2014 FIFA World Cup

[Coffee Warlord]

I think 4 points will get us through. Germany should hopefully take down Ghana, leaving just us and Portugal. If we can manage a point against Portugal, no way they overtake us on GD.

edit: as I see I'm just regurgitating exactly that Barkeep noted.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I couldn't agree more. If the U.S. can't play better, especially in the midfield and opponent's 3rd, we're not going to get past Portugal, much less Germany.

Spacing was terrible, passing was woefully inaccurate (I've seen League Two teams pass better than that in the final third), anticipation was appalling, and time and time again they just let a Ghana player stroll into a very dangerous position and get a shot or cross off.


We watched a different game. Ghana set up good shot after good shot, but just couldn't convert. If they play strikers capable of shot accuracy (or start Kevin Prince Boateng up front) they score 3-5. Heck, if the U.S. doesn't have Howard playing a blinder in goal Ghana still probably put up 3.

If they give that kind of space and time to Ronaldo & Nani, they'll get eviscerated, and Muller will just float through the backline at will, given this performance.

I don't want to take anything away from a very good defensive & come-from-behind performance by the U.S. A lot of grit, determination and character shown, all of which is a good thing. But they're going to have to play a lot better if they expect to get out of the group.

You took this right out of FM, didn't you?

Agree with everything you say above.

I didn't have FM open or anything, but I was definitely trying to think along the lines of what that description of a target man is/would be.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I think 4 points will get us through. Germany should hopefully take down Ghana, leaving just us and Portugal. If we can manage a point against Portugal, no way they overtake us on GD.

edit: as I see I'm just regurgitating exactly that Barkeep noted.

Unless Germany destroy us Portugal-style, and Portugal destroy Ghana. That last one seems unlikely, but if Ghana is out of it in match 3, who knows how they come out in the final game?

[Butter]

Watched the press room interview with Ghana's coach, and he said the plan was to bring Boateng and Essien on late to have fresh legs vs. the defense... which I get, but saving maybe your 2 best players on the bench for two-thirds of the game is pretty crazy. If you want fresh legs, bring on your top subs, not your best players straight-up. Weird move.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

I thought the US played well - their tactics after scoring were partially to conserve energy and minimise injuries* imho; the conditions out there looked awful ... even the goalkeepers were covered in sweat which is never a good sign.

OK, fine. I'm going to retract what I said because I'm not going to be seen to disagree with Marc Vaughan.

Ghana were very one dimensional in attack generally and their predictability allowed the US that option.

Well, I hope that was the thinking, because even in being one-dimensional Ghana got a good number of decent shots off. If the U.S. allow Portugal or Germany to stroll into those positions they'll be punished.

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Bah, those are Americans out there. They don't get tired or feel pain. Conserve energy? That's for those who haven't tasted the mighty fist of democracy.

Post of the Year, IMO.

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

I think 4 points will get us through. Germany should hopefully take down Ghana, leaving just us and Portugal. If we can manage a point against Portugal, no way they overtake us on GD.

edit: as I see I'm just regurgitating exactly that Barkeep noted.

Nah, you're repeating what I said before yesterday's game:

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

As a U.S. supporters I was/am going for a Germany win here, mainly because the U.S. play the Germans last and one could hope that by then Germany might not have much/anything to play for and the U.S. could scrape a draw.

That would assume going into the last game:

6 points: Germany (W over Portugal, W over Ghana)
4 points: US (W over Ghana, D with Portugal)
1 point: Portugal (L to Germany, D with US)
0 points: Ghana (L to US, L to Germany)

That's kind of a best (realistic) case for the U.S., meaning getting a W over Ghana and a D with Portugal would be excellent news.

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Watched the press room interview with Ghana's coach, and he said the plan was to bring Boateng and Essien on late to have fresh legs vs. the defense... which I get, but saving maybe your 2 best players on the bench for two-thirds of the game is pretty crazy. If you want fresh legs, bring on your top subs, not your best players straight-up. Weird move.

Well, it almost worked.

