The Soccer Thread

[brinoch]

She said femur and tibula. No such bone. Tibia. Let's wait until USSF says something.

[TruffleShuffle]

he was in a very bad accident in which someone - probably a friend - was killed and another person was seriously injured. even without the injuries, psychologically it was going to be hard to recover from this in time to play.

 

hopefully he recovers mentally and physically and is able to continue playing soccer at some point down the road.

[shnsajax]

http://www.noshortcorners.com

Washington's ABC affiliate, WJLA 7, reports in this clip that Davies has a broken femur and tibula.

 

No World Cup for Charlie.

 

 

Terrible news. If he can play again it probably won't be for 18 months at least. Looking at the car playing again is the least of his worries for a long time though. Glad he is alive, but sorry for his loss.

 

Tomorrow nights game is going to be interesting now just to see the players reactions.

[wolf stansson]

Wahl tweet:

GrantWahl More specifics on Charlie Davies expected after 9 pm ET. Family set to land from CA by that time. Davies was out after U.S. curfew.

[USSoccer]

Just saw this right now after being super busy at work.

 

This is a massive loss for the 'Nats, and I hope he'll be okay physically and mentally after this.

 

This blows.

[shnsajax]

sports center says doctors say it will take 6-12 months to recover.

[USSoccer]

sports center says doctors say it will take 6-12 months to recover.

 

Oh dammit.

 

We finally have a really, really good striker (note, not "forward") and this ish happens.

[shnsajax]

sports center says doctors say it will take 6-12 months to recover.

 

Oh dammit.

 

We finally have a really, really good striker (note, not "forward") and this ish happens.

 

Thats quicker than i was thinking, but I am fearing something like Larrson went through. Luckily he is young, and seems to have a great work ethic. Still it's complete sh.. I'm also worried how it could affect Altidore too, they seem real close and he is going to take this hard.

[wvcbxl]

sports center says doctors say it will take 6-12 months to recover.

 

At least he will recover.

 

I'm having flashbacks to 8th may last year, when François Sterchele, striker for Club Brugge and the Belgian national team, died in a nightly car crash. :cry:

[USSoccer]

I'm going to echo Wolf and say that there's no way booze wasn't involved.

[Jon]

Goff[/url]"]USA forward Charlie Davies, badly injured in a car accident early Tuesday, was stable through the night at Washington Hospital Center -- a positive sign after extensive operations for fractures to his right leg, left elbow and face, as well as for a lacerated bladder.

........

Sgt. David Schlosser, spokesman for U.S. Park Police, told the Insider this morning that the accident investigation will take at least one to two weeks. "It's a complicated crash reconstruction," he said. "We won't have any answers right away." Officially, the Park Police is not allowed to identify the survivors, but Scholosser said the driver and other passenger were taken to Washington Hospital Center. The passenger (Davies) was taken via helicopter because of the severity of the injuries. The driver was transported via ambulance.

[bukie]

At least he's stable and going to physically survive the ordeal. I can only imagine the recovery and rehab process for something like that, both physical and psychological.

[wolf stansson]

I'm going to echo Wolf and say that there's no way booze wasn't involved.

This links to the girl who died's twitter page. The last tweet doesn't sound good.

http://wdkf.co.uk/2009/10/13/heartbreaking-news-usmnt-striker-charlie-davies-in-fatal-car-accident/

 

Apparently the other driver was female as well. I'm hoping that she was a designated driver.

[wolf stansson]

Ok so, what does this change tactically?

 

Since Charlie became a regular in the Confed's cup, the biggest change was in Landon Donovan. Bob moved him to the left, behind Davies. Davies speed forced opposing defenders to play Landon honest instead of just physically marking him out of the game. If they move up to mug Landon, which was the previous tactic of choice by any team who scouted us correctly, Charlie would just make a run behind them and have an easy chance on goal. Now that Charlie is out, we could be back to the same old Landon foul-fest. I don't remember where I read it, but I recall reading that since Davies' emergence, Landon has either scored or assisted on some crazy amount of our total goals scored when they were both on the pitch. It was over 2/3's.

 

So what are our options? I think these are them:

1- Move Landon to withdrawn striker and play Jozy alone up top.

2- Move Clint to Davies position and play Landon behind him and move Holden or Feilhaber into Clint's vacated midfield slot.

3- Replace Davies like-for-like with another forward like Casey or Cooper.

 

Personally, I like option 2. Landon, with all of his baggage, is by far our best and most important player. Keeping him in the midfield allows him to see more of the ball. Clint isn't as fast as Charlie, but is smart and can do the same type of job to draw players off of Landon. It also gets Holdenhaber onto the field which gives us good service on the right wing. I think we lose the least in our attack with that option.

