"Thank you, Jurgen. And good bye. Time to Move on from the Sterile Klinsmann Interlude"

Precisely my point.

But in judging Jurgen's performance and the team's performance, we DO know those things.

 

I got a good laugh when they said that coasta rica played an attractive brand of futbol.

When did counter attack become sexy soccer?

Also we had a much harder road than them. Uruguay without Suarez is toothless (which is the side they faced). England is good but not elite. Italy can be top notch but are aging honestly for the first time in ages tactically approached the games horribly. Greece is a bunker down side.

Ghana, Portugal, Germany, Belgium are all tougher sides than what they faced. Only Italy can claim a place amongst the sides we faced and Uruguay if Suarez was playing which he didn't against them.

 

Dynamo Kyiv?

 

In the end, all Costa Rica and USA can do is play whomever they are paired with, anything else is opinion.

Costa Rica did not select Uruguay, Italy, England or Greece to play, but they are in the quarters. USA is not.

 

"Sabotaging" us?!? Good Lord.

 

http://www.eloratings.net/

ELO Rankings:

Germany 3
Portugal 7
Belgium 14
Ghana 38


England 6
Uruguay 9
Italy 11
Greece 20

The US had a much harder road????

The US faced 2 slightly higher ranked, one slightly lower ranked, and one much lower ranked opponents. Average ranking of US opponents = 15.5. Average ranking of Costa Rica's opponents = 11.5

And before you try to counter with Uruguay being without Suarez, the US faced Portugal without Pepe, Coentrao, Patricio, and Almeida, and with Ronaldo struggling at < 100% thanks to the leg injury. That comparison isn't even close.

I simply don't understand the need to cut down Costa Rica's fantastic tournament.

 

No offense but you are either joking or delusional. We would finish in the bottom three slots over that span. POSSIBLY the 4th from bottom. You have a very optimistic view of our talent level.

 

Yes, agreed. But delusion is running rampant around here:

 

Thank you, Paul Gardner, and good bye. Time to move on from the "if it isn't Latin, it's crap" meme you've been spouting since the 1970s.

Oh, and thanks for all the fish.

 

There's FIFA numbers and then there's reality. For instance, Ghana 38 was tougher than Portugal 7. I would have taken a dysfunctional England, a lethargic Italy, and the Suarez-less Uruguay, and the toothless Greece any day. Going into it, I figured that group was going to be much tougher. Things don't always go as planned. And certainly, I would have taken Greece over Belgium!

 

Yea? People like you always talk about 'talent level,' and then Costa Rica whoops up on Italy and England. Maybe, you should rethink how you see things a bit. Delusional seems to be an unworthy summation imo.

 

Cherrypicking an extreme case to make a point about a general idea is no way to argue. CR is going home tomorrow as much as I'd like to see them in the semis. They got Greece. We got Belgium. Greece couldn't score a man up for over an hour. I believe we have even more untapped potential than most nations but it is untapped. The team we fielded was not technical enough in the midfield to maintain possession once we got into the attacking third. It is THAT simple. In four years we will be much stronger there and we will better be able to compete. Either way, I am done arguing about it. Happy 4th, guy.

 

Extreme? This is the World Cup, dude. This is what separates the men from the boys. There's no excuses (and even if there were, England and Italy still don't have them other than the weather). Do you think people let the US off the hook for 06 because they were ranked 6 going into it? And the argument wasn't so much that the US can't be better. We were discussing the quality of those teams. That's the simplicity that you should be speaking of. Cos you're deviating the argument.

 

You are right. I am wrong. You win. Happy 4th, guy.

 

Okay, you're the one that was going black and white, not me, dude. And it would've been a great 4th had we had a quarterfinal vs Messi this weekend. That would've been epic. But hey, if you're having fun this weekend, more power to ya.

 

i so wish i could buy you a beer dude

 

I have seen enough beers for 10,000 lifetimes. Thanks though.

 

quitter

 

Get back to your xbox kid.

 

Costa Rica player sent off, 66th minute, Greece scores, 90+1st minute. Not even a half hour was CR down a man before Greece scored.

 

Germany is tougher than any they faced, but you are sincere in claiming that Portugal, Ghana, Belgium is a tougher group than Italy, England, Uruguay????

What is true, TrueFan, is that you take special pleading to new depths.

As for Costa Rica [note, not "Coasta"], yes they did play a counter attack style. So it is a testament to how poorly JK prepared the USA that, nevertheless, in comparison to us, CR played a very attractive brand of soccer.

 

Ok you got me. I just remember the game being a tie where Greece couldn't score for a long passages of play. I forgot it was 1-1 , not 0-0.They couldn't score 2 goals being up a man for 53 minutes and change. Either way, Greece was pathetic. They also got a gift vs CIV to steal it in stoppage time. Others agree with me and some disagree so I am not alone in my opinion and neither are you. I promised to be less of a jerk to the mods so I am not up for debate on this but you were right about the scoreline and the clock.

 

ELO rankings are a joke. Don't even go there.

They've had a great run and I'm not trying to hate just thought the article was a bad one. They don't need to compare us and them to give them credit. If they do ima give my opinion.

I congratulate them for what they've accomplished. No need to drag us into like the article did.

 

I'd rather play Greece or England before any of the other sides. Uruguay without Suarez has proven to be toothless (no pun intended). Italy is a trip because they're in my mind the best of the rest after Germany. However, this is t the same Italy we've seen. I've never seen them make so many pre match tactical errors. They just didn't look like the Italy we all are use too.

 

Who are these Latin American teams that play such beautiful soccer? Colombia. I can't think of another side in this World Cup. Argentina has lots of skill but largely play negative, which Gardner abhors. Chile and Costa Rica have more flair players than the US but in this World Cup they've mostly played like the US in using athleticism and work-rate. Mexico spent almost the entire Brazil and Netherlands matches playing defense. And Brazil these days is just brutal to watch. Gardner has always been trapped in a 70s and 80s nostalgia. The fact is these days the most beautiful soccer is largely played by a few European sides (Spain, Germany, Netherlands and sometimes Italy).