The Soccer Thread

[CubInOK]

tough friendly for portugal today, playing the cape verde islands

I'd guess Canada is about as good as Cape Verde Islands. Argentina's 2nd team is probably as good as Canada.

[wolf stansson]

tough friendly for portugal today, playing the cape verde islands

I'd guess Canada is about as good as Cape Verde Islands. Argentina's 2nd team is probably as good as Canada.

Dude, Argentina could go 20 deep at every position and be better. Not an exaggeration.

[bukie]

tough friendly for portugal today, playing the cape verde islands

I'd guess Canada is about as good as Cape Verde Islands. Argentina's 2nd team is probably as good as Canada.

Dude, Argentina could go 20 deep at every position and be better. Not an exaggeration.

Yeah, there might be 10 CONCACAF teams better than Canada, and CONCACAF is terrible.

 

EDIT: Actual counting...USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, T&T, Panama, Jamaica, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti...yep.

Edited May 24, 2010 by bukie

[TruffleShuffle]

lol portugal's game with the cape verde islands ended in a scoreless draw.

 

also, south korea beat japan 2-0, australia had a 2-1 win over new zealand that was apparently undeserved, south africa drew with bulgaria and england won 3-1 over mexico.

[USSoccer]

Mexico, I think, exposed a few weaknesses in England's game today. That 3-1 scoreline was very flattering to England.

[wolf stansson]

I didn't watch. What went down?

[USSoccer]

I didn't watch. What went down?

 

A few things:

 

If Ledley King starts against us, it's a big advantage to us. He can't move laterally with any quickness. He's nails on set pieces and such, but pace against their central defenders is their flaw. Their wings also get caught upfield a ton. Glen Johnson is going to be a major liability for them. Bradley should let LD and Clint switch to exploit that matchup.

 

Jay Demerit needs to man-mark Rooney. He'll end up pissing him off, which is the way to neutralize him. If Walcott starts, stagger the field like a guillotine and let him run until he has to make a soccer decision, which he'll completely screw up.

 

Whoever their D-mid is going to be is going to have to provide a lot of cover to their centerbacks, which means Mikey can make some of his late runs into the attacking third and cause some chaos. If it's Carrick, he's in poor form right now and I think we can exploit that.

 

Edu/Mikey should be the middle pairing, and Dolo and Boca should start on the wings. Let their wings run into a packed final third, which takes options away. Crouch won't be as effective in the air, since we have CB's (in theory if healthy) that can match his size and muscle him off the ball.

 

Now, the Chelsea guys and James didn't play yesterday, but I wasn't impressed at all. Mexico had the better of play in the 1st andshould have scored 3.

[wolf stansson]

Apparently we're going to see a lot of bubble guys tonight.

[wolf stansson]

Clint Dempsey telling it like it is.

http://worldcup.si.com/2010/05/25/dempsey-harkes-criticism-off-base/

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — On the day the U.S. meets the Czech Republic in a pre-World Cup friendly (ESPN, Galavisión, 8 p.m. ET), U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey has something he wants to get off his chest. Dempsey isn’t happy with the way ESPN commentator John Harkes has criticized him on TV, in particular during last year’s Confederations Cup.

 

“He criticized me in [Confederations Cup] for looking tired and said I should be benched, but I was top three in distance covered in the whole tournament,” Dempsey told me. “It’s funny that he criticized me so much and yet I feel like I’ve done more in my international career than he has. Just compare our national-team stats. I’ve also scored in a World Cup, scored three goals in Confederations Cup, and got the Bronze Ball for third-best player in the whole tournament. Look at what he’s done. I’m 27 and still have a lot of games left in me and he’s finished.”

 

On Tuesday afternoon I reached Harkes, who will be handling ESPN’s color commentary for the game tonight. “Clint Dempsey is a great player, highly skilled and very entertaining,” Harkes told me. “My job is to commentate on the games. It’s never personal. As a former player you realize it’s part and parcel of the profession. I wish Clint and the whole U.S. team the best of success, especially in the World Cup.”

 

Some might argue that Harkes’s own career is irrelevant when it comes to whether it gives him the right to be a critic. For what it’s worth, though, here are the stats comparing Dempsey and Harkes:

 

Clint Dempsey

 

U.S. career: 60 caps, 17 goals, 7 assists

About to be 2 World Cups: 3 games, 1 goal, 0-2-1 record

1 Honda Player of Year award (1 3rd place)

Bronze ball, 2009 Confederations Cup.

