Everything Soccer

[tankjeep]

Mexico's 2nd goal should have been offsides. Even though Cheap-Burrito never got a touch he still influenced the play by walking it in. That's offsides.

cheap-burrito was offisides on dos santos shot. so i agree, it should've been called even before the 2nd shot. oh well, suspect refereeing the entire game.

 

[tankjeep]

Tim Howard used to be the strength of the U.S. team, but he seems like he might be finished. He could have, and should have, prevented at least two of Mexico's goals. The U.S. defense has not been good since Cherundolo left, either.

agreed, but bad coaching move on bradley's part.....why put bornstein in (who has a history of getting beat easily) and move lichaj to the right back spot where he was clearly uncomfortable??????????????

don't we have spector on the roster???? was he hurt or something????? if we put spector in, then lichaj can stay put on the left side (which he played great in the previous games).

mexico's 1st goal came from bornstein getting beat.

 

[tankjeep]

Not having Holden, Onye and Jozy (three of our best players), and losing Boca didn't help...

honestly, it's nice just to make it this far and have a two goal lead in this thing all things taken into perspective...


we have a long way to go to catch Spain and Germany... but as late as the late 1990's we had no buisness playing with England, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, any of them... now we are in the thick and have played with and beaten most of that class in the past few years, that rate of growth has been rarely seen historically.

and imo, we play Mexico healthy ten times, it's prob. 5-5ish... even with Chicharito ( I actually like that kid he seems classy thus far and is a huge breath of fresh air on a team made up lately of nothing but cheap shot thugs)
congrats to the team regardless, I may have issue with some of their people in this country, and am not ashamed of it regardless of the PC police... but I also am madly in love with one who shares their heritage and my daughter as well... congrats to them.

nicely said bro. agree with all that you've said.

 

[tankjeep]

America is a nation of immigrants. Each immigrant is allowed to take pride in their heritage. Love it, share it, blend it in with American culture. When you live in America, however, you're now an American. You don't still cheer for whatever country you left to come here. If it was so damn great why did you leave it in the first place? Cheer for America.

I'm ****ing furious with that display last night by the back line. I ****ing hate Mexico, I ****ing hate their fans. I ****ing hate the Rose Bowl being a home game for Mexico. I ****ing hate the way last night turned out. I'm not in a good mood still, today, after eleven hours of sleep.

i share your sentiment.....except the hate part. i strongly dislike meh-hiiiii-CO

 

[tankjeep]

At halftime of the Chi vs NY match today, Alexei Lalas and another dude made a great point...you can blame Bradley for replacing Cherundolo with Bornstein and switching Lichaj from right back to left (or the other way, I can't remember) but you can't blame him for the disappearing act of the US's "leaders" in the second half. Where was Lando's pace and so called leadership abilities in the 2nd half? Dempsey's on ball skills and ability to find space? Bocanegra organizing the back line? Tim Howard organizing the back line or making a crucial save? All coaches do in professional sports is pick the line-up, the rest is up to the players. Professional coaches/managers don't give big rah rah speeches at halftime anymore. Barca wins b/c they have the best collection of players in Europe not b/c Pep G is a great motivator. Same with Spain/German/Netherlands national teams. Mexico is just simply better than the US right now.
Also, the US has tried to get Klinsmann in the past (twice) but they won't pay him or give him total control of the federation, so he declines.

agreed, mexico is the better team right now.....but it doesn't help when a referee wasn't consistent with his calls all nite long.

i'm not saying that he made the difference in us losing, but it was difficult for our forwards for a better part of the game (outside of the goals and chances we did create) to develop some sort of rythm. they were simply getting mugged all nite long. when our defenders played their forwards physically we got called for fouls left and right.

i don't know how many times our boys got plowed over or hacked to the ground & the ref told them to play on. heck, how many times did goodson get called in the box on a U.S. set piece when he barely touched the guy?

granted, this wasn't the difference maker in winning or losing, but it does wear you down mentally and phyically when you exert energy to maintain possession or to gain possession only to get knocked down repeatedly or exert energy to match your opponents intensity only to be called for a soft foul. i've played in plenty of games where that takes its toll on ya.

you're already playing a quality opponent that is measurably better than you, then the cherundolo injury (with poor coaching adjustments) and now throw the poor officiating on top of the pile.....whamo, 4-2 loss.

