wolf stansson

Were going to win this?

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Our spacing in the back line is sexy.

Those last two tackles by Benny were as bad as Bradley's. Not even a foul.

LIKE I SAID DEUCE EXPLOITING THE WEAK LEFT DEFENSE FINDING SPACE BETWEEN THE LEFT CENTER AND HALF BACK HUGE [expletive] goal. i love him so much.

F ME WERE IN A FINAL LETS DO THIS!

I just got done watching FSC's replay of the Gold Cup Final. Watching that game in the context of where we are now was incredible. Benny Feilhaber is more than likely going to start in place of Bradley tomorrow and being reminded that the reason he started along side Mastroeni back in the Gold Cup was a Bradley Red Card Suspension. I was also surprised by the amount of players in that game that are going to be in this game despite barely getting a cap in between the two tournaments. Spector, DeMerit, Clark, Feilhaber. Other than Clark, those are guys that I've desperately wanted to show enough be regulars and this tournament has proven me right. They have class and they belong. Watching Feilhaber's strike in the Gold Cup final was the perfect tune up for the game tomorrow. Alright then, first FIFA International final for the MNT. Biggest day of my sporting life outside of game 5 of the 2006 World Series. Brazil rely on their wing backs to get forward and contribute to the attack. They rely on Robinho on the right and Kaka on the left to wreck havoc on their opponents back line. They rely on set pieces. To win, we'll need to limit fouls especially in danger areas, we'll need our wingers to get into the space vacated by Brazil's right and left backs and exploit the weaknesses of the center backs. Lucio is strong enough to deal with Altidore but could be exploited by Davies' speed. Luisao is weak and can be exploited by Jozy's strength. Andre Santos doesn't cut it at left back for me. He's the obvious weak link in Brazil's lineup. Jozy, Benny and Dempsey must exploit his tendency to get caught out. The Brazilian attack is overly dependent on Kaka and Robinho. If our back line is as organized as it was against Spain, then we have a shot. Spec and Boca must stay with them. When they inevitably get burned, DeMerit and Gooch must provide the kind of cover they did against Spain. The keys are our players being able to exploit the vacated space on the wings behind Maicon and Santos. It can be done. We have a shot. Everything must again be flawless. -----------------------------------Howard---------------------------------------- ----Spector----------Gooch--------------DeMerit--------------Bocanegra---- -----------------------------------Fabiano--------------------------------------- -------------Kaka---------------------------------Robinho---------------------- ----------------------Feilhaber------------------Clark-------------------------- ---------Melo---------------------Elano--------------------Silva----------------- ---------Deuce---------------------------------------------Donovan------------ --------------------------Altidore-----------Davies----------------------------- --Santos------------Luisao-----------------------Lucio----------Maicon------ ---------------------------------Cesar------------------------------------------- Let's [expletive] do this.

That's fantastic. I watched that goal a bunch of times last night on DVR and watching I was struck at how many chances there were to prevent it. Seeing it broken down in that link is awesome.

I don't know what AS is or what it says, but this is what Bruce at DuNord linked to: http://www.as.com/futbol/articulo/bradley-intenta-agredir-arbitro/dasftbccf/20090624dasdasftb_60/Tes

Tommy Smyth blows. Derek is fantastic. I'm concerned about this Michael Bradley nonsense.

That was gorgeous.

Landon on Dan Patrick: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/listenlive.player.html?file=http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/danpatrick/audio/2009/06/25/DP-Landon_Donovan-06-25-09_Interview.mp3

This Spain game has turned me into a grumpy indie rock fan. People keep talking to me about it and making me mad with their stupid question, comments and mispronunciations of player names. I need to come off it and embrace the attention for the sport, but if one more person asks me what happened to "that guy with the crazy, red beard" or asks me if I think we can win the World Cup next year, I'm going to become the soccer version of Lester Bangs. Philistines!

