LD: "it was a lot better than a 4-1 game for us"

I don't want them getting to high after Scotland or too low after Brazil. Both were meaningless games. They need to be on an even keel (and playing with confidence) going into the two qualifiers. Win both of those two games and we are 75% of the way into the Hex. That's what matters.

 

I don't really see a problem with his comment at all. It was a harsh scoreline and it was better than a 4-1 game, that is the truth.

I rather the team roll forward into the next game positively, rather than beating themselves up about losing to Brazil.

 

Yes, and I don't want them trying to beat Brazil when we are playing Canada or Antigua. Move on and get ready to play the next opponent. If statements like Landon's (as silly as they may seem to us) are necessary, then go for it. FIDO.

 

A true leader would have performed ritual seppuku after such a loss.

 

probably a common feeling among the team (and heck, even Donovan's direct quote referenced what the team "we" in the locker room know/knew).

Tim Howard said virtually the same thing as Donovan after this loss:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...e-to-win-4-1/2012/05/30/gJQAY3U32U_story.html

personally, I suspect the team and staff would likely have a better perspective and approach for dealing with (and contextualizing) friendly wins and/or losses than would fans of the team.

edit: Howard's quotes (and expanded) also appear in this thread's initial link. and Michael Bradley also commented in a very similar manner --

 

In other words, if you intentionally take Landon to mean something other than what he said (right in your own post you say that!) then we can make fun of what Landon said.

Let's leave that kind of bullshit to Obama and Romney. This is international soccer. It's too serious for fake outrage.

 

Your lame attempt at sarcasm aside, I'm with Donovan on this. (and apparently Howard and Bradley from reading the rest of this thread)

If there's such a thing as a good 4-1 loss, this is it. It was to Brazil, it was a friendly, and it had no business being a 4-1 loss. I'm not even entirely sure it should've been a loss, but that conversation involves a lot more hypotheticals and intelligent conversation. BS is the worst place to try to find intelligent conversation after a loss, so I'm not gonna bother with that. I'm gonna go hide until we beat Canada with our B team.

 

They beat us comprehensively and deserved the win obviously. But, we did do some good things and the scoreline was a bit more lopsided than it could have been. So I certainly see that side of the coin. Then again, it is not Brasil's fault we couldn't put away our chances and not putting away chances is not some random bit of luck that just happens. Brasil finished at a very good rate because they have very good finishers. We hit posts and missed sitters because we don't. This is more than luck.

 

If Donovan had played a great game and if Brazil had not capitalized on our mistakes and if there were deflections to score, ok, I could believe it but there were not.

1. Bradley/Jones/Boca turns it over. Gooch moved his arm to block the shot. Is it at least questionable, sure, but that is enough.
2.Jones / Gooch do not mark the man. Goal.
3. Bradley doesnt take the ANGLE away. Goal. Not unlike Donovan's goal against Scotland where Jones cuts it back. Basic #6 defending. Where was Gooch, of course. Where was Edu.
4. Pato on goal. Gooch onsides him.

To say they didnt earn this is ridiculous. We lost it. They capitalized. Score tells the story. Bradley and Donovan and whomever wants to pat themselves on the back, great, but it has nothing to do with the result. SK lost to Spain 4-1 and they could also say they played well against a clinical spanish team, but honestly, it is also nonsense as Spain destroyed them.

 

I mean...ball don't lie. They won.

But I came away from the game thinking Brazil are incredibly overrated. Neymar in particular, I think, kind of sucks. He's like young Cristiano, without the speed, strength, or size. So basically he's a show pony with show pony hair.

We performed better than 4-1, really. I never watched that game thinking anyone on their team save Marcelo was just head and shoulders better. They took advantage of our terrible defense and their keeper stood on his head, and their RB saved a sure Dempsey goal.

Harsh scoreline. If we'd won that game 4-1 there would have been plenty to criticize, since their defense was pretty garbage outside of Marcelo.

 

let's pull Klinsie's own standards: he said this was a 'tournament.' If this were a tournament he would have started a straight 4-3-2-1 and played for the Boyd/Dempsey substitution in the final 15minutes.

 

I expect us to pull a Jim Mora after every loss. Or Denny Green. But Mora was better.

 

Whenever a player doesn't say exactly what's on my mind, that player is a loser!

