The Soccer Thread

[CubInOK]

Germany tries to win because they'd rather play the 2nd place team in Group H. They've seen the US team scrap and get late goals. They won't play cautious for a possible tie with the Uas their opponent.

Germany gets first in the group with a draw.

[bukie]

Germany tries to win because they'd rather play the 2nd place team in Group H. They've seen the US team scrap and get late goals. They won't play cautious for a possible tie with the Uas their opponent.

Germany gets first in the group with a draw.

Right, but the US isn't going to lay down, and Germany would rather win than lose.

[USSoccer]

The more I think about it, the more I cannot understand why:

 

-Beckerman doesn't haul William down immediately

-Why is Beckerman there and not off to the left?

-Where is Jones?

-Why is CR7 in that much space late?

-Why are all 5 defenders on the field that far forward, to the point where you let a guy behind you?

 

I dunno. If they scored because someone outjumped one of the CB's, its a lot easier to take. But we played the stoppage time extremely naive, and paid a price for our lack of tactical nous and general lack of composure late.

 

Yeah, lot of questions. Like you said in a previous post (I think it was you, sorry, in a daze), the US lost on a counter when leading with less than a minute remaining in stoppage. The defensive line seemed too high, the midfielders certainly weren't all deep enough, the players were too casual with the ball when booting it to the corner would have been fine (this was true against Ghana too), Ronaldo was lost (and even worse, lost on DMB's side, who was absolutely gassed), and no professional foul either?

 

I think DMB was worried about stepping up and getting beat by Ronaldo, and not being able to foul him, and leaving him a clear path into the 18.

 

But just no excuse for getting beaten on a ball behind you. If we crash out Thursday, that sequence is going to burn into the memories of those guys for a while, since it was completely preventable and a total breakdown of common soccer sense.

[Exile on Waveland]

The more I think about it, the more I cannot understand why:

 

-Beckerman doesn't haul William down immediately

-Why is Beckerman there and not off to the left?

-Where is Jones?

-Why is CR7 in that much space late?

-Why are all 5 defenders on the field that far forward, to the point where you let a guy behind you?

 

I dunno. If they scored because someone outjumped one of the CB's, its a lot easier to take. But we played the stoppage time extremely naive, and paid a price for our lack of tactical nous and general lack of composure late.

 

Yeah, lot of questions. Like you said in a previous post (I think it was you, sorry, in a daze), the US lost on a counter when leading with less than a minute remaining in stoppage. The defensive line seemed too high, the midfielders certainly weren't all deep enough, the players were too casual with the ball when booting it to the corner would have been fine (this was true against Ghana too), Ronaldo was lost (and even worse, lost on DMB's side, who was absolutely gassed), and no professional foul either?

 

I think DMB was worried about stepping up and getting beat by Ronaldo, and not being able to foul him, and leaving him a clear path into the 18.

 

But just no excuse for getting beaten on a ball behind you. If we crash out Thursday, that sequence is going to burn into the memories of those guys for a while, since it was completely preventable and a total breakdown of common soccer sense.

 

Right. I didn't mean to blame DMB. He was on an island with the last person you want to be on an island with -- and he, correctly, made the choice not to allow Ronaldo by him (otherwise, Ronaldo would have been in on goal). But, at that point, I would have wanted to see almost anyone other than DMB alone against Ronalda -- at least by my lights, DMB was the most visibly tired player on the field.

[Soul]

The latest goal scored in World Cup history, according to ESPN's ticker.

 

Unfortunately I was only able to monitor the game on my phone, since I was flying yesterday. I only saw a few minutes of it on the TV, in the middle of the game. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to see that happen live. Looked like the first Portugal goal was a US gaffe, as well.

 

Ugh.

[wolf stansson]

Geoff Cameron is our best right sided CB. He's also so bi-polar in his performances that the sooner we can find a better prospect the better.

 

He was dominant vs Ghana and the most responsible for both goals yesterday. His tentative clearance on the first and clueless positioning on the second goal were inexcusable at this level.

 

Because all of that is true, I really don't think there's a ton of analysis to be done. He's capable of elite performances and boneheaded performances but he's still the best player in the pool at that position. We don't have a great team, we have a good team. That's why none of us thought we were going to win the World Cup.

[USSoccer]

 

Right. I didn't mean to blame DMB. He was on an island with the last person you want to be on an island with -- and he, correctly, made the choice not to allow Ronaldo by him (otherwise, Ronaldo would have been in on goal). But, at that point, I would have wanted to see almost anyone other than DMB alone against Ronalda -- at least by my lights, DMB was the most visibly tired player on the field.

 

Yeah, him or Jones were very gassed.

