Germany: United States [R]

[arthur d]

I'm a fan of both - USA first, Germany second. And I think it's perfectly okay for fans of both to post in both forums. It would be boring otherwise.

As for the USA - not a big deal. The guys who were on the cusp either eliminated themselves (Berhalter, Zavagnan, Klien, Ching), or played themselves into contention (Convey, Gibbs). Mastroeni was apparently good, but that is pretty much expected of him. Same with Eddie Johnson. Arena considered this purely an evaluation game, with the result being secondary.

As for Germany, it was nice to see that it wasn't purely the Michael Ballack show. It seems Klose, Nueville, and Schweinsteiger all made major impacts. And it seems that having Kehl, a pure defensive mid, helped the center backs. And it seems that CMetz and Merte might be a decent combo. Friedrich is probably more solid defensively than Owo on the right.

The overall impression (I haven't seen the game yet - have it DVR'd, but have been following the BS PBP) is that Germany, nor the USA, had much shape, and both played fairly sloppy. But Germany, without relying purely on Ballack heroics (even though he got a late header), made big plays when needed.

For Germany, the game was a positive step forward toward June (in spite of playing a USA mostly "b" side), and a slight boost of confidence.

Nice post. I didn't mean you of course. But if someone is clearly rooting against (say) the USA, why would he/she go to their pbp thread to post during the match. I think 99% of these posts are eiter bragging, or being bad losers. Both of which is very bad style.

[Jaison]

Schweini's goal was eerily similar to Fring's against Holland in 2004.

[mookhead]

A few things that I noticed in the game:

Kahn-A monster in goal. Once again came up with two-three great saves.

Keller-Played a good game, 3 of the goals were not his fault.

Schweinsteiger-Played a great game. The German game changed for the good as soon as he came in.

Asamoah-I don't know why he is chosen for the national team. He is terrible. I thought he was going to do good this game, but once again he ran around alot didn't create anything. He should be dropped from the roster and not be given a spot on Germany's world cup team

Ballack-The next time the US play the Germans, they need to remember to mark Ballack man to man when ever the ball is in the German offensive zone. He needs to be marked on set pieces to the point that he is almost fouled. The American defense gave him way to much space. They did not learn their lesson from the last world cup.

Gibbs-He should be a starter for the US team this summer.

Covey-He should make the team this summer.

US-The middle of the their team was not there(no central midfield presence no central defender presence).

Germany-played a great 2nd half. I have to hand it to them.
USA-They will learn from this game and this will game will help Arena with his trimming down of the roster for the world cup.

[Dead Fingers]

Yeah well, guess I am too critical. I didn't watch the game, did you? What did you think? Pretty meaningless probably. Nice to see that Klose seems to be doing ok (not suprising after his performances for Werder). What to do with Neuville now, I wonder. I was wondering before if he should play with Klose up front. I think Podolski might actually be very overrated, based on a few selected good performances. I am not a big fan of the other German forwards either.

As for the American team, guess Berhalter is out? Any conclusions from the game?


Arthur..no worries. I actually find the reaction to everything pretty funny: the first 45 minutes, the A vs. B squad dillema, will Klinsi get fired, what does this mean? And you know I love both teams. It gives the Germans some confidence, but I can guarantee you that Klinsi will be thinking more about the first 45 mnutes and what went wrong. I continually become more impressed with Klose all the time.

Well, for the Americans, it was always going to be a "who should get another look and who should be left out performance". To try and "compare" the two teams is a disservice to both squads.

I would assume Berhalter and Ching are now out. I was glad to see Cory Gibbs have a pretty good game after such a long rehabilitation. I don't think he has played one first squad game all year. Bobby Convey is proving to be a little monster...impresses the hell out of me. I haven't watched the game yet, but I do have it taped and will watch soon.

[footyfan1]

Guys, for the most part, I don't even go into the USA forum. Many of them are the most unrealistic fans I've ever seen.

I'm not pissed off because I expected a Germany rout. I'm actually proud of our "scrubs" because they held Germany scoreless for a half.

No way am I angry or bitter, but I will tell any of you who think Germany's problems are "solved" that you are sadly mistaken.

The much better team on the evening won. There's no question about that. What you need to look at is that Germany did it against a USA side composed of scrubs, many of whom won't even be at the tournament this summer.

Of the USA's starting field players, I believe the only one assured of a spot on the starting team is Cherundolo. I think Zavagnin, Mastroeni and Johnson will be on the team, but there's no guarantee they will start. I'm almost sure Zavagnin will be a bench player and there's a great chance Mastroeni and Johnson will be too, in favor of Reyna and Twellman. Gibbs may make the team, but he'll be a bench player. I think Berhalter, despite playing in the 2. Bundesliga with Cottbus, just blew his chance to make the squad tonight. He was F#CKING HORRIBLE!!!

