The Soccer Thread

[Jon]

That foul against Bradley in the 58th minute was ridiculous.

[Jon]

And it gets even worse in the 59th. Beasley should have had a great chance and yet he gets called for a complete phantom foul. What a ridiculous dive.

[Guest]

That foul against Bradley in the 58th minute was ridiculous.

 

Same as the one against Beasley in the 59th.

[brinoch]

Those were hideously bad.

[Guest]

Those were hideously bad.

 

And yet De Jong gets a simple foul call despite nearly Ramseying (or Eduardoing, whatever you prefer) Stuart Holden.

[Jon]

Those were hideously bad.

 

And yet De Jong gets a simple foul call despite nearly Ramseying (or Eduardoing, whatever you prefer) Stuart Holden.

I thought he got carded.

 

Nice goal there. Couldn't tell on the replay if he was onsides.

 

Penalty?! Bah. Just outside the box. Barely.

[Guest]

Those were hideously bad.

 

And yet De Jong gets a simple foul call despite nearly Ramseying (or Eduardoing, whatever you prefer) Stuart Holden.

I thought he got carded.

 

Nice goal there. Couldn't tell on the replay if he was onsides.

 

Penalty?! Bah. Just outside the box. Barely.

 

If he did, it doesn't show up on soccernet. The one against Braafheid does, though, so I'm assuming De Jong got nothing.

[brinoch]

That was a hell of a strike by Altidore at the end.

[Jon]

Nice effort at the end, particularly after having no offensive presence in the first half. If they were only able to breathe on defenders early in the 2nd half, it would have been a better offensive showing.

[shnsajax]

Watching the match pretty fast it wasn't a bad result. Stupid play giving up the penalty and unlucky giving up the 2nd goal. I thought Spector and Demerit were solid in the back. Findley simply should not be on the 23. I would feel better playing Adu up front.

 

Algeria lost to Serbia 3-0 as well.

[wolf stansson]

Everyone starts at 6:

Tim Howard 7

Carlos Bocanegra 7

Jay Demerit 6

Jonathan Bornstein 3

Jonathan Spector 6

José Francisco Torres 4

Michael Bradley 8

Landon Donovan 5

Stuart Holden n/a

Jozy Altidore 8

Robbie Findley 5

DaMarcus Beasley 7

Maurice Edu 6.5

Alejandro Bedoya 7

Heath Pearce 6

Eddie Johnson 4

Clarence Goodson n/a

 

Jozy was electric even with [expletive] partners. Bradley was calm, controlled, stout and precise. Bedoya provided a nice spark. Howard made some good saves and couldn't do anything about the two goals. Beasley was a nuisance to the defense distributed adequately. Robbie Findley is [expletive]. Torres was weak, timid and would have been rated lower if not for his nice long range shot. Bornstein was a joke. Eddie Johnson is [expletive].

[brinoch]

The back four, when Onyewu gets back, really ought to be some combo of Bocanegra, Onyewu, DeMerit, Spector and Cherundolo:

 

Boca -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Spector

Spector -- Boca -- Onyewu -- Dolo

Spector -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Dolo

Boca -- Onyewu -- DeMerit -- Dolo

[USSoccer]

-JFT was weak tonight. Wolf is spot on: timid and weak. Very disappointing.

 

-Bornstein was his usual Jekyll and Hyde self

 

-LD was quiet as was Edu

 

-Jozy was just fantastic. Can't wait until he's dominant next cycle. Strong the whole time despite being asked to play target forward and having garbage strikemates.

 

-I do not like the fact that Zombie Beasley played a fairly good game. He's going going going to hurt us if he's on the 23. Remember this.

 

-Mikey was strong. I like Bedoya a lot as well. He's one for next cycle.

 

-De Jong should have seen straight red. I would expect Stu to be out a while. That was a straight dirty play.

 

-Specs was iffy. The ref was a joke. Boca's lucky he scored because I thought defensively he was burned several times.

 

It was a better performance than I thought it would be. Our subs actually outplayed theirs, which was very unexpected.

[USSoccer]

Also, we really miss Clint and Gooch. The latter is a much better distributor out of the back that either Demerit or Boca (who both just boot it anytime they can) and Clint's presence means than opposing mids can't mark LD out of games. When one of LD or Clint isn't there, the other isn't as effective.

[wolf stansson]

-I do not like the fact that Zombie Beasley played a fairly good game. He's going going going to hurt us if he's on the 23. Remember this.

Ticket = punched, btw.

[shnsajax]

-I do not like the fact that Zombie Beasley played a fairly good game. He's going going going to hurt us if he's on the 23. Remember this.

Ticket = punched, btw.

 

With a healthy squad and assuming Holden's injury is not serious Beasley shouldn't even see the field as a sub. But yeah I think he is on the team now.

 

I feel like I have been praying for Davies recovery more as of late. Christ, Jozy needs some help up front. But like you all mentioned he played a hell of a game yesterday. I loved the shot he took in the 94th minute. Even though the keeper had it the whole time we just need more of that. It will spring players forward later in the match.