 

I understand why JK put Omar in, superficially, but in hindsight, it would have been better had he brought Chandler in. 3 CBs on the field just creates confusion about who should be marking who. And lets be real: he's been a jinx the last few games he's played.

[biittner77]

I'm rating Germany to roll us because they have an extra day of rest, and they were better than us anyway, and I'd bet on some sort of hangover from the letdown tonight.

 

Germany will play to win, period.

We'll see how it goes next Thursday - you can count on all of Belgium watching the early games closely. :wink:

 

If Germany gets a goal early, because 'Murica, they'll gladly sit on that lead. It will be interesting to see how hard the US pushes for the equalizer in that scenario.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm rating Germany to roll us because they have an extra day of rest, and they were better than us anyway, and I'd bet on some sort of hangover from the letdown tonight.

 

Germany will play to win, period.

We'll see how it goes next Thursday - you can count on all of Belgium watching the early games closely. :wink:

 

If Germany gets a goal early, because 'Murica, they'll gladly sit on that lead. It will be interesting to see how hard the US pushes for the equalizer in that scenario.

 

Why wouldn't they push as hard as possible to equalize?

[Guest]

They likely would, but there are worse outcomes than a 1-0 loss, and the US may be better equipped to try and score with a counter-attack rather than to push people forward to equalize and risk a second goal.

 

Personally, I'm counting USA and Portugal goals come Thursday. 2-3 combined and the odds should be pretty good.

[Guest]

 

Right. I didn't mean to blame DMB. He was on an island with the last person you want to be on an island with -- and he, correctly, made the choice not to allow Ronaldo by him (otherwise, Ronaldo would have been in on goal). But, at that point, I would have wanted to see almost anyone other than DMB alone against Ronalda -- at least by my lights, DMB was the most visibly tired player on the field.

 

Yeah, him or Jones were very gassed.

 

I understand why JK put Omar in, superficially, but in hindsight, it would have been better had he brought Chandler in. 3 CBs on the field just creates confusion about who should be marking who. And lets be real: he's been a jinx the last few games he's played.

 

Fun facts:

 

When Bradley lost the ball on the final play, Omar was at midfield.

When the ball was headed into the net, Omar wasn't even in the box.

 

I don't know if it would have mattered, but he needs to be on the back line creating 5 at the back and he shouldn't think of moving further forward. Not that this excuses Cameron from the goal though.

[Guest]

They likely would, but there are worse outcomes than a 1-0 loss, and the US may be better equipped to try and score with a counter-attack rather than to push people forward to equalize and risk a second goal.

 

Personally, I'm counting USA and Portugal goals come Thursday. 2-3 combined and the odds should be pretty good.

 

Yeah, if we're down 1-0 and we see Portugal up 1-0 midway through second half, we know either Portugal has to score three more times or Ghana has to score twice so we'd do whatever we could to not allow a goal.

 

We'll try hard from the start, but depending on the situation, we may go into a defensive mode.

[Guest]

Can someone tell me why FIFA designed the tie-breaker system so that if Ghana and the US both earn four points and the US beat Ghana head-to-head, Ghana could still advance over the US? I mean this is a tournament, head-to-head results should be the first tiebreaker used in a two-way tie.

 

No idea but it's pretty stupid.

 

Yes, very stupid. Using goal-differential makes sense, but having goals scored over head-to-head is dumb.

 

Personally, I don't even like that. Should be H2H, then GD, then GS. I don't have time right now to look at a bunch of leagues, but in the top leagues, the EPL doesn't use H2H at all (it's GD, GS then a playoff), the Bundesliga is the same as the World Cup, Serie A goes H2H, GD and La Liga goes H2H, H2H GD, H2H GS and then overall GD. So it seems like it's split there.

[USSoccer]

They likely would, but there are worse outcomes than a 1-0 loss, and the US may be better equipped to try and score with a counter-attack rather than to push people forward to equalize and risk a second goal.

 

Personally, I'm counting USA and Portugal goals come Thursday. 2-3 combined and the odds should be pretty good.

 

Yeah, if we're down 1-0 and we see Portugal up 1-0 midway through second half, we know either Portugal has to score three more times or Ghana has to score twice so we'd do whatever we could to not allow a goal.

 

We'll try hard from the start, but depending on the situation, we may go into a defensive mode.

 

The worry I have is that our defenders, and Fabian in particular, get caught ball watching too often and fail to track runners, which is what Germany's attack is built on.

[Exile on Waveland]

Can someone tell me why FIFA designed the tie-breaker system so that if Ghana and the US both earn four points and the US beat Ghana head-to-head, Ghana could still advance over the US? I mean this is a tournament, head-to-head results should be the first tiebreaker used in a two-way tie.

 

No idea but it's pretty stupid.

