Soccer Thread 2007-08 {R}

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Katon

Martin Laursen was climbing all over SWP's back. That's not usually acceptable tackling technique.



We were playing for a goalless draw, and - partly because Petr Cech is brilliant, partly because Dean missed the penalty - we looked like we had a decent chance of managing it until Mikel was sent off. We definitely benefited from some crap decisions, but still . . . there were three key moments in the game that went against us, two goals and a red card. Mike Dean screwing up was heavily involved in all three. That's not mentioning the question of whether Rooney should have been sent off. I agree that we wouldn't have been in a particularly good position even if Dean had been competent, but I think he did enough damage for us to be justified in complaining about him.

Three points:

1) SWP is like 5'5". Laursen is 6'2".
2) Mikel went in studs first when he knew he had no chance of winning the ball. Given Dean's recent record (something like 14 reds his last 20 games) I don't see how anyone can honestly be surprised.
3) When the 4th official holds up the board, that's a minimum. You can even hear it over the loudspeaker on some games. "The 4th official has indicated there will be a minimum of X minutes added time."

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I got that from seeing a stat. I think it was right before the red card, something like the 35-40th minute. They flashed possession on the screen and it said it was 50/50. I remember it because I was genuinely surprised by it. I felt United had control of the game from the opening moments on.

That was the previous 5 minutes IIRC.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

That was the previous 5 minutes IIRC.

OK, that makes more sense. I just caught it up in the corner as I was making something to eat. Missed that it was for only a five minute stretch.

I just read on soccernet that Wenger has 70 million pounds available to him in the next transfer window.

Yikes.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Three points:

1) SWP is like 5'5". Laursen is 6'2".

Which is why, when Laursen wraps his arms around SWP from behind, leans on him, and lifts a foot off the ground,
SWP's progress is somewhat hampered. That's a penalty. Second penalty we've been denied at Villa Park in four years, although at least this time nobody got booked for diving.

2) Mikel went in studs first when he knew he had no chance of winning the ball. Given Dean's recent record (something like 14 reds his last 20 games) I don't see how anyone can honestly be surprised.

Whether it's surprising from Dean and whether it's a bad call are two different questions. Mikel did not go in with two feet, wasn't dangerously high, and was close enough to the ball to stand a decent chance of deflecting it even if he didn't come away with possession. It was a yellow, certainly, but it was not the sort of tackle that usually gets people sent off - especially in the Premiership.

[3) When the 4th official holds up the board, that's a minimum. You can even hear it over the loudspeaker on some games. "The 4th official has indicated there will be a minimum of X minutes added time."

And that generally means that there are X minutes to be added on for delays during normal time, but further time may be added if there are delays during stoppage time. There wasn't nearly enough stoppage to account for the amount of time Dean added beyond the minimum. If he's adding time on for Ferdinand's injury, that goes into the initial calculation. Adding it on without giving anyone accurate information as to how long stoppage time is likely to last is not the right way to do it. If the ref does something reasonable in a way which confuses and misinforms people, that's still a mistake.

[Big Fo]

I didn't record the game, but youtube highlights show both teams standing around waiting for Giggs to walk the ball over/take the corner at 47:15 so I'm assuming whatever move led to the corner was going on at had at least started around or maybe even before 47:00, referees often let time run over a 10-20 seconds for a corner kick.

If Chelsea had managed any kind of clearance from the corner kick the ref might have blown full time but it went straight to Brown who played Giggs in with a first-time through ball and we all saw what happened from there. Giggs had his cross off only a few seconds from the corner kick being taken.

This kind of situation plays out like this all the time but it's just rare that a goal is scored in the end.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I just read on soccernet that Wenger has 70 million pounds available to him in the next transfer window.

Yikes.

i doubt he'll spend even 15. unless it's for, like, 3 players.

he wouldn't even spend the asking price for babel who's a damn near perfect "wenger player" and was just shy of begging to come to ashburton. [i'm still pissed.]

i am probably one of the few remaining arsenal fans who is cool with that. i keep seeing supposed gooners complaining about him not buying a big name - they're supporting the wrong team.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by daedalus

i doubt he'll spend even 15. unless it's for, like, 3 players.

he wouldn't even spend the asking price for babel who's a damn near perfect "wenger player" and was just shy of begging to come to ashburton. [i'm still pissed.]

i am probably one of the few remaining arsenal fans who is cool with that. i keep seeing supposed gooners complaining about him not buying a big name - they're supporting the wrong team.

