Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] I hope that wasn't Colombia's A side, because if it was, yikes. We were awful but hell our lineup mixed has been's, never was's, and kids, w/what one starter and it was only 0-1 and we had our share of chances. Uggh. Hopefully they were playing the young 'uns and scrubs too, otherwise I'd hate to be a Colombian fan right about now.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] I need some reassurance. Collectively taking it up the behind for three games is in fact valuable "experience," right? Johnson is now ready to accept that Real Madrid contract!
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Most people need to step back and take a breath. I guarantee most people on this thread demanded that we go to the Copa knowing that we were also going to have to deal with 1.) Gold Cup 2.) U-20 WC 3.) MLS Season 4.) European clubs wanting their players. We played well for an hour against Argentina and Paraguay with guys who never had caps or had less than 10. How anyone can say this tournament was a waste is beyond me. What exactly was wasteful about it?
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Brutal, absolutely brutal! I guess I'll have to watch the torrent of the US Poland U-20 game again tonight to wash the bad taste of this game out of my mouth.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] An attack that couldn't generate quality scoring chances against an exhausted, 10-man defense with a field player in goal?
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Have we finally learned that EJ will not produce? yikes..
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Yeah, but that 1558th minute we would have been REALLY dangerous
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] I just want to know if Eddie Gaven has nude pics of Bradley's wife. I can't see any other reason he'd be on the field.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] blah blah blah blah? EJ sucks, get over it. When Nguyen came in, someone held the ball, faced the opposition and moved forward. Davies brought the goalie out to the freakin sidelined and EJ was still tempted to back pass.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] I've never been so pissed off as when I saw guys ON the field smiling and laughing at their mistakes (Pearce, for example) while we were losing tonight. Gaven is USL level. Maybe he can go tie his shoes and miss easy traps there. The difference in heart between a guy like Ben Olsen and losers like Eddie Gaven or Heath Pearce is enormous.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Why EJ got the start today?i don't get it. Davies should have started instead of EJ. US played a lot better when EJ came out. Nguyen was all over the field in the last 15 mins. He should be started today!
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Well it was a waste for us fans...what the hell are sports for, if not the fans?
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Certainly it was a disappointing tournament. But how anyone can be worked about today's match is beyond me. When Rico Clark and Eddie Johnson are your dependable veterans in the lineup you should not expect a lot of composed play. Kleistan showed some promise. Clark looks good until he runs out of gas. Ngyuen showed something as well today. Pearce looked poor. Moor looked poor. The central defense was shaky, which is too be expected. Mapp looked good but, as with everyone else, no end product. Gaven actually showed a little today as well. Oh well. Time to get ready for friendlies and the WCQs.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Maybe Sigi asked Bob to call him up so he wouldn't have to play for Columbus.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Nguyen's a winger/A-Mid, not a forward, and if you think the EJ experiment is over you're gonna be enormously disappointed.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] All I can say is experience. Good or bad it was an experience for our players. We may not see the results right away but these games are going to have some impact. What that impact is, we simply don't know yet. As to the game, lackluster at best. Never really in the game, never really out of it. Just bland. Defense was fairly solid. We still gave up too many fouls in dangerous spots. We left our feet a little too early but all in all the denfense held together. Califf and Boswell are a bad combo. Pearce and Moor, I would liked to see get into the attack more but they didn't have that luxury. The looked fine with their positioning and maeking. Giuzan showed he will be in the mix behind Hahnemann and Howard. Nice dive the Colombian had to earn a penalty but just was served on the easy save. The midfield I'm not sure how they played. I'm still thinking. Mixed results are coming to me. They were average at best. The attack, Eddie tried but he had no help. Hell it took me 25 minutes to realize Gomez was on the pitch. Nguyen and Davies were a bit of fresh air. Davies showed some quickness and a willingness to move forward quickly and eventually the decision making progress will catch up. Lee showed he was quicker that last game and I loved when he broke up that breakaway. He makes short quick passes and limits his touches and you can tell that's Dutch influenced. Like Davies his decision maiking needs to speed up.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] EJ didn't know what to do when the defender dropped off him. He really wanted to shield turn but hesitated.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Glad to see more of Davies, Nguyen out there. Guzan did okay out there too. Not too much love for anyone else out there. I think it sucks that they lost to such a crappy colombia squad. Way too many giveaways by both teams. The first two loses were easier to accept than tonite's Experiement over, hopefully this will pay off down the road. Ah well...
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Davies and Nguyen had fresh legs against a tired Colombian team. Even with that advantage, Nguyen couldn't match the Colombians' speed. Davies had his moments, but we'll only know his true value as a Nat when we can see him perform as more than just a sub.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] What I can say is there is bad soccer played in Alabama. A recent conversation about how to improve the quality of our Alabama club teams to the point where we could compete with the better states in Region III turned to how Oklahoma clubs were able to be competitive with the better and more populous Region 3 states. One answer is sheer number of registered players. In Region 3 the state of Oklahoma gets about twice as many registered USYS players from a state population of a million less people than Alabama. Number of registered players in 2006-07: (rough estimate) Alabama: 19,000 Oklahoma: 38,000 Total Population: (Estimated 2006) Alabama 4,599,030 Oklahoma 3,579,212 So what is Oklahoma doing that results in so many registered players and what else do they and similar state organizations do that allows their quality of play to be at so much higher a level than Alabama? Oklahoma is a good case study for Alabama because they have proven to be competitive in the Southern Regionals while Alabama seldom has a team make the quarterfinals. The size of the state, number of urban areas, clubs, etc. seem to be similar to Alabama's.
Re: 7/5 USA vs Columbia Post Match Thread [R] Guzans distribution alone keeps him from getting a 5...that was worse than kellers distribution. Nothing he could do about the goal though.