Chisoxfn Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 05:54 PM) They really played way too conservatively the 2nd half and had no business getting that win if you look at the number of possessions, shots and quality of attacks. That said, even Christiano Ronaldo or Messi can be shut down quite easily by 2-3 defenders or a marking scheme, so losing one forward shouldn't be the death knell. It all comes down to Portugal vs. Ghana and the US vs. Portugal. Wasn't expecting much this World Cup so a win still feels nice, no matter how it transpires. Quite easily. I find that laughable. But either way huge US win. Hopefully Altidore isn't out too long. Next game is Sunday, which gives us time. Got lucky here cause by and large this wasn't the better team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 07:34 PM) The execution wasn't there, but he did what he needed to do. The US wasn't keeping or getting possession much at all, and certainly not forward, so he tried to create chances by himself by going at defenders. It didn't work, but if one of those does it's a clear shot on goal for a team that couldn't create a chance passing the ball. You want someone who was terrible? Michael Bradley. He made several poor passes and that decision to cross to no one instead of going to the corner in the 95th minute clinched what was a totally bizarre game from him. That looked more like the Roma Bradley than the one most USMNT fans love. Yeah, that was just a disaster from Bradley. Can't advance without him playing significantly better. Zero control of the midfield and zero creation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 09:50 PM) Yeah, that was just a disaster from Bradley. Can't advance without him playing significantly better. Zero control of the midfield and zero creation. He's trying to sabotage Klinsmann and make his dad look like the better coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glangon Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 02:04 AM) US plays Portugal next. Best case scenario is US beats Portugal and Germany beats Ghana, then everything is decided before the last match and the US and Germany can just sit down and have a nice picnic next week. It's not that simple. Although Portugal got wasted by the Germans, that game shows how good Germany are rather than how poor Portugal are. It's similar to Spain getting wasted by the Dutch. The thing that the USA need to watch out for is the Portugese backlash. They will be hurting after that loss and will be looking to take it out on their next opponent. As a Scotsman, I watch the World Cup to enjoy the tournament, not supporting anyone because we aren't in it. If anything, I go with the traditional Scottish A.B.E support (Anyone But England). Needless to say, I enjoyed Italy's win on Saturday and will be cheering Uruguay and Costa Rica when they play England. I'll only be happy and can relax when England are out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiSox_Sonix Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:33 PM) Didn't take long for the crappy Donovan reference. Except it's not crappy. This was the concern all along - what happens if Jozy gets hurt? Our only true replacement for Jozy in terms of hold-up play and physical size is Terrance Boyd, who is not here. Our only replacement in terms of goal scoring ability on the international stage for him is Landon, who also isn't here. I love Aron, but he is a completely different player and I'm not sure if he makes that great of a pairing with Clint. Wondo is a poacher who also can't be relied upon as a target man. And then Green, who I'm not even going to discuss. It's a legitimate complaint. JK took no replacement for Jozy. And now it's biting us in the ass unless Jozy has a miracle recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiSox_Sonix Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Also, WTF was that from Bradley? Might be the worst USMNT performance I've ever seen from him. Jones and Beckerman played their asses off and were MotM for me. Defense looked shaky and we had absolutely no link up play or sustained possession in the midfield or going forward. I think Zusi should play ahead of Bedoya against Portugal. I hate bringing it up, but we do have one player in our pool who knows how to control a game and make passes if MB is off his game. And again, he's not here. The win was great, I was at our AO chapter bar and it was phenomenal, but the way they looked was troubling. However, I don't think they can play much worse. A draw against Portugal puts us in great position to advance, barring a beat down from Germany. Portugal has issues too. Pepe suspension, Coentrao hurt, Almeida hurt, Ronaldo not 100%. And did anyone see Meireles give the official the double bird on the field after he red carded Pepe? You have to wonder if FIFA may suspend him for a match too. With all of their issues, I don't think they are really that much better than Ghana currently. I know it's a negative sounding post, but I'm still optimistic about our chances to advance, more so now than I was yesterday at this time. I just know we can play better, and if the US is going to advance, that needs to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Also, WTF was that from Bradley? Might be the worst USMNT performance