I think Berhalter should have been Germany's "Man of the Match" after Neuville and Klose!!!

I'm sorry I had to point that out. I'm not trying to take away from the Germany victory. I actually found myself standing and applauding after Neuville's strike and Ballack's header.

However, I will say if the USA and Germany were to meet this summer, I'd not only be hopeful, but CONFIDENT our true starting eleven would not only give Germany a great match, but possibly get the result.

I enjoyed the second half despite my country's scrubs getting hammered. It was good football from Germany.

However, I do believe anyone who points at this match and says "Germany is back!" is fooling themselves.

I think that group would have had more of a problem with the true USA starting eleven, not to mention one of the true "world powers".

It's great for their attitude and yours that they beat up on a USA scrub team. That's fine. That's to be expected. But I don't think Germany's problems are over by a longshot.........

[wsmaugham]

To those who think the german team was playing at full strength....
- Frings and Deisler (both regular starters) were missing
- Podolski had an abdominal influenza last week and wasn't at full strength
- our centre backs: Metzelder does not play at all in his club, Mertesacker has not yet fully recovered from his ankle injury
- Schweinsteiger had the flu, did not practice with the team last week and missed Bayerns game on Sunday

sorry guys, maybe I'm translating the phrase "c-USA outplayed a-germany" wrong. In my opinion in means you were the better team......but seriously which game did you watch?
We played like sh*t for 70 minutes, but your team easily exceeded this number.
I guess I'm realistic when I say we may reach the last 16 teams in the WC and then we are done, but when I look into the US board I can say with a clear conscience that some of you are overrating your team in a ridiculous way.
Italy and the czechs don't have loosers like Friedrich or Metzelder in their team and I doubt Hejduk, Donovan, Pope etc. will change the outcome of your first round exit

The U.S. was missing seven sure starters-

Reyna
Donovan
Onyewu
Lewis
Beasley
McBride
O'Brien (healthy again, finally)

But on top of that, add players who could start-

Dempsey
Pope (injured back- DNP)
Bocanegra
Hejduk

I'm sure I'm missing others. We had two starters at their regular positions (Keller and Cherundolo [although playing slightly more advanced]), Johnson at forward, who may or may not start but will make the squad, Gibbs, who will likely start at CB playing on the left today to make up numbers, Mastroeni, who may start and will make the squad, and Convey, who may start and will make the squad.

It's no coincidence that the players who acquited themselves well today were from the start/may start list, Mastroeni and Convey in particular, while the rest are fighting for a few roster spots. Germany had very little success through the midfield until Mastroeni was subbed off. The difference in quality and composure was apparent. The U.S. isn't that deep, we can't take out all of our primary field players (Reyna, Beasley, Donovan, McBride, Onyewu) without the drop-off being precipitous.

I wouldn't bother posting this except as a rebuttal to posts like the one above, but we're talking about two different teams, the WC U.S. team and the patsy offered up today. We may exit early from the WC, but you can't put today's result in any context other than as an exercise by Arena to sift through the chaff and pick a few role players to round out the team.

[F96]

But I don't think Germany's problems are over by a longshot.........

Well 96% of German fans sure feel the same.

[arthur d]

But I don't think Germany's problems are over by a longshot.........

Well, I don't think anyone believes this to be honest.

[footyfan1]

A few things that I noticed in the game:

Kahn-A monster in goal. Once again came up with two-three great saves.

Two or three? I saw one. And his stupid attempt at an acting job cost him the clean sheet.



Keller-Played a good game, 3 of the goals were not his fault.

I have to agree. I missed the Schweinsteiger free kick.


Schweinsteiger-Played a great game. The German game changed for the good as soon as he came in.

I'll be upset if I see Schneider out there instead of Schewinsteiger this summer.......



Asamoah-I don't know why he is chosen for the national team. He is terrible. I thought he was going to do good this game, but once again he ran around alot didn't create anything. He should be dropped from the roster and not be given a spot on Germany's world cup team

I'm no fan of his to begin with, but he does have his uses. He just didn't show any tonight. I thought Gibbs punked him tonight.



Ballack-The next time the US play the Germans, they need to remember to mark Ballack man to man when ever the ball is in the German offensive zone. He needs to be marked on set pieces to the point that he is almost fouled. The American defense gave him way to much space. They did not learn their lesson from the last world cup.

You need to remember that wasn't the starting USA defense. If they meet again Oguchi (Gooch) will mark Ballack.



Gibbs-He should be a starter for the US team this summer.

