Official Soxtalk 2006 World Cup Thread

[whitesoxin']

STOP FAKING IT

[Rowand44]

I mean this is an embarrasment but does Ghana have any pride? Seriously, rolling around the ground for 10 minutes everytime they get touched, just ridiculous.

[illinilaw08]

This absolutely sucks. Wonder what would have happened if the US had come out against CR the way they did against Italy, if thecards hadnt mounted up against Italy, and if they dont award the phantom PK against Gooch. Unfortunately, the breaks didnt go the US's way, but hopefully this result will be enough for US soccer to go out and get a creative, attack minded coach.

[RockRaines]

I agree. All the fake falls, fake injuries, and acting is so rediculous. I hope America never stoops to internation soccer level. Stick with basketball, baseball, and American football. Leave soccer to the rest of the world.

Have you ever played internationally?

 

I lived in europe for a summer playing club ball when I was younger. It amazed me how much they used injuries to their advantage. I recall one of the spanish teams we faced used what I call the "miracle bucket." Their players would roll around screaming in pain. The coach/trainer would come on to the field, dip a sponge in the water, put the sponge on the injured area, and the guy would be in perfect health. It was amazing. As an american I was so used to playing through injuries and hacks, I just wasnt use to the theatrics.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Have you ever played internationally?

 

I lived in europe for a summer playing club ball when I was younger. It amazed me how much they used injuries to their advantage. I recall one of the spanish teams we faced used what I call the "miracle bucket." Their players would roll around screaming in pain. The coach/trainer would come on to the field, dip a sponge in the water, put the sponge on the injured area, and the guy would be in perfect health. It was amazing. As an american I was so used to playing through injuries and hacks, I just wasnt use to the theatrics.

Oh I dont doubt that at all. Doesn't mean it's any less right. Just cheap and petty in my opinion.

[RockRaines]

Oh I dont doubt that at all. Doesn't mean it's any less right. Just cheap and petty in my opinion.

I still agree to this day that acting that way is wrong and ruins the sport. But it is the way its played overseas, and it pisses me off to see it on the world stage.

[SoxFan1]

I figured with the way USA was playing, this thread would be a b****fest.Glad I stayed in my room for this one.

[danman31]

Players I never want to see on the national team again: Bruce Arena (obvious)- basically he picked awful tactics every game. His player selection was passable today, but still, the formation needed to be more offensive with at least 2 forwards. I should say that he picked out the same players for the 4-5-1 I would have, but I wouldn't have gone with a 4-5-1 so that's pretty moot.

 

Kasey Keller- I've always hated him for the national team and I finally figured out why. As a pure keeper he's good, but his distribution is piss poor. He's done anyway in all likelihood so it really shouldn't matter. Does anybody know what the deal is with Howard at Man U? I know he was playing a decent amount when they first acquired him and Van Der Sar is now the full time goalie. Was Howard always thought of as a backup for Man U or did he struggle?

 

Oguchi Onyewu (yes, controversial)- This might be a pick based on current emotions but he showed me nothing the whole Cup. Sure he can muscle around Caribbean pansies but there's a reason why he's playing in Belgium and not one of the better leagues. Standard Liege is going to be in the Champions League (well they still gotta get through the final qualifying round, but they should) and Onyewu needs to show he can play with the big boys. His middle name is Chilioke, pretty fitting because he definitely choked if all the hype was deserved. What am I thinking? All the propoganda was bulls***, this team was never good. Onyewu has some talent and potential, but he shouldn't have been playing this World Cup. It's a shame we have 0 depth and he was forced into it. The more I think about it the more he's probably going to get better and I just overreacted, but he's not ready for the Nats yet.

 

Landon Donovan (more controversial, but I think more fair)- Plain and simple he's a b****. He won't play in Europe and he doesn't play tough. He was the worst player on the field today. He hasn't improved in years and might have even regressed. Stop calling him your star, don't give him the captain's armband and move on to the next generation of US players.

 

Claudio Reyna- He was once great, but he's over the hill. He's past his prime and doesn't fit with the style of this group of players. He definitely won't be able to play in the 2010 World Cup so why bother giving him qualifying?