Oh, I know. I just like it for FM when I take over for him.

No, he won't spend a lot of it. But it's good to know that it's there if he wants it.

[daedalus]

it's a shame that, since cole was booked for his challenge on c.ronaldo, i don't think it can be reviewed for additional penalty [if i understand that rule correctly]. he deserves more than a few days rest for that ridiculously bad challenge.

i didn't see mikel's challenge [couldn't get stream until 2nd half] but it made me giggle to think, "mikel's not in the game . . . was he kidnapped by united? again?"

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Oh, I know. I just like it for FM when I take over for him.

No, he won't spend a lot of it. But it's good to know that it's there if he wants it.

agree!!! on both points.

[cartman]

Rumor out there that Ronaldinho was made an offer by Chelski in the £60 million range over 5 years, with a £70 million transfer fee. WOW!

[Calis]

Originally Posted by cartman

Rumor out there that Ronaldinho was made an offer by Chelski in the £60 million range over 5 years, with a £70 million transfer fee. WOW!

I heard this earlier as well. It seems bad from both sides. Ronaldinho has been far from impressive lately, and who would want to go to Chelsea at this point?

Doesn't mean it won't happen though. Chelsea might want to make a big splash soon to try and redirect some attention, I just don't see it paying much dividends.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Katon

Which is why, when Laursen wraps his arms around SWP from behind, leans on him, and lifts a foot off the ground,
SWP's progress is somewhat hampered. That's a penalty. Second penalty we've been denied at Villa Park in four years, although at least this time nobody got booked for diving.



Whether it's surprising from Dean and whether it's a bad call are two different questions. Mikel did not go in with two feet, wasn't dangerously high, and was close enough to the ball to stand a decent chance of deflecting it even if he didn't come away with possession. It was a yellow, certainly, but it was not the sort of tackle that usually gets people sent off - especially in the Premiership.



And that generally means that there are X minutes to be added on for delays during normal time, but further time may be added if there are delays during stoppage time. There wasn't nearly enough stoppage to account for the amount of time Dean added beyond the minimum. If he's adding time on for Ferdinand's injury, that goes into the initial calculation. Adding it on without giving anyone accurate information as to how long stoppage time is likely to last is not the right way to do it. If the ref does something reasonable in a way which confuses and misinforms people, that's still a mistake.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Katon

Martin Laursen was climbing all over SWP's back. That's not usually acceptable tackling technique.

SWP was backing into Laursen, they tangled. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, not a penalty.

Looks like the British press arent buying that Grant will be the Chelsea manager for long, they're trotting out a list of names that were spotted at the Man Utd v Chelsea game.

I know a guy at home who is friendly with Steve Clarke (the Chelsea assistant manager), the inside scoop is that the whole "Terry forced Mourinho out" story is wide of the mark apparently

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Do you actually have an argument to make?

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by Critch

Looks like the British press arent buying that Grant will be the Chelsea manager for long, they're trotting out a list of names that were spotted at the Man Utd v Chelsea game.

What a loonies. Even a rookie journalist could understand that if you're a soccer fan (you'll be surprised how many soccer managers are fans of watching soccer ), you're more likely to be spotted at Man U-Chelsea than basically any other game in the Premier League.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Katon

Do you actually have an argument to make?

Sure, but considering your whining and moaning it's unlikely to make any difference.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Critch

SWP was backing into Laursen, they tangled. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, not a penalty.

Are we talking about the same incident? Whenever I've looked at the replays, SWP has been trying to slip around & inside Laursen, not really backing into him.

Looks like the British press arent buying that Grant will be the Chelsea manager for long, they're trotting out a list of names that were spotted at the Man Utd v Chelsea game.

For once, I completely agree with the press (about Grant's tenure, not about the specific names). He's the obvious person to put in charge temporarily, but he doesn't have a nearly good enough CV to merit getting the job permanently. Unless Roman's completely lost his mind, Grant should be just an interim appointment.

