The sloppiness of South Korea’s defense on Uruguay’s first goal was only slightly more amazing than the sloppiness of Uruguay’s defense on South Korea’s goal: in the former the Koreans were watching the ball, in the latter, the Uruguayans bunched in the middle leaving at least two Korean’s unmarked.
Luis Suarez’s second goal was a thing of beauty. I have a feeling he won’t be at Ajax too much longer.
Korea had no one trailing the play on Fernando Muslera’s near Greening of a Korean player’s shot, but Uruguay had three players right there.
The USA needs a real forward. No forward has scored a goal in the WC for the US since Brian McBride in 2002. The US did not have a shot on target after the 76th minute.
Robbie Findlay is not petite, neither is Jozy Altidore. Both of them would do well to look at video of some of Ronaldo’s goals and Rivaldo’s goals and see how many times they rounded the keeper to put the ball into an unguarded net. Altidore falls down much too easily and Findlay’s attempts to finish are much too easy to read.
Let me get this off my chest: Charlie Davies: the next time the USMNT coach, whoever he may be, lays down a curfew, fucking listen to him and do what you’re told or don’t take up a roster spot.
Ghana was clearly the better team. In fact, I would say that they are at least as skilled as Senegal in 2002 with the added benefit of more discipline. Uruguay should prepare well.
Jonathan Bornstein played competently, but Bocanegra would have been better at left back with Clarence Goodson perhaps in the central defense instead of Onyewu.
I don’t know why Bob Bradley virtually fetishizes some players like Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findlay.
It’s worth noting that of the eighteen contested to completion so far, only four nations in Europe have won the World Cup and only three in the Americas. It’s not easy to win, by any means and there is no shame in being eliminated. Just bring your best effort and skills to the game or don’t show up.
Mark S.
Wow, I didn’t know that. Still, all in all, a good Cup for the US. They didn’t let a couple of incredibly shitty calls get them down.
I’ve got Germany and Argentina advancing tomorrow.
handy
This.
Jim in Chicago
I still have no idea why Buddle didn’t get more playing time given the lack of production by the other 3 forwards. Buddle may be inexperienced at the international level (though no less so than Findlay and Gomez), but he is aggressive and makes things happen. His goal production when healthy (as he currently is) has always been impressive and he and Donovan already have a strong connection. It’s not like Altidore and Findlay were doing anything useful out there and Gomez, while on a hot streak for his current Mexican club, has never been a consistent performer.
Mark S.
Anyone want to venture early predictions on the Golden Ball and Golden Boot?
Violet
So Randinho, what’s your opinion on why the US team couldn’t seem to play in the first 15 minutes of any match, and often the whole first half? The number of times they woke up after 15 minutes and especially after half time was staggering. They’d look like an entirely different team. I can’t figure out what the problem was. Obviously they could get themselves together. The just couldn’t seem to do it early in the game. Why not?
Was Altidore injured? Or exhausted? Or just a crybaby whiner and/or lazy? He seemed lackluster and also way too quick to fall on the ground at any whiff of an opportunity. The spark I’d seen him play with in other games was gone.
The decision to play Clark is going to haunt Bradley and also Clark. Clark sucked during his time on the pitch and cost the US a goal, most likely leading to their loss. But it was Bradley’s choice to play him. That whole episode has to suck for both of them, and also the US team as a whole. Hard.
eric
Howard was verrrrrrrrrrrrrry weak on the first goal. As bad as the give away, he got beat on the short side. not pretty.
Crusty Dem
Uh, I’m not sure which game you were watching, but Onyewu didn’t play for the US today… He’d have been much better than the aptly named DeMerit.
Clark and Findley had no business being on the field today (at least starting), neither one has shown a lick of promise in the whole tournament (at least Findley has potential, Clark over Edu makes no sense at all). Altidore drives me nuts, makes one nice play for every ten lousy ones, and even the nice plays aren’t fantastic.
Still, despite the lack of a scoring forward, the US would be planning for Uruguay with decent play from the center backs…
wobbly
xcs m, wh ds nn CR bt ths stff?
[troll comment disemvoweled]
mcd410x
Maybe Bradley could have done a couple of different things with the lineup. He could have played more/less of Torres, Findley, Clark, Gomez, Buddle. But are any of those really the answer. We had Altidore, Findley, Dempsey and Bradley all miss very makeable shots today (and previously). What we have, still, is a lack of world-class talent.