 

2 Gold Cup titles

 

League career in England: 110 games, 21 goals.

Runner-up in 2010 Europa League.

 

John Harkes

 

U.S. career: 90 caps, 6 goals, 11 assists

2 World Cups: 6 games, 0 goals, 1-1-4 record

0 Honda Player of Year awards (1 runner-up)

 

Co-MVP 1995 Copa América (updated)

 

0 Gold Cup titles

 

League career in England: 164 games, 12 goals.

Won 1991 League Cup with Sheffield Wednesday. Also runner-up in one FA Cup, one League Cup.

 

For Dempsey’s part, he also thinks he got a raw deal in the voting for last year’s Honda Player of the Year award. Dempsey wasn’t among the three finalists for the award (winner Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Jozy Altidore). “In the year that a player got the Bronze Ball in a major tournament, I’m not even in the top three?” said Dempsey, who has sometimes felt like an outsider in the U.S. system because he didn’t play on its elite teams as a youth player.

[Jon]

Gomez seems to be off to a nice start in the 2nd half.

[wolf stansson]

Heath Pearce and Sacha Kljestan just killed their World Cup dreams. Pearce got caught on both goals while he was on the field. Sacha standing in the box with his thumb up his ass on the third goal was pathetic. For someone with such great offensive vision, he sure has a tendency to go [expletive] blind on defense.

[wolf stansson]

Things we already knew: Our starting lineup is much, much better than our reserves. Maurice Edu is not an international center back, good thing he's not supposed to be. Gooch would be rusty. Kljestan is a lazy/unaware defender. There's a reason Heath Pearce disappoints despite looking awesome at times.

 

Things we didn't know: Clarence Goodson can be a dominant set piece weapon. Gomez doesn't miss open chances at the intl level either. Maurice Edu can be excellent central midfield partner for Michael Bradley.

 

Maybe certain names not being on the final roster tomorrow will make me feel better about this game.

[wolf stansson]

Also, sorry USS, but your boy Beasley is most definitely going to be in South Africa.

[shnsajax]

Things we already knew: Our starting lineup is much, much better than our reserves. Maurice Edu is not an international center back, good thing he's not supposed to be. Gooch would be rusty. Kljestan is a lazy/unaware defender. There's a reason Heath Pearce disappoints despite looking awesome at times.

 

Things we didn't know: Clarence Goodson can be a dominant set piece weapon. Gomez doesn't miss open chances at the intl level either. Maurice Edu can be excellent central midfield partner for Michael Bradley.

 

Maybe certain names not being on the final roster tomorrow will make me feel better about this game.

 

Pearce was awful, that 2nd goal reminded me of something in HS. I was trying to figure why the hell Edu was even playing center back.

 

The Donovan Sports Center commercial was great though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19-ROSfwY8

[USSoccer]

That was a really entertaining game, actually, and I didn't think any players left any gray area as far as their usefulness.

 

Heath Pearce sucks. So does Bornstein. Both would have been liable to cost us with their stupid decisions, but at least Bornstein has athletic ability and isn't a complete liability jumping into the attack. Pearce had a chance tonight and blew it, and he knew it. He was awful. So, bye Heath. Have fun in Dallas.

 

Sacha came out in the 2nd half like he wanted to play well, had some good touches and then vanished the remaining 40+ minutes. So, bye Sacha. Your girlfriend is hot, so you have that going for you.

 

Eddie Johnson...I was pulling for him to do something, anything. But in a US shirt, he looks lost. Bye Eddie. Keep working in Greece.

 

Robbie Rogers gets into dangerous positions but doesn't think quickly enough for this level.

 

Other than those guys, I thought everyone else played pretty well. Goodison made me feel a whole lot better about our CB depth. JFT was really good tonight-constantly finding the right pass and playing calmly. Holden played decently, but you can tell he's not as game sharp as he could be. 'Dolo was steady. Edu was real good as well-looking forward to seeing him with Mikey. Buddle was active and Ching and Gomez were both good. I don't think Gomez has any sort of international pace, but inside the 18 he's sharp. Ching is just a smart, useful player. Links up really well with everyone.

 

Gooch...didn't look all that good.

