Predictions of Form/Odds post friendlies... [multiple R]

[Guinho]

Well,

Ghana has beaten Jamaica handily, Italy slogged to a 1-1 draw with the mighty Switzerland, US put up a rousing 1-0 victory over the much feared Latvians, and the Czechs managed to get a goal in the 83 minute against CR. YOu all know the rest. Changed your thoughts on how this is going to go? On the face of it, maybe all four teams will lose all theilr matches.... :rolleyes:

Of course, Italy has all that scandal to think about and Ghana may or may not have a racist coach to fire, depending on what he said, what the players thing, how organized African soccer and what racism is. The US stars are all injured or shockingly out of form. The Czechs seem to have kept their playmaker from retiring...


So, with a closer look:

The Czechs will be a little sluggish, and show their weaknesses but will scrape through.
Italy will start slightly off it (and get 7 points anway)
Ghana will impress, but come up short. I'd guess they'll end up with one point and leave people wondering why they didn't get more.
The US will struggle, frustrate and do well to get three points Worries of 98 abound. ( I know, I'm a regular partypooper.)


Any of you changed your views of how well everyone is doing? Form's going be keenly important. Right now, how do you think things stand?

[rizzuto123]

im no longer making predictions on italy cause i don't know what to expect anymore after there last friendly.

[vancity eagle]

based on current form and frienlies, this is how I see it

Italy 1 Ghana 0
Czech 1 USA 1

Ghana 2 Czech 2
Italy 2 USA 1

Italy 1 Czech 1
Ghana 3 USA 2

Italy and Ghana will advance

Italy 7
Ghana 4
Czech 3
USA 1

[Polar Bear]

Well,

Ghana has beaten Jamaica handily, Italy slogged to a 1-1 draw with the mighty Switzerland, US put up a rousing 1-0 victory over the much feared Latvians, and the Czechs managed to get a goal in the 83 minute against CR. YOu all know the rest. Changed your thoughts on how this is going to go? On the face of it, maybe all four teams will lose all theilr matches.... :rolleyes:

Of course, Italy has all that scandal to think about and Ghana may or may not have a racist coach to fire, depending on what he said, what the players thing, how organized African soccer and what racism is. The US stars are all injured or shockingly out of form. The Czechs seem to have kept their playmaker from retiring...


So, with a closer look:

The Czechs will be a little sluggish, and show their weaknesses but will scrape through.
Italy will start slightly off it (and get 7 points anway)
Ghana will impress, but come up short. I'd guess they'll end up with one point and leave people wondering why they didn't get more.
The US will struggle, frustrate and do well to get three points Worries of 98 abound. ( I know, I'm a regular partypooper.)

Any of you changed your views of how well everyone is doing? Form's going be keenly important. Right now, how do you think things stand?
If you are making this prediction based on the friendlies, you need to find a new basis.

Comment from Landon Donovan:
"We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."

The US form will be much better in the WC and Reyna was already running on the side before the last 2 games.

You are right about being a party pooper, but that doesn't make your predictions for the teams or your analysis of them any more accurate.

[rizzuto123]

If you are making this prediction based on the friendlies, you need to find a new basis.

Comment from Landon Donovan:
"We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."

The US form will be much better in the WC and Reyna was already running on the side before the last 2 games.

You are right about being a party pooper, but that doesn't make your predictions for the teams or your analysis of them any more accurate.

yes because the u.s. players practices the complex excerising of running, they should be the clear cut favorites to win the world cup, no other nation practices this:rolleyes:

[Polar Bear]

im no longer making predictions on italy cause i don't know what to expect anymore after there last friendly.

It is way to foolish to surmise that how Italy played in one friendly will have anything to do with how they perform in the WC. I said it about the US after their first friendly and I think it applies to all the teams. The result is not the foremost goal of the pre-World Cup friendlies. A favorable result is only an added benefit.

[rizzuto123]

It is way to foolish to surmise that how Italy played in one friendly will have anything to do with how they perform in the WC. I said it about the US after their first friendly and I think it applies to all the teams. The result is not the foremost goal of the pre-World Cup friendlies. A favorable result is only an added benefit.

i don't know because pirlo,totti are out of form i don't trust anything right now

[Arid_Torpor]

yes because the u.s. players practices the complex excerising of running, they should be the clear cut favorites to win the world cup, no other nation practices this:rolleyes:

Have you ever prepared for a major tournament before? Gone through a preseason? Typically, you'll go twice a day for a least a week or so, with scrimmages (or here, friendlies) sprinkled in there among the practices. Without time to rest before the scrimmages, the team will generally have dead legs (since it takes about 48 hours to fully recover from a hard practice). Those legs won't be dead come Cup time.

[Polar Bear]

yes because the u.s. players practices the complex excerising of running, they should be the clear cut favorites to win the world cup, no other nation practices this:rolleyes:

You like to talk in extremes, don't you? Nobody has mentioned anything beyond the group than you. I was explaining why the US team appeared out of form, not why they will win the WC.

[Guinho]

If you are making this prediction based on the friendlies, you need to find a new basis.

Comment from Landon Donovan:
"We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."

The US form will be much better in the WC and Reyna was already running on the side before the last 2 games.

