i think one striker and two attacking midfielders with beasley cheating up a little would be good. mcbride can not develop plays, and cant make plays with his feet at all. he is good in the air but that doesnt make up for his lack of foot skills. i also think that gooch is too valube to our defense
Question is have you watched World cups before? Realism is identifying the US's weaknesses and building on its strengths. Realism says that we really dont have potent enough strikers to beat the Azzuri defence. Realism says that the USA's advantage is its defensive midfield holding the Azzuri at the midfield and not letting them go. Realism syas that we need to man mark ALL of the Azzuri's strikers especially Toni who will be LOOKING to score after getting close against Ghana. Realism is saying the US has a chance if Italy makes a mistake and we take advantage of it. Optimism says that we will play with heart, strength and fire, do all of the above and get a lucky break and use it. Pessimism says go out play hard and cynical coz who cares anyway were f**'d. i'm a realist and say we have a good chance at a slim win, but based on Arena's comments and the fact the nobody on the US team has any clue as to why we fell apart on Monday, I'm very worried.
I don't mean to sound disrepectful, but I don't see how the US lineup would make much of a difference... the quality of players is low no matter how you mix them. What would make a difference Saturday would be a spirited but tactically disciplined US team performance, combined with an Italian lackluster effort and a little bit of luck.
Thats not a disrespectful comment. Its an absolutely fair and honest comment that nobody who matters seems to want to admit.
First off, I've been to World Cup games before (US '94), lived in another Country during the world cup (Paraguay lost to France 1-0 '98 with a golden goal was tough to watch) and I've watched every qualifying game (as well as attended some) for the US and half on the European side. You make some good points about the Italians and they are definitely a good team, but the US is plenty capable of beating them even after a shalacking by the Czechs. Arena and the team know exactly why they fell apart and what they need to change. He did the scouting for the Italian game where his assistants scouted the Czechs and Ghana. I guarantee they will be ready. Whether or not they come out flat like they did against Czechs we'll have to see, but if they play like they normally do then it will be a pretty even match. And the one point I was trying to make this whole time is that it is World Cup soccer and anything is likely to happen, so those that count the US out after one awful result are the one's that have not watched WCs before. My personal feeling is 2-1 for the US, but it could just as easily be 3-0 Italy if the US show up like they did on monday. To say that is not possible or that I am out of my mind for thinking the US can't beat them is what is unrealistic and simply pessimistic.
Why in the world would Arena throw Timmy in there? Maybe with a a few minutes left in the Ghana game but now now. Keller wasn't to blame (if you're blaming him) for the debacle, it was the terrible back line and overall team effort...mixed in with a touch of "Not being as good as most Euro teams".
Honestly I never met anybody outside of the U.S. who was even aware of the existance of FIFA rankings, let alone care about them. They calculate your rank based on results, but do not consider who you were playing against! Quite something if you ask me. If you want to have real rankings you should consider the results national teams have had in the last OFFICIAL matches... maybe even disregarding the european championships, wich many teams don't really care about. It's very possible that brazil get defeated against Venezuela or Bolivia in a friendly match or at the confederation cup... but at the world cup? No way! It's just not happening. When european players play in a national team friendly match during the season the ONLY thing they care about is not ending the game injured. Nothing else. Most of them would not even go and play friendly games if they could, but they have to because their sponsors like it. But during the season they care about being in shape for the Champion's League, not scoring 5 goals in a useless friendly with their national team. Many times some powerful club even forbid important players (especially from Argentina or Brazil) to play firendly games with their national teams. Of course in football every game starts 0-0, and any outcome is possible. But if you want to have serious rankings, that's what they would look like: 1- Brazil 2- Argentina, Italy, Germany, France 3- Holland, Spain, England, Portugal, Czech Republic 4- Other Eastern European countries, Scandinavian Countries, some African ones (Nigeria, Cameroon) and some South American ones 5- Everybody Else France moving down after their incredible '90s, england moving up after their poor '90s. I'm sure I forgot about someone... just making an example here... As you see some countries didn't even qualify for thie world cup, including