 

Yes, very stupid. Using goal-differential makes sense, but having goals scored over head-to-head is dumb.

 

Personally, I don't even like that. Should be H2H, then GD, then GS. I don't have time right now to look at a bunch of leagues, but in the top leagues, the EPL doesn't use H2H at all (it's GD, GS then a playoff), the Bundesliga is the same as the World Cup, Serie A goes H2H, GD and La Liga goes H2H, H2H GD, H2H GS and then overall GD. So it seems like it's split there.

 

Agree. I actually meant to say "makes some sense." It should be head-to-head first.

[wolf stansson]

They likely would, but there are worse outcomes than a 1-0 loss, and the US may be better equipped to try and score with a counter-attack rather than to push people forward to equalize and risk a second goal.

 

Personally, I'm counting USA and Portugal goals come Thursday. 2-3 combined and the odds should be pretty good.

 

Yeah, if we're down 1-0 and we see Portugal up 1-0 midway through second half, we know either Portugal has to score three more times or Ghana has to score twice so we'd do whatever we could to not allow a goal.

 

We'll try hard from the start, but depending on the situation, we may go into a defensive mode.

 

The worry I have is that our defenders, and Fabian in particular, get caught ball watching too often and fail to track runners, which is what Germany's attack is built on.

He's not just prone to one or two mental lapses that Germany will capitalize on almost every time, he's also never been good in the heat and I'm worried that he's going to be running on empty on Thursday. I think Jurgen needs to monitor that carefully.

[sneakypower]

today's Google Doodle is the best so far

[Soul]

Can someone tell me why FIFA designed the tie-breaker system so that if Ghana and the US both earn four points and the US beat Ghana head-to-head, Ghana could still advance over the US? I mean this is a tournament, head-to-head results should be the first tiebreaker used in a two-way tie.

 

No idea but it's pretty stupid.

 

Yes, very stupid. Using goal-differential makes sense, but having goals scored over head-to-head is dumb.

 

Personally, I don't even like that. Should be H2H, then GD, then GS. I don't have time right now to look at a bunch of leagues, but in the top leagues, the EPL doesn't use H2H at all (it's GD, GS then a playoff), the Bundesliga is the same as the World Cup, Serie A goes H2H, GD and La Liga goes H2H, H2H GD, H2H GS and then overall GD. So it seems like it's split there.

 

Agree. I actually meant to say "makes some sense." It should be head-to-head first.

 

I thought there might be some historical reason that I don't understand. Barring that, H2H should always be the first tie-breaker.

[USSoccer]

 

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53a78759ecad04363a63bcb4-1200-600/usa-vs-portugal-3.jpg

 

 

Amateur hour defending.

Edited June 23, 2014 by USSoccer

[wvcbxl]

I thought there might be some historical reason that I don't understand. Barring that, H2H should always be the first tie-breaker.

 

Here's the logic: GD means that in a tight situation at least two teams will be in attacking mode until the end of the games.

If H2H would be the first tie-breaker, there could be a lot of bunkering down to preserve results, as the number of goals wouldn't matter.

 

So if you want to see attacking play until the end of the games, the GD > GS > H2H order makes perfect sense

[shnsajax]

Brazil v Chile will be a fun matchup.

 

I will take great pleasure in seeing the Dutch eliminate Mexico should they make it past Croatia.

[mul21]

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53a78759ecad04363a63bcb4-1200-600/usa-vs-portugal-3.jpg

 

Amateur hour defending.

 

You have to think that has a lot to do with who had the ball don't you?

[jersey cubs fan]

I thought there might be some historical reason that I don't understand. Barring that, H2H should always be the first tie-breaker.

 

Here's the logic: GD means that in a tight situation at least two teams will be in attacking mode until the end of the games.

If H2H would be the first tie-breaker, there could be a lot of bunkering down to preserve results, as the number of goals wouldn't matter.

 

So if you want to see attacking play until the end of the games, the GD > GS > H2H order makes perfect sense

that would make some sense if it wasn't for the fact that we still see plenty of hunkering down and very little attacking

[shnsajax]

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53a78759ecad04363a63bcb4-1200-600/usa-vs-portugal-3.jpg

 

Amateur hour defending.

 

You have to think that has a lot to do with who had the ball don't you?

 

That would equate to amateur hour defending. Eight guys watching the ball and not their man when your sole job is to get back.

[jersey cubs fan]

Doesn't FIFA just take the all publicity is good publicity mantra to heart? They don't care if 1 team advances over a team they lost to, in fact, they probably welcome the venom that would result. They don't care about brazen bribery scandals, extremely racist and homophobic fans, diving, obvious advantages of using technology to prevent bad officiating, etc. They invite the controversy because it keeps FIFA top of mind world wide.