Soccer Thread 2011-2012

[jeff061]

Heh, turned it on to watch 15 seconds before Japan tied it at 2. Sorry guys .

[PineTar]

US deserved that result

[GrantDawg]

God, I hate penalty decisions.

[PilotMan]

Ohhh, that hurts. Damn. Coulda shoulda woulda.

[kingfc22]

Game should have been at least 2-0 in the first half...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Idly I wonder how much the team members just collectively lost in future endorsements?

[Big Fo]

Elano (Brazil) just made Carli Lloyd's penalty kick look like a good one. Still rising.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Elano (Brazil) just made Carli Lloyd's penalty kick look like a good one. Still rising.

Beat me to it. That was awful.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Idly I wonder how much the team members just collectively lost in future endorsements?

I think Alex Morgan will be fine since she has the looks. The rest are SOL.

[BYU 14]

Great story for Japan, congratulations to them, they needed that as a country. Feel bad for the US women, two moments of poor play on the backline and the post turned what should have been a decisive win into heartbreak.

I wonder if the result would have been different if the US had played their normal game instead of going into shut up shop mode at the end of both regulation and extra time. That style reminds me of prevent defense in football in that it allowed Japan to play their game and set things up from the final third instead of pressuring them the length of the pitch, which is much more disruptive to the way they like to play.

It was a helluva world cup though, some great moments for both Japan and the US throughout and the final stayed true to course.

[Big Fo]

Andre Santos giving Elano a run of his money, damn. Shootouts are much more fun to watch when you don't care who wins.

lol, 0 for 4 now. Paraguay goes to the semifinals. Brazil and Argentina are both out.

I wonder if the result would have been different if the US had played their normal game instead of going into shut up shop mode at the end of both regulation and extra time.

I actually thought they were too offensive late on. In the giveaway that lead to Japan's first goal, the wingers and strikers were way up and Lloyd was pretty far forward. With all of the Japanese players pressing some people needed to come back for there to be more passing options. Instead it was just the backline and Boxx nervously trying to maintain possession.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I think Alex Morgan will be fine since she has the looks. The rest are SOL.

Hope will be OK too......And Head and Shoulders should step up and give Wambaugh an endorsement deal

[kingfc22]

Brazil must of had a live feed of the women's final on the bench. 0 for 3 so far in PK's

[MizzouRah]

Good game... I really think soccer needs a sudden death in OT.

[MJ4H]

It needs something besides penalties. Almost anything, really.

[chrisj]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I think Alex Morgan will be fine since she has the looks. The rest are SOL.

Already has her website "coming soon" page up...
ALEX MORGAN SOCCER

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I think Alex Morgan will be fine since she has the looks. The rest are SOL.

I'm kinda diggin Hope Solo.

[molson]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Good game... I really think soccer needs a sudden death in OT.

At least in a final where there's no more games to wear yourself out for.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

This is turning into one of those FM games where you outshoot the opponent 25-6, and hit the woodwork 6 times and lose 1-0 :P

Haven't seen the second half / extra-time yet (watched the first here then took my wife out on a date ... which included watching the penalty shootout in the Cheesecake Factory .. but thats another matter entirely ) .... but one thing I noticed watching the first half before we left, the commentators were stat crazy but weren't picking up on the actual positioning of the players and suchlike.

The US shot count was crazy in the first half but relatively few were actually clear cut chances and even the better ones in the box the Japanese defensive positions were quite good for all bar one or two of them, in contrast while the final ball let down the Japanese side a fair bit the space their attackers had would have left them with clear cut chances .....

Was very impressed with how both sides were playing in the first half, the US team were working very hard and playing nice football but tended to snatch at any shooting opportunity, Japan was far better technically and I felt trying to work for clearer cut chances.

(will be watching the rest of the match in a minute - intrigued to see how it went)

[RainMaker]

I really hate penalty shoot-outs in Finals.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Good game... I really think soccer needs a sudden death in OT.

There have been LOADS of things tried over the years, Golden goal, Silver goal and the US had an 'alternative' to penalty shootouts for a while where you dribbled from the half way line I seem to recall.

None of them 'truly' satisfied people - personally I much prefer just replaying the final until a team wins a match fair and square, I remember fondly watching FA Cup 4th replays as a kid

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

There have been LOADS of things tried over the years, Golden goal, Silver goal and the US had an 'alternative' to penalty shootouts for a while where you dribbled from the half way line I seem to recall.

None of them 'truly' satisfied people - personally I much prefer just replaying the final until a team wins a match fair and square, I remember fondly watching FA Cup 4th replays as a kid

I don't mind the hockey setup the NHL has currently.. if a team scores in OT, the game is over.. if not, then go to a shootout. Although for a final such as this was, they should play the 15 minute halves and the first team to score, wins.

I also think that if you go out of the game hurt, you're done.. a sub MUST come on to take your place. Players that take a dive should get a yellow card too.

Of course I also think that when an injury happens, the clock should stop and then be restarted once play has resumed.