Danemark, Norway, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ireland, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal. Some of them are usually considered much better teams than, say, Angola. But in football everything can happen, and they did not qualify. In Europe not everybody can qualify... each world cup at least a "big" team doesn't qualify, it happened even to England, Holland, Portugal.... So is the US national team that bad? No, it isn't. But it lacks something very very very important in a world cup: experience. Experience playing at the highest levels and under incredible pressure is key in a world cup. In 2002 germany had one of the worst teams (the worst?) in its history, yet they reached the final... mainly because of their experience and tradition. They didn't have talent, so they used team playing and practical (albeit boring) style of playing to get the results. The german team is the most bright example of how nerves and brain can cover deficiencies in the feet. In my opinion the US fans will be disappointed at this world cup just because they were aiming too high. The US need time to build a football tradition. They should focus on beating Ghana. If the US lose to the Czechs and Italy but beat Ghana, their world cup would be in my opinion a success. Ghana is one of the pearls of the supposed-to-be-up-and-coming african football, and beating them would give the US a lot of respect. So... shouldn't the US fans hope and dream of beating the Italians? Of course they should! Should they EXPECT it? No they shouldn't. If you play Italy-USA 100 times in a world cup final phase, Italy would win 90% of the time, especially if you need to win to qualify. Everything can happen, but I frankly think most US fans have been lied by the domestic sports media about the results they should expect. Group E is very hard. It's not that every team has the same chances to go ahead and qualify for the next phase. If the US were playing in a softer group thy would probably qualify, but in this one is very unlikely. Nothing to complain about... it's just a matter of luck. Serbia-Montenegro is a very good team, but they probably will go home soon for being in the hardest group of the tournament. As an european living 8 months every year in the US, I really like the optimism and enthusiasm that american people show in everything they do. 20 years ago most people here didn't even know what offside meant, and now they are glued to their TVs and talking about defeating Italy. They even feel they should be ashamed if they don't win! I really love this kind of enthusiasm. But the downside is that you'll end up maybe being disappointed. If you don't qualify (and I think you won't) it's not because the american team is weak, but just because at least two other teams in the same group are great teams. Nothing to be ashamed about... how would Italy-USA end if we were playing american football? italy would be crushed, but they wouldn't feel bad, just like italians don't feel bad about losing against New Zeland when they play rugby. The US has gone a long way in soccer, but you still need time. the first steps are fast, but then if you want to go from being a decent team to be world class you need a little bit of patience. Same could be said about Nigeria or South Korea. Have fun! it's just a game, and most important thing it's moment when people from every spot in the world meet and party together... The World Cup is the top of the football world, and you are part of it! May the best win this saturday match!
Apparently the Italian fans in this thread know more about the US roster than the Italian players do... "Of three Italian players asked what they knew about the American team, only midfielder Andrea Pirlo was able to name a single member of the US squad." You can't tell me this team is not overconfident. They might say all the right things, like they respect the US side, etc., but you can't fake something that you're not. And the Italian players are not the least bit worried about Saturday. These guys think the game will be a walkover, and no amount of scolding by Lippi to remain focused on this game will keep the players from looking ahead to CR.
Well, most Italian fans here live in the US... also when they prepare a match, trainers in Europe most often use the numbers of the other team's players, not their names. Much easier and less confusing. They do the same when playing against foreign teams in the champions league. Of course everybody knows who ronaldinho is, but I'm sure nobody in the Italian team could name Argentina's third goalkeeper, and most of the young german players are basically unknown to many players outside germany. Don't take it personally. You can be sure the italian team is watching videotapes of USNT matches and analyzing the americans' style... even if they don't know the names of the players.
Arena said Donavan and Beasley had a bad game. How come he didn't take them off? I wonder where did he get his coaching license..... I didn't know Eddie L play left back and drop Pope already. Bring on the new coach after this world cup. Arena era is over. Where is Donavan play? He can't creat and not a true finisher.
