The Soccer Thread

[wolf stansson]

I like.

 

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y274/krkhinrich/Screenshot-3.jpg

 

It says "Don't Tread On Me" inside the collar which would've been bad ass somewhere visible, but it's still a huge improvement to the last away jersey.

[USSoccer]

Hopefully the dude on EBay who sold me my last USMNT kit for $25 has those soon. Me likey.

[shnsajax]

Looks like Man City might be making a move for Gio Dos Santos.

[wolf stansson]

I don't like the idea of he and Castillo gelling together on a good team for the next 3 years.

[USSoccer]

I'm calling 2-1 US today.

[wolf stansson]

Poland is just looking for a good runout before the Euros. They aren't going to be busting it. 1-0 US. Bradley scores.

 

Good news for DMB, he is slated to return before the end of Rangers season.

 

"He has to grow up," the coach said of the 23-year-old midfielder. "He has to mature as a player. He has to understand, day in and day out, how to earn the respect of the people he plays with."

 

Bradley went on to add that Feilhaber's omission from the Olympic team was down to form and fitness, but he also said that the player's success this past summer at the Gold Cup, when he scored the winning goal in the final against Mexico with a sublime volley, had caused him to lose his focus. That Feilhaber has played in 15 national team games while making only 20 appearances at club level the past three seasons would appear to bear this out, as does the fact that, in the past year, he has failed to make much of an impression on four head coaches.

 

Bradley added that these are things he has discussed with Feilhaber at length, but when asked whether the message had been received well, the U.S. manager would say only, "We'll see."

[Guest]

I completely forgot about this match and am lucky to be watching right now. For some reason I decided to check FSC at 12:30 which is right when this match started.

[brinoch]

Well, it's 2-0 US at the half... can anyone tell me how they've looked. I'm at work and unfortunately cannot watch.

[Guest]

Well, it's 2-0 US at the half... can anyone tell me how they've looked. I'm at work and unfortunately cannot watch.

 

They've been controlling the play and have definitely deserved the lead they have right now. Poland has had a couple chances but nothing great. Both US goals came on headers from set pieces (the first a FK and the second a corner). The US had a chance to make it 3-0 but Eddie Johnson (yes, I know, big shock) completely butchered an opportunity right at the end of the first half. Poland had a mix-up at the back and the ball fell to Johnson right at the edge of the box and instead of taking one touch and shooting, he takes a second touch before shooting and his shot got blocked by the defender. It looked like it was going to go well wide anyway so it may not have mattered but there was no reason for him to not get a shot on goal there.

[Guest]

Donovan almost made it 3-0. Poland had a corner and the ball was cleared out and Donovan beat the last defender to it and got a breakaway. He probably should have scored, though, but the ball went just wide and didn't miss by much.

[brinoch]

Matchtracker says Donovan missed a 1v1 breakaway against the keeper.

[Guest]

3-0 as Lewis scores from a free kick.

 

Consider this payback for the 02 World Cup, Poland.

[wolf stansson]

I was able to watch the first 60 or so minutes of the game over an extended lunch break. While Donovan was in the game, he was once again, the best player on the field. The two services for the goal and the world class pace (but obviously not finishing) on the breakaway was classic Landycakes. God I wish his career would have been different. If DaMarcus Beasley could make the career at PSV, City and Rangers that he has, Landon could have gone that much further because I don't think there is much argument as to who is the better player.

 

Back to the game though. Pitch wasn't in great shape with the cold, so it wasn't always pretty, but Bob Bradley did a hell of a job preparing for the game. The formation with Landon and Clint in the advanced midfielder roles was great. The game should be 4-0, but I will take 3-0 against a Euro Qualifying group winner every [expletive] day of the week. Beautiful result! This without our best player (Freddy) and our best forward (Jozy). Michael Bradley was rock solid in the middle, winning balls and making quick, smart passes.

 

Lastly and most importantly for me has been Onyewu and Bocanegra. This has nothing to do with the goals they scored, but with how they have rebounded as a middle pairing. We all had high hopes for Onyewu and he hit an absolute crap run of form in 2006 and early 2007. I couldn't be happier with what I'm reading about his club form and what I've seen from his National form in the last year. He has really started to play smarter and sounder, and he really is a huge weapon on set pieces. Bocanegra has been solid enough, but he doesn't have nearly the talent ceiling of Onyewu. Having them reach their potential as a defensive pairing is crucial to the squad taking the next step. Judging by their form since the stomach punch that was the 06 World Cup, Copa America and first Sweden friendly not withstanding, they could be coming close to being a legitimate top 15 world team. Especially with the development of Freddy since the u-20 World Cup.

 

I don't want to read too much into this game since I didn't think Poland was going to take it as seriously as us anyway, but if they can keep this form throughout the murderer's row of England, Spain and Argentina, I'll be very, very happy.

