The Soccer Thread

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What a pretty, pretty sequence.

[Jon]

Nice patience by Davies.

[USSoccer]

Nice finish by Santino, great combo by Davies and Benny.

[USSoccer]

This is a really solid result for this group. Very encouraging stuff, but it was evident where the class was on the pitch when Benny and Charlie came on.

 

BTW, Davies needs a nickname.

[bukie]

I swear, this squad looked better against Honduras than the "A" squad did last month.

 

Was the Honduras squad missing any key players from the qualifiers?

[USSoccer]

I swear, this squad looked better against Honduras than the "A" squad did last month.

 

Was the Honduras squad missing any key players from the qualifiers?

 

Oh yeah. Not as much of a B team as us, but that was not their best XI

[brinoch]

Mrs. brinoch and I were at the game... fourth row in the supporters section almost at midfield -- really very close to the action. Honduras was really physical -- dangerously so -- and the ref simply wouldn't call a foul. He was really quite awful. I don't know how well you could see on television, but there were some yellow card fouls that were ignored (red card fouls in South Africa). The physical nature of the game really hurt Adu, but he was pretty poor all in all. I think that the physicality of the game took us out of our rhythm, as well. We played with more fire and grit in the second half, and it showed. Other thoughts:

 

-- Dolo didn't really impress me. He was okay, but in my mind, Spector has passed him.

-- Pearce was okay. He does a lot of things really well... he just needs to get it all together (and that yellow card tackle was *right* in front of me -- it probably was a red in South Africa).

-- Feilhaber made a *huge* difference in the game when he replaced Pause, who didn't impress me at all.

-- Davies shredded the Honduras defense in about 35 seconds, flat. He did immediately what Ching and Adu couldn't do for 60 minutes. I don't blame Ching... Freddy was the problem. He disappeared and had no touch on the ball. He needs to get playing time somewhere, because he looks terrible. Davies looked great.

-- Marshall is a giant and looked solid. He did a very credible job on Costly. Parkhurst wasn't quite as good, but I didn't really notice him, so that means he did his job well.

-- Quaranta impressed in front of the home crowd. He was solid, made good decisions, and should see further looks down the road. Great story.

-- I love me some Robbie Rogers. He's good. Very good.

-- Cooper. Glad he got on the field; wish he had more time. He was impressive against a tired defense. Good touch, *very* good runs. Looked dangerous.

-- Perkins made two nice saves, but otherwise wasn't tested all that much.

-- Beckerman is off my ugh list. He's better than Kljestan on the ball right now. His work rate was really very high, and he made up for a disappointing Pause.

[Guest]

-- Pearce was okay. He does a lot of things really well... he just needs to get it all together (and that yellow card tackle was *right* in front of me -- it probably was a red in South Africa).

 

That Pearce foul was way worse than Bradley's, worse than Kljestan's and you could argue that it was worse than Clark's. At the very least it was the second worst foul out of the four and maybe even the worst.

 

That would have been an easy red in South Africa.

[brinoch]

From his reaction, it was clear that Pearce thought the ref was going to show him a straight red.

[wolf stansson]

Any team that gives Freddy space is going to make him look good. Any team that doesn't, makes him look bad. I don't know if it's lack of playing time, but I'm leaning towards him just being a flawed player who isn't a first choice international.

 

Quaranta is a nice player. He isn't going to unseat anyone though. Robbie Rogers should now be the first left wing off the bench. One of the only true wingers in our player pool.

 

Max Bretos, who is usually cringe-worthy, said after the Quaranta goal that you can immediately recognize the two guys on the field who just played in the confed's cup. Totally true. They were men among boys out there, playing at a higher level than anyone.

[bukie]

Freddy Adu leaves US team to head back to Benefica

 

Apparently this was arranged prior to the Gold Cup. Probably for the better, since he wasn't really effective on the squad.

 

I'm not sure what really happened with him. He was rushed along as a teenager, and really hasn't developed into the player everybody thought he'd be.

[wolf stansson]

Freddy Adu leaves US team to head back to Benefica

 

Apparently this was arranged prior to the Gold Cup. Probably for the better, since he wasn't really effective on the squad.

 

I'm not sure what really happened with him. He was rushed along as a teenager, and really hasn't developed into the player everybody thought he'd be.

He's just not a great player. I don't think anything necessarily had to happen to make that true.

[USSoccer]

Freddy Adu leaves US team to head back to Benefica

 

Apparently this was arranged prior to the Gold Cup. Probably for the better, since he wasn't really effective on the squad.

