Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training I think we believe this cr@p at our peril. How do we know these guys are really hurt. I don't see Paul Tagliabue enforcing strict injury disclosure rules; I just see a lot os rumor and speculation. I'm glad that the Bruceinator is too smart for this and will have our boys ready to play a fit Czech team.
There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E I'm sorry, I just had to say this: I think some of the noobs are getting A BIT too excited about these daily injury reports coming out of Czech Rep. and Italy (all of Ghana's injuries seemingly came in qualifying). folks, it's called SANDBAGGING. they are trying on the off-chance to catch the US team in an overconfident mode. do not pay any attention to these injury reports, or other negative forecasts given by the opposing coaches. i guarantee you, when we play each team, each squad will have a near full strength squad, with nearly everyone in perfect health/form. listen, i'm just like you guys: i want to believe that our opponents are limping around and out of shape/form, but my brain won't allow me to buy this obvious propaganda. it's meant to distract us. think about it this way: even if there are 1-2 injuries, both these countries are so much deeper than us, that it really doesn't matter. people are applying our status to them. we can't afford to lose folks, they both can.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E but what if the czechs want you to think they are sand bagging so you'll ignore the injury reports and not think anything about it? In other words what if the czechs are faking faking these injuries?
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E If bigsoccer becomes distracted the terrorists have already won.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E Part of me agrees with you, but on the other side, have you ever thought we could be OVERanalyzing this (insert Princess Bride). Personally, if the guys weren't really injured I don't see any good reason why you would keep some of your key starters out of training only a few days before the world cup just to play a trick. A bit of skepticism is healthy, and you may be right. Especially in Italy's case, barring cards and whatever, we probably will see a full strength Italian side (even if Totti's making excuses already). But this is a different time then in the past, and it's a little bit tougher to simply 'fake' an injury to keep us guessing. I guess we'll only know on Monday.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E Just like Germany is sandbagging by saying Ballack has picked up a knock. Oh wait, they just announced is out for tomorrow so maybe not. I think what you are underestimating is the massive amount of press in Germany. Teams can't hide when a guy doesn't practice so more often than not a team just comes forward with the injury. And whether the Czechs have depth or not - losing a first teamer is a setback. There is of course some drop off from a first teamer to a second teamer - if there wasn't the second teamer would be the starter.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E i haven't believed a damned word of any of this. i'm still having trouble believing that Smicer actually pulled himself off the roster. amazing. but honestly, i don't see any of this making a difference. it's not like we're gonna go out there and feel like we're playing the DC United reserve team. it's still gonna be a shock that it's a world cup, and we're playing a team(s) of ultimate quality. the thing is, some of the American sports you're really screwed if you're missing even just one good player. soccer is not like that. quality teams can keep up their level of play without a relied on strong, elite player making their 11. that's just the nature of the game, the teamwork, and the fact you have 10 relatively equal field players. this isn't like we're playing the Chicago Bulls w/out Jordan. one player can dominate in basketball, but soccer is a completely different deal.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Doesn't do you much good to run all day if you don't have possession of the ball (as a result of horrible first touch, poor judgement/vision, and poor passing). You wind up expending your energy chasing the ball as the other team simply passes from player to player. The ball can move a lot faster than your fastest player and it takes very little energy to make it happen.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E Good point about the press. Losing Rosicky, Nedved or Porborsky is losing more than a first teamer for the Czechs. These are their magic men. Definitley brings them closer to our talent level overall.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E on the positive side, i'm hoping the Ghanaian goons will take care of any Italian player who's on the fence with an injury. i can understand why Totti's getting a little anxious: Ghana are not the team you want to face if you've got a bunch of guys with lite knocks.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training I agree wholeheartedly. Kill the Czechs with speed and save the sound tactical players to be fresh against Italy, when we're not going to be able to counterattack them to death. Czechs: ---McBride---Johnson---- --------Donovan--------- Convey-----------DMB/Dempsey --------Mastroeni-------- Backtrack aggressively, win balls, attack, attack, attack. Italy: --------Johnson/McBride--------- ---------Donovan-------- --DMB/Convey-------Reyna -----O'Brien-----Mastroeni--- OR --------Johnson/McBride--------- ---------Donovan-------- --O'Brien-----------DMB/Dempsey -----Mastroeni----Reyna Mastroeni sliding left allows us to not get slaughtered by having O'Brien and Lewis on the left flank. Either way, clog the midfield, try to keep some possession. I thought about Johnson up top in this one to try to stretch the Italian back four to relieve some pressure on us in the midfield, but he may be better suited to do damage against Ghana and McBride heading may be one of the only ways for the US to score in the run of play in this one.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Many are missing this point. Always goes back to your statement JohnR. Want to lose with dignity, or actually have a shot at winning?