In the end, Howard and Donovan and adrenaline carried us where they could.
And erased the taste of 06, for me.
magurakurin
@wobbly, come on that’s a bit harsh. People talk about unimportant things in a serious manner all the time. It’s what people do. That is a major purpose of sports. It’s a form of entertainment. It can’t possibly be true that you yourself never engage in frivolous conversation. And if it is true, I feel sorry for you. You must be like Christ carrying the weight of the sins of the world.
That being said, I’ve been wondering what the World Cup would look like without the league play. Now, I have to admit, I’m not a soccer\fubol fan, but the World Cup is an interesting event. But I seem to feel that the league play ends up with some dull games. Italy for example seemed to keep falling back on the next game to get through. And the way the league is set up it does seem like a good team can schlock their way through two games and still pass through. Also some games end up being truly meaningless like the Brazil Portugal game.
What would it like if they switched to the NCAA Basketball style. Start with 64 teams and elimination all the way through. This would also allow 32 more countries to participate, thereby bringing a huge amount of joy to 32 more countries. I understand that FIFA is a pretty conservative organization and resistant to change. And obviously there would be downsides to this idea. But what do some of the hardcore fans think?
You Don't Say
Is Findlay the guy who shaves his head? Cuz I said to spouse, who knows less than I do about soccer if you can imagine, that the guy who shaves his head kicks in a too predictable way, straight on, no disguise, nothing unusual.
PanAmerican
The US has strikers?
Jozy’s problem is he just isn’t interested in putting in the effort. It’s unrealistic to expect him to develop Ronaldo skills. But the lack of fitness is inexcusable.
Sadly, I expect the reality of the situation with CD is career over.
None of the central defense pool, including Gooch is worthy of carrying Eddie Pope’s bags.
Boca got beat like a gong inside, pushing him out wide would have only shifted the point of attack. JB did OK.
I think they were worried about Edu’s fitness. In hindsight? Start Edu and run Rico out as pure destroyer if sitting on a lead.
My take is chasing all three games in group took the legs out from most of the team. Yet another bad tactical choice by Bradley to start the game put them behind the eight ball and Ghana took advantage by running them into the ground.
Given that kind of effort in group and the two days rest how about marshaling behind the ball and playing for a counter or PK’s? Yea it’s cynical and un-American (chest thump) but at least your guys aren’t dead on their feet at 75 minutes.
Lastly, one has to wonder where Tim Howard was health wise and where Landon’s head was given this.
mcd410x
@Crusty Dem: Gooch set the tone in 06 by getting badly beaten to the ball by Jan Koller in the first 10 minutes. He hasn’t gotten better. He wasn’t Jeff Agoos-ed for nothing.
There’s just a lack of talent, still. At the back, in the middle and up front.
Unfortunately.
Shalimar
Clark isn’t a bad player for national level, but he’s an inferior version of Edu so it isn’t clear why he was preferred. On the other hand, Findlay is such an inferior version of Davies that I don’t know why he even made the team. I guess Bradley wanted a fast player opposite Altidore, but it just didn’t work at all. And there have to be better left back options than Bornstein. He didn’t play poorly, but he really shouldn’t be on a team that expects to advance either. Who else does the US have who can play that spot?
The rest of the team had ups and downs but they at least look like they can contend. Maybe a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with Donovan and Dempsey on the wings would have been a better formation for the talent we had. The strikers were useless, so might as well get an extra midfielder in there and keep the ball longer.
wengler
A few thoughts:
There was a singular pernicious thought that kept creeping into my head as I watched this game and that was “what would Davies have done with that?” I think the fact that the forward line was in fluctuation for the entire tournament tells us all we need to know about the problems that existed there without Davies’ quickness into the box.
I was actually very surprised at how well Bornstein played as left fullback. This team today was characterized by a distinct lack of pace at the back, but Bornstein really closed down space and rather than being a liability he played a very positive 120 minutes.
Since the second man up front kept getting lost, it might’ve been smart to switch to a 4-2-2-1-1 with Altidore playing up top and Dempsey as the forward attacking midfielder. Clint Dempsey probably displayed the gutsiest performance by the US in the match but he was on the end of far too few balls in the box.