I know a guy at home who is friendly with Steve Clarke (the Chelsea assistant manager), the inside scoop is that the whole "Terry forced Mourinho out" story is wide of the mark apparently

I'm deeply unsurprised to hear this.

[Passacaglia]

Torres got a second-half hat trick yesterday. Interesting to see if he can build on that.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Sure, but considering your whining and moaning it's unlikely to make any difference.

You mean the whining and moaning where I admitted that we were outplayed and would probably have lost even if Dean had made the right calls? The thread's turned into a discussion of Dean's refereeing because, well, there's really no way to talk about the game without talking about Dean's mistakes - both the ones that hurt Chelsea and his inexplicable fondness for Joe Cole (between not giving away a penalty and not getting sent off, Cole used up his whole season's worth of refereeing luck).

I've explained my opinions and the logic behind them. If you want to disagree with them, disagree with my reasoning, or with the facts it's based on; don't just ignore it.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Torres got a second-half hat trick yesterday. Interesting to see if he can build on that.

He's certainly off to a good start.

[Calis]

Anyone ever use ITVN?

I was pondering using it to get Setanta but was wondering if anyone had any experience with it. I won't be doing Dish anytime soon, so it appears to be my only option but I'm wondering what the quality/reliability is like.

I know people have mentioned a couple ways to watch some live matches using various means but are there any audio feeds? I could sneak listening to some radio broadcasts of game in at work, but video would be a bit tougher to explain. I was considering maybe a Sirius subscription since it seems like they have a deal where they broadcast all of Celtic's games and that's a pretty huge selling point for me right there.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Katon

You mean the whining and moaning where I admitted that we were outplayed and would probably have lost even if Dean had made the right calls? The thread's turned into a discussion of Dean's refereeing because, well, there's really no way to talk about the game without talking about Dean's mistakes - both the ones that hurt Chelsea and his inexplicable fondness for Joe Cole (between not giving away a penalty and not getting sent off, Cole used up his whole season's worth of refereeing luck).

I've explained my opinions and the logic behind them. If you want to disagree with them, disagree with my reasoning, or with the facts it's based on; don't just ignore it.

Law 7 - Duration of the Match

Allowance for Time Lost

Allowance is made in either period for all time lost through:
• substitution(s)
• assessment of injury to players
• removal of injured players from the fi eld of play for treatment
• wasting time
• any other cause

The allowance for time lost is at the discretion of the referee.

Not seeing anything on communication there.

Here is Mikel's red card. Notice two things:

1) Dean is maybe 15 feet away with a clear view of what happened.
2) Mikel goes in with both studs showing. Best case, he wins the ball with one foot and catches Evra with the other. Anyone who's played for a signficant length of time knows that's not the proper way to tackle if you're interested in winning the ball. It's nasty and malicious and intended to injure.

I don't give a crap about either of the two teams. Apologies for throwing an unbiased view your way.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Not seeing anything on communication there.

Agreed. And yet the amount of time to be played is always communicated to players and fans. And most of the time when there isn't an incident during stoppage time, the amount of time announced is fairly close to the amount of time played.

The most important part of a ref's job is to arbitrate the game according to the laws, but communicating his decisions to players & fans so they know what's going on is also something that refs are usually expected to do. Dean did not do a good job of that.

A few weeks ago during the Chelsea-Liverpool game, Rob Styles seemed to wave his yellow card at Michael Essien - who was already booked - and then returned it to his pocket without sending Essien off. There wasn't any obvious reason to give Essien a yellow. I don't think there's a law saying the ref can't have his yellow card out of his pocket without using it. And yet, despite the fact that he wasn't doing anything against the laws of the game, wasn't making a mistake of judgement, Styles still came in for a lot of (perfectly justified) stick because he was being confusing as hell.

Given Ferdinand's injury, and the whole argument over the red, I have no problem whatsoever with Dean deciding the half needed 3+ minutes of stoppage time. But if he makes a good decision and then leaves everyone in the stadium confused as to what his decision was, that's not good officiating. I don't think it's the biggest mistake involved in the goal; I'd reserve that for whoever was meant to be marking Tevez after the ball was cleared. But Dean was not doing a good job, and if we're discussing his officiating performance anyway (which we were) it's something that ought to be mentioned.

