably laughable.

[brinoch]

I really think Spector would have been a fine addition to this team on the right. Certainly, he wouldn't have made gasping boo-boo's like Moor. Why not try Parkhurst on the wing? I also think Marvell Wynne could be the answer (eventually) to one of our problems.

[sethuel1]

I'd like to see Frank Simek get another crack. He's looked very solid every time I've seen him.

 

Ok, definitely going to bed now.

[Guest]

About the Dempsey goal that got called off, did you guys not watch the halftime show? They showed a replay and on the initial ball forward to Dempsey, he was offsides. It wasn't by much, but he was. I also saw it briefly when it actually happened but when the ball was played forward, the linesman raised his flag immediately. It was the right call and Dempsey was offsides. That being said, it was a ridiculous play anyway by Dempsey.

 

As for the rest of the team, I thought the US played an average at best match and was lucky to have earned a draw. Mexico did a majority of the attacking, especially in the first half, and if it wasn't for those 10-15 minutes in the first half when the US got their two goals. Also, I was terrified anytime Mexico made a cross/had a corner/had a free kick where they were going to cross the ball. This was the exact opposite from when the US made a cross where I didn't really have much hope of anything happening.

 

As far as players:

 

Goalie: Howard was fine and like seth said, the goals weren't his fault.

 

Defense: Moor, with this one match, is pretty much the equivalent of Kwame Brown to me. If he never suits up in a US uniform in a meaningful match again (and yes, any match vs. Mexico is meaningful), it will be too soon. It is completely and totally unacceptable to get beat twice on crosses by the same guy. That was crap. The only thing he did right was the cross to Altidore for the second goal. That's it. Gooch and Bocanegra were fine and didn't really do much for me either way. No mistakes and, outside of Gooch's goal, nothing special either. Corrales was pretty meh. Didn't do much but didn't completely blow it like Moor did and that was really the only difference between the two.

 

Midfield: Somebody apparently forgot to tell Landon Donovan that he was playing Mexico because he was pretty much invisible for the entire match save for his cross to Gooch for the first goal. Clark and Convey stunk (I know, big surprise in Convey's case) and Bradley was pretty meh. Bradley was along with the Boca/Gooch line of nothing good or bad either way.

 

Forward: Dempsey didn't do a ton for me. Again, nothing good (except for the disallowed goal) but nothing bad either. I was pretty impressed with Altidore especially considering it was his first start for the national team.

 

Subs: Adu/Edu/Feilhaber/Lewis didn't really do much either way.

 

Overall, I would say Mexico deserved the win because they did play better than the US did in the whole game.

 

Oh, and GET DREW MOOR OUT OF THERE!!

[USSoccer]

You're wrong about Dempsey in both respects. His shoulder was barely off on a long ball from his end, and his body was even. That play is supposed to go to the advantage of the attacking player, per FIFA. Secondly, the ref chose to let play continue, which FIFA also allows for, and didn't even reach for his whistle until after the ball was in the net. He had at least 10 seconds to blow the play dead after it was clear Clint possesed the ball, and didn't. That's poor officiating. Also, considering that Clint played 95% of the game with his back to goal and with horrible service, he did very well to win most everything that came his way. He and Jozy make a good offensive pairing.

[stuy119]

My two cents:

 

 

The Good

Jozy looked damn good, to echo the comments of everyone else.

 

Howard had a couple of nice saves. Neither of the goals were his fault.

 

 

The Bad & The Ugly

 

Moor & Corrales looked like crap. Actually, like they were defenders covered in crap. And they probably smelled like crap, too.

 

Bradley should not be a starter. Feilhaber didn't do much, but he's an obviously superior player.

 

Donovan was out of shape and not ready for the 2nd half. That's ridiculous.

 

Adu needs to get more time. He didn't fit well in the flow of the game.

 

The refs were even worse than Moor & Corrales. We got jobbed last night.

[shnsajax]

I really don't think Adu was put in a great situation last night. Like what has been said the midfield was crap, Mexico was controlling the ball, and everytime he got a touch on it he had 2-3 guys around him. Still he made 1 or 2 impressive runs with nothing to go from. Adu needs solid midfield play and space to run into.

 

Was Spector healthy to get the call last night?

[MPC]

i'd also really like to see spector gets some pt on either of the side of the backline.

[Guest]

You're wrong about Dempsey in both respects. His shoulder was barely off on a long ball from his end, and his body was even. That play is supposed to go to the advantage of the attacking player, per FIFA. Secondly, the ref chose to let play continue, which FIFA also allows for, and didn't even reach for his whistle until after the ball was in the net. He had at least 10 seconds to blow the play dead after it was clear Clint possesed the ball, and didn't. That's poor officiating. Also, considering that Clint played 95% of the game with his back to goal and with horrible service, he did very well to win most everything that came his way. He and Jozy make a good offensive pairing.

 

The refs always, ALWAYS, call offsides if it's that close and never give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking player. It never happens. When in doubt, the flag goes up. And all that was onsides were Dempsey's feet. His body was offsides albeit not by much. As for the referee letting the play continue, maybe he didn't look at the linesman until much later and maybe he blew his whistle while it was going on but nobody heard it - something that happened more than a couple times last night because of the noise.

 

The refs didn't blow that game last night. Sure, there were a couple calls that were questionable and I didn't agree with a couple of the yellow cards but they didn't cause us to tie, Drew Moor did.

 

EDIT: And I didn't mean to say Clint sucked, just that he didn't do much. That's not so much on him but on the team's attack in general which was pretty disappointing as a whole.

[Jon]

You're wrong about Dempsey in both respects. His shoulder was barely off on a long ball from his end, and his body was even. That play is supposed to go to the advantage of the attacking player, per FIFA. Secondly, the ref chose to let play continue, which FIFA also allows for, and didn't even reach for his whistle until after the ball was in the net. He had at least 10 seconds to blow the play dead after it was clear Clint possesed the ball, and didn't. That's poor officiating. Also, considering that Clint played 95% of the game with his back to goal and with horrible service, he did very well to win most everything that came his way. He and Jozy make a good offensive pairing.

 

The refs always, ALWAYS, call offsides if it's that close and never give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking player. It never happens. When in doubt, the flag goes up. And all that was onsides were Dempsey's feet. His body was offsides albeit not by much. As for the referee letting the play continue, maybe he didn't look at the linesman until much later and maybe he blew his whistle while it was going on but nobody heard it - something that happened more than a couple times last night because of the noise.

 

The refs didn't blow that game last night. Sure, there were a couple calls that were questionable and I didn't agree with a couple of the yellow cards but they didn't cause us to tie, Drew Moor did.

 

EDIT: And I didn't mean to say Clint sucked, just that he didn't do much. That's not so much on him but on the team's attack in general which was pretty disappointing as a whole.

On the replay they showed at halftime, you could see that the ref never looked at the linesman during the entire clip. He even signaled that it was a goal, which means that it wasn't called until probably 15-20 seconds after the flag went up.