USA - England

[MrBug708]

Starts in about an hour on ESPN

[Eaglesfan27]

Yes!! I've got it all planned out - Relax on the couch, play some FM and watch the game :)

[Barkeep49]

Yes!! I've got it all planned out

When I read that my first thought was: How many of his players is he going to play.

As for the real game I'm stuck at work which I'm bummed about as it should be a good game.

[kingfc22]

Woot! Game time.

[kingfc22]

Stupid foul by Pope and we're down early.

[Eaglesfan27]

That was a bad start.

[Neuqua]

Oops, why didn't I go to the game?

[kingfc22]

I do like the way that we've responded since the goal.

[Galaxy]

Do friendlies count as a "cap"? Anyone got the starting lineups? I miss the beginning. So far, kinda a sloppy game.

[Eaglesfan27]

I do like the way that we've responded since the goal.

I do too. Excellent intensity on the pitch at least early on.

[kingfc22]

USA: Kellar (capt); Dempsey; Cherundolo; Donovan; Gibbs; Ralston; Wolff; McBride; Vanney; Pope; Zavagnin
Substitutes: Hahnemann, Berhalter, Bocanegra, Spector, Casey, Convey, Simms.

England: James; G. Johnson, A Cole, Carrick, Brown; Campbell (capt.), Jenas, Richardson, Smith; A. Johnson, J. Cole.
Substitutes: Young, Green, P. Neville, Knight, Defoe, Crouch, Carson

[Eaglesfan27]

Darn, that was close.

[illinifan999]

damn post

[kingfc22]

Why do we always hit the post!! Arghh

[kingfc22]

Nice move by Cole to set up his shot and very nice save by Kellar to push it wide.

[kingfc22]

How many times is Dempsey going to give away the ball on the wing?

[illinifan999]

FINISH

[Eaglesfan27]

Darn. Donovan blows a good opportunity.

[st.cronin]

Danish?

[kingfc22]

Doh!

[Eaglesfan27]

That is likely the game.

[kingfc22]

Please sub Dempsey at the half. He's contributed nothing at all.

[Coffee Warlord]

Wow have we blown a TON of chances.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dempsey with a GOAL!!!!!

[kingfc22]

Finally we convert on a chance.

[Schmidty]

I'm watching this game, and it's been fun to watch, but what's the point of the game? Isn't this basically an exhibition?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm watching this game, and it's been fun to watch, but what's the point of the game? Isn't this basically an exhibition?
Yeah, but from a USA pride point and showing that we can play with the mighty England team, I think it is very important.

[Marc Vaughan]

Yeah, but from a USA pride point and showing that we can play with the mighty England team, I think it is very important.
Not to inflate your ego's but I remember a USA side beating England several years ago in a 'friendly' international tournament ... much to my annoyance ;)

[AlexB]

Yeah, but from a USA pride point and showing that we can play with the mighty England team, I think it is very important.

Arena was saying he was using it as warm up for your 2 WC qualifiers - thought the US team were unlucky: deserved a draw at least.

Was that a normal performance by Josh Wolff? Thought he was excellent.

[Galaxy]

When is the US's WC Qualifiers, what time and channel?

[bhlloy]

Watched the game here in UK.. some random thoughts.

Firstly, not a deserved loss for the US and some positives to take out of it. However, given the RELATIVE strengths of the two sides, you have to say that US has got to win this game if they hope to get far in the World Cup this time. Being kind that was no more than a third string England team (players like Knight and Carrick are like the 10th or 11th choice players at their position), whereas the US was missing a few key guys but there were also a lot of starters in.

Lots of energy from the US, but I have never seen an international side with such poor crossing. Every time Wolff, Dempsey, Donovan or whoever would get in a good position, beat their man and then put a horrible final ball in.

Pope had a shaky game, as did Sol Campbell for England. Campbell has hardly played in 4 months mind, but still he's got to be disappointed with the way he performed after Eriksson made him captain for this one.

I have very rarely seen an easier free kick than the one Richardson took. He hit it well, but either the wall or Keller were badly positioned as it was hardly in the top corner. I'd have expected a save to be honest.

Still think David James is going to kill England when it really comes down to it. Just get the feeling he's going to do something stupid everytime the ball comes across the area, and his communication still seems to be poor. Time to give Green or Carson a shot in the next game.

Overall, I must say as I was rooting for the US I was pretty disappointed with their performance. They should have won convincingly, but still a lot of effort and very little of substance. A couple of snatched shots wide, the great chance for Casey and of course the goal, and not much else to show. Must get better over the next 18 months.

[Desnudo]

I only watched the second half, but it seemed like a pretty indifferent performance from the US. I lost count of how many slow rolling passes England played that the US players casually watched and didn't bother to try and intercept. I know it's a friendly, but the intensity level was definitely lacking. Since some of the players were playing for spots, I found it suprising.

I think the match exposed the major weakness the US has always had, the lack of commitment for all 90 minutes. Players let up a for a minute here and there and miss the chance to score, or give up a goal.

I agree about the crossing too. I think every single one came in at waist height, and none made it to the far post.

[GoldenEagle]

We had Keller, Wolff, and maybe Pope out there that are starters. We were missing some good players. I hope that our defense today is not the starting unit. They were awful, awful.

[ISiddiqui]

Wolff isn't a starter. He's a backup to Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching/Brian McBride

[andy m]

Still think David James is going to kill England when it really comes down to it.

James is no longer the starting keeper of choice. he just got to play this game for England Reserves because Robinson is injured.

[ice4277]

I went to Chicago for the game. Pretty good time, better atmosphere than for the Man U-Bayern Munich game last year. Good time at the pubs afterwards. The US just didn't have many options when they got down into the area. Probably deserved a draw but, thats what happens sometimes.

[ColtCrazy]

Went to the game as well. great atmosphere. Definitely a fun game, though both teams went through the motions at times I thought. Overall, I thought England deserved the win. They looked pathetic at the back, but had some inspiring midfield play. Personally, I thought Joe Cole looked very good, not to mention Richardson's good debut. The Americans had their chances, but their finishing is awful. You can get away with that against teams in their qualifying group, but it shows what can happen against what was a 2nd tier English squad.
Donovan was a non-factor for the most part I thought, which disappointed me considering his reputation. Keller made the play of the game, though, stopping Cole's shot. INCREDIBLE SAVE! 2nd was Richardson's free kick goal.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Among the starting eleven for the U.S., nobody is a clear oughta-be-a-backup, although the main reason Vanney doesn't have that status is because he's a left-footed defender who has experience playing outside. Also, Pope has reportedly been iffy for some time and he made a couple of bad errors in this match. Among the rest, there are some players (like Wolff, Dempsey, Ralston, Vanney, and Zavagnin) who you wouldn't necessarily put in your first eleven, but at the same time you can make an argument that they deserve to be on the field over any arbitrary player (although I'd probably put Mastroenni ahead of Zavagnin at this point).

I thought the scoreline flattered England as the U.S. had at least as many good scoring chances and simply lacked for finishing, but that's not exactly a new problem for us.

Notwithstanding some notable holes in the England lineup, I'm not sure the two teams weren't roughly evenly matched; I tend to think that England have more depth than the U.S. I could be wrong there.