I've ever seen from him. Jones and Beckerman played their asses off and were MotM for me. Defense looked shaky and we had absolutely no link up play or sustained possession in the midfield or going forward. I think Zusi should play ahead of Bedoya against Portugal. I hate bringing it up, but we do have one player in our pool who knows how to control a game and make passes if MB is off his game. And again, he's not here. The win was great, I was at our AO chapter bar and it was phenomenal, but the way they looked was troubling. However, I don't think they can play much worse. A draw against Portugal puts us in great position to advance, barring a beat down from Germany. Portugal has issues too. Pepe suspension, Coentrao hurt, Almeida hurt, Ronaldo not 100%. And did anyone see Meireles give the official the double bird on the field after he red carded Pepe? You have to wonder if FIFA may suspend him for a match too. With all of their issues, I don't think they are really that much better than Ghana currently. I know it's a negative sounding post, but I'm still optimistic about our chances to advance, more so now than I was yesterday at this time. I just know we can play better, and if the US is going to advance, that needs to happen. 1) Yes, that was a terrible game from Bradley, but I'm more confident about his ability to bounce back than if it had been a bad game from one of the newer players 2) Portugal has to play desperate against the US because a draw doesn't do them any good and they have to win. I think that is going to leave a lot of good opportunities for US counter attacks. If Germany beats Ghana, then they are going to play pretty conservatively against the US with the group already wrapped up, so I don't see any chance of Germany helping Portugal make up that goal deficit. It really was a bad draw for Portugal in a way to get Germany first when the US gets them last. You always want the strongest team in the group last because there's a chance they have the group already wrapped up and take it easy that last game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:08 PM) Grant Park was awesome by the way. Crowd was great. Looked like by far the biggest crowd of all the sites they showed on ESPN around the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 03:14 PM) Looked like by far the biggest crowd of all the sites they showed on ESPN around the USA. yes, it was not a good idea to meet our whole family there with kids We ended up at Wabash Tap, also a good time. Most of the rest of the crowd that couldn't get in went there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 03:55 PM) Don't think Altidore is the biggest loss. All things considered, he's the most irreplaceable guy this squad has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 All things considered, he's the most irreplaceable guy this squad has. I would rank him second behind Howard. The US doesn't win s*** without Howard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHurt05 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Getting the full 3 points against Ghana was huge. Given Portugal's big loss to Germany and their injury/suspension trouble, the US's path is suddenly much clearer. Get at least a draw vs. Portugal and 4 points may be enough to sneak out of the group. And it's possible Germany may be happy with a tie, and 5 points would get them through for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiSox_Sonix Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) I would rank him second behind Howard. The US doesn't win s*** without Howard. Couldn't disagree more actually. Of all of our players, Howards is one of the most replaceable. That's not a knock on Timmy, it's just that Brad Guzan is just as good and has arguably been the better keeper over the past season and half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) All things considered, he's the most irreplaceable guy this squad has. I don't think so. Mainly because he's not good. Dempsey and especially, especially Bradley are by far the two most irreplaceable guys on the roster and that's because they are the two closest in quality to being top notch players that we have (save for Howard, but at least we have Guzan backing him up). No one else is close. I can see the argument since now with Jozy out it'll require a change up in tactics due to a poor roster make-up. Eddie Johnson, Sounders version, and Terrence Boyd are closest in style but neither are there of course. But that's fine, there's no loss in talent in here. Edited June 17, 2014 by Buehrle>Wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:53 AM) I don't think so. Mainly because he's not good. Dempsey and especially, especially Bradley are by far the two most irreplaceable guys on the roster and that's because they are the two closest in quality to being top notch players that we have (save for Howard, but at least we have Guzan backing him up). No one else is close. I can see the argument since now with Jozy out it'll require a change up in tactics due to a poor roster make-up. Eddie Johnson, Sounders version, and Terrence Boyd are closest in style but neither are there of course. But that's fine, there's no loss in talent in here. I think with who we have on the roster though, Jozy is more irreplaceable, plus a hot Jozy is