Looking forward to Brazil 2014 I am hopeful for improvement. The quality on this team is either in their prime or entering it. If Jozy Altidore can find his feet in the run of play he could a very interesting player to watch considering he is only 20. Bradley is 22. Dempsey and Donovan will both be in their early 30s in what is most likely their last World Cups. The key to success is really getting more and more US players into top tier leagues where they can gain experience.
wengler
@wobbly
You are not excused.
Crusty Dem
@mcd410x:
Gooch is far from perfect, but I doubt he would’ve been beaten like a drum on the deciding goal (maybe a yellow, but no goal)..
I’ve been impressed with the talent in the middle, ok with the front, and very disappointed at the back. As I’ve said before, I’m very pleased to have a team that actually scores goals, it’s a necessary step up from the teams of the 90’s (and most of the 00’s). Just need a great finisher or two and some athletic backs.
Still, I’m not holding my breath..
cmorenc
@wobbly
Because we’re not (so to speak) barefoot, soccer-ignorant and proud enough of it to arrogantly bust into a thread explicitly about soccer and complain about it, when there are plenty of other threads every day at BJ and other forums that have nothing whatever to do with soccer that you could be better spending your time with if soccer doesn’t turn you on.
Those of us who are Yanks in this forum who are fortunate enough to have learned to appreciate and understand the “beautiful game” (and what it is that makes it so) thoroughly enjoy this stuff. Either watch, listen, and learn enough to make a go at learning to appreciate it yourself a bit, or else go elsewhere. You prove nothing, gain nothing, do nothing by coming here and running down a game you obviously know nothing about, but OTOH you do risk making a total fool out of yourself in here.
Little Boots
So does this world cup thingie ever end, or what?
ondioline
Why isn’t Feilhaber starting?
Haven’t people been asking that for years now?
Violet
The US strikes me as a team of reasonably good players that play well as a team. Other teams I’ve watched during this World Cup seem like a group of very good players who play as a group of players, not as a team.
wengler
@PanAmerican
It looks like Donovan was sharing much more than his fine play in his stint with Everton. Let’s just hope it wasn’t Tim Cahill’s girlfriend.
Mark S.
@magurakurin:
I don’t think a lot of people would travel all the way to South Africa if their team could be gone after one game. Football is also kind of fluky in that knockout tournaments don’t always produce the best team. For example, nearly every country has a cup competition (the US even has one) that are open to a ton of teams and are single elimination, so you might get Manchester United playing some amateur side. It’s only occasional that the cup winner is the same as the team that wins the league (called a double).
Little Boots
Nope, never, right?
Violet
@magurakurin:
I’m not a hardcore fan, but from what I understand, soccer/football is one of the sports that is least predictable in its outcome in terms of whether or not the best team will win. So a knockout type play could lead to some very unpredictable results.
I like the group stages where you get some unusual matchups. Plus every team gets to play at least three times. For all the hassle of getting there, that’s a reasonable amount of games for both the teams and fans.
I also think that in a sport like football, the group stages allow the teams to sort of get their legs under them and if they have a rough start, they still have two other chances to come back and do something.
cmorenc
IMHO the US team is one of the better second-tier national teams on the World Stage, but have too many shortcomings and flaws to be ready to make into the first-tier of the dozen or so perennial top sides in the world. With a better performance and some different personnel decisions we did have a bona fide chance to make it as far perhaps even as the semifinals, but a day very much like today (or worse against one of the bona fide first-tier teams) was always highly likely forthcoming, given our team’s particular shortcomings and flaws. It’s just too bad that some questionable choices for a starting lineup contributed so much toward making that day of reckoning today in the opening knockout round instead of against Uruguay in the quarterfinals, or with certain inevitability not later than against Brazil in the semifinals. To Ghana’s credit, they played exactly the kind of game they needed to capitalize on a mediocre US performance today. Those were two very high-quality runs and finishes that did us in today.
One thing about Ghana that I definitely DID NOT like was the egregious diving and simulation/exaggeration of injuries with obvious tactical objective of wasting as much time as the referee would let them get away with. FIFA really has to get more serious about cracking down on this shamefully unsporting form of cheating (not just Ghana, there are plenty of other examples from plenty of other teams at WC). Ghana deserved the victory despite this unsavory aspect of their game today that frankly tarnished it, despite not being the reason the US lost. Games should be video-reviewed for diving and injury simulation/exaggeration afterward, and players guilty of it whom the referee fails to sanction should face genuine risk of game suspensions resulting from this after-review. This sort of threat would give powerful disincentives against indulging this sort of egregious crap, which is a sickness threatening the health of the “beautiful game”.