You are right about being a party pooper, but that doesn't make your predictions for the teams or your analysis of them any more accurate.


Why thank you! That's very sweet ;) I suppose that I feel like I haven't seen the US play a sharp game in a long time, say over a year. Sure, they are tired, and that makes a huge difference. I'm in the midst of intensive training myself right now and tired legs just don't do what rested ones do. That said, can you say you've seen indications that when the US is rested, then the crisp, together, well-organized creative game will reappear? I see that our guys need more than rest to be on top form. I suppose I'm just a worrier today.

[uclacarlos]

The only solid prediction that one can make about these friendlies is to predict that they will be irrelevant to the tournament.

I.These friendlies help the coaches get an idea of

A. how certain, very specific tasks (which, btw.... are unknown to the media and fans watching) set forth prior to the match play out in the game.

B. how certain teammates work together

C. misc. stuff that none of us know anything about

II.These friendlies help the players get a feel for their teammates in a game situation, which is crucial b/c they all play on different club teams.

III. These friendlies help the fans get a feel for how the team is "gelling".

If you attempt to make anything more out of them, you really run the risk of misreading the teams involved.

[Polar Bear]

Why thank you! That's very sweet ;) I suppose that I feel like I haven't seen the US play a sharp game in a long time, say over a year. Sure, they are tired, and that makes a huge difference. I'm in the midst of intensive training myself right now and tired legs just don't do what rested ones do. That said, can you say you've seen indications that when the US is rested, then the crisp, together, well-organized creative game will reappear? I see that our guys need more than rest to be on top form. I suppose I'm just a worrier today.

Well, you are most welcome. A year is stretching it a bit. They looked pretty good against Mexico in September. Since then, the only game other than these recent 3 friendlies that the US has fielded a team that is near what will play in Germany is the Poland game. Given the fact that the game was played in a snow storm, I don't think you can make much of that game, but they did win. They still have 10 days to prepare. You can choose to see the glass as half full, worry to your heart's content and even come away with an ulcer if you choose, but I am not worried. However, I am not overflowing with confidence either. I think that the US will hold their own, but I don't think that they are strong enough to get out of the group if breaks go against them too many more times than they go for them.

[yenda]

based on current form, noone has a chance to score against petr cech:D :D

hehe

but seriously, he looks pretty unbeatable again...and for rest of the team, today vs T&T it was euro 2004 style until they/coach slowed it down in second half..nice to know we can play even without rosicky:)

can't wait for WC, it will be great!

[cypp]

based on current form, noone has a chance to score against petr cech:D :D

hehe

but seriously, he looks pretty unbeatable again...and for rest of the team, today vs T&T it was euro 2004 style until they/coach slowed it down in second half..nice to know we can play even without rosicky:)

can't wait for WC, it will be great!

yeah, true

[dmike]

None of these friendlies proved a single thing

The only purpose they served was to get guys back in their feet and playing some real games to test their fitness. Guys like Totti,JOB,Koller etc will

Every team used some new formations and wacky positioning.

[cypp]

based on current form and frienlies, this is how I see it

Italy 1 Ghana 0
Czech 1 USA 1

Ghana 2 Czech 2
Italy 2 USA 1

Italy 1 Czech 1
Ghana 3 USA 2

Italy and Ghana will advance

Italy 7
Ghana 4
Czech 3
USA 1


what a joke :eek:

[Agent Red]

So the real question is - who will win the friendlies world cup?

Hmm I believe Brazil won 13-1 and England have had a 6-0 so the facts speak for themselves. But.....will the reigning friendly champions Brazil carry their form through?

[vancity eagle]

what a joke :eek:

why is it a joke, Czech have been horrible in their friendlies, barely beating Costa Rica. I saw them against the Saudi's and they looked very average. If they can't handle these teams that easily, they wont handle Ghana or even US.

US also right now looks very weak, and Ghana is putting in very strong performances. Just completely outplayed Korea and the 3-1 scoreline is very flattering to the Koreans.

[uclacarlos]

why is it a joke, Czech have been horrible in their friendlies, barely beating Costa Rica. I saw them against the Saudi's and they looked very average. If they can't handle these teams that easily, they wont handle Ghana or even US.

US also right now looks very weak, and Ghana is putting in very strong performances. Just completely outplayed Korea and the 3-1 scoreline is very flattering to the Koreans.
If Ghana's goal is to pick up momentum and coalesce as a group, great for them. It seems like they are achieving their goals for the pre-tournament.

But every team has different goals: for some w/ injury problems (Totti, O'Brien, etc.) it's getting match fitness. For others, it's to experiment, to see if things may or may not work.

It might be 90 minutes of preventing the opponent from getting the ball out to the wings. It might be one of a million things.

Which makes the friendlies utterly useless except to the coaches and players.

As far as the US is concerned, we tried to get that "cohesiveness" and momentum established in a winter camp. This camp was/is about a lot of different things that not even the fans know about.

[yenda]

why is it a joke, Czech have been horrible in their friendlies, barely beating Costa Rica. I saw them against the Saudi's and they looked very average. If they can't handle these teams that easily, they wont handle Ghana or even US.


it was b team against costa rica..
and about form..it is geting better and better, see it for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0NqN45n3tY
and that was without rosicky..i am convinced we will play superb football on wc