USSoccer

Early word on the street is Clark and Gooch are starting, and Findley is not. If that's the case, we're going to be under siege and LD and CD will have no space. I smell 4-5-1. *Unless Torres is starting in place of Findley. Then I'm mildly intrigued.

I promise, it's harder than it looks to be.

Keys to the game: -Michael Bradley + whoever has to have a good game. If not, we lose 3-0. England have trouble against teams that possess the ball and knock it around. I hope we see Torres, but if it's not him, it best be Edu. I want no part of Rico Clark in a World Cup against England. -Findley *shudders* has to start and stretch out that defense. If Landon and Clint don't have any space, it's going to be a long, stupid day. They simply must take advantage of Glen Johnson and the space he and Cole vacate when they bomb upfield. Jozy has to be smartly physical against Terry and King. When we draw fouls, we have to take advantage of the set pieces. -The back four have to communicate effectively and close down correctly. Gooch, if he plays, has to not pick up any stupid, cheap fouls within 35 yards. Ditto for Blind Jay. -The longer the game stays level, or if the US can take and hold a lead for any length of time, the more frustrated England (read, Rooney) will get. -My head says 3-1 England. My heart says 2-2 draw. I have too many concerns about our defense, and some of our guys having an "Oh crap, its the World Cup" moment.

I actually think CONCACAF is going to show well in South Africa. Also, I'm not a believer in any of these African sides.

Whoops. Got my brackets all messed up. Doesn't change anything, though. I still like Argie v. Brasil. Maradona might be an ass, but he's limited to the 23 he picked, and the attack is just too good. Mexico is giong to just romp in group play. I'm thinking 7 points or something. That team's been playing together for like 8 weeks straight now.

A- Mexico, South Africa (don't underestimate FIFA refs) B- Argentina, Greece C- England, USA, D- Germany, Serbia E- Netherlands, Cameroon, F- Paraguay, Italy G- Brazil, Ivory Coast H- Spain, Honduras 1A: Mexico over 2B: Greece 1C: England over 2D: Serbia 2C: USA over 1D: Germany 2A: Argentina over 1B: South Africa (in an embarrassing fashion) 1E: Netherlands over 2F: Italy 1G: Brazil over 2H: Honduras 2E: Cameroon over 1F: Paraguay 1H: Spain over 2G: Ivory Coast Mexico over England Argentina over USA (Backline kills us) Brasil over Netherlands (PK's) Spain over Cameroon Argentina over Spain Brasil over Mexico Brasil over Argentina

The failure to use/develop Gonzalez is one of the only player decisions from Bob that disappointed me. He at least gave looks to everyone else that might have been useful. I like Goodison as a backup, but I'm wondering if he's physical enough to match up against Rooney.

Word on the street is that Gooch is just not going to be ready to play against England. Apparently he's not anywhere close to 100%. If this is the case, do you keep working with him in the hope he can play a role against Slovenia and Algeria, or do you replace him with Gonzalez or *shudders* Marshall?

I learned that the meme that says Australia and the US are comparable is crap. We're streets better than the Socceroos. Robbie Findley missed two sitters and nullified (wrongly decided) a Dempsey goal. We should have beaten them 6-0. I'm thinking that set piece defending is going to be tough with the new ball, though. No one seemed to be able to track it well. Also, I learned that Rico Clark shouldn't start. He was the worst thing about our team today. EDIT: Oh, and the vuvuzela is the worst thing in the history of ever.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/static/profile/avatars/avatar154411_4.gif

That article was awesome. Loved it. Rio being out for England is an upgrade for them, frankly.

Apparently Gio Dos Santos is throwing a fit because his brother Jonathan got cut from Mexico's 23 today and he's threatening to quit.

Absolutely. Wayne Rooney's going to be drooling whenever he watches the performance of our back line today. But that was always going to be the key for us to do anything at the World Cup. But look how deep Torres would drop at times to help the back 4. I think/hope Bradley may have stumbled upon something here. Mikey's always going to be high pressure, lots of work rate, chicken with the head cut off sort of mid. You can't play two guys like that. Torres' composure and skill complimented it and really helped our back 4, because with Bradley and Clark, they too often left their back 4 on an island with guys running at them. Torres provided cover and would always find the right outlet. The question is, is England a good matchup for him, and is Bradley gusty enough to start him against England?

Findley showed that pace can help spread a defense and create pockets for Clint and Landon. He also showed by dribbling the ball over the touch line that he's still not anywhere near as good as Davies. I think Buddle might be a better starting choice, but Findley showed justification for his selection today. Also, Torres is right now what we all hoped Adu would be by now.

I'll rewatch later, but my initial impression is that we wasted the Czech game and it really showed in the first half. We looked terrible. The tactical decision to put Benny at LM was awful and created horrid gaps in our shape. Dempsey was not good up front; equal parts rust and general off-ness. 2nd half, the more he saw of the ball the better he was. Great finish. Needs to play better though. He's too important a part to be rusty and poor for 45. Donovan was not as obviously bad as Clint in the 1st half, but he wasn't good either. Poor service from our mids, a complete brain-cramp in not giving cover to Spector's run helped contribute to the Turk goal. Specs and Bornstein shouldn't see the field. The former is in real poor form and the latter is a calamity of Agoos-proportions. Ditto for Rico Clark. He just isn't as good as the other options. Jozy provided a good run on his goal and a great 1v1 move in the first. He's going to run hot and cold, I think. The real story here was JFT. We haven't looked that dominant and that technical in the midfield in forever. Bradley looked so much better in the 2nd half because he was paired with someone who just orchestrated the entire show, held possession and allowed Junior to make his usual runs. Torres brought the best out of Bradley, and probably LD and CD because they saw so much possession. I don't know if it was because we were down a goal and this kind of up-and-down pace was perfect for Torres, or if it's because he's that good and going to get better, but we were fantastic because of his play. What stands out the most was the last 10 minutes. We spent most of it in their end, because Torres was distributing and unlocking their defense with complete ease. Our back 4 is overall still a real worry. We only played good attacking soccer for a half, scored 2 and hit 2 posts. I think we can score goals. I worry about conceding them like a sieve.

God I love JFTorres.

Robbie Findley?!?! Nice sequence to equalize!

Stunning that the midfield looks better with Clint and Landon on the wings again

Clint looks bad.

That goal was equal parts bad on Demerit and Specs. Spector made a bad decision after a good run which leads to a turnover, and Demerit made two errors-didn't slide over to cover the space and played the Turk onside.

Oh man, stupid play by Spector.

Benny isnt a wing player at all. He has no idea how to position himself defensively, and its showing since Boca has no cover.

Our left and right backs look like crap

This is going to be a really good test. Turkey is good.

Deuce up top with Jozy, Benny F. on the right with Clark/Bradley in the middle. Goodison in place of Gooch. I would really, really rather Bradley play his first XI and let them gel.