USA 0-0 Germany Even for the first 30 minutes. Then dominated the last 15 of the second half and should have scored one or two goals in that period. (Should have had a PK too.) And then the second half was an awful, tedious affair with neither team taking any risks, and both teams eventually settled in for the scoreless draw. But it's still a very good result for the USA and sets us up well to advance.
0-0 helps the US, provided they don't pull a Poland with their last group match against Egypt. Feilhaber was a stud. Wynne continues to impress. Adu was subpar but didn't get much help. As good as Chad Barrett played in the opener, he was craptaculor today especially with his endless string of giveaways in the last 20 minutes of the game. Eddie Gaven, where are you? I thought you were supposed to be the next Landycakes. Westberg was much improved from the last match. Dalby and Pederson, we were the ones in the white jerseys.
adu did set up two players with good chances to score, one was gaven and the other was feilhalber i think.
Can the Jacob Peterson experiment end? Ochoa was not great but he was better We must overate Szetela if he can't start over Dalby Wynne is awesome Barrett did not have a good game Freddy should never come off the field because he can be a game breaker with 1 play Feilhaber is awesome. He and Wynne should be in MLS next season Nguyen was overmatched as was Peterson What a diffirence between the 1st and second half
USA played well during the 1st half. Gaven himself had 2 amazing chances. Germany for the most part did not have drive and/or imagination on the field. Though once the US started subbing - i for one can see a big gap btw the starters and the subs. This team does a horrible job of killing the clock. I swore GER was about to score. just like i was afraid ARG would score in their last 15-10 mins. better game from Ochoa, Gaven and good stuff from Benny. We better get at least 2 in the first half vs. Egypt. b/c this team needs work on thier stamina. Esp. the last 15-10 mins.
I never ever ever thought I'd say anything like this...but Sigi screwed up not including Michael Bradley in this team. He's lightyears better than that useless turd Dalby. Feilhaber, on the other hand, he's shining.
Crap. We played sorta ok, but that Germany team was weak. Every time we attacked through the middle they either fouled us or we created a chance. Somebody has got to give the kids some information from the sidelines. Barrett is tired and needs some rest. This affected some of the players in the early match as well. A few of the Arg. players looked very sluggish from the first whistle (like Barrett).
I disagree. He gave 2 great balls (to Gaven and Feilhaber) and yes, he was too slow to shoot when in the box- but it was a brillant free-kick move by Gaven/Adu. Earlier in 1st half, Adu had a nice cross back across box. He was excellent in first half. Slightly above average in 2nd half until 70 minute mark when entire team sank. We just need to convert our quality chances, that's all. I will say- I think Adu is playing too much like Nowak now (deeper and looking for the dish), and I'd like to see him push it and try to beat guys more/shoot too. That's the only issue I see. He is creating quality in the box, and a lot.
Impressive first half. Depressive second half. Man of the Match was the German defender Schuon who bailed them out several times. As for our boys, hard to name a top player, but I'm going to go with Wynne despite being out of position a few times in the second half. (On the other hand, having him out of position just brings us the pleasure of seeing him sprint back to position at incredible speed.) If Eddie Gaven played the whole game like he did the end of the first half, it would have been him. We'll kick Eygptian butt and advance. I'd rather see Germany beat Argentina because Argentina looked the better team. I'd rather not play them again.
Couldn't agree more with your view of the game. Frankly, why take off Ochoa and leave Barrett on. Dalby and Gaven are both 0-2 in this tourney. (Gaven did appear somewhat brighter today) I thought Westberg and Freeman had much better games as well.
This draw is on Sigi Schmidt I think. I'm not saying the US would have won if Sammy Ochoa would have stayed on, but we were dominant, even in the second half, with him in the game, and then once Peterson was brought on we lost all of our attacking momentum. In addition, if you aren't going to push for a goal toward the end, why is Chad Barrett still in the game, and no defender is brought on to counter all of Germany's offensive substitutions. So, because of tactical decisions, this game evolved from one where we were looking at a draw AT WORST to actually feeling pretty relieved to get out at 0-0. That said, I thought the first 60 minutes was another testament to how good this team can be. Fluid passing, confidence on the ball, and great play from Fielhaber, Sturgis and Wynne. Just think how good this team will be if/when Jonathan Spector comes back and Eddie Gaven starts playing to his potential. If we can take care of business against Egypt, this team definitely has a shot.
Lost our shape the last 15 minutes, can't tell if it was fatigue or frustration with not finishing. I thought Freeman redeemed himself defensively a great deal,still pretty weak going forward. Central D and GK was solid, Wynne came back to earth a bit but still pretty good. Gaven showed a bit more, but still too weak on the ball, needs to ride challenges much better.Adu, not his best game, but still had a great chance and set up our two best other chances. Not impressed with Dalby,but Feilhaber might have had the best game. Forwards were a real weak point. Why is Peterson on this team?? Second game he has come on against a tired team and been invisible.