I don't agree. Gibbs is a center-back and he's not ahead of Gooch or Pope. But I do agree that Gibbs should be on the team.



Covey-He should make the team this summer.

Will there be room for him?? I hope so.


US-The middle of the their team was not there(no central midfield presence no central defender presence).

One possible starting midfielder (Mastroeni) was there and one possible starting defender (Cherundolo) played. Other than that, the rest were second and third string guys just trying to make the team.



Germany-played a great 2nd half. I have to hand it to them.

Agree!!



USA-They will learn from this game and this will game will help Arena with his trimming down of the roster for the world cup.

This was pretty much a sacrifice for that very purpose.......

[footyfan1]

Well, 96% of German fans sure feel the same


Well, I don't think anyone believes this to be honest.


I know you guys are right. I've just seen "trickles" in other e-mail groups already, that's all.

[footyfan1]

The U.S. was missing seven sure starters-

Reyna
Donovan
Onyewu
Lewis
Beasley
McBride
O'Brien (healthy again, finally)

But on top of that, add players who could start-

Dempsey
Pope (injured back- DNP)
Bocanegra
Hejduk

I'm sure I'm missing others. We had two starters at their regular positions (Keller and Cherundolo [although playing slightly more advanced]), Johnson at forward, who may or may not start but will make the squad, Gibbs, who will likely start at CB playing on the left today to make up numbers, Mastroeni, who may start and will make the squad, and Convey, who may start and will make the squad.

It's no coincidence that the players who acquited themselves well today were from the start/may start list, Mastroeni and Convey in particular, while the rest are fighting for a few roster spots. Germany had very little success through the midfield until Mastroeni was subbed off. The difference in quality and composure was apparent. The U.S. isn't that deep, we can't take out all of our primary field players (Reyna, Beasley, Donovan, McBride, Onyewu) without the drop-off being precipitous.

I wouldn't bother posting this except as a rebuttal to posts like the one above, but we're talking about two different teams, the WC U.S. team and the patsy offered up today. We may exit early from the WC, but you can't put today's result in any context other than as an exercise by Arena to sift through the chaff and pick a few role players to round out the team.



THANK YOU!! GREAT POST!!

[JeffS]

Guys, for the most part, I don't even go into the USA forum. Many of them are the most unrealistic fans I've ever seen.

I'm not pissed off because I expected a Germany rout. I'm actually proud of our "scrubs" because they held Germany scoreless for a half.

No way am I angry or bitter, but I will tell any of you who think Germany's problems are "solved" that you are sadly mistaken.

The much better team on the evening won. There's no question about that. What you need to look at is that Germany did it against a USA side composed of scrubs, many of whom won't even be at the tournament this summer.

Of the USA's starting field players, I believe the only one assured of a spot on the starting team is Cherundolo. I think Zavagnin, Mastroeni and Johnson will be on the team, but there's no guarantee they will start. I'm almost sure Zavagnin will be a bench player and there's a great chance Mastroeni and Johnson will be too, in favor of Reyna and Twellman. Gibbs may make the team, but he'll be a bench player. I think Berhalter, despite playing in the 2. Bundesliga with Cottbus, just blew his chance to make the squad tonight. He was F#CKING HORRIBLE!!!

I think Berhalter should have been Germany's "Man of the Match" after Neuville and Klose!!!

I'm sorry I had to point that out. I'm not trying to take away from the Germany victory. I actually found myself standing and applauding after Neuville's strike and Ballack's header.

However, I will say if the USA and Germany were to meet this summer, I'd not only be hopeful, but CONFIDENT our true starting eleven would not only give Germany a great match, but possibly get the result.

I enjoyed the second half despite my country's scrubs getting hammered. It was good football from Germany.

However, I do believe anyone who points at this match and says "Germany is back!" is fooling themselves.

I think that group would have had more of a problem with the true USA starting eleven, not to mention one of the true "world powers".

It's great for their attitude and yours that they beat up on a USA scrub team. That's fine. That's to be expected. But I don't think Germany's problems are over by a longshot.........


Great post. I agree with everything here. If Germany and USA go head to head in WC06, I like USA's chances, but such a match could go either way.

Anyway, in spite of Germany's problems being far from over, I like Germany's chances of advancing past the first round much more than the USA's chances of advancing. Germany has Poland, Costa Rica, and Ecuador - farily easy. The USA has Italy (one of the strongest teams in the world), Czech Republic (very strong, and Nedved could demolish the USA), and Ghana (not slouches). The USA will have to play it's best games ever to stand a chance of getting good results against Italy and Czech Republic (on European soil - outside Europe gives better chances), and will still have to play solid to beat Ghana.

I'd also like to reiterate that it was not just the Michael Ballack show for Germany. Klose, Schweini, and Nueville made big plays.

