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Cass already covered most of what I had to say.

Emphatic agreement on “you don’t punt a world cup”. And that’s what leaving Donovan at home in favor of Chandler and these kids looks like.

Also, that service by Zusi to Green was stupid good. Just ridiculous. It was even better than Bradley’s, but won’t get talked about because Green’s first touch was crap and he didn’t convert.

We have way too many guys on the offensive end whose first touch is never good enough. That is why we don’t score more. Altidore included. He should have had 1-2 goals yesterday. A better striker would have. Green is just a kid, but if he is going to materialize, he has to convert a pass like that one.

Parallel the women’s team - I can name several of the younger forwards who would have converted that Zusi service, even early in their careers. They’re just better players, relative to their competition.

But damn that ball was on target. That is so hard to do and he put it “right between the numbers”, in stride, on the run himself. That was a world class pass.

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[quote=“NinerAdvocate, post:121, topic:27433”]Cass already covered most of what I had to say.

Emphatic agreement on “you don’t punt a world cup”. And that’s what leaving Donovan at home in favor of Chandler and these kids looks like.

Also, that service by Zusi to Green was stupid good. Just ridiculous. It was even better than Bradley’s, but won’t get talked about because Green’s first touch was crap and he didn’t convert.

We have way too many guys on the offensive end whose first touch is never good enough. That is why we don’t score more. Altidore included. He should have had 1-2 goals yesterday. A better striker would have. Green is just a kid, but if he is going to materialize, he has to convert a pass like that one.

Parallel the women’s team - I can name several of the younger forwards who would have converted that Zusi service, even early in their careers. They’re just better players, relative to their competition.

But damn that ball was on target. That is so hard to do and he put it “right between the numbers”, in stride, on the run himself. That was a world class pass.[/quote]

Men’s and women’s soccer are two completely different sports. A top level women’s soccer player was probably not even going to be in that position to take the ball because she would have been shoved off her spot because of lack of strength or because she lacked the pace to get to that spot. We’re criticizing an 18 year old for not taking a 40 yard ball perfectly. At least he made the run and was there to receive the pass. I bet if he gets that chance again he’ll put it away. I’ve seen multiple forward balls hit off of Altidore like he’s a brick wall. I think you guys are being unfair towards these guys and the selection. I don’t think Donovan was going to be the difference at this World Cup between losing to Ghana/Germany/Portugal or winning. In all likelihood he was probably going to come off the bench. It was mostly the shock value of actually seeing that headline “Donovan Left Off US World Cup Roster” that enraged everyone but the truth is Donovan has not been a big part of this squad since JK took over (minus the B-squad that won the Gold Cup) and we just completed the most successful year in the history of the national team.

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Chandler plays on the back line, where we need some proven starters, depth and a hope and a prayer to hold against the teams in our group. Donovan plays on the front line mostly at the wing. The team is much deeper there and has proven starters and fairly capable backups.

Donovan also openly admitted he simply can’t train the same way anymore, which I totally understand. But the US team is about to start a grueling 3 games with long travel, short recovery, and very hot/humid conditions. You might be able to have Donovan come off the bench late and conserve energy, but that assumes we wouldn’t need cover for card suspensions and injuries and that he can even pull that off given these conditions. I think Klinsmann went with athletes and recovery over skill when picking against Donovan. I’m not sure it was a good choice, but then I haven’t seen Donovan training lately.

I think you also have to consider that Klinsmann puts a ton of value in building good team chemistry. I think there are a lot of guys that may harbor some ill will or trust issues (privately) towards Donovan, so including him on the team could’ve been risky for team chemistry. There’s also the issue of Donovan not starting, when he’s pretty used to being top dog country and club in the past (look at his issues with Beckham, which were understandable, but still worth considering).

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clt thinks that we need to score goals.

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Here’s a great read that gives a good view into how JK runs things. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/magazine/how-jurgen-klinsmann-plans-to-make-us-soccer-better-and-less-american.html

His comment about Americans rewarding players based on past performance rather than current performance is pretty telling. Look at how Panthers fans reacted when Smitty was cut.

126

Anyone feeling better about the team after the Nigeria game?

I like the Jones - Beckerman - Bradley triangle. Seemed to give us the best of all three, especially Bradley.

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[quote=“J Felt, post:126, topic:27433”]Anyone feeling better about the team after the Nigeria game?

I like the Jones - Beckerman - Bradley triangle. Seemed to give us the best of all three, especially Bradley.[/quote]

Beckerman is as terrible as Cass says, but he allows Bradley to maximize his talents, so its a solid trade off.

The team also seems steadier with that triangle. It may just be a comfort level in folks knowing their roles, and familiarity.

I think Nigeria played terribly uninspired football on the final 3rd of the field. I hope we are not lulled into a false sense of security. We must get 3 pts against Ghana.

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So the WC starts in 3 days. Any predictions at this point?

There’s been interesting injury developments in our group. Reus missing hurts Germany a little bit, but they have so much awesome talent, they can probably just plug someone else in there. Bender is also injured, but less of an issue probably. The bigger issue is probably whether Ronaldo is going to be fit for Portugal. He would probably tear apart our back line fully healthy. Hobbled, he’ll probably still do damage, not sure as much though.

I still think the US fails to get out of this murderous group. We might get 3 points versus Ghana, but I doubt we take points from Germany and Portugal, and I think both those teams will put more goals in against their opponents, so even if we do take a point, goal difference probably sinks us.