as good as anyone and I really think he was going to carry his momentum from the last game forward. The US has always lacked primary goal scorers and Jozy was the closest we had (obviously Dempsey and Bradley are solid too). Bradley can't have a performance like he did against Ghana. Not sure what happened but it was just ugly and totally anti Bradley. I don't expect it to happen again. I tend to think Dempsey and Jozy are the two most but would have Bradley as third. Note, this doesn't mean I think that is the order of who is the best, rather just factoring depth into the equation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Jozy was pretty good at holding the ball upfield and letting possession get started. I think Aron is better than we saw, just a tough position to go in at 25' and start up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 07:57 AM) Jozy was pretty good at holding the ball upfield and letting possession get started. I think Aron is better than we saw, just a tough position to go in at 25' and start up. Oh, that whole situation was tough. I think Aron will be better prepared and in a better position to succeed on Sunday. Hopefully the injury isn't as bad as we thought and Jozy can come back for group play. If not, lets hope we somehow beat Portugal without him and then we aren't in a hurry to have him back for Germany and get him if we advance out of group play. I think we need Jozy to make any serious noise but believe in our squad. They have the talent but are going to have to play a much better game against Portugal, who will be playing hungry, however, maybe we can get the best of their emotions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I'm hoping Portugal is this year's version of 2010 France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmteam Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) I'm hoping Portugal is this year's version of 2010 France. That'd be nice. Agreed with others who said Johansson was better than we saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 (edited) I thought this was a brilliant article free of the tropes of last night like (US doesn't quit! Good to the last drop!) http://www.espnfc.com/blog/world-cup-centr...na-in-world-cup edit: misspelling. Edited June 17, 2014 by bmags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenryan Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Jozy also draws a lot of fouls. We need those set pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illinilaw08 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 08:56 AM) I think with who we have on the roster though, Jozy is more irreplaceable, plus a hot Jozy is as good as anyone and I really think he was going to carry his momentum from the last game forward. The US has always lacked primary goal scorers and Jozy was the closest we had (obviously Dempsey and Bradley are solid too). Bradley can't have a performance like he did against Ghana. Not sure what happened but it was just ugly and totally anti Bradley. I don't expect it to happen again. I tend to think Dempsey and Jozy are the two most but would have Bradley as third. Note, this doesn't mean I think that is the order of who is the best, rather just factoring depth into the equation. I think Bradley is most irreplaceable guy on the roster. When Bradley is good (which is almost always), he gives the US an opportunity to control possession through the midfield. I don't think anyone else on the roster gives the US that ability. Jozy is a close second though. I agree that he's one of three guys on this roster (Bradley and Dempsey being the other two) who have a proven track record as a goal scorer at this level. Yeah, he's inconsistent, but when he's in form, he scores goals like his second against Nigeria. More to the point, however, he's the only target guy on the roster. Aron is a really good talent, but he's not a hold up guy. Like Dempsey, he's better playing off a second striker (so is Wondo for the record). There just isn't another guy on the roster that has Jozy's skillset. And I agree with the earlier post that Guzan is so good it makes Howard more replaceable. Ultimately, awesome to steal three points on a day when Bradley was awful. Hopefully Bradley is Bradley vs. Portugal and the US can get a result there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Ball Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Very interested to see how Belgium perform here today. Excellent squad on paper. Breezed through qualifying unbeaten. I feel like we cannot call them a dark horse though because everyone is calling them a dark horse, but they could definitely threaten the bigger teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 Very interested to see how Belgium perform here today. Excellent squad on paper. Breezed through qualifying unbeaten. I feel like we cannot call them a dark horse though because everyone is calling them a dark horse, but they could definitely threaten the bigger teams. That wasn't a very impressive qualifying group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabiness42 Posted June 17, 2014 Author Share Posted June 17, 2014 I missed seeing the foul, but Algeria just scored on a PK. 1-0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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