 

Donovan's right in the sense that we created chances and could have made it closer. But three of their goals were not lucky, our defense broke down and handed them big openings.

 

This is getting to be pretty f'ing ridiculous. I guess since MB is balling outta control, Jozy is doing well, and Adu isn't getting selected, some just have to over analyze everything LD says or does. I'm half expecting to see a thread debating whether LD crumples or folds toilet paper before wiping his ass, and those who think he folds getting on him for being too soft as real men crumple.

Obviously a 4-1 scoreline doesn't tell the success we did have. We had a lot of positives at the end of the first half, culminating with the MB beauty to Fabian who put the ball right on Gomez's head for a goal. The second half we had a number of great build ups, did much better with possession, had a number of SOG after getting into the teeth of Brazils defense, and would have probably had two more goals if not for some incredible work by their GK.

All the good we did in Brazils half is not negated by a dubious hand ball in the opening minutes, by Gooch not keeping a line on the 4th goal, by our CB's playing like crap for the most part, and JK deciding to switch around MB and Edu from where they should be.

Yes we have things to work on. Defending along the flanks. Our CB core needs some real work and other guys cycled in(hopefully Omar when healthy, John at some point, Ream getting a chance later this summer, more Cameron), and getting the ball up through our mid field while not putting a guy like Edu in an attacking position.

But I've seen complete, 100% ass whoopings which ended 2-0 or 3-1. Looking at the scoreline if not watching this match, you'd think it was an ass whooping. But anyone who did watch the game would have seen there were a number of positives from at times taking it to one of the best team in the world, and putting a good deal of pressure of them. Hence, I have no problem with what LD said.

 

I can't remember a time when we had Brazil scrambling for extended lengths of time. Even in the 3-2 finals loss, we converted a couple of chances, but did not pressure them otherwise. I am very heartened by our play in the second half.

 

But being honest, this was just their Olympic squad. They were missing Robinho, Nilmar, Ramires, Ronaldinho, Luiz Gustavo, Kaka, Anderson, Kleber, Ganso, Lucio, Maicon, Luisao, Dani Alves, Fabio, Julio Cesar; and David Luiz and Rafael (the right back, twin of Fabio) didn't even play.

 

See that's funny, because not only is this the Olympic squad its also the national team now. Brazil wanted youth so this is their curent best 11 according the their coach.

 

Ah, Mano always says that. That defensive line was almost a B team. Anyone can see that:

Maicon---Lucio---Thiago Silva---Andre Santos is stronger than
Danilo---Juan Jesus---Thiago Silva---Marcelo.

Except for Marcelo. But he doesn't have a good record defending. I have my doubts they'd play him against a team that attacks on the sides like the Netherlands.

Also, Oscar is awesome, but Ganso has more experience, not to mention Kaka and Dinho. And the CM/DM pair, Lucas Leiva + Ramires is a lot more solid and experienced than Romulo + Sandro.

All in all, it's a very strong team, particularly in attack, but defensively it was a very inexperienced team. They'd have never used it in Copa America.

 

On the one hand, Donovan is right. With the goal scoring chances roughly even, 4:1 seems unfair.

But he shouldn't be the one saying it. He didn't have a good enough game to do the shtick.

PS. The worst "undeserved" loss was probably Wigan 4 - Newcastle 0 from about a month ago.

The shots and the scoring chances were also roughly on par. Cisse hit the post twice but couldn't do more than that.

Wigan scored seemingly on every decent shot they had in the first half.

As Sepp Herberger said, "The ball is round and the game lasts 90 minutes".

Sometimes, you hit a volley into a top corner from 25 yards and sometimes the ball hist your hand for a PK.

That's how it goes.

 

The Brazilian press believes that this is intended to be the full national team, with a few injury absences. There has been a huge cry for player renovation in the Brazilian NT after the WC 2010 and Copa America 2011 failures. Most of the guys you listed have been discarded (prematurely in many cases, in my opinion), a couple of the others are missing due to injury.

 

Kaka can barely walk these days. No way is he getting back on that team until he is miraculously cured. Ronaldinho is too fat to jog five yards. Dani Alves is preferred to Maicon.

Of the misses are David Luiz, Ramires and Lucas Leyva (Liverpool), who's injured.