You do realize he lost possession the last 3 times he touched the ball. Clearly he was an spent player that couldn't think beyond what was in front of him. This one I put it on the coach for not having a better player management. Zusi looked less tired than Bradley, yet it was Zusi that was subbed out. I don't have a problem of OG coming in, I have a problem of the coach riding his key players to death and forcing our back 4 to play high line when they were also tired, What is the point to have OG in there when you are going to push up, OG was there to intercept all crosses and bunker.
As I said on my previous message, US plays bright and positive football. One of the Good of this WC Finals. I see very open line till to the semi's…….. Ones again, cmon fellas leave the portugal game final minute scene….. Lets look forward. This is the US Time Baby. Regards,
Cristiano Ronaldo's knee is probably done anyway, and I actually expect Portugal to be stronger without him than with him. If they don't have him, they don't send every single attack through him, and that makes them less predictable and harder to defend. The way we were stopping Portugal for most of the game was by picking off the ball whenever they tried to force passes to Ronaldo, and we would have done that even if he was healthy.
Do you think Bradley would have made the pass Jones made to Dempsey to open scoring against Ghana? Bradley tends to telegraph passes which gives defenders more time to close on the recipient of the pass - but you arent looking at that, you are looking at his completion percentage and you think that is a big deal. It isnt.
For all of you Lager lovers, I recommend Trummer Pils. Made in Berkeley. Austrian brewery, originally. Fantastic. Used to love Stella, but I can't go back after having a Trummer in one of their distinctive tall glasses. Wonderful.
At the risk of having this turn into an unfortunate Jones v Bradley sub-debate, off the top of my head I would point to Jones's passes in game 1 of Hex and v. Poland in 2010 friendly as evidence that he is also capable of that sort of pass. Taking nothing away from Bradley.
It's interesting that people focus on conspiracies involving USA v Germany without a mention of how unfair it is to USA if Portugal "mail it in" against Ghana in view of their all- but-hopeless position in the standings. Would not one balance out the other? In truth, it is likely that the Portugal v Ghana is less bona fide than the USA - Germany match because at kick off Germany can still be eliminated with a USA and Ghana victory. Germany know well that we would not like at all to see Belgium in the next round when we could face Russia or Algeria if we win against Germany. Anyone wanna bet Portugal's pilot already has his orders......?
Your meetings started poorly, rebounded well ... and then at the end of the Q&A session, somebody spilled the lukewarm coffee all over the last chocolate glazed donut. That's how we felt ...
Yeah, and they run a risk of getting an injury before going back to their clubs. I think they're deflated and they are going to mail it in and get blown out like Cameroon.
Ya, I conceded that point. It was in reaction to the sudden crowing of the Jermaine Jones as the greatest soccer player of the last two games of all time, as if duh, we all knew this even though his USMNT career has been far from consistent. I've seen someone say that he might go down as the best American to ever wear a shirt which is more indicative of which way the wind blows in fandom and big soccer than anything that is based in reality. That said, actually wouldn't mind simply seeing Jones and Brads switch responsibility, though it's probably too late to experiment.
You did it now...I did that a couple years ago...and single handidly started the bradley vs. jones debate!
Even if they start the game out right - figuring Germany puts a few in on us and they can make up the difference against Ghana, once it becomes apparent they can't (say the 70th minute) they may just "quit" playing. They won't put in the tough work, they'll bring in the guys who haven't played, etc.... I feel we really need the draw to go through.
This is the discussion I had with my boss a week prior to the opening match of the World Cup: Me: Usa is ready! Boss: meh, I don't know. Me: as long as klinnsman doesn't throw in Gonzalez, we will be alright. The conversation took place in the men's restroom. I said what I said about Gonzalez because of what happened at the end of the friendly vs. Mexico. Klinnsman stupidly (my opinion) throws in a third (very slow) CB, and removes a winger (US version of a winger/MF). We all know that Mexico subsequently equalized (though it is true that Green earned some "blame worthiness" for that terrible header). The us midfield players provide cover for the left and right backs, and they did that pretty well against Portugal. However, the removal of a left midfielder for Gonzales happened again, and the opposition equalized. I am nonetheless a realist, and therefore an optimist: before the World Cup started, the consensus view (if there was one) was (roughly) this-"beat Ghana, draw Portugal." The USMNT has achieved what most had hoped for, it just sucks knowing that they could/should have exceeded those expectations.
And us having a mindset that it was the US vs Ronaldo contributed a great deal to the 5 guys ball watching him at the end.
And we thought we had it bad, but: I ate at sportsbar last night. I had soccer related tee shirt, so the waitress asked if I had seen the game? I said yes, and I was not over it yet. She said they had a full house watching it, and all their TVs went out due a thunderstorm with 3 minutes left in extra time. Can you imagine?
In the grand scheme of things Ivory Coasts loss to Greece was much worse and somehow made me feel better, is that wrong?