 

[tankjeep]

Look I used to be on the fire BB and nepotism bandwagons, but I've come around to some conclusions. Mike Bradley is our best CDM, even better than Jones, and he should be first choice at that position. Bob Bradley works because he's American. The psyche of American players is different then the rest of the world. You need an American to be managing to get that out of the players, which Bob has done in the past. If you go foreign you're losing our one edge, the American spirit in sports (work ethic, determination) but hopefully we'll also be brought up a skill level. Essentially, we are trading qualities for new qualities if we go foreign right now. I really don't know what we should do, I want to say Bob has had his time, but Sunil is never going to fire him, so he's ours.

no, we need a foreigner with world class experience in coaching. not a bora like years ago, but someone comparable to mourhino. and if we can figure out a way to change the system as a whole becuz the way it's currently set up, it's economically biased. if your parents have money, then you are afforded the opportunities to play at the highest level in the u.s. that isn't the case around the world, you get to the top based on how good you are.

until the u.s. gets past that, we will never be a world power in soccer/football.

 

[ACamp1900]

Tuned into Cowheard for the first time in a while today... only takes one segment to remember why I don't listen to this guy anymore...

Tommy SMith says our team is like trying to make gourment soup with chicken gizzards... They agree USA is not top 25 team period... typical over reacting and jumping on trends to try and get a reaction out of people...

Mexico was red hot this tourny, we played pretty poor throughout, were missing three of our best five or so players in the final (two all tourney) and we blow a two goal lead in the final... really all things taken into prespective our boys did fine, and this is definately one of hte top 25 teams in the world... far from the top, but far from what TS anc CC claimed today as well

 

[Cali_domer]

no, we need a foreigner with world class experience in coaching. not a bora like years ago, but someone comparable to mourhino. and if we can figure out a way to change the system as a whole becuz the way it's currently set up, it's economically biased. if your parents have money, then you are afforded the opportunities to play at the highest level in the u.s. that isn't the case around the world, you get to the top based on how good you are.

until the u.s. gets past that, we will never be a world power in soccer/football.

+1000

 

[mgriff]

no, we need a foreigner with world class experience in coaching. not a bora like years ago, but someone comparable to mourhino. and if we can figure out a way to change the system as a whole becuz the way it's currently set up, it's economically biased. if your parents have money, then you are afforded the opportunities to play at the highest level in the u.s. that isn't the case around the world, you get to the top based on how good you are.

until the u.s. gets past that, we will never be a world power in soccer/football.

So U.S. soccer is supposed to attract one of the most recognizable and desired names in world football? That is not going to happen, at all. The U.S. is not a desirable job for all of the world because there is a different mentality I talked about in my previous posts. USSF is not like Europea FAs, the systems are drastically different. It would be great to have a world class manager for the national team, but sadly, that isn't going to happen. Mourinho would laugh if he was approached by USSF and so would most of the other top class managers in the world. I think it's about time to change it up for a foreign manager, but American managers offer benefits that foreign do not, and vice versa. Bob seems to have run his course, and it's time to freshen up the squad.

 

[tankjeep]

So U.S. soccer is supposed to attract one of the most recognizable and desired names in world football? That is not going to happen, at all. The U.S. is not a desirable job for all of the world because there is a different mentality I talked about in my previous posts. USSF is not like Europea FAs, the systems are drastically different. It would be great to have a world class manager for the national team, but sadly, that isn't going to happen. Mourinho would laugh if he was approached by USSF and so would most of the other top class managers in the world. I think it's about time to change it up for a foreign manager, but American managers offer benefits that foreign do not, and vice versa. Bob seems to have run his course, and it's time to freshen up the squad.

i read an interview with mourinho and even he said that the interest to come & coach in the u.s. is there for him....whether that's the national team or club soccer? i can't remember the specifics....but he did mention that he'd love to come coach in the u.s. so i highly doubt he'd laugh at ussf if they came calling.

as far as the u.s. manager offering benefits that foreigners don't and vice versa.....we will have to agree to disagree. most foreign coaches speak 3 or 4 different languages and don't have a problem with communicating what they expect or want.

as far as the ussf system compared to europe....our system is close to what the dutch do with in their system. so again, i don't see how we are that much different from europe. our coaching is improving and it's going in the direction the knvb (dutch) has set. and knvb has the foundation that most countries aspire to copy or emulate (johan cruyff's influence on barcalona & spain as an example).

our biggest problem (besides not having a successful foreign manager) is our development system. it's economically biased.

