Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke
JK37 wrote:Don y'all think Brazil is expecting a championship, seeing as they're hosting?Of course, but they expect it every four years.
bluejacket wrote:A sour note to the end of the World Cup. Certainly not much to be proud of in the US-Belgium match, other than our determination and never die attitude. Very poor ball possession and completely disinterested in offense for the first one hundred minutes of play. It's pathetic that a nineteen year old has to come into the game for any type of offensive spark. No one filled the leadership role that Beckerman has played in the midfield. In short, we showed why we are a top sixteen national team, but can't advance in the knockout stages.This is why I hate American sports fans. Always choosing to focus on the negatives instead of finding the positives of the match.
This is why I hate American sports fans. Always choosing to focus on the negatives instead of finding the positives of the match.Two points.
SuperJon wrote: We didn't play a great game but we had plenty of positives.We had a few positives. Nevertheless, based off of the match performances, Portugal got our best effort. If we play like that against Germany or Belgium, we get draws/penalty kicks. Our level of play dropped off even with 4 days of rest before tonight's match.
SuperJon wrote: Howard was a monster. Our midfield couldn't hold possession but our back line, arguably our weakest link, cleaned up a lot to help out Howard.The back line was played fair. I would disagree that they were our weakest point. They have hustled to help Howard throughout the tournament and done better than I expected (save Nani's goal). Although tonight's performance was excellent, Howard is on the downslope of his career. We almost certainly won't have a top 5 goalkeeper to cover our mistakes in 2018. Guzan is solid, but not on Howard's level, and he will be nearly 34 in 2018. There is no Courtois waiting in the wings for the US that I am aware of.
SuperJon wrote:You're right that Europe and South American teams aren't rational but this is their sport. Our youth programs are just getting set up. We overachieved this cycle and are set up well for Russia in 2018.Then please don't "hate American sports fans" who are trying to bring reasonable critiques of the team's efforts this round.
Purple Haize wrote: (Messi is amazing on soo many levels. His passes are perfect. Love watching him) ...You can see and feel the other teams panic every time he touches the ball. Read, this. They kind of refer to him as the Wayne Gretzky of soccer. That's probably the best comparison to make, but I think he's risen to a level even beyond Gretzky.
By now I’ve studied nearly every aspect of Messi’s game, down to a touch-by-touch level: his shooting and scoring production; where he shoots from; how often he sets up his own shots; what kind of kicks he uses to make those shots; his ability to take on defenders; how accurate his passes are; the kind of passes he makes; how often he creates scoring chances; how often those chances lead to goals; even how his defensive playmaking compares to other high-volume shooters.The stats are just mind-blowing.
And that’s just the stuff that made it into this article. I arrived at a conclusion that I wasn’t really expecting or prepared for: Lionel Messi is impossible.
It’s not possible to shoot more efficiently from outside the penalty area than many players shoot inside it. It’s not possible to lead the world in weak-kick goals and long-range goals. It’s not possible to score on unassisted plays as well as the best players in the world score on assisted ones. It’s not possible to lead the world’s forwards both in taking on defenders and in dishing the ball to others. And it’s certainly not possible to do most of these things by insanely wide margins.
But Messi does all of this and more.
SuperJon wrote:We could be like the English and after every loss just say "typical."bluejacket wrote:A sour note to the end of the World Cup. Certainly not much to be proud of in the US-Belgium match, other than our determination and never die attitude. Very poor ball possession and completely disinterested in offense for the first one hundred minutes of play. It's pathetic that a nineteen year old has to come into the game for any type of offensive spark. No one filled the leadership role that Beckerman has played in the midfield. In short, we showed why we are a top sixteen national team, but can't advance in the knockout stages.This is why I hate American sports fans. Always choosing to focus on the negatives instead of finding the positives of the match.
SuperJon wrote:what positives? that we allowed our goalie to get barraged with shots and he happened to save them? goalies breaking save records is not a positive at all.bluejacket wrote:A sour note to the end of the World Cup. Certainly not much to be proud of in the US-Belgium match, other than our determination and never die attitude. Very poor ball possession and completely disinterested in offense for the first one hundred minutes of play. It's pathetic that a nineteen year old has to come into the game for any type of offensive spark. No one filled the leadership role that Beckerman has played in the midfield. In short, we showed why we are a top sixteen national team, but can't advance in the knockout stages.This is why I hate American sports fans. Always choosing to focus on the negatives instead of finding the positives of the match.
