The Soccer Thread

[soccer10k]

I'm watching the Liverpool-Chelsea replay on Fan Zone and this is hilarious.

[reggiemiller rules]

Head's up, Feilhaber's transfer is complete and could be in tomorrow against Tottenham.

 

Eddie Lewis could be joining him in Derby from Leeds.

 

Eddie Lewis did sign with Derby.

[circlechange]

McBride is out until November. He dislocated his kneecap.

Tonight on Fox Football Fone-in (FSC) they said that McBride could be out 5 months. You've got to wonder how much longer he can play in the Premier League at his age and following that injury.

[shnsajax]

McBride is out until November. He dislocated his kneecap.

Tonight on Fox Football Fone-in (FSC) they said that McBride could be out 5 months. You've got to wonder how much longer he can play in the Premier League at his age and following that injury.

 

Before the injury I would have said another 2 years, now I have no clue. I just don't know what the rehab and recovery are like from an injury like that. That being said I think he really enjoys playing in England and has been successful.

[reggiemiller rules]

Here is a yahoo sports article on Altidore, Not very imformative but thought that some would like to read it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news;_ylt=AjSOedlJWtOktWIG1rpWI4Umw7YF?slug=ro-altidore082007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[Marco4]

McBride is out until November. He dislocated his kneecap.

Tonight on Fox Football Fone-in (FSC) they said that McBride could be out 5 months. You've got to wonder how much longer he can play in the Premier League at his age and following that injury.

 

Before the injury I would have said another 2 years, now I have no clue. I just don't know what the rehab and recovery are like from an injury like that. That being said I think he really enjoys playing in England and has been successful.

 

He can always step down a league or two to get back to fitness.

[wvcbxl]

He can always step down a league or two to get back to fitness.

 

Sure, we'd love to have him in our league. :mrgreen:

[wolf stansson]

He should just retire. If he absolutely wants to keep playing, just retire to MLS.

[wolf stansson]

From Yahoo:

Ching scratched from U.S. lineup against Sweden because of groin strain

Ching scratched from U.S. lineup against Sweden because of groin strain

 

August 22, 2007

 

GOTEBORG, Sweden (AP) -- Brian Ching was removed from the United States' starting lineup against Sweden on Wednesday because of a strained left groin.

 

Ching thought he likely strained the groin Sunday, when he played and scored for Houston in a 1-0 victory over Dallas in Major League Soccer, U.S. team spokesman Michael Kammarman said.

 

Benny Feilhaber replaced Ching in the lineup for Wednesday's exhibition game, with Landon Donovan moving from midfield to forward.

 

TIm Howard started in goal, with Jonathan Bornstein, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu and Steve Cherundolo at defender, Michael Bradley, Pablo Mastroeni and DaMarcus Beasley in midfield and Clint Dempsey at forward.

 

 

Landon to forward and Benny to the midfield. I didn't know Benny was out of the 11. Thanks for the injury, Bry.

[soccer10k]

Ibrahimovic just had two great chances but Howard saved the first and the second one went off the crossbar.

[Brendan]

Ibrahimovic just had two great chances but Howard saved the first and the second one went off the crossbar.

 

can you provide a little play-by-play for those of us at work? i'm guessing the half will be ending here shortly. thanks

[soccer10k]

It's 0-0 and the second half is just starting.

[soccer10k]

Good save by Howard on a shot from 18 yards out by Howard.

 

Followed shortly by Dempsey not getting a good boot on the ball from about nine yards out. Should have scored.

[soccer10k]

56th minute Kim Kallstrom rocketed a left-footed shot from around 20 yards out past Howard in the 56th minute. 1-0 Sweden on a solid goal.

 

There may have been a push by a Swede right before that but both teams were pushing a bit.

 

EDIT: Beat Howard near post and it looked more like a big time pushoff by #9 of Sweden right before the goal. He really leaned out and shoved the US defender.

[Brendan]

and our european woes continue...

[soccer10k]

Not really any good chances the past 10 minutes for either team.

[soccer10k]

Rocketed free kick by Kallstrom from 25-30 yards out that went just wide.

 

75th minute now.

[soccer10k]

Zizzo just came in for his first cap for the U.S.

[Guest]

Zizzo is in!

 

ETA: Soccer10k is super fast.

[soccer10k]

Can the US at least put a halfway decent cross into the middle? I can't even count how many attempted crosses just go high over the goal, right to the goalie, or, in Convey's case on the last free kick, not even get to the middle.