 

[mgriff]

i read an interview with mourinho and even he said that the interest to come & coach in the u.s. is there for him....whether that's the national team or club soccer? i can't remember the specifics....but he did mention that he'd love to come coach in the u.s. so i highly doubt he'd laugh at ussf if they came calling.

as far as the u.s. manager offering benefits that foreigners don't and vice versa.....we will have to agree to disagree. most foreign coaches speak 3 or 4 different languages and don't have a problem with communicating what they expect or want.

as far as the ussf system compared to europe....our system is close to what the dutch do with in their system. so again, i don't see how we are that much different from europe. our coaching is improving and it's going in the direction the knvb (dutch) has set. and knvb has the foundation that most countries aspire to copy or emulate (johan cruyff's influence on barcalona & spain as an example).

our biggest problem (besides not having a successful foreign manager) is our development system. it's economically biased.

College soccer and high school teams? Kids in Europe, the Netherlands included, have U-7 year old teams, where kids are prepared to grow as soccer players, instead of the focus on winning competitions. Kids might be dynamite in America throughout the youth stages, winning domestic competitions, but they don't grow as all around players. That's why we see so much stagnation at the national level because of poor progression. The number one youth sport as far as enrollment goes is soccer. If the majority of our kids are enrolled in soccer, and we have 300 million people, compared to the tens of millions in European countries, we should be fielding many more players in the best leauges of the world. You hardly see an American presence on any sort of contender in Europe, whereas those power countries are chock full of Champions League caliber soccer players.

We can agree to disagree about the value of an American coach, but saying that American soccer is anywhere near on par with Europe is ludicrous.

Where we do agree is that our system is economically biased. That's what I'm getting at with academies. European youngsters are snapped up at very young ages and brought to academies, where they worry about growing soccer players instead of winning lower level competitions, which is on the academy, not on the parents. That's why our development is not on par with Europe, and while it is evolving, it's still well behind Europe.

*I found your article, he said he could manage the U.S. National Team one day, but when his children are of college age. He was also in L.A. in the preseason with Real Madrid, for the third time, this year being the fourth, in Philly (I'm going to the match) and they are trying to bust into the U.S. market for soccer. Sure he said it, you were correct, but I would take it with a large pinch of salt, considering all of the other variables. I think it's pretty safe to say that he would not be talking that job anytime in the near future.

Mourinho hints his future could be in U.S. - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports

 

[mgriff]

And in other news, the pride of American soccer will be on tomorrow. I hope everyone tunes in to our "A-Team."

 

[tankjeep]

College soccer and high school teams? Kids in Europe, the Netherlands included, have U-7 year old teams, where kids are prepared to grow as soccer players, instead of the focus on winning competitions. Kids might be dynamite in America throughout the youth stages, winning domestic competitions, but they don't grow as all around players. That's why we see so much stagnation at the national level because of poor progression. The number one youth sport as far as enrollment goes is soccer. If the majority of our kids are enrolled in soccer, and we have 300 million people, compared to the tens of millions in European countries, we should be fielding many more players in the best leauges of the world. You hardly see an American presence on any sort of contender in Europe, whereas those power countries are chock full of Champions League caliber soccer players.

We can agree to disagree about the value of an American coach, but saying that American soccer is anywhere near on par with Europe is ludicrous.

Where we do agree is that our system is economically biased. That's what I'm getting at with academies. European youngsters are snapped up at very young ages and brought to academies, where they worry about growing soccer players instead of winning lower level competitions, which is on the academy, not on the parents. That's why our development is not on par with Europe, and while it is evolving, it's still well behind Europe.