 

Btw, according to Stephen Cohen of World Soccer Daily, Paul Allen and the new Seattle MLS franchise are already setting the groundwork for handing Thierry Henry a Beckhamesque deal in 2009. This would be, for my money, an even better move than bringing in Beckham. Beckham will appeal to the US Weekly crowd and little kids, but Thierry Henry will go much further to converting real sports fans because he will bring the goals. I hope it happens.

 

Rangers v Celtic this Sunday replayed on FSC at 7pm est.

[Jon]

Henry would be pretty interesting. It's too bad he got a head start in the US with those Gillette commercials...

 

Since when is the US allowed to have that kind of success of set pieces?

[wolf stansson]

Henry would be pretty interesting. It's too bad he got a head start in the US with those Gillette commercials...

 

Since when is the US allowed to have that kind of success of set pieces?

Well Eddie Lewis has always been good, Onyewu just ran over the dude marking him and the first one on Boca's goal was just poor marking.

[USSoccer]

I don't want to spoil the fun of what was an absolute ass kicking (Poland, even if they were disinterested, should be embarrassed losing 3-0 at home and getting dominated) but I have a few thoughts...

 

-Eddie Johnson isn't a soccer player. He lacks the instincts of a soccer player. He lacks the touch and intelligence of a soccer player. He single-handedly cost the US 3 goals. That kind of crap can't keep happening. He holds the ball way too damn long and it costs us chances all the time. I know he has athletic ability, but he can't play soccer worth a damn.

 

-I know Ives ragged on Clint being invisible, but I thought tonight he played fairly well...when he saw the ball. His defensive workrate was good, and his ability to play a one touch game was evident. I thought it was a better performance than we've seen in a while from him, despite it not being obvious. I was, however, not happy with the bitching he did when he didn't get good passes to him. Stop it. When Landon and Clint got involved on the wings (Landon especially), we were good.

 

-'Dolo was really, really good. He's world class. Heath Pearce also was good, which makes me wonder why BB was so reticent to use him in previous matches. He played the left back spot really well. He didn't get beat, mostly cleared properly, and his positioning was almost always good.

 

-Boca and Gooch played well together. That needs to continue.

 

-Aside from the breakaway, Landon was good.

 

-Michael Bradley, like Dempsey, I thought had his best USMNT runout in a while. He was very quietly solid. Didn't make stupid decisions, held down the center, and played simple, intelligent football all match long. Rico Clark was good, as well, but MB was very good.

 

All in all, this was probably our "A" starting 11 except for Jozy in place of Ching. It showed. We were better than Poland in almost every phase of the game, and I'll take 3-0 in Europe against (albeit a weak) Euro 08 finalist any day.

 

One last thought: the USMNT's abilit to make the "last" pass sucks. I counted at least 5 chances the US had to send someone clear through with even a halfway decnt ball, but couldn't muster even that. Donovan had a chance to send Clint clear but put it behind him late. Clark missed Donovan on good runs like 4 times. That can't keep happening.

[wolf stansson]

-'Dolo was really, really good. He's world class. Heath Pearce also was good, which makes me wonder why BB was so reticent to use him in previous matches.

I love watching Stevie C. Yes I will continue to call him that even though it's dumb. He is in a class of his own among our defenders when it comes to crossing and getting forward into the attack. The joy he plays with is contagious and fun to watch. I think Bradley's reluctance to use Pearce was at first his fondness for Bornstein and then Pearce's lack of first-team action which has increased a lot over the year after his brief falling out with his manager.

 

All in all, this was probably our "A" starting 11 except for Jozy in place of Ching.

I would take Jozy over Johnson, leave Ching in, replace Rico Clark with Maurice Edu. That'd be our A 11, imo. Depending on the matchup you could put Clint or Adu up front with Jozy for a different look. Beasley coming back by this summer really makes the midfield log jam even crazier. In order to incorporate all of our best 11, I think Bradley is going to have to get creative with the formation.

 

-----------------Howard-----------------

---Dolo---Gooch---Boca---Pearce---

--Donovan-----Bradley-----Beasley--

--------Deuce-------------Adu----------

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

 

You'd have Donovan and Deuce making overlapping runs, taking turns getting forward on the right, Beasley and Adu doing the same thing on the left and Bradley charging up the middle Michael Ballack style. Being able to bring guys like Maurice Adu, Benny Feilhaber, Jay DeMerit, Michael Parkhurst, Brian Ching and Brad Guzan off the bench is by far the deepest US team I've seen since I started following the MNT back in '02.

[brinoch]

There's definitely a log jam in the midfield. It's a nice problem to have, so long as you find a way to get your best 11 on the field. I'd kind of like to experiment a bit to see who that is and how they complement each other. I really like that formation, Wolf, but at least so far Jozy hasn't looked very good as a lone striker. I hope that's just a conditioning and touch issue from the time off.