Here is Mikel's red card. Notice two things:

1) Dean is maybe 15 feet away with a clear view of what happened.
2) Mikel goes in with both studs showing. Best case, he wins the ball with one foot and catches Evra with the other. Anyone who's played for a signficant length of time knows that's not the proper way to tackle if you're interested in winning the ball. It's nasty and malicious and intended to injure.

Given the number of mistakes Dean made that day (both Joe Cole tackles, even if you're not counting Saha's swan dive), I don't see any reason to believe that he couldn't have screwed the call up with a good view of it.

The tackle is not a good tackle. I've never argued that it wasn't worth a booking. But his trailing foot goes into the turf, not Evra's leg. Alex Ferguson, who's not exactly the world's biggest Chelsea booster in this context, called it a one-footed challenge and said that sending Mikel off was a bit harsh.

I don't give a crap about either of the two teams. Apologies for throwing an unbiased view your way.

Ferguson, as I pointed out above, doesn't think that it was a red. The writers who did the match reports for the Telegraph, the Independent, and the Times didn't think it was a red. Andy Gray, commentating on Sky, didn't think it was a red. It is in fact possible to think Mike Dean was wrong without being a Chelsea fan. I'm not complaining because the call was against my team; I'm complaining because it was a bad call.

[Big Fo]

I'm still surprised that John Terry hasn't been punished for trying to grab the red card out of Dean's hand right before Mikel was sent off.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I'm still surprised that John Terry hasn't been punished for trying to grab the red card out of Dean's hand right before Mikel was sent off.

Most football governing bodies don't do nearly enough to prevent players from crowding/pressuring the ref at times like that. It's a fairly general problem in football at the moment. Not punishing Terry is just a particularly spineless extension of the trend.

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I'm still surprised that John Terry hasn't been punished for trying to grab the red card out of Dean's hand right before Mikel was sent off.

Is it definite that he won't be charged by the FA? Last I read Terry grabbing the card had been included in Dean's report and the FA were still deciding whether they'd impose further punishment.

I don't think that there's any argument that Dean isn't a hopeless referee. The guy is, has been, and probably always will be a bad ref.

[Fighter of Foo]

Originally Posted by Katon

I'm not complaining because the call was against my team; I'm complaining because it was a bad call.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight So much for discussion because you're so much more right.

Good luck to you and your team.

[Big Fo]

Manchester United (playing their reserve team) have been knocked out of the Carling Cup, losing at home to Championship side Coventry.

Ferguson will have to loan some of these kids out now that we don't have this competition to blood them in.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Fighter of Foo

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight So much for discussion because you're so much more right.

Good luck to you and your team.

The sentence you're quoting was not very well phrased, so let me try to make the same point in a different way. I am complaining because there was a bad call against my team. I do not think it was a bad call because it was against my team, though. I think it was a bad call for the same reason that Alex Ferguson and a lot of the presumably-neutral media watching the game thought it was a bad call: it was a bad call. If it been in a game I didn't have a partisan interest in, I would still be criticising Mike Dean. If it had been a United player sent off, I'd like to think I'd react the same way I did about Cole's non-sending off, the first half non-penalty, and Rob Styles' penalty against Liverpool - by admitting that we'd benefited from a crap decision.

More generally . . . When you actually bothered to argue your position instead of making cheap gibes, I answered your comments and tried to explain why I disagreed. When you implied that my opinions could only be the result of bias, I linked a quote where the manager of the opposing team, who would be less likely to be biased in favor of Chelsea than nearly anyone else in professional football, reached the exact same conclusion I did about both the number of feet involved in the tackle and whether or not the tackle was a harsh red. If you want to keep discussing the questions at hand, or talk about something else in the world of football, I'm happy to do that. If you'd rather just sling accusations of bias around without trying to explain how my logic is biased, that's also okay - but it doesn't make me the one preventing a rational discussion.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Manchester United (playing their reserve team) have been knocked out of the Carling Cup, losing at home to Championship side Coventry.

Ferguson will have to loan some of these kids out now that we don't have this competition to blood them in.