Jim in Chicago
@Shalimar:
Jonathan Spector has played left back for West Ham many times. I would love to have seen Spector get a chance to play, but Bornstein was definitely not the problem today. He played well.
KG
This honestly happens at every level of every sport. I have friends who are Angels fans that can’t understand why Scoisia continues to platoon his catchers. A few years ago, I could not understand why Torre insisted on playing Nomar when he clearly wasn’t the best first or third baseman on the roster. Phil Jackson insisted on playing Kwame Brown a few years ago when it was clear he shouldn’t be playing in the NBA. And Dennis Erickson has left a trail of tears through the NFL and NCAA in football, in large part because he had a tendency to play guys who were not the best players on the roster.
I think that coaches see something in a player during practice or training that makes them think that said player can be better than they are. Sometimes it works, other times, not so much.
I’d love to see the US build a top tier soccer team at the national level, I’d even love to see the quality of play in the MLS advance to top tier levels. But I’m not much of a soccer fan, and I don’t know that at this point, I have much desire to learn the intricacies of a new sport. But I do know that it is an interesting sport when played at the highest levels; I find it more interesting than American football, at least.
Fern
@KG: Definitely more interesting than American or CFL football, and way easier to follow than hockey. Hockey moves too fast for me and gives me a headache, but football has a different pace and with the large pitch I can see some of the logic to the passing and blocking etc.
Paula
@cmorenc:
How much of the whole “diving” scold on Ghana is bias, though? I mean, every team dives, even the “good” ones. US fans are given to complaining about Dempsey and Altidore doing it. And a-not-very-small contingent of people believe that Altidore shouldn’t have been given a free kick in the first place that resulted in the disallowed goal v. Slovenia.
I didn’t see the match. From the way people are describing it, the US was just gassed, which is not a surprise given that we had to chase down goals in the last 2 (and now I’m feeling more bitter about that last disallowed goal, because, gee, what if the team weren’t psychologically and physically spent going into this match for once).
I’ve been thinking about what-if re Davies since England. Eff him, they needed him.
Gian
what I like about the sport is rather odd. I like that FIFA couldn’t care less that US fans hate nil-nil ties. (though I thnk nil-nil ties just plain suck)
what I hate is the flopping, soccer needs to have a bunch of hockey players visit, you want to roll like the elbow that missed you by 4 inches made you unable to have kids? wait until the next chance, and the hit won’t miss, and the folks won’t get grandkids. I mean really, I played this as a kid, and floppers deserve someone with golf or track spikes to step on them mid-act, this FIFA could fix, but won’t (and the routine of taking a full two steps after a minor shin tap and then flopping, aargh, it drives me nuts that this crap is tolerated- encouraged)
Cacti
As I mentioned in the other thread, Altidore really blew it on that 1 on 2 chance in the box.
He should have fought through his much smaller defender and ripped it. He does that, and the USA goes through to the Quarters. Instead, he went down like a house of cards, hoping for a penalty kick.
Pitiful.
cmorenc
@Paula
NONE of it is bias. I clearly stated that Ghana played well enough to deserve the victory over the US today. It was the US Team’s own mistakes and mediocre to poor stretches of play that really did them in, not Ghana’s diving/simulation, which merely upped the difficulty somewhat of recovering from them by reducing time for a second goal. However, even had Ghana played straight-up the entire overtime following their second-goal, the US had a difficult hill to climb back to get an equalizing goal before time ran out. Ghana’s two goals were top-class finishes.
Take but one example from the overtime after Ghana had gone ahead – following a contested ball vs a US player, a Ghana player simulated being bumped awkwardly off-balance and taking a bad fall to the ground, laying there acting as if too injured to be able to get up, until finally a stretcher was summoned to take him off the field. Within seconds after being carried off, he was back up, and miraculously recovered enough to return to play within 30 seconds, going at normal full tilt. That is NOT even remotely any sort of sportingly legitimate tactic, and the whole episode was designed purely to waste time. Permutations of this same time-wasting fake “injury” tactic were repeated several times during the overtime.
