Chorizo!
Argentina is the best team in the tournament. But one step at a time.[/quote]
There are other players on that team?
Germany looks downright clinical. Possibly some weakness on wings, but not much.[/quote]
Do they need other players? [/quote]
Belgium
Beat Belgium Vid:
I BELIEVE!
Messi strikes again
Wondo blows a golden opportunity to steal the game.
Warning, this is painful to watch, especially when you realize he could have tapped to Dempsey who had an empty net…
To offset that awfulness, here is the crowd at the watch party at Soldier Field (Chicago):
Soccer is bigger than ever in the U.S.
that wondo gif…f***ing kill me.
NA…y u do dis?
Its a form of self loathing.
That and I cant afford a shrink. 8)
[quote=“jfickett, post:208, topic:27433”]that wondo gif…f***ing kill me.
NA…y u do dis?[/quote]
That miss should haunt his dreams… That was the game winner on a silver platter.
So i’ve had a full night to swallow this one. I don’t ever think i’ve felt a loss like I did with this one.
A few takeaways…
Yedlin has been a bit of a revelation. I would have loved to see him at right back and switch Fabian to left. I thought Beasley wasnt the total disaster i thought but Johnson is obviously the better option and he can play left or right.
I really wonder what this team would have looked like with Jozy, especially last night. Dempsey was a bit outmatched physically against Kompany and having Jozy there would have really changed the dynamic of our attack.
Bradley is gonna want to forget this entire cup for the most part. His lob to Green was fantastic but overall he was just not even close to being himself.
Oh Wondo! I feel bad for him because he is just a fantastic guy who is easy to root for but man. I heard him doing an interview after the game and he was gutted. You have to at least put that thing on frame.
Zusi played so poorly i was hoping to see Jurgen maybe switch to that diamond and bring in a guy like Mix to provide some creativity. I hate it for him that he didnt get to see the field.
Overall it was just a fantastic tournament. Things feel different to me. Like we’ve crossed a bridge as a soccer nation. Hopefully we build on it.
Lots of changes for Russia. I hope we have grown the system where we have some strong replacements. At first blush I’d say Howard, Beasley, Dempsey, Bedoya, Jones, Davis, Beckerman, Wondolowski, Zusi, Cameron and Rimando are all done… And there are a few guys who will be over 30 that will be on the fence- Guzan, Bradley (he isn’t going to get better playing in MLS); Besler… I hope the pipeline is strong.
It is, but its so hard to predict guys 4 years out. 4 years ago no one was talking about a guy like Fabian Johnson and I am not sure he’s not our best talent right now. Hell, 6 months ago no one was talking about Yedlin.
We will continue to get a lot of dual nationals. Gedion Zelalem is a 17 yr old german american who is set to enter our pipeline who is playing for Arsenal right now. 8 years ago stuff like this was unheard of.
Cass, in his typical efficiency, said so many things I wanted to say.
The painful part to me isn’t losing; Belgium were the better overall side. However, I hate it anytime you have one of these once in every XX year events and you are missing such a key piece of your puzzle. Altidore matches up better and totally changes our alignment and playstyle. His absence was more than just missing an injured player - mainly because we don’t have any established depth at his position.
So, while I hate losing, if we had been able to put our full team on the field and had lost anyway, it would have been easier for me to accept. That Belgium team doesn’t have a Messi, Neymar, or even a James Rodriguez type star, but they are they solid almost all the way around. Very obviously a team full of established world class pros. No shame in losing to them. But man, I just wanted to give them our best punch.
Yedlin was wonderful on the attack - but did not recover his position. If he can maintain that speed and motor, he’ll eventually learn to. Like Howard having to make 15 saves, it sucks that we had to generate almost all of our offense from our backs (Johnson, Beas, Yedlin) making runs up the side. Our midfield is a glaring weakness - that’s why I said Bradley was the most important player on our team. Zusi was useless on the attack. He is a set piece player only. And I agree, I may have tried Mix just to try to control the field. Cass - we did play that diamond eventually and we controlled the ball better once we did. Very supportive of JK, but not sure he made the right call there. Goes back to Altidore being out again as well.
And I feel bad for Wondo, but I keep thinking (insert player X) would have tapped the ball to Dempsey for an easy score. I think it was 49erken who commented that Wondo has a history of these type of point blank choke jobs. Would Landon have made the same mistake?
We still have the Gold Cup in 2 years (?), maybe the Confederations Cup, and qualifying. Too early to say who is done. How many GKers have played just shy of 40? Howard is a gem - if anyone could do it, he could. Roger Milla scored 4 goals in the 90 WC at age 38, and started for Cameron again in '94 at age 42, scoring against Russia. I think a couple of the other old guys might be kept around too. Though I do agree that we will have a pretty significant lineup turnover which makes this more bittersweet for this core group of players.
Can’t say that this World Cup was much of an improvement over South Africa in 2010. I know many look at getting out of the Group of Death as a huge accomplishment but we had a lot of luck going for us. Ghana outplayed us in the first match but couldn’t find the net. Portugal is not the team their FIFA ranking suggests and their huge loss to Germany is a big reason why we advanced on goal differential. The score of the Germany game could have been much wider as well.
I’m still pleased with JK. The team performed very well in CONCACAF qualifying and I believe we had the best send off series in team history prior to the Cup.
mike the POR-GER score was because POR played a man down. So yes, it was a bit of luck. But at full strength, they were still a very good team. We should have beaten them.
If you are a fan (or not) - read S’s link. Damn good read. The bits about Howard and Beasley almost made me tear up.
Another thought I had this morning about the USMNT, and its actually probably one that i’ve had before but it really hit me for whatever reason this morning. Even when Origi and De Bruyne were slicing through our defense. And even when Belgium were just pounding shot after shot against Jesus Howard. And even when we eventually went down 2-0. I never felt like it was over. Its so damn strange and its something almost entirely unique to the USMNT. It just never feels like we are done
I dont know what you call that. I guess people have called them gritty. I dunno. Even Ian Darke alluded to it. After Green scored and Yedlin continued to terrorize that right side, Ian said something to the effect of “The US cant possibly pull this out can they?” Its a crazy feeling.
It is, but its so hard to predict guys 4 years out. 4 years ago no one was talking about a guy like Fabian Johnson and I am not sure he’s not our best talent right now. Hell, 6 months ago no one was talking about Yedlin.
We will continue to get a lot of dual nationals. Gedion Zelalem is a 17 yr old german american who is set to enter our pipeline who is playing for Arsenal right now. 8 years ago stuff like this was unheard of.[/quote]
Plays for Arsenal? Or is in their development?
He has been playing for their U21 team, but was on the roster this year and made an appearance this season for Arsenal (the senior squad). I think he just re-signed with them. They are very high on him.
Problem with him is like Green and some of our other guys, he has been playing internationally for Germany’s U21 team. Have to entice him to play for us.