Sweden v. USA 8/22 - POSTGAME [R]

[FirstStar]

Sweden 1 - 0 USA. Many different takes on the match, but my take is that I'm happy to get out of there only down 1-0 (thanks to Timmy for it not being worse) against a team playing very well in Euro '08 qualifying right now.

No flames, no trolls, no "fire Bradley now" posts (oh well, 2 out of 3 won't be bad) . . .

[Cmoney101]

Bire Fradley

[stinky]

thank god we flew bornstein in for the match. it was important in our development.

[soccertom]

No, your brain's not polluted, Abby is better than our existing guys. If she could run like a man, she'd take their job.

It's posts like the one above that make me want to wash my eyes out with Chlorox Bleach and never come into the US Men's News & Analysis thread again.

[TheLostUniversity]

I thought that was what we used a real competition for... the copa america anyone??



Ok, fire him. Where was Adu and Altidore??

But I agree with a previous poster, we have mediocre players. After this match, I'm thinking that we sit around 40th in the world. My regard for our team is fading fast

What bothered me the most was that the team
[a] Seemed out of sync. A lot of individual effort, very little consistent team flair. This is the Manager's responsibility.
[b] Giving so much time to the same ol' same ol' on the backline. Bocanegra was his usual self, alternating solid with scary.He and Gooch were not together too often. And Cherundolo, on the right, had serious problems with the strength and height of the Swede's. Why was there no Frank Simek? This is the Manager's responsibility.
[c] Bradley Jr is quite good, and I don't begrudge his being on the USMNT, but for Gyd's sake why was there no Rico Clark out there? This is the Manager's responsibility.
[d] Called in Ching, only to find he's lame?? Now that IS lame. Why not give Jozy a shot? Call in Zizzo, why not the hell Adu?? This is the Manager's responsibility.
[e] The US side seemed to have no idea what to do when the Swede's started to play a packed in defense. Just sat out there, stymied, with a silly nowhere cross or giveaway usually resulting. As if we were playing a much taller version of Guatemala. No creativity in attack at all. This crap is completely the Manager's fault. Seriously, it looked like a Bradley Metro team out there.:(

Three more months to see what BB can do...

[Friedel'sAccent]

No flames, no trolls, no "fire Bradley now" posts (oh well, 2 out of 3 won't be bad) . . .

No critical thinking after 4 straight losses.

[JohnR]

Anybody want to defend the MB/Pablo center mid pairing?

Personally, I can't see the point, not even on the road in Azteca, or in Rio, or in Berlin. I can't ever see where the benefits from having that much bite in the center of the midfield are larger than the drawbacks of having no offensive threat to speak of, and the high number of turnovers. I don't see where being that negative could ever be positive. It feels to me like Bruce's 3-6-1, doomed to fail from minute 1.

But hey, I'm willing to hear counterarguments.

[The_ChelseaSupporter]

We need to fire Bradley right here and now.
He's not a coach, he's a joke.

[SectionX]

your goalie looked good

[JohnR]

It's posts like the one above that make me want to wash my eyes out with Chlorox Bleach and never come into the US Men's News & Analysis thread again.

A semi-jokey post, mate. No need to Flannigan.

[F96]

Did Zizzo even touch the ball?

[Maitreya]

The two difference makers in the game were Howard, who kept the scoreline from being considerably worse, and Ibrahimovich (with all due respect to Kallstrom for an excellent shot). Ibrahimovich was the main reason why Sweden was more dangerous in the attacking third and able to move the ball with more decisiveness and calmness. We had no one threatening their backline and holding the ball back for our midfielders.

Donovan and Beasley should have been able to blow past big Swedes, but they really didn't in this game. Bottom line is that we needed a big and fast striker who could both hold the ball up and threaten to beat the offside trap.

[The_ChelseaSupporter]

No flames, no trolls, no "fire Bradley now" posts (oh well, 2 out of 3 won't be bad) . . .

oops didn't see that. :o

[Matrim55]

The Good:

Howard
Beasley's first half
Gooch's second half
Pablo
Kamani Hill looking quick, tough and skilled

The Bad:

Bocanegra
Convey
Midfield giveaways
Unsure touches in the attacking third from Dempsey and Donovan

The Ugly:

4-6-0

-------------------------
I don't understand the lineup selection from Bob. Would he have ever lined up without a forward in a game that meant something? I doubt it. So why do it in a friendly? What did we learn from it - that we can't score if we don't have a forward on the field? Speaking for the BigSoccer community: Duh!

I also had real issues with the second half lineup. Even though I like Feilhaber and Mike Bradley individually, I think they're an awful pairing that's weak defensively and far too turnover prone to face a team as good as Sweden. Play one of them, and one of Mastro or Clark, but never both at once.

Did we really need to revisit DMB on the right side? Was that a passive aggressive move designed to send the US fanbase into some sort of PTSD Germany 06 flashback?

[The_ChelseaSupporter]

The two difference makers in the game were Howard, who kept the scoreline from being considerably worse, and Ibrahimovich (with all due respect to Kallstrom for an excellent shot). Ibrahimovich was the main reason why Sweden was more dangerous in the attacking third and able to move the ball with more decisiveness and calmness. We had no one threatening their backline and holding the ball back for our midfielders.

Donovan and Beasley should have been able to blow past big Swedes, but they really didn't in this game. Bottom line is that we needed a big and fast striker who could both hold the ball up and threaten to beat the offside trap.

Altidore

[TheLostUniversity]

No critical thinking after 4 straight losses.

We are only allowed critical thinking once the number of straight losses has hit the first two digit prime number. And if in the meantime we gain a mighty victory against Sao Tome & Principe, then the count begins again at zero . So...
Bradley's Boys are Great :D

[Kevin8833]

Anybody want to defend the MB/Pablo center mid pairing?

Personally, I can't see the point, not even on the road in Azteca, or in Rio, or in Berlin. I can't ever see where the benefits from having that much bite in the center of the midfield are larger than the drawbacks of having no offensive threat to speak of, and the high number of turnovers. I don't see where being that negative could ever be positive. It feels to me like Bruce's 3-6-1, doomed to fail from minute 1.

But hey, I'm willing to hear counterarguments.

It would work if we had a 3-5-2 with a number 10 infront of them, but we don't really have a number 10 and I can't think of a big athletic, fast, and big enough to play with only 3. If there are 3 backs capable this would be our most effective formation.

[JohnR]

Altidore

Yep, it's going to get harder and harder for Bob to delay the inevitable after matches like this.

[ironduke2010]

It's posts like the one above that make me want to wash my eyes out with Chlorox Bleach and never come into the US Men's News & Analysis thread again.

she does seem to finish exponentially better than any of our men strikers....

[El Steve]

Altidore

agreed... i've been very supportive of bradley, still am... but i'd really, really like to see more of altidore

i mean, when he had him in new york he didn't really give him much of a look either... altidore didn't get playing time until arena was thrown into the fold... he's young, but so what? i'll be pretty disappointed if i don't see him in chicago