Its a bit unforgiveable from Sigi that Szetela does not come in a match in which we are clearly tiring and giving up space.
Peterson is overmatched, but I want to see more of Nguyen. I thought he could have been interesting had there been a team playing around him.
Great first half ... kinda looked like the Germans played rope-a-dope and came back strong in the second with a tighter defense and better possession once the US was spent. Thought Feilheber (sp?) was prob our best player out there ... thought Adu, Gaven, and Wynne all had good games. We have no depth save Sturgis ... peterson? overmatched.... Barrett needs to get his ass out of midfield and get up top .... those passes were horrible.
A tale of two halves and poor subbing by Sigi. Why sub out Adu when he's one of only two players that has shown he can complete a pass in the midfield (Benny is the other)? I could maybe understand if he was happy with 4 points and wanted to bring Szetela on for extra defense, but the move he made defies logic to me. Also, while on the Sigi topic, what did Ochoa show you that Jemal Johnson didn't? The team just completely lost shape and focus in the 2nd half. Everytime I looked up and saw the Germans in our box, Freeman and Wynne were nowhere to be found. Good God, don't even let me get started on the play of Dalby... The positives? Well, we played a solid 1st half. Wynne did very well again. He slowed up a bit after the ghost-yellow, but he still did well...except for getting caught upfield too many times when it was obvious Germany was the dangerous team at the moment. Also, Gaven played a little better than the 1st game. I wasn't too worried about missing Spector during the 1st half of this game but I was begging for him to be healthy soon during the 2nd half. If we are to make a run in this tourney he has to be healthy. I also think he should play LB as Freeman is a liability on offense (and not much of an asset on defense). We have to start scoring goals and Spector is someone who could help on the left flank.
Gaven had a good 1st half but disappeared in the second with half the team. The more I watch him in this tournament the more I do not think he will make the '06 WC team. He is just very weak and gets pushed off too easy and does not have blazing speed, good ball skills but needs to improve many things. Where is Bradley????? Are you telling me that he could not have been as good as Dalby today? Dalby passing was awefull and Bradley in a very accurate passer who gets stuck in. After watching Bradley Sunday I still can not understand why he is not on the team. I do not want to hear the excuses of Bradley not being used to the team he should have been there and after watching Dalby Michael should be starting
Give it to the Germans (in the second half at least). They were highly disciplined and made it difficult for us to do anything. Don't underestimate that. They made attacking them nearly impossibe. Having said that... WTF was that shoulda-been-a-pk no-call on Gaven in the 1st half? How the flying fvck can you not call a fvcking penalty you free-basing worthless Colombian coke addict? Drink bleach. Barrett: Exhausted. Ochoa: Still not impressed. Gaven: Better. But still not Golden Eddie. Freddy: Better than Eddie. Feilhaber: Our best player so far. Dalby: I want Bradley. Freeman: Waste of skin. Ianni: Good. Sturgis: Very good. Wynne: So-so game. Westberg: Enjoy the US jersey while you get to wear it. Peterson: I want Alvarez. Nguyen: Small. Evans: Whatever.
I would definently put Sturgis (who is ball skill confident) on the left, when Spector comes back. If Sturgis isn't fast enough, but Spector on the left.
Fitness was the difference between the first half and the latter part of the second. That should be expected when you're playing pros against mostly college players. I too fail to see the logic with the Szetela situation unless perhaps he's carrying a knock. Also, Jemal Johnson has to deserve a look in, not to even mention Bradley and perhaps even Besagno. Scmidt's selections are odd to say the least.
Feilhaber was awesome, on both sides of the ball. Deft touch, and excellent soccer brain. An intriguing player and the best for the US today. Sturgis impressed and Ianni is tough as nails, if a bit slow. Freeman added nothing to offense but was pretty good on D. Adu was below his standard but had two potential assists, both very creative. Barrett sucked. Can't remember a good touch. Ochoa held the ball up, and showed how key that was to the US as soon as he was subbed out for Petersen, who doesn't seem to belong. Gaven was bad in the second half, but potentially game winning late in the first. Wynne: damn solid, but the Germans seemed to shut him down later in the game. What a throw-in. Nguyen -- did he even touch the ball? Spector would add a lot to this team -- duh! -- but he doesn't seem to be needed in central defense. I think he could make a huge difference in place of Dalby or Freeman. Westberg came up fairly big on one goalmouth scramble, IIRC.