Overall both Argentina and Brazil seem like teams to beat, Brazil primarily due to home field advantage, which I think will be huge given the number of divers they have. I’d say Spain is the favorite, but I’m not sure how their aging stars handle the Brazilian heat and humidity, and I still think their group might be the toughest in the competition (because I think Australia is better than their rankings indicate and think Chile is very good). I think Belgium and Ivory Coast probably go on longer runs than expected.

I don’t know if any concacaf teams make it out of their groups, all 4 got put into tough groups, especially the two strongest teams USA and Costa Rica which really got screwed. Mexico’s group is easier, but they still seem weak to me. I’d say Honduras has the best shot, but it depends on whether Switzerland is really one of the better teams in Europe or not.

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[quote=“9erken, post:128, topic:27433”]So the WC starts in 3 days. Any predictions at this point?

There’s been interesting injury developments in our group. Reus missing hurts Germany a little bit, but they have so much awesome talent, they can probably just plug someone else in there. Bender is also injured, but less of an issue probably. The bigger issue is probably whether Ronaldo is going to be fit for Portugal. He would probably tear apart our back line fully healthy. Hobbled, he’ll probably still do damage, not sure as much though.

I still think the US fails to get out of this murderous group. We might get 3 points versus Ghana, but I doubt we take points from Germany and Portugal, and I think both those teams will put more goals in against their opponents, so even if we do take a point, goal difference probably sinks us.

Overall both Argentina and Brazil seem like teams to beat, Brazil primarily due to home field advantage, which I think will be huge given the number of divers they have. I’d say Spain is the favorite, but I’m not sure how their aging stars handle the Brazilian heat and humidity, and I still think their group might be the toughest in the competition (because I think Australia is better than their rankings indicate and think Chile is very good). I think Belgium and Ivory Coast probably go on longer runs than expected.

I don’t know if any concacaf teams make it out of their groups, all 4 got put into tough groups, especially the two strongest teams USA and Costa Rica which really got screwed. Mexico’s group is easier, but they still seem weak to me. I’d say Honduras has the best shot, but it depends on whether Switzerland is really one of the better teams in Europe or not.[/quote]

Nigeria was the African champ right? So over Ghana? I’d say that helps our confidence going into that game but the last few times we’ve played Ghana we have came out completely flat, and just really uninspired. If that changes we can beat them, and it is our best chance at 3 pts, as you mentioned.

As for Germany, the most we can hope for is a tie. They’re probably going to punk us.

Portugal, I think we can give problems, and really it will depend of the refs. Portugal is perpetually soft, and we are fairly physical. If they let us play our game, I think we can beat them again, if they call it tight, we’re screwed.

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U.S. survives group play with a win over Ghana and Portugal and loss to Germany. Loses first match after group play.

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I hope Ronaldo is fully fit after their first game. I want to see us go up against a Ronaldo firing on all cylinders so we can see how good our defense really is. I would hate to beat them but everyone cry foul because he was hurt or not 100%

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I think Ghana is way overrated. We pull out 3 against Ghana, draw Portugal, and lose to Germany. We move forward on goal differential.

I’m picking Argentina to win it all. I think Messi goes HAM on the tournament to solidify the GOAT arguments.

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[quote=“casstommy, post:132, topic:27433”]I think Ghana is way overrated. We pull out 3 against Ghana, draw Portugal, and lose to Germany. We move forward on goal differential.

I’m picking Argentina to win it all. I think Messi goes HAM on the tournament to solidify the GOAT arguments.[/quote]
Is this Ghana team worse than previous Ghana WC teams? I mean, we don’t have a very good history against Ghana in WC matches.

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Portugal did not look good at all against Mexico, especially after the first 20 minutes.

Advancing out of the group is there for the taking.

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[quote=“VA49er, post:133, topic:27433”][quote=“casstommy, post:132, topic:27433”]I think Ghana is way overrated. We pull out 3 against Ghana, draw Portugal, and lose to Germany. We move forward on goal differential.

I’m picking Argentina to win it all. I think Messi goes HAM on the tournament to solidify the GOAT arguments.[/quote]
Is this Ghana team worse than previous Ghana WC teams? I mean, we don’t have a very good history against Ghana in WC matches.[/quote]

They have knocked us out of the previous 2 WC’s. They have talent in the midfield and some big names (Asamoah, Essien, Boateng). Their defense is their weak link though and they give up a lot of goals on set pieces which really favors us. In fact, all 3 teams give up the majority of their goals on set pieces. I think 3rd time is a charm vs Ghana

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We must get 3 pts against Ghana. If we can’t do that shut it down open up shop.

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[quote=“J Felt, post:134, topic:27433”]Portugal did not look good at all against Mexico, especially after the first 20 minutes.

Advancing out of the group is there for the taking.[/quote] That was without Ronaldo playing though (and also a couple others). I think a lot hinges on whether he is close to full strength for our match. They have some other talented players, but he’s just a killer finisher that changes the way a team plays defense. The US can win if they play really well and Ronaldo doesn’t go off like he did in the qualifying match versus Sweden.

Some of Ghana’s stars are getting a little older now. It’ll depend on whether their younger talent steps up.

If we do somehow make it out of the group, the 2nd round sets up very well given our group is lined up with arguably the weakest group, especially after Belgium (whoever gets first probably gets the easiest 2nd round game in the competition).

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I think is Brazil’s Cup to lose, IMO, home field will help them. However, I’d rather see Argentina win it. European teams don’t tend to do well in South America, do they?

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Without going through this thread to see if the answer is there, can someone tell me the real reason that Donovan is not on the USA team?