 

And from the things I've heard and the things I've read, Clint seems awfully annoyed so far in camp. He wasn't wrong about Harkes at all, but the Honda POY stuff seemed a little odd. I'm kind of hoping he chills out and just takes his anger out on the field.

[brinoch]

That pretty much echoes what I thought of the game as well. I thought Torres, Holden and Edu did a good job. Beasley still has no touch. Ching added a very nice dimension in the attack, and seeing it after a half of EJ really highlighted his strengths. Gooch looked rusty and bad. Goodson was solid. Pearce, well, he was awful.

 

I wasn't impressed by Guzan, either. I thought he was too reactive and should have cut off the ball on Pearce Goal #1.

[USSoccer]

Also, sorry USS, but your boy Beasley is most definitely going to be in South Africa.

 

I've talked myself into accepting it.

 

I had forgotten about this, but Gomez really should have buried the chance Ching created where he just fired it right at Cech.

[wolf stansson]

Buddle was active and Ching and Gomez were both good. I don't think Gomez has any sort of international pace, but inside the 18 he's sharp. Ching is just a smart, useful player. Links up really well with everyone.

Ching was/is slow too. I would have really like to see Gomez with Buddle and Johnson with Ching or vice versa for the speed offset. The two fast guys and two slow guys was an odd pairing.

And from the things I've heard and the things I've read, Clint seems awfully annoyed so far in camp. He wasn't wrong about Harkes at all, but the Honda POY stuff seemed a little odd. I'm kind of hoping he chills out and just takes his anger out on the field.

Clint thrives when he's got people against him whether the competition/conflict is real or imagined. I think it's obvious that Landon gets too much handed to him because he's the only thing close to a big name player in America, especially by ESPN, US Soccer and the non-soccer American media. Real soccer fans know who the hell Clint Dempsey is but I understand why it would get old.

 

I had forgotten about this, but Gomez really should have buried the chance Ching created where he just fired it right at Cech.

I would say he could have buried it, maybe should have but it wasn't a sitter. It wasn't the first CR chance that the dude spun wide left. The reason I don't hate Gomez's miss is the reason I've been pulling for him over Buddle and Johnson this whole time. Just being able to put a shot (or header for that matter) on frame with a little mustard is often more than those dogs can provide.

I wasn't impressed by Guzan, either. I thought he was too reactive and should have cut off the ball on Pearce Goal #1.

I want to see Hahnemann this Saturday.

[bukie]

Grant Wahl speculates on the final 23.

[USSoccer]

Word on the street is that Brian Ching was cut. Inexplicable. I am not his biggest fan but he definitely had a use in SA.

[sethuel1]

I agree with Wahl's roster with one exception. I'd substitute Rogers for Bedoya. In actuality I'd substitute Adu for Bedoya, but that's not an option. Basically it's the 23rd man and all I want is the most dangerous guy for a 5-10 minute end-of-game sub when scoring a goal is absolutely necessary.

 

And I really hope you're wrong USS. Ching is perfect for holdup play with the lead.

[brinoch]

I thought Ching looked very good last night. A year ago, I saw little use for Ching, but his game has strengths and I think he could play a role on this team.

[wolf stansson]

As a country with very few forward who bring more than one elite skill to the table (Jozy = strength & pace; also ever-improving finishing, hold up play and passing. Charlie = Strength, pace, directness, ball skills in the box ((not sexual)) and passing on the counter. Clint = finishing, creativity, passing, technical ability), we have to settle for the guy who brings the most to the table. At least Brian Ching brings elite strength and hold up play to the table. Eddie Johnson has one elite skill (speed) but doesn't know what to do with the ball when he gets there. Ching's skill set offers more in an international game than anyone not named Jozy or Clint.

[brinoch]

USMNT Official World Cup Roster

 

GK (3) -- Howard, Hahnemann, Guzan

D (7) -- Bocanegra, Bornstein, Cherundolo, DeMerit, Goodson, Onyewu, Spector

MF (9) -- Beasley, Bradley, Clark, Dempsey, Donovan, Edu, Feilhaber, Holden, Torres

F (4) -- Altidore, Buddle, Findley, Gomez

[USSoccer]

Findley over Ching. Inexplicable.

 

Stupid, stupid, stupid decision.

 

That's a waste of a roster spot. Rogers or Bedoya would have been more useful in a tournament. Adu and Davies as well, for that matter.

Edited May 26, 2010 by USSoccer