This World Cup was disappointing. The fact that we won our group is great but it's going to overshadow how badly we played to start the first two games and struggled to put the ball in the net against Algeria. We looked like utter shit against Ghana until the 2nd half and then just shut down in ET. This team just cannot string 90 solid minutes together. I thought this team would make the semifinals. Why? Because of the draw we got. Ghana and Uruguay are not as good as Germany and Argentina. We were the 2nd if not outright favorite to make the semis in our bracket and blew it. The hype for 2006 after 2002 ended up in a colossal failure. Now after the Confederations Cup we go out to a young African team in their 2nd ever World Cup yet again. They were beatable and were against the ropes and we couldn't put them away. People love a story and the comebacks and refereeing controversy wre no doubt there. But let's face it we were underwhelming in various stretches of this tournament and our luck and resilience ran out. This good effort shit eventually has to end and the media and American public has to demand more from our team.
I need time - I'm just gutted, angry, disappointed, dejected, ..... We did not sieze the moment and it was there for the taking. This team should have done better. The coaches - why wasn't Edu there to start, to have to use a sub in the first half, unless the player is injured and can't continue, is a coaching mistake, pure and simple. It bit us in the end. They looked very 'heavy legged' at the end, the short rest didn't seem to help the fittest team in the cup. The team - we didn't make enough plays; pure and simple. Pick on whatever player you want, they all made some plays and they all didn't make enough. The good news, I guess, is that the team and federation now is disappointed in not making it further than the Round of 16. We are going to now begin to experience the level of pressure that other 'top level' teams face. We need to find coaches and a system that can prepare our players for that and players that know how to respond to it.
Demand? American Public? Are you really that naive? You going to throw a temper tantrum? You obviously have no idea about the development of the game and talent in this country over the last 20 yrs. We're moving in the right direction but are significantly behind in how we develop young professional talent. Go ahead and demand all you want instead of helping to solve the problem.
When Italy and France were eliminated all hell broke loose. They had inferior opposition and lost or drew all of their games. We had inferior opposition and way more WC experience than 3 of the 4 teams we faced and we led for 3 minutes in the entire tournament. On paper we were the favorites for all of these games and of course underdogs against England. Society today is too hung up on the "Oh at least you did your best" instead of saying "Hey, we should be beating these guys". It's more than just soccer. If we lost in the same fashion against Germany I'd be a lot less pissed than losing again to Ghana. As far as the youth development soccer in America is a business. Look at how much it costs to take your kid to soccer practice, and how much his jerseys cost, and all of that bullshit that third world countries like Ghana don't do yet are doing just fine. Klinsmann said it today. Start reaching out for the inner-city youths, especially immigrants, to get into soccer.
Are you saying the diploma and graduation ceremony I got last month when I moved up from sixth to seventh grade was not warranted?!?!
I just re watched the opening goal. What the heck is Bradley Jr doing on that play?!? Donovan could have taken two steps to give Clark an easy passing route but he didn't. Bradley jogged behind straight to nowhere. Not giving Rico an outlet nor providing defensive cover (and this was after Bradley gave Clark the ball for no apparent reason). The guys on FSC's Ticket to SAfrica show pointed out the poor shape of our cmids on that play. While wAtching The game live I felt our cmids were too flat. That changed when Edu came on. I'm not trying to excuse Clark for his blunder but he's getting scapegoated too much for that goal.
They were physically superior to the USA at almost every position on the filed. It is arrogance on our part to dismiss them just because they are from a poor Afircan country. They physically imposed their will on the USA until they scored. Then they bunkered until we tied it up. At that point they came out of their bunker and started imposing their will again. We never made the necessary tactical change away from route one boom ball to a short passing scheme. Yes Ghana was beatable. So were we. Out defense needs a complete overhaul. We were beaten by the last African team alive at a world cup hosted by africa. I'm already looking towards 2014.
The pass from Bradley was a little too far forward for Rico but was not a hospital ball. Rico had enough time, but needed to think and play quickly. Bradley was making a run around behind Rico into the open space on the left - which was not dumb. Rico could have - and probably should have - swung the ball to left touch - which would have put Bradley in a good position. Rico also could have knocked it right back to Bradley. The choice was poor, tentative and unfortunate. Bradley's pass could have been better. The D could have done better. Howard could have been in position. But Rico doesn't try to dribble through a Ghana middie and there is no quick counter. It's that simple. He admits the ball got caught in his feet. It happens. Players do it all the time - and if Rico were otherwise playing like a guy on fire, he would get off the hook easier. But he just did not look like he was ready to play Saturday. Dunno why, but he didn't.
If any US fans had been asked pre-game what a Clark mistake most likely would be, most if not all would say "he'll lose the ball while choosing to dribble when he shouldn't".
One other thing a bit lost in some of the Ghana discussion is that Gyan's goal was really, really good. If Jozy were to hit a goal like that in a game like that, we would most all pop a nut. It was a seriously impressive individual effort to make something out of a total hail-mary ball. That guy is good.
To be honest, I would have picked "stupid red card." PS- that Bradley run was a perfectly intelligent overlap. No issues there whatsoever.
Great point, you almost would have been right. I do think that MB gave him a tough ball to deal with, but deal with it!
Clark's giveaway was eerily reminiscint of Clint's turnover that led to a Honduras goal in Chicago last year-dribbled into traffic after being given no proper outlet, defense out of position and unable to close down the runner.
It was mentioned during the Revs telecast today that Dempsey had just been informed before the match that his grandfather had died. Don't think it affected his play, but just figured I'd pass that along.
Difference is, Clark wasn't fouled in the process of getting stripped. If you want a really eerie similarity, there was almost a mirror image play involving Cherundolo. Unlike the Reyna play, this time the foul got called.
[insensitive]We need to keep the other one around until 2014, that was a monster game from him.[/insensitive]
that's a lie. we are the u.s.a. no country can be physically superior to us. and the fact that we had to play from behind four games in a row (yes, we essentially were "behind" in the algeria game too) had no mentally or physically draining effect on us.
physically, perhaps. But in the limited amount of competitive spots I've played, teams that have been able to come from behind had never been mentally drained. They are actually the teams that play the full 90 since they actually know it counts. But chasing those 3 games is not the best way to conserve energy, that's for sure.
The big difference, to me, is that Clint isn't a defensive mid whose primary role is to protect the backline. To me, that's what makes the error so massive. Kick the ball to touch, if you are threatened. NEVER try to dribble through opponents unless you KNOW you have cover.
We could have won, but we didn't. Howard disappointed in this game and throughout the tournament. There were no horrible mistakes, but also no amazing saves, and he should have at least been close on both of Ghana's goals. There were defensive mistakes to give them those chances, but his positioning was off each time. That's pretty frustrating.
Yes, I noticed that too. Also in general he was coming out just past his six yard box when the opposition was running into our central midfield. They'd obviously picked it up on tape and you noticed that they took quite a few shots against us. In related news, Everton have signed another keeper.
Late to the game, but I wanted to let my emotions go before posting... Actually, rather than focus on individual mistakes or accomplishments, I came away with a disappointment in the level of play and mental preparation for the game. Ghana looked like they wanted the game more. The US were stagnent (whether through fatigue or tactics). We didn't deserve to win. Other than the Algeria game, we didn't play close to a complete game. You can't do that at the WC. Really, no player had a good game. Bornstein was fine. Maybe Dempsey. To me, it came down to a forward who scores goals in a good league (France) versus no forwards from the US who score in any good leagues.
For me, summing it all up came down to Bob Bradley after all the qualifiers, all the friendlies, and all the Group Stage.... his Best 11 is still a mystery.