*I found your article, he said he could manage the U.S. National Team one day, but when his children are of college age. He was also in L.A. in the preseason with Real Madrid, for the third time, this year being the fourth, in Philly (I'm going to the match) and they are trying to bust into the U.S. market for soccer. Sure he said it, you were correct, but I would take it with a large pinch of salt, considering all of the other variables. I think it's pretty safe to say that he would not be talking that job anytime in the near future.

Mourinho hints his future could be in U.S. - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports

well put and now i can see where you are coming from. i think, like you said, we are evolving.....but are far behind europe. but the europeans have come over and tried to sign players to those contracts you refer to. i've seen it personally myself. the biggest problem for parents is that they don't want to deal with their sons being so far from home and not seeing them on an everyday basis. overall, what you said i can agree with for the most part, but i think clubs like rush (which i coach for va. rush) have the right idea and are working on improving to get players in an enviroment to develop into well rounded footballers. it takes time for a system to get fully integrated and we are still in our infancy (so to speak). europe may be way ahead of us, that's becuz they've had such a head start over us. we are learning and growing (with pains), but if we can get past this economic bias, we will get there.


thanks for finding the article & the intellilgent discussion. i coach both high school and club ball, and have been doing it for over 20 years. it's frustrating to watch our usmnt not be as strong as i would think it could be. part of it due to what we've already mentioned, economical reasons. anyway, thanks.

 

[tankjeep]

And in other news, the pride of American soccer will be on tomorrow. I hope everyone tunes in to our "A-Team."

i've got the wife recording. i'll watch it later.

 

[tankjeep]

nice job by the ladies. definitely stepped it up the 2nd half. third goal should've counted.

btw, hope solo is hot.

 

[tankjeep]

very disappointed in the women's team. now they have a tougher road to the final.

 

[ACamp1900]

they were horrid in possesion and in the back yesterday... very odd really

 

[BeauBenken]

very disappointed in the women's team. now they have a tougher road to the final.

They get the chance to play Germany in the final now though.

Although they will have to beat Brazil now.

That back line has to get better. And they have to quit with the stupid mistakes.

 

[mgriff]

They had a bad game. Sweden saw there was no pace down our left flank and exposed it. Our women have been missing a ton of opportunities though. The missing shots didn't start yesterday. The Sweden loss doesn't matter, they were going to have to step their game up sometime. Maybe now they'll act like they have something to prove.

 

[ACamp1900]

I am aware of the blowout in the knockout stages to Brazil before... but I honestly can't see this team getting beaten twice in a row in big matches and being knocked out by a team they have historically dominated, two World Cups in a row.

 

[tankjeep]

i hope you guys are right, but i tend to lean toward tony dicicco in his comments after the sweden game.....the u.s. has been very inconsistent thru out the tournament. even though they've blown out n. korea and columbia, they still haven't clicked on all cylinders.

finishing is the name of the game and against sweden they struggled. i'm praying they come together in strength to roll thru the rest of the tournament.

my main concern is the back line. they looked horrible against sweden.

 

[NDinL.A.]

they were horrid in possesion and in the back yesterday... very odd really

My wife was getting pissed, and just like the announcers, said the US was getting dominated. I disagreed. They just didn't finish. Cheney puts away a couple of those sitters liek she normally does and it's a completely different game. Sweden missed a breakaway (great save by Hope), then got a PK off a super lucky bounce (the girls shoots from 25 yds, which Hope would have gobbled up, but it knocks off our player right to their forward), and then got a lucky-*** bounce for the 2nd goal. 1 great chance, 2 lucky chances, 2 goals to start the game. The U.S. had several chances, but zero goals. But in the 2nd half, we totally dominated. Sweden started playing kickball, just clearing the ball out instead of playing out of their end.

But as has been mentioned by many, the back was awful. But in reality, it was the left back(s) and Bueler. Rapone (sp???) has been solid and can fly (getting up there in years though), and Kieger has been magnificent. The problem is, only Rapone can run, the rest are slow, and Bueler and the left backs were simply clumsy, along with being slow. Pace will kill this team.

And as for possession, wtf were they thinking yesterday???? Everything was an effing long ball!!! Man, it was driving us nuts. There was no connection between the defense and the midfielders. In fact, if it weren't for Cheney, the midfielders did nothing, and she isn't even a true midfielder! For the love of God Coach...please instruct your defenders to use their midfielders!!! And please, no more crazy substitutions that prove you are a deep team. You're not - not when you bring in a right midfielder that puked every time she got near a ball. Thanks.