And footyfan1, I bet you were glad to see Kehl out there having a pretty good match. :)

[arthur d]

I know you guys are right. I've just seen "trickles" in other e-mail groups already, that's all.

Hannovergirl said it better than me (and she was faster as well, damn it!). There's always the odd 4% of idiots without any sense of perspective (or in England, the odd 40%... :D ).

[JeffS]

Hannovergirl said it better than me (and she was faster as well, damn it!). There's always the odd 4% of idiots without any sense of perspective (or in England, the odd 40%... :D ).

:D

Seriously, knowing the German penchant for pessimism about their national team, I seriously doubt anyone in Germany is jumping up and down with glee thinking that Germany is ready to kick some booty now that they beat the USA scrub team.

Now, if Germany managed to get this kind of result against a Brazil, Argentina, Italy, or France, then there might be legitimate reason to get cocky, and not be a total idiot for doing so. But in all reality, I doubt the German "A" team could beat the Brazilian "Z" team right now. ;)

["Eisenfuß" Eilts]

Asamoah:

I'm no fan of his to begin with, but he does have his uses.


Yes, Asamoah is good for some situations.
It´s not easy to stop him, this brings sometimes freekicks,
that can be used by Ballack, Schweinsteiger or someone else.

Every stiker has different special abilities,
no easy task for Klinsmann to choose the right strikers.

[evanpemsocr]

The whole country of USA should be in mourning cause of this loss, but sadly there not cause it seems not to many people caught on to football yet, and if USA are to beat germany it would have to not be in germany. I was like wow when i saw this game it seemed to be like a world cup game cant believe so many spectators, never will be like that in USA

weve had huge crouds for games before.

[footyfan1]

Great post. I agree with everything here. If Germany and USA go head to head in WC06, I like USA's chances, but such a match could go either way.

After seeing what I did today, I firmly believe that. And if Germany doesn't get better, they'll be watching on TV after the second round. There won't be any USA scrub teams at the World Cup.

But, I think they'll get better........



Anyway, in spite of Germany's problems being far from over, I like Germany's chances of advancing past the first round much more than the USA's chances of advancing. Germany has Poland, Costa Rica, and Ecuador - farily easy. The USA has Italy (one of the strongest teams in the world), Czech Republic (very strong, and Nedved could demolish the USA), and Ghana (not slouches). The USA will have to play it's best games ever to stand a chance of getting good results against Italy and Czech Republic (on European soil - outside Europe gives better chances), and will still have to play solid to beat Ghana.

Of course. I've already said on the e-mail list that I'm not confident of the USA advancing. If we were in Germany's group, then yes, I would be more confident, but we'll have to get a result from the Italians or Czechs and I think our starting eleven has a chance to do that. If we do that, Ghana will be the ultimate "trap game".



I'd also like to reiterate that it was not just the Michael Ballack show for Germany. Klose, Schweini, and Nueville made big plays.

I was impressed with Neuville and Klose, although on their scoring plays, they have to give a big assist to the spectacular ineptitude of Gregg Berhalter.



And footyfan1, I bet you were glad to see Kehl out there having a pretty good match. :)

'Twas OK. I'd rather see him have them in the SchwarzGelb though....... ;)

[arthur d]

:D

Seriously, knowing the German penchant for pessimism about their national team, I seriously doubt anyone in Germany is jumping up and down with glee thinking that Germany is ready to kick some booty now that they beat the USA scrub team.

Now, if Germany managed to get this kind of result against a Brazil, Argentina, Italy, or France, then there might be legitimate reason to get cocky, and not be a total idiot for doing so. But in all reality, I doubt the German "A" team could beat the Brazilian "Z" team right now. ;)

Sure. Most likely, Germany will be kicked out in the second round, and the US won't make it out of their group. Then again, stranger things have happened. We've drawn with Argentina, France and Holland recently, so it's not inconceivable that we'll sneak past Sweden and Holland into the semis on penalties. Same for you, I guess, although your route is far more difficult. Won't you have to play Brasil if you happen to make it to second spot?

[mookhead]

When is Thorsten Frings going to be healthy? Will he be ready for the world cup? I didn't know where else to post this question..

[footyfan1]

The whole country of USA should be in mourning cause of this loss, but sadly there not cause it seems not to many people caught on to football yet, and if USA are to beat germany it would have to not be in germany. I was like wow when i saw this game it seemed to be like a world cup game cant believe so many spectators, never will be like that in USA


Big Soccer Newbie. Figures.

Don't know what you're watching, but the game is making progress here.

Not as fast as many of us would like, but it's happening.

It will NEVER be one of the top three sports here, but making it to fourth or fifth should be just fine.