But yeah, weird move. What happens if you need those subs for injuries (at other positions)? I suspect he was also hoping they're be able to win the game with minimal work from his top players, and thus be able to keep them fresh for the "bigger" games.

[ISiddiqui]

The one bright side of Altidore's injury is that we may abandon that ridiculous narrow diamond formation (seriously, leaving our fullbacks on islands is utterly stupid), and maybe play a 4-2-3-1, or even a 4-3-3, next match.

I don't really buy the conserve energy excuse FWIW. One hallmark of the American teams in the past, and this one is fairly young as well, is that we have loads of energy. We just couldn't string together passes or keep any possession what so ever (Bradley looked appalling).

If Ghana actually could take a decent shot, we'd have been sunk.

[Coffee Warlord]

Interestingly, I don't know if anyone else caught it, but they cut to Klinsmann a couple of times early on signalling the team to play wider (at least, that's what it looked like). Of course, they weren't, but hey.

[flere-imsaho]

Towards the end they looked like they were doing a 4-2-3-1 with the 3 (including Bradley) switching places as necessary, but still playing pretty narrow.

I don't buy the conserve energy argument either. The World Cup has very few games. Each one should be treated as a Cup Final (with the only exception being a final group game if you're in 1st and can't be overtaken).

[cartman]

It seems the US plays better when people here are writing them off and giving brutal reviews of the team's play. Anyone remember back during qualifying where there was a lot of kvetching that we weren't even going to make it to Brazil?

[Warhammer]

I think part of the issue is something that Klinsmann noted, we have issues mentally.

I wonder if some of these guys don't have it in the back of their heads that for soccer to thrive, they need to make some noise in the WC. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's something that none of our football or baseball players need to deal with. You don't want to be the team that causes the US fans to completely write soccer off.

Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I wonder if there isn't some of this going on. The team out there last night was not the same team that played in the Hex. 2 of the other 3 teams that came out of CONCACAF won their first game, so it's not like we are chopped liver. We can play up here, so what is it? The stage? The unrealistic expectations from the casual US fan?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I think part of the issue is something that Klinsmann noted, we have issues mentally.

I wonder if some of these guys don't have it in the back of their heads that for soccer to thrive, they need to make some noise in the WC. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's something that none of our football or baseball players need to deal with. You don't want to be the team that causes the US fans to completely write soccer off.

Yes, I know this sounds ridiculous, but I wonder if there isn't some of this going on. The team out there last night was not the same team that played in the Hex. 2 of the other 3 teams that came out of CONCACAF won their first game, so it's not like we are chopped liver. We can play up here, so what is it? The stage? The unrealistic expectations from the casual US fan?

Maybe it's just talent.

[ISiddiqui]

Is it wrong that the first thought I had when Altidore started clutching his hammy was: CAN WE GET DONOVAN DOWN THERE?!!

Then I realized, that's not allowed (even if Altidore suffered a tourney ending injury)

[CraigSca]

With the lack of forwards - I was thinking Donovan would have been handy to have on the team as well.

[Coffee Warlord]

Lack of forwards? We have Wondo!

[bhlloy]

Would Donovan really be a good replacement for the style Klinsmann wants to play or the role that Altisore fills?

He may have to change that style anyway because Johansson doesn't look strong enough and Wondolowski probably isn't good enough, but I'm not really clear how Altidores injury affects the decision not to take Donovan either way. Eddie Johnson maybe

[ISiddiqui]

Heck, could have made it a 4-2-3-1 and have Donovan on the wing .

[Solecismic]

I think Klinsmann was trying to avoid what happened with the Dothraki from the Ivory Coast the other day. They were useless until Khal Drogba entered the battle to lead the charge.

Klinsmann's point about leaving Donovan off is that he shouldn't be starting, and not starting him, but having him around, might make some of the players futz around like Ivory Coast did for more than a half until Donovan enters to save the day.

I don't agree with him, necessarily, but I see his point. He's trying the best he can to light a fire under this group. For about 80 minutes of yesterday's match, there was no fire at all. Maybe they were playing Ali rope-a-dope, but there were too many holes in the back line for me to believe that.