That's the gamble you take when you give too many kids a game. It's probably worth noting that the only big 4 team to regularly put out relatively serious lineups in the early rounds (Chelsea) has won two out of the last three. Of course, that might be partly because we were busy building a youth system from the ground up at the time . . . (and now we've got a kid scoring our first goal of the competition! )

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Ferguson will have to loan some of these kids out now that we don't have this competition to blood them in.

(slightly) surprisingly, we still do. whee!!!

i'm hoping fran merida (perez) takes over the wide left midfield slot in future CC games, though. i *think*/hope that eboue was only in there (needlessly taking up a wide slot) because he needs games to get back into form, i would like to see merida get a run out.

based on this game (and a number of other indication), alex song (billong!) will be the next candidate for the position switch that wenger loves to do. according to a large number of gooners, he does not look to have a future as a midfielder for an arsenal-level club and the signing of diarra did not help. of course, they (and i) also are not comfortable with flamini in the middle of the pitch . . . *shudder* . . . and mr wenger seems to be. so what the hell do we know? when toure leaves for the ACN, djourou will be back to duke it out with senderos to partner with gallas . . . if he is healthy by then. i suppose song's presence, if he can hack the backline, will come in big then as gilberto silva will be the other option at centreback.

[Young Drachma]

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...orld-cup-exit/

US Women's Soccer team loses 4-0 in the World Cup Semis. They've played flat this whole tournament, but the coach pulls Hope Solo in goal for 36-year old Brianna Scurry because she's never lost to Brazil. But she always hasn't played in a game since June.

Not a smart move, but this team just didn't impress me anything close to past teams, they hyped them up immensely and they finally fell to a much stronger and more technically sound team.

They're going to have to get more athletic if they want to keep up with teams like North Korea and Brazil in the future.

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/0...orld-cup-exit/

US Women's Soccer team loses 4-0 in the World Cup Semis. They've played flat this whole tournament, but the coach pulls Hope Solo in goal for 36-year old Brianna Scurry because she's never lost to Brazil. But she always hasn't played in a game since June.

Not a smart move, but this team just didn't impress me anything close to past teams, they hyped them up immensely and they finally fell to a much stronger and more technically sound team.

They're going to have to get more athletic if they want to keep up with teams like North Korea and Brazil in the future.

Horrible decision to switch keepers.

Though U.S. coach Greg Ryan didn't blame the loss on Scurry, Solo questioned the decision and Scurry's performance.

"It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think."

Good to know Hope's confidence wasn't affected.

[Big Fo]

I'm not going to say that I am particularly knowledgeable regarding women's soccer but the decision did seem rather strange.

[Mac Howard]

Originally Posted by Katon

Most football governing bodies don't do nearly enough to prevent players from crowding/pressuring the ref at times like that. It's a fairly general problem in football at the moment. Not punishing Terry is just a particularly spineless extension of the trend.

I like the way Rugby Union deals with player dissent - refs will allow no backchat whatsoever. Any hint of dissent and a player is in the sin-bin (I wouldn't mind that being introduced into soccer also). The captain is allowed to make a polite request for an explanation on a decision and he'll get a three hour lecture on the rules of the game (necessary in RU as the rules are often obscure) and we can all hear the explanation because the ref is wired for sound. The refs all seem to be ex-sergeant-majors and the game is all the better for the discipline that comes from that.

As a Man Utd fan I must admit that the red on Mikel was harsh. Certainly a yellow but not a red. On the other hand perhaps Cole should have had a red for his tackle on Evra which was not only a clear penalty but also prevented Evra from a one-on-one with the 'keeper (last defender etc). Not that I'm in favour of the double punishment - I've always felt a penalty a sufficient punishment unless we have a vicious foul when often it's only a trip.

There was contact on Saha but it wouldn't have been surprising for the ref to refuse it for the blatant exaggeration of the fall - I was looking for the sniper in the crowd

[Young Drachma]

That said, Hope Solo shouldn't be throwing her teammate under the bus like that. Especially someone with the resume of Brianna Scurry, because she's unhappy with a coach decision. Scurry was just doing her job. Hope Solo would've been eaten alive by Brazil, she's never faced them and she hasn't exactly been stellar in goal of late.

It was a silly move, but it's not a move he made without considering that Hope Solo would've stunk it up in there and who knows how that might have affected her.