 

The rest of the team was mostly average at best. When 4 of your supposed better players play like trash you aren't going anywhere, especially with the depth as it is in the US. I was actually impressed with Dempsey. Going into the World Cup I was not impressed with him at all, but he's good. Lewis is good as long as he is in the midfield as was displayed today. Johnson is still inconsistent at this point in his career which is probably why Arena didn't want to play him, and I actually think that's fair. The problem is you have to play 2 forwards in the World Cup. The countries that I can think of that have played 1 forward (US, T&T, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast) were all underdog teams that tried to bunker in for ties. The US is supposed to be better than that, act like it. When comparing the US' results to the results of those other teams it's about the same. Low scoring capability, playing for draws, and getting knocked out without much chance of advancing. Italy played with 1 forward today with much success but that's because they're arguably the best defensive country in the world traditionally, they're better at long balls to find their target players, and they're better finishers. The US isn't good enough at the long ball to play it like they did today and they aren't good enough at finishing to have a limited number of chances and expect to score 1-2 goals a game on the world stage. The other team that plays one forward is Netherlands and they use to very offensive wingers, far from a real 4-5-1.

 

I'm ranting, but this makes sense when looking at the team's results. In stage 2 of CONCACAF qualifying the US went 3-0-3. They won the group, but that's far from dominant against bad teams. To compare: Mexico won all 6 games at that stage outscoring their opponents 27-1. In the final stage of qualifying the US tied Mexico for 1st, which is nice, but the US only scored 16 goals in 10 games. How can they expect to score against better defenses with attacking like that? They had a friendly against Germany a few months ago in Germany where the US was slaughtered. The send off games were atrocious. The US struggled against teams that failed to make the World Cup with all the games on US soil! It all makes sense now.

 

CONCACAF sucks, which makes it hard for the US to test themselves. CONCACAF teams 1-8-3 in this World Cup and soon to be worse once Mexico loses to Argentina.

 

Wow that was long.

[Chisoxfn]

Not to be a whiner or a conspiracist. But doesnt it seem like in the last 2 games especially, the refs have taken a harder line on the US team. Could it be our standing politically in the world? Because we are at war?

The thing that pisses me off is that we are one of the cleanest teams (in terms of play) in the entire world cup. We rarely foul and don't at all play a dirty game that would warrant all these bulls*** calls.

[jackie hayes]

I don't think the pk was justified, but still, Onyewu knows how they've been calling the fouls. Jmho, but he could have played that smarter. And I like his style of play, but it often looked as if he was playing with fire in the box.

 

Donovan was just a liability. What a waste. He himself threw away two shot opportunities.

 

It's a shame Reyna has to go out with that play.

 

Ghana played well enough to win, congrats to them. (Yes, the dives, yes, the suspect defense -- but damn, they ARE quick.) Too bad the only thing they win is the opportunity to lose to Brazil, because I do enjoy watching them play.

[Chisoxfn]

Eddie Lewis, played great until he came out for Convey who also played solid in his limited action. Lewis should have been playing left mid all along, along with Beasley.

 

The problem with Beasley is I'm convinced that Arena has him thinking way too much out there. Beasley is the type of guy that needs to take his ball and use his speed and athletism to create something. He did that and we had a goal.

 

He also had a goal that was taken away against Italy (it was the right call).

 

Onyewu - I thought he was a bit raw this world cup, but he's going to be a strong player for the US. He's physically imposing and will be a true weapon when we bring him up on corners and set plays. He also has the ability to throw the long throw in's to try and get goals.

 

Plus I think he uses his body well as a defender. He'll be a major factor in our defense next cup.

 

Reyna played hard but was bad this cup, Donovan was awful sans the Italy game (where everyone really stepped up). He needs to work on finishing but more importantly he needs to play agressive.

 

The thing is, we had very few guys that played agressive and I truly believe thats because we had Arena's ultra conservative approach out there which left a lot of our guys standing still.

 

Its too bad for McBride who played hard and has played his last world cup.

 

Keller was overhyped and played like piss in this cup. He was supposed to be one of the better goalies with his foot and turned into one of the worse. In the Italy game he failed to go long and towards the sidelines (giving the Italians countless of opportunities at a time where we just wanted to run the clock out and get the tie).

 

Overall it was a dissapointing world cup, but we are a better team that showed up and they played hard the final 30 minutes. Sure I'd have liked more but they played one of there best international matches against Italy (ever) and should be getting a new coach (hopefully a more creative one).

[danman31]

Hopefully a foreign coach at that. Among the MLS candidates I'm not really thrilled. At the same time, the benefit of having a domestic coach is that they stay around for more than 4 years more often than foreign coaches.

[RockRaines]

First and foremost, the way this team was selected was bulls***. We just didnt put the best players out there. Secondly, Arenas is ahorrible coach, trainer, and strategist. His formations are horrible and their attack is enemic. When they starting actually attacking the box, we had chances. How much of a f***ing mystery was that?

