This team has shown a tendency to play really poorly at times. Remember the first half vs Turkey (one of the worst halves of soccer ever), remember the defending on the Gerrard goal (I thought we were going to lose by 3 goals), remember the first half vs Slovenia (I was disgusted by how easily we gave up posession), remember the Algerian hitting the crossbar in the first half (i wondered aloud how do our opponents strike the ball so well against us)? We are not shutting down our opponents and in fact I would say our opponents have gotten some really good looks on goal and been able to finish too easily. What has saved us is our second halves and our never say die mentality. I don't know if we can afford to spot Ghana a goal, or God-forbid, two goals in the first half. We have to come out and shut them down, close down all the shooting lanes and look to counter. I feel we have a legitimate chance to advance farther then ever before but we have to do a better job of defending today than we have in the past month. I am not sure who Bradley can play next to Michael to close down the middle, Clark and Torres have been disappointing. If Gooch starts will he be mobile enough to mark tightly? Is Bornstein the answer at left back or does Boca move back out there? There are a lot of questions for the US heading into todays match and I haven't even gotten into the lack of scoring from our forwards. Jozy and Findley are creating chances but we need finishers. Is it time for Buddle to get the start? I hope Coach Bradley has the right answers.
Bob has some amazing luck. Let's just hope it doesn't run out yet. I have a feeling this game might be one of the better showings we have all tournament.
if Bob Lucks his way to the Finals of the WC, who are we to deny him his right to share that Luck with us?
This just occured to you that we aren't really a beautiful team to watch at times Sure they've had their problems, but unlike the 2006 they really don't ever lay down and believe in themselves, there are lots of positives to go along with the shaky play.
Yes. The 2006 team lacked cohesion and lacked belief [not sure why exactly. But to some extent Bruce getting stagnant must have played a role]. This team has some flaws [the defense is arguably weaker than 2006] but it has far greater spirit and determination [again, not sure why exactly. But to some extent RoboBob's dedication and belief, on his own part, must have played a role].
Today, our USMNT will feast on manna from Ghana. First will come the party, and the pooper can do his shit later.
Ghana is no pushover for sure. A good young talented team. But does anyone else feel like we're due to at least lead a game for a few minutes that isn't extra time? Sheesh. If any team was due a little luck, a good call, the rub of the green it's us. If only to give us a different flavor of agony to stew in. How 'bout an early US goal followed by 90 minutes of hang-on time. I could see that.
If our battle against England was handling pressure, and Slovenia was a fight to stay disciplined and Algeria a pitting of our talent against theirs, then the match against Ghana is pure, unmitigated strength. This team is so stout and solid from top to bottom that any thoughts of getting out without being bloodied can be tossed. They are going to challenge every ball, knees to the kidneys, thighs, ankles, elbows to the neck. You name it, they are going to simply try and punch us in the mouth. There will be nothing tricky, no speed rushes, just a bar room fight. I was in favor of severely packing it in for 60 minutes, draw them in, take our punches then in minute 60 or so, let the wolves out. That means to start, we have Gooch and Edu. I would even bring in Clark and play 5 in the middle. I would personally rest Dempsey, Bradley, Demerit and Jozy for the first half. But since that is not going to happen then the following is the best line up: --------Dolo-------Demerit-----Gooch------Boca----- -------------------Edu---------Clark-------------- Donovan---------------Bradley-----------Dempsey------ --------------------------Jozy------------------------- If we go into the 65th minute tied, then bring in some offense and let the boys play, but until then, I want to see some of the ugliest football in the tournament.
We have a slow defense lacking footskills and give up sloppy goals fairly regularly. We have dubious forwards who struggle to score. We have young central midfielders who are talented but inconsistent. You are not a party pooper. Your are Captain Obvious. It's been this way for 3 years. Take a deep breath, sit at the edge of your seat and enjoy the drama. Life of a sports fan.
That's the beauty of the beautiful game.... You can be lacking in all those departments and still win... You could even be ranked 84th and upset a superpower. What you lack in skill, you can make up for in passion and tenacity... This a huge factor in soccer, more so than any other sport in the world.
Generally, all soccer is about is who makes the most of their chances in the final third. Minimize those chances and you can help yourself out. How to do that? But even that may not be enough. Sometimes, a single chance that is put away can make the difference, no matter how much control of the game you have, how much space you shut down, how many chances you end up taking. The game is funny that way. That is why, sometimes, the seemingly "better team" - the one with all the possession, sometimes doesn't win. They may have generated more chances, but it they don't put one of those away, it doesn't matter. My sense is that whoever scores first will win this one. The US team is hard as nails and only seems to play when they are down a goal (or two). But this time, I just can't imagine them coming back against Ghana being down.
The same could be said about any team in the tournament, frankly. Brazil looked shaky and disinterested at times against North Korea and were arguably fortunate not to draw them in the end. Ditto for Argentina...South Korea had a few point blank chances to make the game 2-2, but they didn't finish them, and Argentina just ran away with it at the end. If you watch film of every team, I'm sure you can find stretches where they just didn't look good. It's no different for the U.S.
We've always lived and died by our defense with this cycle's team. Nothing can change that now, let's just go for the ride and LIVE! Ghana will park the bus. I saw them do it in the friendly with the Dutch and what I saw in the group stages wasn't that much different. They're beatable if you can crack that bus open. It took the Netherlands til the second half in that friendly but once it was open, it was wide open. I don't think we have what it takes to crack them like the Dutch did through patient wing play spreading them further and further until the space to work existed. But what we do have is a team that can grind and tire Ghana and play on the counter. So that's what I'm hoping the game plan is!
usa really only played one poor game in 06. the 2 phantom red cards against italy, the dis allowed goal against italy. the game against ghana, look at their 2 goals. reyna blows a tire, the phanton pk against gooch. any other day of the week that wouldnt have happend. usa generated good chances in that game, mcbride even hit the post. and dont forget we were down 3 of our normal starters in that game.
I like how a couple people are mentioning "amazing luck" when we've had 2 legit goals called back during this tournament.
Not really worried about our tendency to be inconsistent. That seems to be our mantra this cycle given the personnel. What I am worried about is: -all of the energy and emotion spent on the Algeria game leaving us drained and increasing our tendency to be inconsistent. -the possibility of a Ghana player going down like he was shot in the box. -Feilhaber's ability to give us 75 quality minutes if he gets the start. -Bornstein or Cherundolo getting caught upfield on a counter, because I get the feeling both of them are going to get the start. -some ref home continent cooking. Let's be clear and say the game is decided on the field, but if the game is close enough that our boys aren't able to decisively end things on the field, this could really come back to bite us. Ghana seems to be really proficient at the art of time wasting (see Appiah and Pimpong last time around). I hope the man in the middle doesn't let this carry on if they get a goal.
It's not like we had a luck goal against England and a rebound which fell perfectly into the path of Donovan instead of an Algerian clearance...
Yeah, and if you mitigate the misfortune with the luck, we lose to England 1-0, beat Slovenia 3-2 (no way they call that elbow at the beginning anything more than a yellow), and we beat Algeria 1-0 on the Dempsey goal...possibly more given the fact they'd need to open the game up to score. We finish on 6 pts second in the group and play Germany in round 2. Either way, we deserved to go through.