The Italians (dispatched in group play this time) are the most notorious practitioners of diving and simulating – had they made it to the knockout round, or even had they ever managed to get the lead during one of the preliminary round games, I guarantee you would have seen shameless examples of egregious diving and injury simulation designed to waste time and trick refs into foul calls against opponents – in games that did not involve, nor even remotely affect the US team’s fortunes.
arguingwithsignposts
@cmorenc:
This.
I have only been able to see parts of games where the teams were tied, so I have missed all the flopping and bullshit dragging your heels to get to the sideline until today. That Ghana performance was pitiful. It doesn’t matter if “everybody does it.” If you want to make this out to be the “beautiful game,” then get rid of the flops when people *aren’t even touched!*
Get some refs with some balls to call that shit and kick people out of the game a couple of times and it will put an end to that. I’ve never witnessed such a bunch of drama queen crap on a playing arena, and that’s after watching a helluva lot of NBA and NHL.
If you want to run out the clock, do it in a sportsmanlike manner. This flopping and feigning injury trying to draw a call was so egregious it’s pitiful.
ETA: I can’t remember which US player it was who made a shot as he was sliding on his back that missed by a foot or so in overtime, but that was a nice try.
FlipYrWhig
@You Don’t Say:
You probably mean Bradley, the coach’s kid.
Paula
Well, fer chrissakes, it’s the Italian team, man! Easy target.
As for Ghana, there’s apparently grumbling that the PK in our 2006 match (resulting in a goal) was awarded to a dive. And after I watched Ghana’s Round of 16 match, I remember being pretty disappointed that Michael Essien suddenly turned into a whiny flopping boy when pressured.
Ghana’s current squad are plucked from the team that won the under-20 World Championship. And lot of these guys play in Europe. In high-level footy, it seems like you also dive when necessary. I’m trying to have a more nuanced view of it since, yes, a lot of the time, certain players are targeted. There could be a lot of pushing and shoving going on and a player has a right to call attention to it if it’s not being stopped. Not necessarily to be a diva, but to make it stop.
The 2006 USMNT had kind of a very simple way of dealing: just foul back, hope the ref doesn’t see. In a my sentimental heart this is the US team as they should be, but it didn’t exactly result in good matches for us.
arguingwithsignposts
@Paula:
The flopping in “high level footy” is indefensible, IMHO. If they want to do that shit, then just add a penalty box where they have to sit out for 5 minutes, or more, and add some enforcers and have some fights.
While you’re at it, add some ice and put them on skates. And give them some sticks.
BongCrosby
@arguingwithsignposts:
And a few less teeth!
Calouste
@cmorenc:
The US is a second-tier team, but second-tier teams are usually only one great player away from being able to reach the semi-finals: Bulgaria in 1994 with Stoichkov, Croatia in 1998 with Suker, Turkey in 2002 with Sukur.
Of course the advantage that the US has over those teams (none of whom qualified for this World Cup) is that even if they don’t have a great team, CONCACAF is pretty weak compared to UEFA and easy to qualify from.
John
@wobbly:
Is there anything more tedious than ragging on other people for being interested in something you are not? Go away.
arguingwithsignposts
@BongCrosby:
LOL. Forgot about that. :D
Steeplejack
@Violet:
Agree with you wholeheartedly. If they hadn’t given that first stupid goal away in the fifth minute (WTF?!), the whole complexion of the game would have been changed. Ghana would have been playing from behind and then at 1-1 would have had an incentive to play aggressively to win instead of shutting down to protect their 2-1 lead.
Just once I would like to see the U.S. team go out and crush someone from the get-go. And I don’t mean North Korea. I mean a serious opponent.
Tattoosydney
@Steeplejack:
Coulda. Shoulda. Didn’t. See you in four years.
[Sorry. I’m just enjoying a little little bit the humbling of the great American team which only a few hours ago was apparently going to teach the world how to play this soccer game and then got stomped by Ghana. Ghana!]
/comes from country that didn’t even made it out of the round of 32
2th&nayle
@arguingwithsignposts: I’m inclined to agree. I’ll admit to not being much of a football fan, but I will say I greatly admire the physical prowess that the game requires. Frankly I used to feel kind of meh about ice hockey too, until I went to my first game. Being there changed the whole dynamic for me. I still don’t really keep up with the NHL, but I go see a game everytime I get the chance! I even watch it on T.V. now.