Sometimes teams have bad first matches and get away with it (we'll probably see that from Brazil today). They get stronger once they acclimate to the stage and the level of competition. And sometimes teams don't get better. The US will need to be a lot better to get a point off of a very angry Portugal.

[Chief Rum]

Generate your Brazilian soccer name.

www.minimalsworld.net/BrazilName/brazilian.shtml

I am KIETALDO

[Logan]

LOGILDO

[JonInMiddleGA]

Lovelinho

Okay, yeah, I LOL'ed

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Lovelinho

Okay, yeah, I LOL'ed

Awesome. "Lovelinho! He scores on the pitch and off of it!"

[bulletsponge]

Wadeta

[vex]

Felix Brauro

Somehow, but I like it,lol

[Warhammer]

Richisco

[ISiddiqui]

Siddiqua

Well, that was disappointing

[cartman]

What in the world was that Belgian defender thinking?

[MIJB#19]

Chance for Courtois to show he's the best goalkeeper in the world.

[cartman]

1-0 Algeria after the PK

[Abe Sargent]

Wowo Algeria

[MIJB#19]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

Chance for Courtois to show he's the best goalkeeper in the world.

Missed opportunity.
Plenty of time left to fix things for Belgium.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Generate your Brazilian soccer name.

www.minimalsworld.net/BrazilName/brazilian.shtml

I am KIETALDO

I am Sargaldo

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Siddiqua

Well, that was disappointing

Maybe try it with a variation of your name or a middle name? I put in my full first name and middle and it gave me Matthew Justeta, and then I used my short name, and it gave me Kietson. Heh

[Chief Rum]

And for what it's worth, I think Siddiqua is pretty cool for a soccer name. I could totally hear that on the pitch.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

And for what it's worth, I think Siddiqua is pretty cool for a soccer name. I could totally hear that on the pitch.

Sounds like a female R&B singer

[cartman]

I think the mound of foam affected that kick

[Fidatelo]

I like mine a lot:

Davito

[Arles]

I think everyone is being a little hard on the US. They had some pretty key injuries to Altidore and Dempsey (who stayed on but clearly could barely breathe), not to mention Belser's hammy and Bedoya cramping up after every play (and eventually subbed). There just wasn't much quality in the group of 6 attackers with Jose, Clint banged up and Bedoya/Bradley running to cover massive ground all game.

So, I thought funneling Ghana into bad angles/long shots wasn't a terrible decision given the situation. Only a couple of the shots were good chances and Howard had all but one covered (where we got a little lucky). In the first 20-25, we looked very good but when the wheels fell off for Jose/Clint, we had to scramble to keep pace. The lineup in the second half had very little offensive creativity until Zusi came on.

Overall, the passing and ball control left a lot to be desired, but that was a function of the state of players still functioning and a decision by Klinsman to go with more conservative lineup. Bradley and Beasley need to be better, but if Clint is OK - it's reasonable to expect a draw against Portugal.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I like mine a lot:

Davito

"Fidatelo" didn't already qualify?

[PilotMan]

Batenaldo

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

"Fidatelo" didn't already qualify?

Lol, good point!

[ColtCrazy]

My name ended up being Soa. Soa for the Goala!

I used my son's first and middle name for fun. His is cool: Felix Eca.

[lighthousekeeper]

I am the unflattering Tardo Pau. Tardo? Really?



Also pro tip: Don Rickles = Dildo

[cartman]

More proof Fred got screwed when they were handing out nicknames. His real name is Frederico Chaves Guedes, and the website gave him Guedico.

[Coffee Warlord]

I am awesome. Or also known as...

ROBISCO!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Did I just see that stat right? Algeria is the first World Cup team to have 23 players with 23 different nationalities?

[korme]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Sounds like a female R&B singer

So does mine: Shanaça Peres

[Matthean]

Spot the Ball: The Best of Opening Weekend - NYTimes.com

[cartman]

Nice move by Belgium to tie the game up. Let's see if that opens the floodgates.

[MrBug708]

Kappeca

[MrBug708]

Or MrBildo