Well, I wouldn't take it personally anyway. It's not me whose name they don't know. I would hope the US players take it personally, however. I understand about not knowing names, but it's pretty obvious the players don't know much about US names OR numbers. I heard someone say even Lippi admitted to not knowing much about the US side. I haven't read his quote anywhere so I can't confirm he actually said that, but it wouldn't surprise me. I don't doubt the Italian team is watching video and preparing for the match. I just wonder how seriously they're taking it. If they're watching the CR game, how could they not feel like all they have to do is show up and get their 3 points? If I were on the Italian team I know I'd feel that way. It's the nature of the situation. In this case, the US isn't a respected football nation anyway, so when you combine that opinion with the video of the CR game on Monday, how could anyone realistically expect the Italians to come out expecting a competitive game the way CR did? There's a reason why the Colts can blow out the Patriots one week and then struggle with the Browns the next. Or why Seattle can blast Philadelphia and then have trouble putting away the 49ers the following week. The game this Saturday is a true "sandwich" game for the Italians (insert joke here). They've spent most of their time since the schedule was announced concentrating on Ghana (it being the opening match) and then the CR (who's considered Italy's strongest competition in the group). From the players' comments, it's clear they've spent the least amount of time preparing for the US game. A cursory glance. Now if the talent gap between the US and Italy was as big as it's made out to be on this thread, then it won't matter. But the truth is it's not THAT big, so it does. And how about a preemptive strike against the inevitable posts regarding Eddie Johnson's "war" references to this game? The guy is 20 years old. He has no clue what he's talking about. Give him a break...
Never said anything about a win not being possible or unrealistic, we just we need to lose a good chunk of our sense of entitlement. For example: I have a difficulty understanding someone means when they say: "if they play like they normally do" because I"m not sure what that means. Playing "Normal" for the US is...? Against Poland in 02? Against Mexico? Against Germany in the friendlies? Is normal MLS style play? CONCACAF domination? I have a feeling that we are not being realistic about our "Normal" state of play. We did well in 02, Portugal will not happen again and we needed to work harder to stay up there. We need to stay hungry, which means not playing like we "normally" should. We need to go abnormal, ya know, go plaid..... I am OPTMISTIC (as I said before) that we will win on Saturday; if we can play smart and make fewer mistakes than Italy. I dont think we can beat them on skill alone, we'll need a fair bit of luck, which I"d be happy to cash in on.
I don't recall saying we are the 30th ranked team. Also, I've seen the US play lots of games, and have a fairly realistic outloook on our chances. As far as pessimism goes, well that game on Mon. did make me any more optimistic. As far as downplaying what the US has accomplished, I think you can call a spade a spade here. We've had some good results, and are a little more respected as a result. We can call ourselves a "very good team" if we want to, but we need a different set of adjectives for teams like Italy. There's no shame in that for us, it's simply a fact of life that we can work from and use to improve. Anything else is rose colored glasses.
Look, Italy may screw up on Saturday and lose a shocker to the U.S., but it won't be because of something silly and amateur like "over-confidence." If they lose it will surely be because they didn't play well enough. You're forgetting that no player in any starting lineup can afford not to play his very best, because if he doesn't he will be replaced from the bench. So if an Italian player is looking forward to the Czech Republic, it's because he wants to play in that game. He will, or should, therefore make sure his performance against the U.S. ensures that he plays the next one. To claim that Italy thinks the U.S., or ANY team that qualified for the finals, will be a walkover is to impute way too much stupidity to a proven side. After all, a team that took that attitude wouldn't be here. No doubt Scotland, Belarus and Slovenia were supposed to be walkovers, too; I don't recall Italy treating them as such. These are seasoned professionals with phenomenal work ethics and personal standards you're talking about -- as is every other team that qualified for the finals. They're not just competing against the United States; they're competing for their spot on the squad. I simply can't believe they would scorn any challenge at this level -- especially not when it's the World Cup and there is so much pressure for them to do well. Not to mention their squad seems different this time around, in terms of attitude and cohesion. So, comfort yourself with the charge of over-confidence if you like, but I certainly don't expect to see the match bear that out. I don't think it means anything that Italy are unfamiliar with the U.S. players. Perhaps that indicates they've been spending their time focusing on their own game as a team. Everybody on the Azzurri plays club football in Italy. No one on the U.S. side does. What's the big surprise?