Steeplejack
@Tattoosydney:
I am not a rabid foam-finger “USA! USA!” fan, but I do like soccer–I even lettered in it in high school back when even playing soccer was far, far worse than the president eating arugula or having non-yellow mustard on his burger–and I would like to see the U.S. team play up to its potential. They didn’t do that in the Ghana game.
ETA: But I do appreciate your Schadenfreude. By the way, I hope Kiley Minogue breaks a leg in a freak video-shoot accident.
Bill Murray
Feilhaber doesn’t start probably because he’s usually lazy and not in tremendous shape.
Against good teams the US just can’t play flat in the center midfield with their current players. They end up giving way to much space between midfield and defenders, which is why they give up so many goals outside the box. That’s why they looked best with Edu in, as B. Bradley usually only uses Edu as a straight defensive midfielder.
Spector’s been playing poorly for most of the last 6 months and looked very bad in the pre-WC friendlies. To be fair, Bornstein was just as bad in the friendlies.
Possible future US defenders (Bocanegra and Cherundolo are 31, DeMerit is 30 so are unlikely to be on the US 2014 WC squad):
Bornsein along with Marvelle Wynn, Jonathan Spector, Frankie Simek, Michael Orozco, Edgar Castillo, Kevin Alston, Chad Marshall and Omar Gonzalez are 26 or younger and in the current player pool (well so is Heath Pearce, but if he’s on the WC squad the US is in trouble). Gale Agbossoumonde currently looks like the new young star. Probably some of the younger MLS players (Cameron, Opara, maybe Ianni and a bunch of others) and Michael Parkhurst will be in the mix. Man could they use Neven Subotic — thanks Thomas Wrong Again
Yutsano
@Steeplejack: Well she did have this, but I guess that’s more soft-core porn than leg breakage.
EDIT: Linkage fail. PEBCAK.
Paula
@Tattoosydney:
A lot of people are twits (both supporting USA and people like you who apparently didn’t) who don’t know jack about individual teams or about international soccer in general and you can tell the second they start to belittle teams like Algeria (full of French league players) and Ghana, whose current team won the under-20 version of the World Cup and have defeated stronger teams than the US to qualify.
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
PEBCAK. Heh. How well I know that. Jerry Lewis should do a telethon.
ETA: On the software development side, the equivalent is WUFNAB: “wart or undesirable feature–not a bug.” How well I know those.
arguingwithsignposts
@Paula:
All of my kids play soccer (oldest, son, is on a traveling team for his age group) but if I saw him pulling the flopping, fake injury shit that goes on in the “beautiful game,” there would be a serious conversation about what it means to play a fair game. Ditto if he was playing hockey (speaking as a former goalie).
Also, while I did pull out a foam finger when the U.S. pulled out the game to get into the finals, I never had any impression they’d get far in the knockout rounds.
I thought the 2nd Ghana goal was a really nice play. I give props when a hockey player gets free on a breakaway, as well as when a goalie stands on his head. But bullshit is bullshit, whatever game it happens to be in.
Steeplejack
@Yutsano:
An alternative take–Erykah Badu, “Window Seat.”
Jaim
I still haven’t heard why Onyewu was out. Discipline or health?
magurakurin
Interesting points as to why the WC is the way it is. I can very much understand that reasoning about people not traveling if their team was only guaranteed one game. The way it is now, fans are sure to at least see three games no matter what team they cheer for. Make sense. My thoughts were coming from a tv viewing perspective.
One thing I would ask of soccer fans: stop referring to it as the “beautiful game,” that is just so weak. I sort of have grown to enjoy the sport through this current world cup, but the “beautiful game” crap really turns me off. Just a personal peeve I know, but…
Tattoosydney
@Paula:
I suspect that if you read between the lines on my post you will note that I was not belittling Ghana, but rather the gung ho Americans for whom the defeat of Ghana and Uruguay and the US coming third in the world cup were a foregone conclusion.
Blue Neponset
I can’t agree with anyone who says Bornstein’s play was tolerable. He made a good run that led to a close in direct kick, but other than that he looked clueless. At that level, kicking the ball out of bounds every other time you touch it is just not acceptable. If Gooch played like that instead of Bornstein we would be ragging on him pretty good.
I have to say Bradley needs to be fired. He just isn’t that good of a coach. If he were the US wouldn’t be giving up early goals all the time.