[USSoccer]

Holden out six weeks with a fractured shin.

 

How De Jong didn't see red is beyond me.

 

Ticket = punched, btw.

 

Watching it last night was like watching Neifi get two doubles and a walk. I was happy for the performance on the night, but I know it's not indicative. So long as he's a situational sub and not a starter....

 

At least we get Gooch and Clint back in a couple weeks, fresher for June.

[shnsajax]

Holden out six weeks with a fractured shin.

 

How De Jong didn't see red is beyond me.

 

Ticket = punched, btw.

 

Watching it last night was like watching Neifi get two doubles and a walk. I was happy for the performance on the night, but I know it's not indicative. So long as he's a situational sub and not a starter....

 

At least we get Gooch and Clint back in a couple weeks, fresher for June.

 

It was a horrible tackle deserving of a red. I'm glad he didn't end up like Ramsey, I still have that image scared into my brain. I think I am happier to see Algeria get spanked again then anything last night. My confidence with a full squad against England has gone up. I think we could spring some guys free against their back line. On set pieces I am not as confident.

[USSoccer]

Holden out six weeks with a fractured shin.

 

How De Jong didn't see red is beyond me.

 

Ticket = punched, btw.

 

Watching it last night was like watching Neifi get two doubles and a walk. I was happy for the performance on the night, but I know it's not indicative. So long as he's a situational sub and not a starter....

 

At least we get Gooch and Clint back in a couple weeks, fresher for June.

 

It was a horrible tackle deserving of a red. I'm glad he didn't end up like Ramsey, I still have that image scared into my brain. I think I am happier to see Algeria get spanked again then anything last night. My confidence with a full squad against England has gone up. I think we could spring some guys free against their back line. On set pieces I am not as confident.

 

England's backline is hot garbage considering the talent base they should have. If our backline can avoid the inexplicable brain cramps we usually have once a game, we could pull a pont.

[wolf stansson]

-Jozy was just fantastic. Can't wait until he's dominant next cycle.

For some reason I remembered this post today while I was listening to a podcast. Thought I'd come back and comment.

 

I can't believe Jozy is only 20. It really wasn't that long ago when we were all screaming that he needed to get called in every game while Bob was running out people like Ching, EJ and sometimes even uber stiffs like Josh Wolff. The fact is, the guy is 20! Sometimes we US fans get angsty when he can't replicate his flashes of pure physical dominance over a full 90 and then even more so when he can't do it game-to-game. If we just remember that he's only 20, he's only now getting regular action in a top flight league and the fact that we've seen him do it time and time again against some truly superb competition like Spain, Mexico, Holland and in league play against Chelsea and City, we would give him more leeway. This isn't supposed to be his cycle. This is his first go round. The next one is supposed to be his coming out party and the one after that is when he's supposed to be going all Drogba on people. If he just keeps developing like he should, he is going to be a force.

 

England's backline is hot garbage considering the talent base they should have. If our backline can avoid the inexplicable brain cramps we usually have once a game, we could pull a pont.

Yeah let's not get it twisted. England =/= Holland. I'm not saying we're going to definitely get a result. I'm just saying that this performance isn't a direct comparison of what we can expect against England. They're playing really well under Capello, but in terms of pure talent, I rate the Dutch 3rd in the world off the top of my head.

[brinoch]

Taking into consideration the opponent, the venue, and the team on the field, I think the result wasn't too bad. In fact, it's kind of encouraging. Other than a poor clear, an unlucky deflection and a horrid penalty, Howard was really tested just twice. We scored on Holland and had three very good, clear chances (Torres, Goodson, Altidore) that were close.

 

Still, left back needs to be resolved.

[USSoccer]

Sniejder is obviously really good, but was anyone really that impressed with Holland? Are they that dependent on RVP? Kuyt to me is just a worker bee, they don't rate Huntelaar very highly and Robben is internationally inconsistent.

 

They should have throttled us last night but just lacked something. I wasn't impressed.

[CubInOK]

Sniejder is obviously really good, but was anyone really that impressed with Holland? Are they that dependent on RVP? Kuyt to me is just a worker bee, they don't rate Huntelaar very highly and Robben is internationally inconsistent.

 

They should have throttled us last night but just lacked something. I wasn't impressed.

I thought they lacked finishing. They really might not be that great without Van Persie.

[wvcbxl]

... but in terms of pure talent, I rate the Dutch 3rd in the world off the top of my head.

 

Behind Brazil and Spain, I presume?

[shnsajax]

Sniejder is obviously really good, but was anyone really that impressed with Holland? Are they that dependent on RVP? Kuyt to me is just a worker bee, they don't rate Huntelaar very highly and Robben is internationally inconsistent.

 

They should have throttled us last night but just lacked something. I wasn't impressed.

 

Outside of van Nistelrooy I think the core of the team is still there from the Euro 2008 team. They have always relied on a dominate forward as well between him, Kluivert, Bergkamp, van Basten, Gullit, Cruyff. But that easy to understand with that list.