A 4-0 result isn't just bad goalkeeping, it's bad everything. And they went down a player late in the game, which doesn't help either. All in all, they need a new coach. But those girls showed their dissatisfaction with their coach in a flat performance and that's just not acceptable.

I'm glad they lost though, I was tired of hearing about how they were the best women's team ever, knowing it was hooey.

[MJ4H]

They went down a player in the first half.

[Young Drachma]

Ok. Nevermind. I misspoke.

[Young Drachma]

Do they let women coach women's soccer teams? Do any of these teams have female managers?

[MJ4H]

It was an awful performance.

[Young Drachma]

Nevermind.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/socce...up-teams_N.htm

[dacman]

Originally Posted by dacman

It's really just a matter of time before the Sounders and Timbers are "promoted" to MLS. It might be several years -- but it'll happen.

One down ... http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/22577

[daedalus]

i didn't get to see this game but, in the other games that i did catch, i was thoroughly unimpressed with the midfield.

boxx did not impress me at all. she was okay as a cleanup midfielder when the force of the previous generation was there but, as is, she is only taking up a midfield slot.

last i saw, i thought wambauch was on her way to becoming another birgit prinz. but without much help from . . . anywhere really, she was not going to do anything.

there was another taller striker who was on the squad at the last world cup . . . i cannot recall her name but she does not seem to be on the squad now. what happened to her? i thought she was developing well as a partner for wambauch who does not seem to like to lead the line, seeming more comfortable as a withdrawn forward.

[Critch]

Another bad day for Chelsea. More points dropped while Man U and Arsenal both won, Terry out for a good deal of time with a face injury, and Drogba sent off. Add on top that Shevchenko stunk and the Chelsea fans staged a mini-rebellion against their powers by chanting Jose Mourinho's name and it wasn't a good day for them. They must be wishing they stayed Arsenal or Man Utd fans

If was a good game though. Very good for a 0-0, both teams missed a number of chances to grap the win.

[Big Fo]

So will there be two expansion teams in 2009 or will the league go back to an odd number of teams? I'm surprised Philadelphia doesn't have a team yet, being one of the country's five largest cities.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I'm surprised Philadelphia doesn't have a team yet, being one of the country's five largest cities.

From what I've read, the hangup is mainly a stadium financing issue. No municipality wants to pony up for an MLS team in that area. Either way, I'm surprised that St. Louis hasn't been pegged for a team...last I heard, there were plans for a 20,000 seat soccer park in one of the burbs there.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

So will there be two expansion teams in 2009 or will the league go back to an odd number of teams? I'm surprised Philadelphia doesn't have a team yet, being one of the country's five largest cities.

http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news...._mls&fext=.jsp

They say they're going to 16 teams by 2010. So they might run with an odd number for '09 or maybe the league isn't sure what it wants to do yet and is trying to figure it out.

The problem with Portland is a lack of a suitable facility and PGE isn't really going to do the trick. But getting a stadium built in Portland simply isn't going to be easy unless they can somehow get Nike involved.

[Young Drachma]

And Hope Solo will not be on the bench for the third place game against Norway in the Womens World Cup. They haven't called it a suspension, but that's basically what it is. I'm glad the captains of that team stepped up and put her in her place. Because you don't go throwing your teammates under the bus like that.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

I'm glad the captains of that team stepped up and put her in her place. Because you don't go throwing your teammates under the bus like that.

Personally, I think she was right to speak out. It was a World Cup semifinal, and she had done nothing to warrant being dropped. She has every right to question the sanity of the coach.

From the comments I saw, I don't think she was trying to be critical of her teammates, I think she was just pissed off at the coaches.

I expect the coach will be fired after this tournament, so I don't imagine this issue will affect the US team in the long run.

[Young Drachma]

It wasn't a smart move. But you don't come out in the media and blast a teammate whose resume outpaces yours by years. This is her first World Cup and she could've thought whatever she wanted. But it was bad enough that she spend the ENTIRE game pouting on the sidelines, but to come out and blast a teammate when clearly the 4-0 loss was about more than just Brianna Scurry's rustiness. You just don't do stuff like that.

"It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that," she said. "There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 anymore. ... It's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics three years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think."