Another problem is the USA’s qualifying group. They seem to be too used to playing against inferior teams. You can come back against Puerto Rico when you are down by one or two but against a team that actually deserves to be in the World Cup that isn’t the case.
My solution would be for the US, Mexico and Canada to play in the South America qualifying tournament. Give Central America and the Carribean nations half a spot in the WC finals and make them play the best loser from South America/North America.
It will never happen, and if it did the US wouldn’t qualify as often, but it would make the US teams that did qualify much better than the one we saw yesterday.
Stroszek
@Blue Neponset: It also wouldn’t hurt to be able to see Argentina and Brazil play in the US every couple of years.
J.W. Hamner
I’m still depressed about the loss, even though I knew Ghana was tough and I didn’t have high hopes for this USA team. I’ll be rooting for the Black Stars the rest of the way… pretty classy opponents I thought.
I’ve got to get myself pumped up for England-Germany… I almost don’t even want to watch it… which I never thought I’d say.
Randinho
@Crusty Dem: Did I say Onyewu played? No I didn’t. Bocanegra usually plays left back and he moved to central defender in place of Onyewu. the point I was making is that they should have kept Bocanegra at left back and put Clarence Goodson in at central defender in place of Onyewu who would have played had he been 100%.
Randinho
@PanAmerican: On the other hand, if she has a UK passport, perhaps LD will marry her, get legal residency and be able to play in the EPL without needing a work permit.
I have disemvoweled wobbly’s comment and am going to disemvowel any additional comments by wobbly that are similar in nature. Tiresome trolling will not be tolerated.
Patrick
I’m starting to wonder if the MLS, through US Soccer, were dictating that Bradley start MLS players. There is no other explanation as to why a coach, who obviously is good at diagnosing problems and making good tactical switches, would consistently make the same mistakes in starting line-ups.
In other words, I give Bradley marks for pulling Clark so quickly. Many coaches would never admit a mistake so obviously. But why does Bradley keep making that same mistake?
Findley looks like Davies, that is the only reason I think he was started. But he simply wasn’t up to it mentally. He played to close to Altidore, and left the U.S. outnumbered in midfield in every game he played.
Patrick
But having said the obvious negative stuff, the U.S. has gone from barely qualifying with mostly borrowed talent (1990), to dominating their qualifying region and winning their group. the U.S.A. for only the first time:
scored goals in every game they played
won a game they were favored to win
won a group
got a point in the third group game
Ghana played their A game and we played our C game, and it took OT to beat us.
If the U.S. hosts the WC in 2018, we should be an actual contender. But we have to get our better players onto Champions League clubs and turn MLS into a development league that is willing to sell players to Europe, rather than hold them to their detriment.
Paula
@Tattoosydney:
Exactly what lines do I need to read between?
Paula
Bradley himself has hinted that no matter what happened in this tourney he was probably moving on, so US fans will not have BB to kick around anymore.
You can only do so much w/ injured players and a not-very deep bench. What hurts is that the road was a lot easier than what happens to most teams. I mean, we didn’t end up in the Group of Death. Chile did some impressive work in group stage but now they have to face Brazil. Yikes. We had to face Ghana, who are tough but hadn’t yet scored a goal in run-of-play @ that pt. Uruguay would have most likely stopped us, but @ least the team could claim entry into the Round of 8.
Of course, everyone would have said “It’s just Ghana, so it doesn’t count”, but still.
Crusty Dem
@Randinho:
So they shouldn’t have moved the one guy and replaced him with the guy who didn’t play? Obviously my fault, because no one else could’ve misinterpreted that… :-)
Bruce (formerly Steve S.)
I notice that these two are the children of immigrants. I’m afraid President Palin is going to put a stop to all immigration on January 21, 2013. I also notice how few Mexican-Americans there are on the roster, which would seem to be a logical talent pool to draw from. Regardless, Reichsminister Hayworth will be expelling all children of Mexican immigrants prior to the next World Cup. So I don’t know where you expect the USA to get a “real forward”. Somehow you’re going to have to convince about a dozen Landon Donovans to devote themselves to the country’s sixth or seventh most popular sport, but with all caucasians being career-tracked into Wall Street finance and security services that won’t be easy.
Randinho
@Crusty Dem: Please forgive my testy mood.