Having a fit team is great and it gets you to a certain point, but having a team with a bunch of guys with horrible touch doesn't get you THAT far. Heart and hustle gives us hope and makes us believe. Touch will get us farther than that. Shame...this team is one of the most talented I've ever witnessed. I am happy that we made it past the group stage, but saddened by us crashing out the way we did.
The touch is really not that bad. How many opportunities did the US waste with a terrible strike on goal. I think the fluidity of the US team at times was excellent and I never thought a Bob Bradley team could play like that. How many goals did the US leave on the table with terrible shots 4 or 5? In that Ghana game alone at the start of the second half there were some golden oppurtunities wasted.
Yeah we've got a ton of guys in our pool who have great touch and are excellent passers...stupid Bradley.
He played Findley and Clark over Torres/Edu and Buddle/Gomez. Where the F have you been? Bradley's commitment to players with speed, hustle and heart over technique cost us the best opportunity to advance deep in a WC that we will ever see.
The only player I think was an automatic to start was Edu. Torres, Buddle, and Gomez did not show much with the opportunities they were given.
Edu, Buddle and Gomez still don't have a good enough touch and Torres was swallowed whole when he was given the start. And his touch was completely pathetic against Slovenia. We don't have it.
Edu doesn't exactly scream 'first touch' at anyone, maybe marginally better first touch than Clark. Torres has still only had the 45 minutes vs Turkey where he really showed something. Buddle and Gomez, neither one were exactly electric in the WC.
They are all far, FAR superior to Findley and Clark. Findley and Clark are garbage, we played a large portion of the WC 9 on 11 because they have the touch of a rapist.