Humble_Opinion wrote: 1) The sport is on the rise in the US. Virtually every team in the Round of 16 has much more advanced recruiting and development programs for their youth because futbol is their football. Despite this, the US has become more competitive in the sport over the past two decades and there is no reason to think that this trend won't continue.I think that 2018 will be a critical measuring stick for the entire program. The Developmental Academy will have been functioning for 11 years (5 with Klinsmann in charge) so there should be some signs of homegrown talent coming up. This is the link that crippled the US for 20 years. Positive reinforcement is nothing if you're not making doing the right things to progressively get better (as the US has been doing in the past). If we had had a solid European modeled system since 1994, we would be nearing the end of the expected 10 to 20 year project to build the academies. Expect big changes in this area in the coming months. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... ystem.html
Humble_Opinion wrote:2) One of the HUGE positives from this tournament was the proof that JK knows what he's doing. Prior to this Cup, the US had never had a sub come on and score... we had two instances of that in 4 games this go around from players that represent the future of US soccer. Fabian Johnson and Yedlin will be there the next cup and future is bright for both of those guys. There will be more players that arrive on the scene in the next few years from our U21 MNT and I think with some work they will be ready to perform in 2018.Klinsmann certainly knows what he's doing, both on the pitch and off, in sharp contrast to his predecessors. Milutinović (91-95) was a hired gun with no long term interest. Sampson, Arena, and Bradley (95-2011) were fine American coaches, but simply no match for Europeans or South Americans. Now we have a coach that can provide this. We need him to stay the course, unlike he did in Germany.
Humble_Opinion wrote:3) The only thing I didn't like about yesterday was that we took Beckerman out of the game. I honestly thought he should have started in place of Zusi or Bedoya. Both of them had mediocre performances compared to Beckerman. I also thought we should have started wondo and let Clint push the ball upfield, as an attacking midfielder from the start of the game. When they finally made this change, we started to have a more organized attack through the middle third of the field. Wondo missing that shot was unfortunate... to have won that game at the last minute of stoppage time in regulation would have been amazing.It's a shame that we had a few too many injuries against Belgium. I wish that Beckerman, Jones, and Dempsey were 4 years younger, but sadly they won't be making another appearance in the national kits. Green, Brooks, Johnson, Altidore, Chandler, Yedlin, Bedoya, Bradley, and Johannsson will be a very solid nucleus for 2018. Add to that core good young talent and you have the makings of a good team in 2018 and 2022.
Humble_Opinion wrote:4) Howard's performance may have been one of the best losing efforts I've ever seen. It's a shame that his quality in goal isn't matched in some of our other positions on the field. I consider the position of GK to be one that I'm not worried about for the future. This position has always been one of the bright spots for the US, starting with Tony Meola, Kasey Keller (who played in the Bundesliga, La Liga and the Premier League) and now Howard... who has probably been one of the most successful American players at the international level.The US has had a tradition of very good goalkeeping, but that can change. The nation would be having a completely different conversation if we had less than Howard. As I said earlier in this thread, he has been our best player and will be tough to replace. I hope we can find a young stud like Courtois (6'6'', 201 lbs) to mentor and build for the future.
ALUmnus wrote:I think the stat I heard was he had a down year at the Club level scoring only 40 goals!Purple Haize wrote: (Messi is amazing on soo many levels. His passes are perfect. Love watching him) ...You can see and feel the other teams panic every time he touches the ball. Read, this. They kind of refer to him as the Wayne Gretzky of soccer. That's probably the best comparison to make, but I think he's risen to a level even beyond Gretzky.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lio ... mpossible/
By now I’ve studied nearly every aspect of Messi’s game, down to a touch-by-touch level: his shooting and scoring production; where he shoots from; how often he sets up his own shots; what kind of kicks he uses to make those shots; his ability to take on defenders; how accurate his passes are; the kind of passes he makes; how often he creates scoring chances; how often those chances lead to goals; even how his defensive playmaking compares to other high-volume shooters.The stats are just mind-blowing.
And that’s just the stuff that made it into this article. I arrived at a conclusion that I wasn’t really expecting or prepared for: Lionel Messi is impossible.
It’s not possible to shoot more efficiently from outside the penalty area than many players shoot inside it. It’s not possible to lead the world in weak-kick goals and long-range goals. It’s not possible to score on unassisted plays as well as the best players in the world score on assisted ones. It’s not possible to lead the world’s forwards both in taking on defenders and in dishing the ball to others. And it’s certainly not possible to do most of these things by insanely wide margins.
But Messi does all of this and more.
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