 

I think you'll see Spector on the bench, too. He, along with DeMerit, are the next best defenders.

 

I'd like this formation in the WC, too:

 

------------Howard-------------

Dolo---Gooch---Boca---Pearce

------------Bradley-------------

Clint------Donovan------DMB

--------Adu--------Jozy--------

 

WC Reserves

Guzan, Seitz, Edu, Feilhaber, Szetela, Zizzo, Spector, DeMerit, Parkhurst, Bornstein, Ching, Johnson (and if any forwards demonstrate that they are decent, I'd drop Johnson and then Ching).

[USSoccer]

All in all, this was probably our "A" starting 11 except for Jozy in place of Ching.

I would take Jozy over Johnson, leave Ching in, replace Rico Clark with Maurice Edu. That'd be our A 11, imo. Depending on the matchup you could put Clint or Adu up front with Jozy for a different look. Beasley coming back by this summer really makes the midfield log jam even crazier. In order to incorporate all of our best 11, I think Bradley is going to have to get creative with the formation.

 

-----------------Howard-----------------

---Dolo---Gooch---Boca---Pearce---

--Donovan-----Bradley-----Beasley--

--------Deuce-------------Adu----------

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

 

You'd have Donovan and Deuce making overlapping runs, taking turns getting forward on the right, Beasley and Adu doing the same thing on the left and Bradley charging up the middle Michael Ballack style. Being able to bring guys like Maurice Adu, Benny Feilhaber, Jay DeMerit, Michael Parkhurst, Brian Ching and Brad Guzan off the bench is by far the deepest US team I've seen since I started following the MNT back in '02.

 

 

I worry that Bradley is not tactically good enough to know what to do when Beasley gets healthy and Jozy and Freddy and Edu are around. We either need to make sure we have a good technical director, or hope BB is better than I think he is.

[wolf stansson]

I worry that Bradley is not tactically good enough to know what to do when Beasley gets healthy and Jozy and Freddy and Edu are around. We either need to make sure we have a good technical director, or hope BB is better than I think he is.

My worry isn't that he isn't smart enough tactically. I think he is. My worry is that he is just stubbornly dedicated to his system and thinks that his system gives them a better chance to win than just putting their best 11 out there. This I think is why we need a foreign coach (I can't believe Sunil turned Kilnssmann away because he would have been perfect). It just seems like American coaches are so used to having less talent and do well to make untalented teams grind out results with a disciplined system. I think maybe Bradley is having a hard time getting away from that mindset now that we have real talent at all positions.

 

That said, I am still a Bob Bradley fan. I think he gets this next World Cup and eventually resigns. If we do well, maybe he gets a lower table EPL team. If we don't, back to New York a la Arena. Funnily enough, I think he would thrive somewhere like Fulham or Derby where his system could get some results against more talented teams.

[sethuel1]

I think Edu passes Clark on the depth chart soon.

[USSoccer]

It's hilarious to watch EJ look terrible for Fulham. I have no earthly idea why anyone, ever would want him on the field over Dempsey. Derby completely pantsed them and should have won. Johnson himself hesitated on a run, turning what should have been an easy goal from abot 8 yards out into a slip/fall/dive, and then turned the ball over so badly that only the ineptness of a team with 16 goals in 32 games prevented an easy break. He sucks. He managed to suck harder in 15 minutes than should be possible.

 

Ditto for Roy Hodgson. He sucks at life, and their relegation is on him. Yeah, Sanchez bought a bunch of Northern Ireland scrubs in, but he can't manage his roster worth a crap. You don't leave a player like Dempsey on the bench and THEN take out your only other creative player in Bullard, just so you can put on a guy like EJ who is truly, truly crap. I could do better, right now, than he could. That's not e-nonsense. That's fact. EJ has the soccer instincts of a pile of towels. He has no idea how to play the game, where to go on the field, how to time a run, where to go into space. I'm suprised he can run upright. And for a guy who's fast, he even runs tentatively. He's freaking awful.

 

I'm pissed because FFC has Clint and Boca not playing, and they're going to end up in the English MLS next season, which hurts the USMNT.

[wolf stansson]

I think Clint will make a move. I hope anyway.

 

In other news, IT'S MLS OPENING DAY, GET PSYCHED.

[Jon]

Fire vs. RSL today at 5 PM on My50, the Fire's new TV home.

[USSoccer]

I think Clint will make a move. I hope anyway.

 

In other news, IT'S MLS OPENING DAY, GET PSYCHED.

 

I hope Clint makes a move, but being beinched for a bottom feeder doesn't bode well for him. He needs a good summer with the 'Nats to help with that. Reading would actually be good for him. Or Portsmouth.

 

GoGoGo MLS!