Re: Official Italy vs U.S.A. PRE Match Thread [R] Typical. When in doubt, make something up!! None of the announcers have even remotely said the US would beat Italy. They've said we NEED to beat Italy, or we HAVE to beat Italy, but after the Czech debacle noone has had the balls to predict a US win. I've seen every match but England's first one and I've yet to hear anyone make those comments or anyone predict anything more than Ghana giving Italy a good game. As to us being ranked #5 in the FIFA rankings those ranking were roundly criticized by almost every fan in the USA as completely invalid. I understand the need to justify your visceral hatred of the US, but surely you could come up with something you don't have to conjure up out of thin air next time, ok? I also think most Americans were pretty confident in our slightly above average status in the soccer world before this, and thus far I've seen nothing to change that. We got beat down by a better team in game one, and it may happen again in game two, I think we're all willing to accept that reality.
They said on the pre-game for Paraguay/Sweden that yesterday three members of the Italian team were asked about the Americans and only one could name a single player. Does that qualify?
Tango76 explained that earlier in this thread: "when they prepare a match, trainers in Europe most often use the numbers of the other team's players, not their names. Much easier and less confusing. They do the same when playing against foreign teams in the champions league. Of course everybody knows who ronaldinho is, but I'm sure nobody in the Italian team could name Argentina's third goalkeeper, and most of the young german players are basically unknown to many players outside germany."
I'm just talking about human nature. All the rest of what you said, and I heard this quote before and loved it, is "smoke-filled coffee house crap." Of course guys are playing for their jobs and of course they should be professional and take each game seriously. Idealistically, you are correct in everything you've said. But the human factor has a way of negating idealism. Granted, the term "over confidence" is a bit simplistic. But you get the point. And I'm quite confident the match will bear that out. This is a 1 goal game in either direction...
Re: Official Italy vs U.S.A. PRE Match Thread [R] You seem to be playing the game of delusion.... Pay attention to the announcers, they regularly boast of the US' capibility to defeat Italy. I don't care if you deny it, but it is simply true. The announcers have been doing nothing but pointing to the Italian soccer scandal (and yes, they have said that it could turn the tide with the Italy-Ghana match) as a source of weakness on the Italian part. Yet Italy proved differently. Please, don't make yourself out to be a victim. No one "hates" the USA, but if you honestly believe that the US merits the ranking of being #5, you're deluding yourself. How on earth did the USA achieve such a ranking? By beating Brazil? France? Italy? Germany? No, but by defeating a team like Portugal, or Poland, which incidentally by your official rank are not all that high up the list. So how does this work out? Furthermore, there is no vendetta against the USA, because people do not care enough to have one. Arena has already been making gross errors at predicting that Italy will play the defensive, catenaccio style. If he's brainwashing the USA team that this is what Italy will happen, it will only be another nail in the coffin. Italy has not played that style since Lippi took charge of the team, and anyone who takes a look at the past Italian matches knows that. Just because you have been having some past success, you shouldn't get cocky.
Anyone else think its great that there is such trash talk coming out of both teams, before this game, eddies comments, pirlos comments, gilardino comments...it already buliding up to be a great game.
Ahh that explains it. I mean a quadrennial event that puts a stop to the whole world and as we've been told a hundred times by espn STOPPED A CIVIL WAR IN AFRICA OMGZ!!! and they're just worried about the players' numbers. I mean sure, it was announced months ago who would be in each group, and the Italians knew they would have to play the US, and that would have a direct impact on their ability to advance, but that's not any reason to take.... oh I don't know... five minutes and do a cursory examination of their actual roster at any point between selection and the actual game itself. That makes perfect sense. I mean of course they respect us, just not enough to you know.... actually look at a roster or know one person's name. Not that we've done anything so far in this world cup to deserve any respect.