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E yeah but they haven't. also, i will amend my previous statement (while we're dealing with hypotheticals). for Czech, losing Nedved IS crucial. from what I understand, he gives that team so much confidence and self belief just by being on the field. if he would happen to get injured, that's a real gut punch for the Czechs. so i correct myself...
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Sure. I've watched a few of their games. Including games this past year versus Germany and England. Why?
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training I checked the czech press. They say that got injured slightly, but this is nothing seriously and he will be fit already today afternoon. Many fans in Germany was watching training of czech team. They said that Czechs are like Brazilians I think Nedved will play against USA on Monday. http://www.sport.cz/ms2006/cesi_fot...e-fanousku--nedved-se-zranil_87516_etgur.html
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E Who cares? We have to play no matter who they put out there. Either we're ready or we ain't. (And same for "them.")
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E If the US goes into any of their games not prepared to play the absolute top squad their opponent has, then they're not prepared to win. Arena knows his stuff, and I see him preparing his team to play a Czech squad led by Nedved with Baros up top, or an Italian squad with Gatusso in the midefield, etc. These press releases don't mean a hell of a lot, and if I'm Bruce I tell my players these guys will be playing.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E No one is suggesting the team shouldn't be prepared to play the best. This is just us finding inappropriate pleasure out of knowing some of the other teams aren't at full strength. We're not on the team, and we're not coaches. I'm sure they're still thinking clearly, but let us momentarily revel in the pain of others, if only for a second! (If I knew how to put one of those damn smileys on here, I would)
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Sure Nedved and Baros are hurt. And Bruce has no idea who's playing where three days before a match he's had six months to think about. And Rooney is AOK. And Beasley is angry. And Totti might not start. Smoke and mirrors.
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E It's so simple. All we have to do is divine from what we know of the Czechs: are they the sort of team who would fake an injury or pretend to fake an injury? Now, a clever team would fake an injury, because they would know that only a great fool would not fake an injury. But we are not great fools, so we can clearly see that it is not a fake injury. But they must know that we are not great fools, they would count on it, so we can clearly tell that they are pretending to fake an injury. Tim
Re: There is some SERIOUS sandbagging going on in Group E The definition for "defenestration" left me sometime shortly after college, if I ever really had it. So I decided to look it up this morning. It means "the act of throwing someone out of a window." Or more generically, "the act of discarding something under the assumption that it will improve matters." Interestingly, the definition includes this tidbit: "mythically, from a traditional Czech assasination method." Those clever Czechs.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Nedved will be fine and he'll play the best game of his life on Monday. He's been preparing for this game for 4 years.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training losing with dignity and having a shot and winning can be both be achieved in different ways. Morroco played to keep the score respectable, and ended up winning. We tried to give ourselves a shot at winning, and lost. finding the balance between agression and tactical smarts is what this is all about. no matter what formation we play, what players Arena employs, being smart about how we deal with a skillful and tactically adept team for 90 minutes will be key. as much as we all hope we'll see the US up 3-0 after 35 minutes of its first game again, don't count on it this time. And as long as we come out on top, I don't care how we get there.
Re: Czech star Nedved limps out of training Except they don't have Adriano, Ronaldinho, Kaka and Ronlado.