Post-match: 2/11, WCQ: USA v Mexico, general post-match discussion {R}

I have seen PK's called for less than that, have also seen them not called for more. It wasn't called Wednesday by the guy who had the whistle.

It was a good thing for Marquez to admit he had made a mistake after the match. If he tries to do anything else it's a problem.

The United States does not entirely trust it's young players. We have pretty much have had no choice but to throw them out there and hope for the best. Fortunately, things have worked out well . . . .so far.

Pardo and Marquez are certainly warriors. It is an interesting combination of players and dilemma that Sven (or even Hugo) is/was confronted with. Teamwork has always been a strength of the US. It is a challenge to make a team out of the Mexican situation, of course. With a few different twists and turns Wednesday night, there certainly could have been a different result. Sometimes, it's teamwork that gets everyone through the challenges. Sven has a very tough job indeed. It is probably best to stick with him, I think. There is no simple solution to the concerns the Mexican team presents.

That being said, Mexico was missing Guardado, Vela, Arce and Torrado. Castillo left early with an injury. The match in Azteca in August will be interesting. I am planning on being there.

 

Could it have been a PK? Maybe. It depends on the ref and how the game was being called. The ref was officiating the game tight and calling a foul on any contact. He would have called it. If he is allowing them to play, he is not going to call for the PK unless he is absolutely sure it is a PK.

 

I'm sure that the Mexican Fans would NOT be complaining about the officiating right now IF they had WON that Match but since they lost the Match, they are making Carlos Batrez their "flavor of the month".

 

What you've just described is not a "clear penalty." What you've described is the offensive player initiating contact and using his arm to try to create separation, and the defender grabbing the arm to try to prevent it. It is the type of contact that happens on EVERY set piece. It could legitimately be called a PK, but it is not "clearly a penalty."



Not when the ball is going directly to that players foot 4 feet in front of goal it ain't normal contact as you describe. It's ok to be a US fan and say it was a penalty that wasn't called. Now that happens every game. We still won, deserved to win. And I'm still feeling happy. But that was simply a penalty that wasn't called. Stop being a homer.

 

Has the "should have been a pk" discussion reached the point where it's ok for me to say that Dos Santos should have been red-carded for his girl-hair?

 

Wow, MM10S emotionally repressed, that's a new one.

 

I think each discussion deserves its own thread.

 

Clear penalty - not even close.

Possible penalty - maybe. The fact is hand fighting like this occurs on every set piece and it is rarely called.

It's an excuse for a poor undisciplined performance from a team and its fans who refuse to accept losing to the US.

 

Seeing as how the ref is the only one who can call a penalty, there is no such thing as a "penalty that wasn't called." However, my son would accuse me of getting too far into the realm of ontology here, so please feel free to ignore this comment.

 

Hi everyone,
I am a 24 year old in LA, of Armenian descent, play soccer and am a huge US Soccer fan. I am anxiously waiting to go to South Africa next summer to cheer for our team USA. (I just hope our defensive problems get worked out before then).

I follow US Soccer so here are my 2 cents and my observations of the US-Mexico game after watching it live and twice on replay.

Ching: Did what he was supposed to do. Provided an outlet for our other players. But Ching wasn’t himself, he tended to get tired much more quickly. He started tiring at the 20 minute mark. He is enough to do the job right now and get us to qualify, but we obviously (and I think Bradley is thinking this too) need to develop either Adu or Jozy in preparation for next summer. (Preferably, I would like to see Adu get more playing experience on the national team, I think he can provide the spark we need on offense. He has great individual moves, which is something that if done through a team concept, (which Bradley praises), can really help our team start playing a more finesse game, something USA Soccer has not been known for in the past.

Donovan: He did relatively well and was active. Nothing special, but nothing bad.

Beasley: He did have a couple good shots on net, and made an excellent cross into the box as he almost scored on a nice pass from Bradley. Nothing extraordinary, but he played well. We need his speed.

Kljestan: Almost non-existent today on the offensive side. We obviously cant expect 3 goals from him every game. He made a couple nice passes, but had a terrible clearance attempt in the first 45, which coughed up the ball right outside the box. He was much more defensive minded today. I think a part of this was because Bradley was so active today chasing every ball and joining the play up front. I think this caused Kljestan to hold a more defensive position since Bradley led the tempo forward.