Anyway, I feel good about this next contest, believe it or not. Brazil's defense is awful. If the coach can push the right buttons and they can somehow bottle up Marta (I know, damn near impossible) - I see the US getting a lot of chances and winning 3-1.

 

[tankjeep]

My wife was getting pissed, and just like the announcers, said the US was getting dominated. I disagreed. They just didn't finish. Cheney puts away a couple of those sitters liek she normally does and it's a completely different game. Sweden missed a breakaway (great save by Hope), then got a PK off a super lucky bounce (the girls shoots from 25 yds, which Hope would have gobbled up, but it knocks off our player right to their forward), and then got a lucky-*** bounce for the 2nd goal. 1 great chance, 2 lucky chances, 2 goals to start the game. The U.S. had several chances, but zero goals. But in the 2nd half, we totally dominated. Sweden started playing kickball, just clearing the ball out instead of playing out of their end.

But as has been mentioned by many, the back was awful. But in reality, it was the left back(s) and Bueler. Rapone (sp???) has been solid and can fly (getting up there in years though), and Kieger has been magnificent. The problem is, only Rapone can run, the rest are slow, and Bueler and the left backs were simply clumsy, along with being slow. Pace will kill this team.

And as for possession, wtf were they thinking yesterday???? Everything was an effing long ball!!! Man, it was driving us nuts. There was no connection between the defense and the midfielders. In fact, if it weren't for Cheney, the midfielders did nothing, and she isn't even a true midfielder! For the love of God Coach...please instruct your defenders to use their midfielders!!! And please, no more crazy substitutions that prove you are a deep team. You're not - not when you bring in a right midfielder that puked every time she got near a ball. Thanks.

Anyway, I feel good about this next contest, believe it or not. Brazil's defense is awful. If the coach can push the right buttons and they can somehow bottle up Marta (I know, damn near impossible) - I see the US getting a lot of chances and winning 3-1.

nice assessment of the game ndinla. btw, it's funny you mention the u.s. not linking up the midfield in their attack.....pia sundhage (sp?) has tried to get this team to play like a barcalona team with possession, but for some reason in this game they played more direct. may be due to the fact they were down. who knows? i agree, the coach needs to get the players back on track and the substitutions were terrible as you pointed out.

as far as beating brazil, i'm hopeful. i haven't had a chance to watch them play, but faucett (sp?) said during the u.s./sweden game that brazil plays with a sweeper and two marking backs. so, if we CAN link up the midfield in the attack, i truly think we can stretch that defense wide open. but if we get into direct mode, then we will struggle.

 

[mgriff]

My wife was getting pissed, and just like the announcers, said the US was getting dominated. I disagreed. They just didn't finish. Cheney puts away a couple of those sitters liek she normally does and it's a completely different game. Sweden missed a breakaway (great save by Hope), then got a PK off a super lucky bounce (the girls shoots from 25 yds, which Hope would have gobbled up, but it knocks off our player right to their forward), and then got a lucky-*** bounce for the 2nd goal. 1 great chance, 2 lucky chances, 2 goals to start the game. The U.S. had several chances, but zero goals. But in the 2nd half, we totally dominated. Sweden started playing kickball, just clearing the ball out instead of playing out of their end.

But as has been mentioned by many, the back was awful. But in reality, it was the left back(s) and Bueler. Rapone (sp???) has been solid and can fly (getting up there in years though), and Kieger has been magnificent. The problem is, only Rapone can run, the rest are slow, and Bueler and the left backs were simply clumsy, along with being slow. Pace will kill this team.

And as for possession, wtf were they thinking yesterday???? Everything was an effing long ball!!! Man, it was driving us nuts. There was no connection between the defense and the midfielders. In fact, if it weren't for Cheney, the midfielders did nothing, and she isn't even a true midfielder! For the love of God Coach...please instruct your defenders to use their midfielders!!! And please, no more crazy substitutions that prove you are a deep team. You're not - not when you bring in a right midfielder that puked every time she got near a ball. Thanks.