[brinoch]

I tend to agree with you, Wolf. Clint is dangerous, and other teams will respect his ability. I'd probably leave Donovan out wide, with Holden/Feilhaber replacing Dempsey. Landon can play either wing. I'd also be interested to see if Torres can emerge.

 

We will have Jones for the WC, most likely, and that'll have a positive impact as well.

[bukie]

World Cup qualifier action:

 

- Switzerland and Slovakia qualified.

- Greece, Portugal, Ukraine and Slovenia are in the playoffs.

- Czech Republic, Sweden and Croatia are out.

[bukie]

Also, Germany salvaged a late (meaningless) draw with Finland to maintain their crazy sounding status of only ever having lost two WC qualifiers in club history.

[bukie]

UEFA playoff teams by FIFA ranking:

 

6. Russia

10. France

12. Greece

17. Portugal

25. Ukraine

38. Ireland

46. Bosnia-Herzegovina

54. Slovenia

 

If they're matched up according to ranking, the playoffs will be Russia v Slovenia, France v Bosnia, Greece v Ireland and Portugal v Ukraine.

 

So, go Bosnia and Ukraine!

[Mark Priors Calves]

UEFA playoff teams by FIFA ranking:

 

6. Russia

10. France

12. Greece

17. Portugal

25. Ukraine

38. Ireland

46. Bosnia-Herzegovina

54. Slovenia

 

If they're matched up according to ranking, the playoffs will be Russia v Slovenia, France v Bosnia, Greece v Ireland and Portugal v Ukraine.

 

So, go Bosnia and Ukraine!

 

And come on Irish!

[Guest]

UEFA playoff teams by FIFA ranking:

 

6. Russia

10. France

12. Greece

17. Portugal

25. Ukraine

38. Ireland

46. Bosnia-Herzegovina

54. Slovenia

 

If they're matched up according to ranking, the playoffs will be Russia v Slovenia, France v Bosnia, Greece v Ireland and Portugal v Ukraine.

 

So, go Bosnia and Ukraine!

 

I've seen this projection site posted before and they have a shift in the rankings for Oct. They project:

 

10. France

11. Portugal

13. Russia

20. Greece

24. Ukraine

27. Ireland

40. Bosnia

49. Slovenia

 

They assume most of the correct results from today except Russia and Ireland. They projected both to win and both ended up with draws. That's meaningless since it will cost them points but they probably won't slip enough to drop down below one of the other teams here.

 

That means we'd had France-Slovenia, Portugal-Bosnia, Russia-Ireland, Greece-Ukraine.

 

As an Ireland fan, I like the matchups you posted a lot better.

[TruffleShuffle]

- Czech Republic, Sweden and Croatia are out.

 

they were my european team since i'm of sweden descent. they had some good teams in the 90s but seem to not be good any more.

 

aren't the czechs and croats supposed to be pretty good? like, certainly better than teams like slovenia and bosnia and ireland?

[shnsajax]

Ecuador is down 1-0 helping Argentina and Uruguay.

[shnsajax]

Ok so, what does this change tactically?

 

Since Charlie became a regular in the Confed's cup, the biggest change was in Landon Donovan. Bob moved him to the left, behind Davies. Davies speed forced opposing defenders to play Landon honest instead of just physically marking him out of the game. If they move up to mug Landon, which was the previous tactic of choice by any team who scouted us correctly, Charlie would just make a run behind them and have an easy chance on goal. Now that Charlie is out, we could be back to the same old Landon foul-fest. I don't remember where I read it, but I recall reading that since Davies' emergence, Landon has either scored or assisted on some crazy amount of our total goals scored when they were both on the pitch. It was over 2/3's.

 

So what are our options? I think these are them:

1- Move Landon to withdrawn striker and play Jozy alone up top.

2- Move Clint to Davies position and play Landon behind him and move Holden or Feilhaber into Clint's vacated midfield slot.

3- Replace Davies like-for-like with another forward like Casey or Cooper.

 

Personally, I like option 2. Landon, with all of his baggage, is by far our best and most important player. Keeping him in the midfield allows him to see more of the ball. Clint isn't as fast as Charlie, but is smart and can do the same type of job to draw players off of Landon. It also gets Holdenhaber onto the field which gives us good service on the right wing. I think we lose the least in our attack with that option.

 

Just a random thought, but could Torres be transitioned into the role that Davies played. He's not the finisher that he is, but he can stretch the field and deliver some solid balls.

[bukie]

Argentina gets the 4th spot, and a seed in the World Cup finals, while Uruguay makes the playoff vs. Honduras/Costa Rica.

[bukie]

Ticos with a quick goal. 1-0.