The Soccer Thread

[USSoccer]

Howard-4

Gooch-2

Boca-2...those two did a terrible job being organized.

Wynne-1

Beasley-0...Beasley shouldn't play anymore. Directly responsible for 2 goals.

Torres-3...nightmare start, but other than Adu the most poised US player

Bradley-3...undeserved yellow, only mid to show up

Mastro-0...horrid in a game you'd think would be his. With Edu and Clark now he should be done

Dempsey-2...the turf hurts his game, but he wasn't good.

Donovan-0...the worst best player in the game

Jozy-4...worked hard all night

Adu-5...earned a start. played well in limited time.

Davies-5...A for effort

[wolf stansson]

If Landon has the balls to try and take this, he's [expletive] nuts.

[USSoccer]

hahahaaha landon gets to score a completely [expletive], undeserved goal.

[USSoccer]

I hope he misses

[wolf stansson]

This is Bradley's shot, imo.

[Guest]

He'll probably shank it.

 

We don't deserve to score today anyway.

[wolf stansson]

I hope it hits the bar and slams back into his vagina.

[USSoccer]

what an [expletive]

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I hope it hits the bar and slams back into his vagina.

 

I couldn't quite put into words what I was feeling. But I think you nailed it.

[wolf stansson]

Did Harkes, an American soccer pioneer for club and country, just insinuate that Landon doesn't "lack the bottle?"

 

Using an English aphorism to describe Landon Donovan is particularly loly considering his club record.

[USSoccer]

Did Harkes, an American soccer pioneer for club and country, just insinuate that Landon doesn't "lack the bottle?"

 

Using an English aphorism to describe Landon Donovan is particularly loly.

 

Maybe ESPN called up and showed them a pic of Wynalda's severed head and told him to stop keeping it real

[USSoccer]

I hope Seth didn't kill anyone at Gingers or wherever he watched from tonight.

[Mark Priors Calves]

that was really, really bad. i'm hoping this was just a one time bad outing and saturday is the rebound thrashing win to get us 3 pts and back in good shape of concacaf.

[Guest]

I should have checked this thread before watching the game on Tivo. Ugh.

[sethuel1]

I watched from home. Just too pissed to post during the game.

 

Now that it's over I have to say that what most pisses me off is how much pressure this puts on for Saturday...a game where we're playing a better team than Costa Rica, and on 2 days rest. Also I really wanted to let loose and enjoy myself on Saturday and now I'm going to be all bitchy the whole time.

 

We really need some half-decent fullbacks. I'd even settle for mediocre or below average fullbacks.

 

Torres and Mastro (ugh) midfield on Saturday is my prediction. Dempsey and Donovan out wide. Altidore and Ching up top. Or something.

[brinoch]

That was just awful.

 

Beasley? Seriously? I re-watched several defensive sequences, and Beasley was constantly out of position and pulled Boca too far to the left. Gooch and Boca are too slow to cover the center as well as push out to help on the wings. Wynne and Beasley were awful, awful, awful and made everyone else look that much worse.

 

Howard: 4. Nothing he could do. At least showed emotion and tried to coach his defense.

Wynne: 1. Worthless. Out of position. Pulled Gooch out of the middle.

Gooch: 3. Terribly disappointing.

Boca: 3. Exposed as slow. Needed to step up, but didn't.

Beas: -5. Should have been subbed at about 10 minutes.

Bradley: 4. Had energy, but no help. Bad yellow (shouldn't have been one).

JFT: 5. MOTM. Of course Bradley subbed him out. What a joke.

Pablo: 0. If I comment I'll need to ban myself.

Demps: 3. Tried to make too much happen, but that's better than...

Landon: 2. Sitting back and letting CR take you out of the game.

Jozy: 5. I thought played fairly decently, but there was nothing for to work with.

 

Adu: 5. Who knew that this guy would run at defenders and try to make things happen? Huh.

Sasha: 1. Who?

Davies: n/a. In his short time, I liked what I saw, but that was too short for a grade.

 

Bob Bradley: 0. Terrible coaching job. The team looked ill prepared, slow, weak and was constantly chasing. Keeping Beasley in was a huge mistake (playing Beasley was a HUGE mistake as well). No Spector? Subbed JFT? No visible adjustments at halftime other than taking out the team's best player to that point. If the effort isn't there on Saturday, and we continue to see lineups, formations and tactics my 11 month old son would scoff at, he should be fired.