Anyway, I feel good about this next contest, believe it or not. Brazil's defense is awful. If the coach can push the right buttons and they can somehow bottle up Marta (I know, damn near impossible) - I see the US getting a lot of chances and winning 3-1.

Le Petel (Sp?) is our left back, and she actually gave away the PK, and was the player whose thigh the freekick redirect went off of. She had a bad game, and was subbed early in the second half. Our left CB is Buhler and she has no pace whatsoever. Rampone is the other CB who is the captain.

I have to agree about all of the substitutions. They worked against the two lesser sides but I think we needed our A team for Sweden, and we were misisng something. I think the side really missed O'Rielly and her pace/skill down the left flank. The two openeing matches she was fantastic, and a real creative spark. She had a hamstring issue (I think) and she'll be back for the knockout round (Positive).

They simply need to finish, and they haven't done it yet this tournament. So, hopefully, we put it all together against Brazil, but I doubt we'll be having a poor game again. They haven't clicked at all this year since I've watched them, but they've never played two bad games in a row. Everyone is talking about the U.S. getting shafted because they have to play Brazil, well I'm sure if you talk to the Brazilian national team or any supporters in their country, they aren't happy about drawing the U.S.

 

[PigtownIrish]

The left back is LePeilbet. She is a converted center back. Frankly, I have wanted her out since the first game against North Korea when it was clear that she couldn't keep up and got absolutely juked by a 17 year old. Stephanie Cox was our left back when we won the Olympics. It blows my mind that she did not start against Sweden. With all of the problems we have as a team, I think we would have beaten or tied Sweden if LePeilbet was benched.

The other thing that drove me crazy was putting in O'Hara at the end of the game. Her first two touches were turnovers. She then blew a chance on a wide open net.

I also think we can still beat Brazil. But our forwards are going to have to actually do something.

 

[tankjeep]

I think the side really missed O'Rielly and her pace/skill down the left flank. The two openeing matches she was fantastic, and a real creative spark. She had a hamstring issue (I think) and she'll be back for the knockout round (Positive).

They simply need to finish, and they haven't done it yet this tournament. So, hopefully, we put it all together against Brazil, but I doubt we'll be having a poor game again. They haven't clicked at all this year since I've watched them, but they've never played two bad games in a row. Everyone is talking about the U.S. getting shafted because they have to play Brazil, well I'm sure if you talk to the Brazilian national team or any supporters in their country, they aren't happy about drawing the U.S.

love o'reilly. she's great and good news that she'll be back. and couldn't agree more on the finishing.

 

[tankjeep]

The left back is LePeilbet. She is a converted center back. Frankly, I have wanted her out since the first game against North Korea when it was clear that she couldn't keep up and got absolutely juked by a 17 year old. Stephanie Cox was our left back when we won the Olympics. It blows my mind that she did not start against Sweden. With all of the problems we have as a team, I think we would have beaten or tied Sweden if LePeilbet was benched.

The other thing that drove me crazy was putting in O'Hara at the end of the game. Her first two touches were turnovers. She then blew a chance on a wide open net.

I also think we can still beat Brazil. But our forwards are going to have to actually do something.

check that, it was a 16 year old (unless she had a recent b-day). they doubled down on her in the 2nd half and she was a non factor, but still.....lepeilbet is a serious liability.

not sure what pia's agenda is (besides trying to play with more possession as opposed to being so direct like we've been in the past). i think our problem may be that pia's trying to overhaul our identity as a team. and that identity is to attack, attack, attack. possession without a purpose kills momentum at times. i think our ladies are more suited for the direct game (not kick & run mind you), but a game much similar to the dutch. get the ball forward as soon as you can & attack with 1 v 1 mismatches in the attacking 3rd along with more dynamic movement off the ball.

when we played that way against n. korea in the 2nd half we demolished them.

 

[PigtownIrish]

check that, it was a 16 year old (unless she had a recent b-day).

Oops. My bad. Are they allowed to have b-days in North Korea? Or are their ages just proclaimed for them?

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Grin. I felt my face move.

 

[tankjeep]

Oops. My bad. Are they allowed to have b-days in North Korea? Or are their ages just proclaimed for them?

haha, good one.