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USSoccer

By USSoccer,
in Other Sports

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I can't decide which I'm least psyched about. The decreased margin for error or the chance that we could lose the Azteca trip.

I'm mostly concerned that this is what the first round will look like (according to FIFA rankings):

 

GROUP 1A          GROUP 1B        GROUP 1C         GROUP 1D
1. USA            2. Mexico       3. Costa Rica    4. Honduras
16. Bermuda       15. Cuba        14. Guyana       13. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Barbados      18. Suriname    19. N. Antilles  20. St. Kitts/Nevis
32. US Virgin Is. 31. Aruba       30. Bahamas      29. British Virgin Is.

GROUP 1E          GROUP 1F        GROUP 1G         GROUP 1H
5. Canada         6. El Salvador  7. Panama        8. Jamaica
12. Grenada       11. Guatemala   10. Haiti        9. Trinidad and Tobago
21. Nicaragua     22. Puerto Rico 23. St. Vincent  24. Cayman Islands
28. Turks/Caicos  27. St. Lucia   26. Dominica     25. Belize

 

That's six games against drecks. Then there's a whole second round of more drecks (if seeds hold to form, second round would be like US/Jamaica/T&T/Bermuda). The unfortunate fact about CONCACAF is, there are maybe 7-8 decent squads, with just 2-3 quality squads in a given cycle (two of which are always Mexico and the US, since 2000 at least). There's no need to involve so many teams in the introductory qualification process.

 

Even the last round would be pretty bad also. If seeds hold it would be the US, Honduras, Canada and Jamaica. Maybe we'd get lucky (from a playing more competitive teams standpoint) and get Costa Rica but that's a whole lot of crap we're stuck playing.

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wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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GROUP 1A          GROUP 1B        GROUP 1C         GROUP 1D
1. USA            2. Mexico       3. Costa Rica    4. Honduras
16. Bermuda       15. Cuba        14. Guyana       13. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Barbados      18. Suriname    19. N. Antilles  20. St. Kitts/Nevis
32. US Virgin Is. 31. Aruba       30. Bahamas      29. British Virgin Is.

GROUP 1E          GROUP 1F        GROUP 1G         GROUP 1H
5. Canada         6. El Salvador  7. Panama        8. Jamaica
12. Grenada       11. Guatemala   10. Haiti        9. Trinidad and Tobago
21. Nicaragua     22. Puerto Rico 23. St. Vincent  24. Cayman Islands
28. Turks/Caicos  27. St. Lucia   26. Dominica     25. Belize

Our forward pool just started licking their chops. That is some serious stat-padding fodder.

USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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So basically Jack Warner came up with the worst possible qualification scheme just so T&T would have a slightly better chance at qualifying?

 

F this. We will never play Mexico this way unless its the Gold Cup, and we lose the Azteca trip. This also adds to the margin for error, as one bad weekend has us in a playoff with the 6th place team in CONMEBOL.

 

This is awful. We're going to see 6 games of 8-0 in that first round, and then another round of 8-0, and then a tense as hell final round.

reggiemiller rules Draft Eligible

reggiemiller rules

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Van Der Vaart to Spurs is a great piece of business.

 

Kaladze to Genoa and Milan turning down a Boriello-for-Mexes swap has to be a good sign for the Gooch, no?

 

It looks like he was left off of Milans Champions league squad for Oddo who is complete crap, so that is probably not great news for him.

wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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Van Der Vaart to Spurs is a great piece of business.

 

Kaladze to Genoa and Milan turning down a Boriello-for-Mexes swap has to be a good sign for the Gooch, no?

 

It looks like he was left off of Milans Champions league squad for Oddo who is complete crap, so that is probably not great news for him.

He just got back to full training. He's not going to be ready for a full 90 for a few weeks anyway. Plus he and Oddo don't play the same positions.

USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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Van Der Vaart to Spurs is a great piece of business.

 

Kaladze to Genoa and Milan turning down a Boriello-for-Mexes swap has to be a good sign for the Gooch, no?

 

Here's hoping. He's had a total of 4 halves of competitive soccer since last fall.

sethuel1 ACL Cubs

sethuel1

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Van Der Vaart to Spurs is a great piece of business.

 

Kaladze to Genoa and Milan turning down a Boriello-for-Mexes swap has to be a good sign for the Gooch, no?

 

Here's hoping. He's had a total of 4 halves of competitive soccer since last fall.

As far as I can tell he's the fifth choice in central defense. Behind Nesta, Thiago Silva, Papastathopoulos and Yepes.

 

EDIT: And possibly also Daniele Bonera.

 

Basically, he ain't playin'.

wolf stansson Knoxville Smokies

wolf stansson

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The day he was old enough to sign a professional contrat, West Ham gave Seba Lletget that paper: http://www.whufc.com/articles/20100903/happy-birthday-for-lletget_2236884_2143922

A talented attacking midfielder with eye-catching ball skills, Lletget was first spotted by the Hammers playing for Santa Clara Sporting SC - Sporting Clube de Portugal's US academy based near the city of San Jose, California - at the age of 13. Following a successful trial, Lletget has been training with West Ham on and off for the past four-and-a-half years.

...

"I am an attacking midfielder who plays in the hole. I love to play football and I think I have good vision, good ball control and I like to pass the ball. I think those are my strongest suits. I like to express myself.

 

Now we need to find some forwards that can convert his passes into goals. From what I heard last year, Zola loved this kid and compared him to players like Xavi Hernandez and Wesley Sneijder in terms of style of play. Hopefully guys like Jack Mac and Mwanga at Philly, who are his age, can come through.

 

We really need to move to a 4-5-1 with our midfielders and lack of forwards. It just seems so obvious.

USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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Now we need to find some forwards that can convert his passes into goals. From what I heard last year, Zola loved this kid and compared him to players like Xavi Hernandez and Wesley Sneijder in terms of style of play. Hopefully guys like Jack Mac and Mwanga at Philly, who are his age, can come through.

 

We really need to move to a 4-5-1 with our midfielders and lack of forwards. It just seems so obvious.

 

Love me some Jac Mac & Mwanga. I have been pimping McInerrney for a while, but I think he's got "it" as far as the striker's gene is concerned.

 

The 4-5-1 is the best fit by far for our team. It can flex into 4-3-3 when needed and maximizes our best players' strengths.

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lol @ France.

 

That team is in so much trouble ...

 

I love it.

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If I were able to get a media pass for the Fire, would anyone here be interested in covering it for 312? Attendance at the majority of games would be expected.

 

PM me if interested & able.

USSoccer Chicago Cubs

USSoccer

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Good news for Clint and EJ, bad for England as Bobby Zamora broke his leg today.

I didn't see the game, but I saw Clint started at RM. Duff sucks. It's about time.

 

Dembele was playing RM in actuality. Clint was playing off Zamora, and after he went down, Clint was playing the line leading striker. Which is his worst role. He should be at RM or in the hole behind a striker.

 

EJ played well, actually. He's a far more polished player now than he was a couple years ago. Hopefully he can go back to Greece next year.

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