I've attended a fair number of Rangers home matches and watched every game Bougherra has played for us. The guy is a phenom. There are at least 3 or 4 times in every game (often more) where he'll burst forward, usually down the right wing, sometimes through the center, and look like a natural born winger complete with fancy footwork, good touch and a better than decent delivery. There are many CB's who can play going forward, but I've never seen one take off so frequently. Often times he's both Rangers best defender and attacking player. This btw is a guy who outmuscles and outruns every other player in Scotland. As a comparison, Maurice Edu is a good athlete, one of Rangers best. Bougherra is on a totally different level. He's bigger, stronger, and faster. His runs also are interesting tactically because they come from CB, so teams really have trouble doing anything about it. They can't double up like they might on a marauding full-back. I'm not aware if he has the same freedom of expression with Algeria, but it will be interesting to see what the US does if he's allowed to get at your left-back. If he's fit of course. The video below shows a bit of what he's about (including pwning Champions League ), and could have been a heck of a lot longer. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FFb3uEk1KY"]YouTube- Bougherra 2009[/ame]
If Bougherra is allowed to operate in this same way for Algeria someone better fall back to cover for him. This is EXACTLY the type of situation Bob WANTS. As soon as Bougherra takes off on one of those runs the team is going to work tirelessly to strip him of the ball, find Donovan, and blitz the Algerian backline. Algeria will have to be very VERY well organized if they allow him to make such runs. Bob will have the team prepared for this situation. Whether or not the U.S. executes effectively remains in question. It's interesting and I'll be looking for it during the match. Thanks for bringing it up.
They have two players in their projected lineup who haven't started in any of the friendlies leading up to the tournament. Is that just lazy reporting or are Saifi and Abdoun really likely to start? Also, can anyone give an idea of how Algeria lined up in their last friendly against the UAE? Was it a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2? Did Bougherra line up in the center or on the right?
Not sure if they actually lined up on the field this way, but soccernet has it as 4-3-3. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=289466&cc=5901&league=FIFA.FRIENDLY
4-4-2 i think . ---------------chaouchi---------------- ----bougherra--halliche---yahia---------- --------------------------------belhadj- ------------mansouri--lahcen------------ ----matmour-----<=Ziani=>------------- ---------\\----------------------------- ----------V---------------------------- ----------------------ghezzal---------- ------------djebbour-------------------
Good news for the US. The suspensions that the Algerians picked up during the African Nations Cup will not be enforced during the World Cup. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football...s-Cup-players-receive-amnesty-on-suspensions/
Mansouri did NOT quit the squad. He is still there but it is true that he almost left. Would've been the best news in months if he actually did. He sucks anyways. Anthar Yahia is the new captain. He's been playing for Algeria since 2004, 5th most experimented player in the squad after Saifi, Mansouri, Gaouaoui and Ziani. Mansouri will most likely not be a starter for all 3 matches. The DMs will most likely be Lacen and Yebda. Great news for us imo.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8HdqmXRTq4"]YouTube- L'AMBIANCE DE LA COUPE DU MONDE A JOHANESSBURG[/ame]
Algeria is making some changes. This is an excellent site, by the way. Algeria were one of the more tactically-interesting sides at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, switching between three separate formations, including a three- and four-man defence throughout the competition. Their first-choice system was a 3-4-1-2 against Malawi, which saw them suffer a shock 3-0 defeat and was notable mostly for the lack of pressure upon the opposition wide players (and awful goalkeeping). Unsurprisingly, it was ditched straight away, and is unlikely to be revived for this tournament. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/11/algeria-set-to-ditch-their-three-man-defence/
Few updates........ --> Ghezzal OUT --> Mansouri OUT --> Matmour plays forward --> Kadir plays MOG --> Yebda plays DM --> Yahia is slightly injured...don't know if he'll play. Tension is building up ******** I'm definitely not sleeping tomorrow night. lol
Which is the best news of all. The U.S.'s winger speed against a 3 man back line is a gross mismatch.
Ghezzal is in the early running for biggest idiot of the tournament. I actually hope he was taking a bribe from someone because that is the only way his conduct during this match could be described as rational.
Yeah, coming in as a sub and picking up a 2nd yellow for a blatent hand ball is pretty bad. Green made a bone head move, but Ghezzal had to put some thought into his ejection...maybe he thought Henry set an acceptable precident. Somewhere in Ireland someone had to say, "Blatent hand ball, my arse!"
Here's what scares me about Algeria. They seem to freely mix mediocre and horrible results with occasional great results. 0-0 WCQ draw in Liberia, 0-0 WCQ draw in Rwanda... 3-1 WCQ win at home over Egypt! Later, 2-0 WCQ loss in Egypt... 1-0 WCQ win over Egypt in Sudan! 3-0 ACN loss to Malawi, 1-0 ACN win over Mali, 0-0 ACN draw with Angola... 3-2 ACN win over Côte d'Ivoire! Then 4-0 ACN loss to Egypt? 1-0 ACN loss to Nigeria, okay... 3-0 (friendly) loss at home to Serbia? 3-0 (friendly) loss in Ireland? I'm rooting for Algeria to have a great game against England, not just because an Algeria result against England probably helps the USA, but because I can't see Algeria stringing together two great games in a row. (There's no gambler's fallacy here; Algeria's results in successive games don't appear to be independent outcomes.)