Best quote about the game yet, from Marca: "The shot by the American star [Donovan] was derailed by Pique, and ended up at Ramos' feet. The Madrid player controlled it calmly in the small penalty box and Dempsey stole his purse, resulting in widespread astonishment." This must be the purse Clint stole, lol. http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/sergio-ramos.jpg

Leave him off. This is a perfect chance for Feilhaber to play (and shine). I just hope he's in shape enough for the task. In my mind, it's that Bradley only plays over Feilhaber since he's the coaches son. He just shut down the best attacking central midfielder in the world. He's been arguably our best player all tournament. He's one of the few players who I could say before yesterday's game isn't afraid to take on world class teams. I love Benny Feilhaber, but he hasn't been at full form for about two years now and as brilliant as he has played since the Honduras game, starting and potentially going the full 90 against a Brazil team that is going to need our center mids to do the same job they just did against Spain is a tall, tall order. If you didn't watch in awe as Michael Bradley did to Xavi what Michael Carrick, Michael Essien and Mark van Bommel couldn't do and you've drawn the conclusion that were better off with Benny Feilhaber trying to help shut down the middle of the field against Brazil, you're crazy.

I was thinking about this last night. He essentially played 4 center backs last night. That's an old school, no-nonsense back line. Not concerned about bombing up the wings, not concerned about working with the ball at their feet; just concerned about preventing goals. I feel like, since we don't have the luxury of any Maicon's or Philip Lahm's, we may as well play that way more often. Also, Bradley and/or Clark were never more than a tackle's length away from Xavi last night. That was a not so naive tactical set up from Bob.

The transfer window doesn't open until July 1st, so nothing is finalized until then.

To an untrain eye like myself, it look like a good clean tackle. So, IMO it's worth contesting. Maybe those who follow the game much longer then I can give you a better answer. maybe a yellow, probably not even that. Hard challenge, both feet down, hit the ball first. WFT. Larrionda is quickly becoming a US Soccer legendary antagonist.

I didn't see the second half. Is the Bradley red card worth contesting and trying to get him reinstated for Brazil?

Lalas: "That was a good, old-fashioned American soccer team playing they way American soccer teams play. Yeah Spain were better on the day, but today wasn't that day!" Dear Alexei Lalas/John Harkes/Eric Wynalda, Your generation wasn't [expletive]. Yeah you advanced to the knockout round in '94, but so does every home team in the World Cup. Stop acting like this team has to play up to your standard. Your heart and determination is wonderful to talk about in hindsight, but stop making it about you and get off my god damn tv. Sincerely, Wolf Anyone else optimistic about a seed next summer?

He was the fourth option at the bottom, not shown there, and is leading with 41%. Yeah, I cut it off and I'm not going to go back to fix it. Timmy ran away with it at like 45%.

ESPN Sports Nation Polling http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm16/dhohulin/espnpoll.jpg

I'd like to believe that some Spanish clubs saw what I've seen this tourney and give the Galaxy a call.

ITALY SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLAYING INSTEAD OF THE US!! I was thinking more in terms of "HEY NOW YOU BETTER TAKE BACK EVERYTHING YOU SAID ABOUT BOB BRADLEY" or "WE JUST PROVED ALL THOSE EURO SNOBS WRONG, WE ARE CONTENDERS!" When in reality, Bob has put out a bucket 4-4-2 two games in a row and we hit a rich vein of form against two teams who underestimated us and had the ball bounce our way. I've said it all along and I'll say it until I'm proven wrong at the World Cup: Bob is tactically naive (which can be overcome by inspired play from his players) and we're a top 15-20 team but not looking to crack into the elite any time soon. We'll have our days now and then, we'll rule our region, but in the end we lack that extra class that puts you in the elite group. What I'm most hopeful for is the experience this gave a lot of young players, the confidence it has given the vets like Lando, Gooch and Deuce to be more assertive in big games and hopefully showcased our transfer candidates in a positive light (Jozy, Davies, Landon and Gooch especially).

I'm so freaking happy right now that I'm not even going to get upset at our insipid soccer press and their inevitable [expletive] commentary.