 

Next WC, there better be some serious changes, this team flat out got rolled by two teams they could have beaten.

[danman31]

Now it's time for Croatia/Australia aka the battle to determine who loses to Italy in the next round.

[SoxFan1]

Anyone think Ghana has a shot against Brazil?

[southsideirish71]

I want a coach from either Portugal, Brazil or Spain. If they cant speak english, hire a translator. I never want to see a 4-5-1 unless we are up by 2 goals. We need someone hired just to work on striking. At the end of the game I counted at least 5 balls hit over the upright of the goal. Now that is great if they are working on trying out for the NFL, but not for soccer.

 

Landycakes Donovan needs to man up. He is supposedly the face of US soccer. He disappears in big games. Sure he will score 3 goals against some island country. He had a free kick on the edge of the box and booted it a good 30 feet away from the goal. Then he has one he runs into the box, he has one player that he jukes to the right, has an open goal mouth, then backs it out, only to get the ball taken away from him. A striker with any merit takes a shot. He had terrible possession all day long. He is the biggest b**** we have, all that talent. Then he gets home sick and only wants to play in California. Enjoy your 3 nil win over the NY Red Bulls, but remember that you s*** the bed when you faced Liverpool.

 

Long ball tactics. Since when with a team filled with midgets did we decide to start launching long volleys. McBride, Boca, EJ, and Gooch can outjump people. The rest of the circus people are about 5'6 to 5'9. They cannot outjump people 6 foot or taller. Yet we keep lofting the ball and watching our midgets get outjumped.

 

Back passing. It seems everytime we have some momentum built, a 3 on 2 or whatever, some midfielder gets spooked and does a back pass. The ball winds up getting passed all the way back to the goalie. Maybe this is some sort of MLS tactic, but it doesnt fly in international soccer.

 

MLS. Its a nice place for people who wouldnt get a shot at playing 1st team football in Europe. However if you have a player good enough to make it, sell them off and let them extend their skillset. Donovan might feel great taking on some 39 year old Ukrainian star who played for Barca in 1994, but it doesnt help him extend his skills. Dempsey needs to move on, Adu needs to move on, EJ needs to move on. The MLS is a nice starting point, but a bottom level Premiership team would reak havoc in the MLS.

 

Thanks Bruce for the 4-5-1 tactics. I have followed US soccer since 1990. I have never seen any of our coaches use this format. We have problems scoring goals to begin with. So lets make it harder.

 

Hopefully a whole bunch of people at US soccer lose their jobs and we start over. This is not working.

[whitesoxfan101]

Anyone think Ghana has a shot against Brazil?

 

Not at soccer. Brazil was just messing around, and then Japan made the mistake of scoring late in the 1st. Brazil responded with a goal right before and right after the half, nearly just scored a 3rd, and is dominating play. They can turn it on and win against whoever they want, whenever they want.

[southsideirish71]

Rondaldinho with a sweeeeet feed to on the run. 3-1 Brazil.

 

Hey Bruce Arena, notice that the brazilians dont f***ing lob the ball up a bunch of times with long passes. They use their speed, and feed on the ground. Very very hard to defend, also a lot easier to keep onside.

 

Please US hire the assistant Brazilian coach.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Croatia winning.

 

I can go 1-2 today.

 

LOL, Croatia with the most blatent hand ball I have ever seen in the box, yet no call.

 

f***.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

2nd goal for the chubby Ronaldo.

 

4-1 Brazil

[southsideirish71]

2nd goal for the chubby Ronaldo.

 

4-1 Brazil

 

I hope the US is watching this, and not lining up some MLS retread for Arenas spot.

 

Find one of the coaches on the bench with Brazil and hire them.

[whitesoxfan101]

2nd goal for the chubby Ronaldo.

 

4-1 Brazil

 

Chubby Ronaldo is going to be by himself as the all time leader in World Cup goals by the end of this tournament, if not game.

 

Aussies and Croatia tied at 2, great game.

[Buehrle>Wood]

OMG, HOW DO YOU NOT PUT THAT AWAY

 

About to be beat by the refs again.

[SoxFan1]

Chubby Ronaldo > 97.8% of the world

[SleepyWhiteSox]

Chubby Ronaldo is going to be by himself as the all time leader in World Cup goals by the end of this tournament, if not game.

 

lol I know...I was just making fun of the s*** he gets for being a bit heavy...Even though it certainly did show in the past couple of games, he still can be lethal as was shown today...