[wolf stansson]

Let's play guess the quote: CR beat down edition!

 

“We didn’t compete hard enough. We got beat to balls and they caused us problems we couldn’t figure out. A lot went wrong for us.”

 

“We consider us probably the fastest, strongest team in the region but today we got out-passed, outplayed and out-competed in every sense. We have to hold our hands up – we were below average across the board.”

 

Tim Howard. I like it. The team shouldn't be thrown under the bus, but they do need to be called out like Tim does here.

 

 

“We knew they were going to come out with energy…and that is exactly how we did not want to start the game, with them scoring so quickly like that.”

 

“They came out and played well. They had a good game plan and they moved the ball around well. We saw game tape of them and we knew what they were going to do, but give them credit because they played well tonight. Individually, all around the field, we didn’t win our battles.”

 

Carlos Bocanegra. I like giving credit to the other team, but as Captain, he needed to be more vocal about our failings.

 

 

Here's an easy one:

“Anytime you give a team a goal advantage, particularly in the first 10 minutes, it’s going to be tough, especially for the visiting team. We made it harder by allowing them to score the second goal. That dictated the game.”

 

“If the game was 0-0 after 20 minutes, the game looks different. It was a good goal, but when you gift them a goal in the first couple minutes the whole complexion of the game changes.”

 

“We need to learn from tonight, but the most important thing is getting over it as quickly as possible, and taking what you can from it. We have three days physically and mentally for Honduras, who is a very good team that has been rested and preparing for this game.”

 

“I’m disappointed. It’s disappointing to play that way. We were never in control because of the way we started the game, and that makes it difficult.”

 

Landon Donovan. I know, right? Shocking! The quote that neither acknowledges CR's great play nor takes responsibility for the loss and only offers up excuses, blaming going down a goal early for the lack of heart was said by Landon? Crazy talk. Hey Landon, maybe you just have no heart to begin with.

 

[wolf stansson]

Some prescient thoughts from Pele regarding US-Costa Rica as well as some spot-on highlights read by a soccer [expletive] hit the nail on the head.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=4229585

[USSoccer]

Couple things:

 

-If you're playing on a fast, crappy surface, why start a guy with a terrible first touch like DMB? There's a difference between learning a position and learning technical ability. Beaz is what he is, and shouldn't have been out there.

 

-I'm very close to hoping Clint gets left out of the XI for a game or two in SA, for a couple reasons. It might light a fire under him a la Hodgson at Fulham and improve his game, and it will give him a rest for more important fixtures.

 

-I'm thinking our midfield Saturday night is going to be Benny/Mastro, with Donovan and Dempsey on the wings. Benny is going to need to step up.

 

-Bradley played a good game last night, and was the only consistent effort all night.

 

-Sacha and Boca are at fault for that last embarrassment of a goal, Sacha for not making any defensive effort and looking gassed despite having played for like 15 minutes at the time, and Boca for not stepping up and closing the CR player down.

 

-If we aren't starting Spector and Hejduk on Saturday, Bradley needs to be fired.

 

--Charlie Davies and Adu need to see the field more. I thought Adu was really poised and played well in limited time, and Davies seems to have a knack for making himself at least threatening.

[shnsajax]

Barca may be looking into a Ibrahimovic for Eto + cash switch.

[Jon]

Looks like we'll see temps in the low to mid 50s Saturday night at Soldier Field with rain.

[wolf stansson]

I don't even know if I want to watch this bs team tomorrow or in SA. I will and I'll probably be drinking.

 

 

Apparently, Real Madrid has a contract with Ronaldo that if they don't sign him this summer, they owe him (euro sign) 30 million.

[shnsajax]

I don't even know if I want to watch this bs team tomorrow or in SA. I will and I'll probably be drinking.

 

 

Apparently, Real Madrid has a contract with Ronaldo that if they don't sign him this summer, they owe him (euro sign) 30 million.

 

I am way more excited to see Holland than the US.

[wolf stansson]

I'm still just incredibly worked up about Bob Bradley and his tactical retardation.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Ching is out for Saturday and Edu is out for several months with a knee problem.

 

Who do you start for Saturday?

 

 

----Altidore----------------------

--------------------Donovan-----

--------------Adu----------------

Torres------------------Dempsey

------------Feilhaber?------------

------------Bocanegra------------

Spector------Gooch------Hejduk--

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

 

That's probably really terribly illustrated.