 

I'm not sure what really happened with him. He was rushed along as a teenager, and really hasn't developed into the player everybody thought he'd be.

 

History is riddled with guys who dominated at the youth international level that couldn't put it together at the senior level.

 

The playing time thing hurts him, but I don't see how he's anything other than a late game offensive sub right now.

[wolf stansson]

L'Equipe is reporting Davies to Sochaux.

 

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/breves2009/20090709_085343_davies-arrive-a-sochaux.html

Edited July 9, 2009 by wolf stansson

[USSoccer]

Any team that gives Freddy space is going to make him look good. Any team that doesn't, makes him look bad. I don't know if it's lack of playing time, but I'm leaning towards him just being a flawed player who isn't a first choice international.

 

Quaranta is a nice player. He isn't going to unseat anyone though. Robbie Rogers should now be the first left wing off the bench. One of the only true wingers in our player pool.

 

Max Bretos, who is usually cringe-worthy, said after the Quaranta goal that you can immediately recognize the two guys on the field who just played in the confed's cup. Totally true. They were men among boys out there, playing at a higher level than anyone.

 

The fact that Santino nearly snorted his way out of MLS and ended up scoring his 1st senior goal at home is a pretty cool story.

 

I like him as a depth option, but Rogers is the revelation here. Left footed and pacy with some jukes. Lots to like.

 

Bretos called Benny "world class" last night. I didn't know how to feel about that.

 

I like the Davies to Ligue 1 move.

[wolf stansson]

Bretos called Benny "world class" last night. I didn't know how to feel about that.

Haha, like I said, cringe worthy. Max just talks way too much. He's very excitable. Stutters, gets names wrong, talks over the game and often times puts his foot in his mouth like in the Grenada game when he told Sullivan he should rethink his coaching career beacuse Sullivan thought the Grenada manager should open up the play and wasn't doing any favors by bunkering. He did, the US scored twice in the second half and Bretos said that which was followed by awkward pause from Sullivan.

 

My number one Bretos complaint is the affected South American accents and name pronunciations. Drives me crazy.

[wolf stansson]

File this under unlikely but worth watching.

 

http://www.mls-rumors.net/2009/07/outgoing-robbie-rogers-to-tottenham.html

I'm hearing that there is preliminary european interest in Columbus's Robbie Rogers. He could be the next player to move overseas. The interest is coming from Tottenham Hotspur from the Barclay's Premier League in England and Atlético Madrid in La Liga in Spain. I'll brief you on anything else I hear in the future.

[shnsajax]

File this under unlikely but worth watching.

 

http://www.mls-rumors.net/2009/07/outgoing-robbie-rogers-to-tottenham.html

I'm hearing that there is preliminary european interest in Columbus's Robbie Rogers. He could be the next player to move overseas. The interest is coming from Tottenham Hotspur from the Barclay's Premier League in England and Atlético Madrid in La Liga in Spain. I'll brief you on anything else I hear in the future.

 

Those are a slight upgrade over the Crew.

[shnsajax]

The US/Mexico qualifier will start at 3pm Central Time on that Wednesday. Thats a f'ed up time for a Wed.

[wolf stansson]

If those pussies are resorting to this, they're scared. Rightly so.

[USSoccer]

The earlier start can help the authorities manage the riot after we win.

[manbearcub]

i have a friend who may go to the game with his g/f, should he be worried if USA wins?

[USSoccer]

i have a friend who may go to the game with his g/f, should he be worried if USA wins?

 

I would think the fans would go after El Tri first.

 

CONCACAF have the worst refs. In the MEX/PAN game, he just showed red to two players-the Panamanian literally didn't do a thing. Gio Dos Santos freaked out and kicked out at him and shoved him, he backed up and put his hands out, and the ref showed him, and a different Mexican player-not Dos Santos-red.

 

Horrible and hilarious.

[shnsajax]

i have a friend who may go to the game with his g/f, should he be worried if USA wins?

 

I would think the fans would go after El Tri first.

 

CONCACAF have the worst refs. In the MEX/PAN game, he just showed red to two players-the Panamanian literally didn't do a thing. Gio Dos Santos freaked out and kicked out at him and shoved him, he backed up and put his hands out, and the ref showed him, and a different Mexican player-not Dos Santos-red.

 

Horrible and hilarious.

 

If the US wins just tell him to stay off the subway afterwards. Actually if he is really white, just tell him to avoid that to begin with.

[USSoccer]

Holy god this match is hilarious

 

A Panamanian and Aguirre just got tossed for fighting.