It was a great World Cup though, I enjoyed watching most of the matches I was able to watch.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

There have been LOADS of things tried over the years, Golden goal, Silver goal and the US had an 'alternative' to penalty shootouts for a while where you dribbled from the half way line I seem to recall.

None of them 'truly' satisfied people - personally I much prefer just replaying the final until a team wins a match fair and square, I remember fondly watching FA Cup 4th replays as a kid

I'd prefer a sudden death. Maybe allow an extra substitution every 15 minutes if it comes to that. I just hate to see big tournaments ended on a gimmick.

[sovereignstar v2]

Tevez to Corinthians. You couldn't make it up. And Kun should slot in just perfectly.

[Big Fo]

Good move for Tevez, he'll get to play for a big club again.

[Butter]

My wife and I went to Harry Potter last night, and I saw on her facebook right before the movie started that someone posted "Finally, a goal!" Then at like 9:30, she asks me "are you sure you really want to watch that game?"

I said "yes", but I knew what that meant. We blew it. In a spectacular fashion, as well. But well done to Japan, they earned it.

[sovereignstar v2]

City plan 'unbelievable' expansion | Sky Sports | Football | Premier League | News

The ambitious Premier League club want to develop up to 80 acres of brownfield land as part of their recently-announced Etihad Campus project.

City have spent three years planning a scheme which could take a further three to six years to come to full fruition.

When complete the facility will include an Academy for 400 players, 16 football pitches, state-of-the-art first-team training and injury rehabilitation facilities, a 7,000-capacity stadium and staff offices.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Beat me to it. That was awful.

Yeah, even Beckham winced watching that.

[Pumpy Tudors]

if you congratulate japan, you are a bad american. go to mexico or some shit

[sovereignstar v2]

Small Club vs. Vancouver on ESPN2 right now.

[MizzouRah]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP6on...layer_embedded

[whomario]

Tottenham got U17 WC standout (and to goalscorer with 9) Coulibaly for 2 mio from Siena, no idea how they pulled that off with the names whirling around the kid.
Is Tottenham´s reputation for developing young talent that good ?

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Tevez to Corinthians. You couldn't make it up. And Kun should slot in just perfectly.

Grrrr. Corinthians is as skint as you'd imagine and it looks like the Tevez to Brazil deal is over with. Could be a little bit of a clusterfuck as it sounds like Aguero is on his way no matter what. I think it's time to make a deal with Inter. Tevez for Sneijder baby!

[Big Fo]

[sovereignstar v2]

Pretty sure he thought play stopped.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Pretty sure he thought play stopped.

If you watched the match live you would know there is about a zero percent chance of that

[Mac Howard]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Good move for Tevez, he'll get to play for a big club again.

nasty!

[Oilers9911]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Pretty sure he thought play stopped.

Even if he did, that's an amateurish move to not play to the whistle. The guy is a nutter.

[sovereignstar v2]

I would've liked to have gotten some quotes from him on the incident, but that's probably not likely. I don't like the guy and I doubt he'll ever be as good as he could be. One more season and I'm sure he's off to Milan.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Worst Away End in Football

[sovereignstar v2]

Small Club Party Time Tomorrow!

[sovereignstar v2]

BBC Sport - Beckham backs 'great' Mario Balotelli after back-heel row

Originally Posted by Beckham

I've watched it back and, from his mannerisms, I believe he thought he was offside," said Beckham, advising the Italian to still score in the future.

[DeToxRox]

Bob Bradley was fired today. Just saw a blurb on the Bottom Line.

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

Bob Bradley was fired today. Just saw a blurb on the Bottom Line.

Please be true... Please be true...

[DeToxRox]

From ussoccer.com

© U.S. Soccer
U.S. Soccer

CHICAGO (July 28, 2011) — U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Bob Bradley has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team.

“We want to thank Bob Bradley for his service and dedication to U.S. Soccer during the past five years,” said Gulati. “During his time as the head coach of our Men’s National Team he led the team to a number of accomplishments, but we felt now was the right time for us to make a change. It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob. We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

This announcement comes after a meeting at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., between Gulati, Bradley and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn.

Bradley was named the head coach of the U.S. MNT in January of 2007 and during his five-year tenure compiled a 43-25-12 record. He led the team to a number of accomplishments, including winning the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, finishing second in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, winning their World Cup qualifying group and advancing to the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

[bulletsponge]

bout time. he moved us forward i suppose, but having him coach for a 2nd wc isnt wise. im surprised we fired him tbh

[Young Drachma]

Goodbye to Bradley.

[DaddyTorgo]

HALLELUJAH!!!!!

[DeToxRox]

So the announcement today is at noon. Everyone assumes it'll be to announce the next HC. Who is the leader in the clubhouse, Klinsmann?

[Icy]

I'm an ignorant about USA soccer but I don't think he did bad at all with a team from a country with little men's soccer tradition, with most of the best players playing outside USA making it harder to scout them, etc. So why all the critics?

Is there a good USA born substitute for Bradley as USA coach or do you think that a known foreign one will be appointed as new one?