Pre-match: WM Spiel 3 - Deutschland gg USA - 26 Juni 2014

Part of it is me just joking around, and the other part is you mostly agreeing with his Majesty on everything.

 

Gute Besserung Herr @chewz

 

Thats why left then he lost his last ally

 

Goetze needs a consistent run of games for Bayern/Mannschaft to get his groove back. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening anytime soon because neither Jogi nor Pep see him as starting 11 material.

 

Don't mind them. IMO you have nowhere near the arrogance and rigidity of opinion needed to replace him.

 

So? The US was freakin' dead against us. They played 30 minutes of decent soccer in the first half, then promptly succumbed to fatigue from playing in Manaus 3 days earlier. No team could have played adventurous under those conditions. You're expectations are unfair.

The US Portugal game was really entertaining. Both teams went for it and looked really good. I wasn't expecting much from either of them after that game. If not for Ghana's complete collapse, I don't think Portugal get the result.

 

Trade you OPs any day, Chewz.

 

LDD, he's a US-hater. He'll take any opportunity to toss anything US under the bus. Best to ignore. Anyone who uses are term like "anti-football", applies it to the US but ignores the fact the Germans practically invented bunker football is ignorant. Leave it.

 

Agreed until the last part. Plenty of bunker football going on by minnows throughout history. Germany just redefined it to win titles. Spain took it one step further with Tiki-taka. It's bunker football WITH possession of the ball.

 

Well, if we had played Greece yesterday and I had critcized their playing style would I be name-calling-wise a Greece-hater? Just for stating I dont like this type of soccer?

 

Hater!!!!

 

Agreed, Cris.

Germany in '78 was literally idealess when playing at the WM. They went defensive and ugly. That carried over in to 1982 and '86. And sure, other teams did it, but the Germans perfected the art of bunker ball. In 1990 they had to step out of defense a bit due to rule changes and that happened again in 1994. Sadly, since that generation was getting too old their ability to attack was limited until the current crop came of age.

But make no mistake, Germany had bunker football and posession back in the day. Spain perfected it with the rule changes (no pass backs and keeper hold times) to the next level. Greece and other teams have used it as a tool to move through tournaments. Is that wrong? No. No one -- except for intense national fanatics -- think their team (US, Greece, etc.) have the attacking power to beat Germany head to head. So you have to use to the tools that you have.

The whole notion of wanting these nations to attack for entertainment value rather than to progress within the tournament is just an absurd notion. Germany never did it, so why would we expect any other nation to sacrifice their potential advancement so a few people can be entertained? I know you are not advocating that, but the concept itself is just silly.

 

And you are a automatically "a hater" if you dislike that kind of soccer?

 

Hater!!!

 

Definitely, particularly long passes seemed to miss their target many times, which is one reason why I think Germany slowed down the game so much and played short passes, particularly after scoring the goal. No point in losing possession if you don't have to risk anything.

 

True.
Also, is there a good translation for "Ballannahme"?

 

Guys, you've played football in the pouring rain. right?

The ball gets water-logged and you tend to over hit it. The wetness causes your touch to be off because your boots, socks and the ball are all water-logged. Your feet get all pruned up, which also affects your touch.

Let's not over think this. The conditions were horrid. You'd sometimes get a new, dry ball and then sometimes get a water-logged ball. There was no chance for consistency. Given all those conditions you would expect control and accuracy for everyone to be poor.

Also makes Mueller's goal that much more pretty to watch.

 

First touch of the ball?

 

I don't think these balls pick up a lot of water, they simply get slippery...and quicker on the wet grass. And it's not overanalyzing, simply an observation. I don't think anyone here would fault any of the players for it.

 

Well unless they play with a different ball than what I have seen, they hold water like any other ball. Did a tournament not long ago with Adidas as sponsor. Had all the new WM balls. Rained like hell all weekend. Those balls were easily retaining water.