Bradley: MOTM by far. One thing I liked was his powerful attempt on goal in the first 45, even though it went wide. This obviously caused the Mexico defense to play higher and defend these long shots, which in turn resulted in more space for Donovan. The very next play after Bradley had that long range missile, Donovan and Ching almost hooked up on a 2 on 3. Donovan’s ’s nifty pass almost made its way through to Ching because one of the Mexican defenders was out of position and up high respecting the long range capability of the US midfielders, allowing Donovan and Ching to almost break through the remaining 3 defenders. Bradley is going to be a big contributor because we need a powerful midfielder who can launch long range shots to keep the defense honest. He reminds me of Torsten Frings of the German national team.

Dempsey: I thought he was solid in the first half. His presence was immediately known as he used his big body and positioning to prevent the smaller Mexican players from taking it from him. His play in the second half was relatively weak, so I hope he continues to progress in Fulham.

Hejduk: What can you say about this guy. He’s probably my favorite player on the team. Plays his heart out every game. I really, really like what I have been seeing from him. If he keeps this up, I would expect Bradley to seriously consider giving him a starting position next summer. I think that the way he plays is exactly what our team needs. His passing was, for the most part, very well done. He reminds me a lot of Italy’s Zambrotta. We need our LB and RB to be very, very mobile and be able to attack frequently while playing defense fiercely. Like I said, I really like what I see from him.

Boca: He was not perfect, however he did his job. He made 2 key clearances, one in the first 45, one in the second, preventing 2 scoring schances. I just don’t like his clearing attempts though, I prefer the CB’s to bring the ball up gradually, passing it to one another instead of launching it upfield.

Gooch: He was marking Ochoa. I like CB’s that can handle the ball very well. Neither Gooch nor Boca are very good handling the ball. I would prefer us to play a more controlled game instead of having Gooch and Boca launch the ball forward randomly. He did make a couple of mistakes in this game. However, Bradley likes using these two because of their great (and I mean great) presence on set plays. However, I am still worried about our CB’s. Any top 10 team with a fast striker (i.e. David Villa) will easily dribble around them.

Pearce: What can I say. His crossing is horrible, but he did play relatively well defensively. He had to mark Mexico’s best player IMO, Dos Santos. Dos Santos will be the face of the Mexican team in future years. Pearce did relatively well marking him, except on 2 instances.

Howard: Nothing much to discuss here. Keep it up.


Im glad I found this site.
-Tadeh

 

Giovani dos Santos, Carlos Vela, Andres Guardado, Nery Castillo will be the faces of the Mexican national team in future years. We have yet to field all those players at the same time but once we do, I think everyone is going to consider it a facelift from previous players. However, as the game showed, Mexico's real problem for future years is not in the attack but in the midfield

 

For all of you who harped on and on about the Gio penalty, there is another penalty for the US that is much more apparent but no one remembers/talks about it.

The incident took place in the first half at around the 45th minute. During the last corner kick sequence for the US, Micheal Bradley went up for a wide open header at goal but Marquez clearly and forcefully shoved him on the back with both arms causing him to fall to the ground and barely missing the header. The referee clearly saw the incident but I had no idea why he did not blow the whistle for it is a clear penalty anywhere/league/game in the world. That incident would have been a dagger for the Mexican and ended the game for them if 1) Micheal didn't get pushed, he would have buried the wide open header or 2) a correctly called penalty would have most likely put the US ahead 2-0 at the half as well.

The incident was way more blatantly obvious than the Gio one with the referee not more than 10 yards away. I have the game in HD and watched it 3 times already and I can't believed no one remembered/talked about it.

Now can we end the Gio penalty discussion?

 

If he was pulled down, then why are his feet tucked under as if he were sliding to knock the ball in.

Answer: It's because he was sliding to knock the ball in. He went down on his own to get to the ball. Pearce was beaten, but did not drag him down.

He had a clear look at goal and then couldn't finish it. He then remained on the ground pouting and ruined an even clearer look at goal.

The main point, to me, of this photo is that Heath Pearce is a crappy defender.

 

Did anyone else notice that Pavel Pardo was sporting a bit of a gut?

 

Get back to the game gentlemen. Thanks.

 

so anyways, mexico got their asses kicked, and nothing any mexican says on an AMERICAN message board changes that. Great performance, and I saw the ususal crappy mexican performance.

 

Personal attacks and discussions about immigration policy are not appropriate for a post-match discussion about a soccer game. Closed until further notice.