[soccer10k]

Finally a good cross and, what do you know, a good scoring chance. Amazing how that works. Bradley had a solid header off the cross but the Sweden keeper made a good save.

 

Not sure who took the free kick for the U.S.

[soccer10k]

Game. 1-0 Sweden.

 

I would rip the U.S. for a lackluster second half (I didn't get to watch too much of the first half) but I know they played a lot of younger guys to get them experience.

 

It would have been nice if the U.S. took this match more serious to get their 'A' team more full games playing in Europe.

[shnsajax]

The U-17's are playing tonight/this morning on ESPN2 against Tunisia needing at least a point. Chance to see Nimo play for the 1st time.

[sethuel1]

Ok, here are my thoughts:

 

First of all, the fact that until the Ching injury Bradley was going to be starting over Feilhaber, and then benny had to play out of position, is pretty damn stupid.

 

Dempsey was the only US player that consistently showed any offensive verve. Donovan didn't have a good touch, Beasley looked dangerous at times but once again couldn't finish. Nor could Dempsey.

 

The central defense got absolutely shredded by ibrahimovic. Granted, he's one of the best strikers in the world, but he absolutely abused Boca especially. Onyewu had a little better luck with him (but not much) by just being rough, which Ibrahimovic reacts to poorly due to his patented Juventus "Super Pansy" training, which makes him go to ground way more easily than any man of his size ever should. Cherundolo looked decent, Bornstein did his soon-to-be-classic game of getting caught out of position regularly and then trying to make up for it with his speed, mixed in with a couple of dangerous runs forward that never amount to anything because he gets too excited on the ball.

 

Mastroeni was virtually nonexistent for his half, despite the comments of the idiot FSC commentator, whoever he is. no, moron, Donovan and Mastroeni are not the best players on the field. Also, the mic is picking you up when you spend 5 minutes in the first half going "is this working? Is this working? This isn't on the air, is it?"

 

Benny looked fairly poor on the outside but once he moved inside he did slightly better. However, his ability to do things was severely hampered by Michael Bradley, who once again looks like a decent footballer until something difficult like the game actually beginning starts happening, at which point he just looks terrible. I counted at the very least a half dozen giveaways on gimme passes or lax dribbling where there was no pressure around him. Not only that, but while everyone else is going to be busy complaining about the pushoff of Cherundolo leading to the goal for Sweden, I'm much more upset about the fact that Cherundolo's pressure resulted in a free ball which Bradley simply ran directly over without picking up, allowing the Swedish possession to continue. Go back and watch the replay. Bradley sucks, the fact that he'd ever be a choice over Feilhaber, Rico Clark, or even Pablo (and soon to be Maurice Edu as well) is criminal, and i'm really unhappy that his dad is the coach and is going to keep running him out there.

 

Convey looked really bad, but I kind of expected it because he's been out for so long. I wouldn't have called him up at this point. Kamani Hill had a few good runs.

 

Oh, one more thing. What the hell kind of first choice stadium for a decent European country has a field the width of a bowling lane?

[USSoccer]

I think tonights game was a terrific example of why the USMNT sucks in Europe. It's not CONCACAF. You have to put opportunities away when they are presented to you, especially against competent European sides away.

 

Sweden conceded 2 clear chances. Beasley and Dempsey both should have scored, although neither of them have been very good in front of goal over the last year. You can't tank opportunities like that and expect results. This team badly, BADLY needs a real striker. Someone who is clinical in front of goal.

 

I'm beginning to become less impressed with Bob Bradley's coaching.

 

None of the mids played all that well. Beasley probably played the best. The fact that Benny had to play the wing mid spot is just inexplicable. Slide Dempsey there and start Davies or Hill. That's stupid coaching.

 

Convey shouldn't have been out there. He looked bad. Not really his fault, but he looked bad. Again, he's had a super long layoff. Why play him in a friendly? It's not as if you don't have 2+ years of Bobby Convey tape to evaluate him on. Poor coaching. Michael Bradley looked skittish again. That's beginning to get obnoxious. Mastroeni shouldn't be a first choice selection anymore. That's on the coach.

 

Carlos Bocanegra is terrible. He gets caught out of position so often. Bornstein shouldn't be allowed in the offensive third until someone teaches him to stop dribbling his way out of space and into trouble.

 

Sweden's home crowd sounded asleep and their stadium looked narrow as hell.