Bradley should be fired for the Clark move alone. Any idiot with a Television and eye balls knows who was the albatross THROUGH QUALIFYING..(this is not new) When I saw Clark as a starter, I had a terrible feeling of foreboding.
Section, I have NO idea what gane you were watching if you thought the US dominated Ghana. It was men against boys throughout the first half. The US got back into it in the 2nd half and had a pair of chances, but Ghana dominated extra time. They were technically better and the first 45 minutes was pure domination in terms of keep ball and making the US look as limited as they are. And Alex, I don't get your point. Appiah gets caught by Edu and the left fullback gets cramp. As for dirty and cheap, look no further than that dreadful Riccardo Clark tackle on Kevin Boateng in the first half and THE most cynical foul of the tournament by Steve Cherundelo who purposefully raked his studs down a Ghanain calf after he'd been beaten. That was dreadful. Oh, and the guy who had his shorts pulled and then released only for him to run three yards into the area and fall down in the hope of a penalty.
Lalas is such an *** and it's no wonder pretty much everyone hates his biased guts... "if the whistle didn't blow and Ghana didn't get a chance to regroup after the 90s minutes, the US wins easily because Ghana was winded." In other words, If there were no such thing as a foul in basketball, Shaquille O'Neal would average 100 PPG throughout his career. What about if the whistle doesn't blow at halftime against Slovenia, or even in this game? ****ing idiot.
You saw the same thing all of us that followed them saw...a team that was terrible with WHOEVER played the back four..and a team that lacked quality to finish from their strikers. As soon as any team can play with the US in the midfield (big disappointment today) they are screwed.
Thing is Sect, he took Clark off 90 minutes before the end of the game. The US had more than enough time to bounce back. And to be fair to Clark, Michael Bradley was getting mugged off as well in the first half. If Bradley had been booked, you could make a strong case that he'd have subbed his boy given how they were being given the runaround.
I saw the same game you saw. You just repeated the same thing I said. You just don't know the US like us watchers of the US know. We all knew trouble was coming with Clark. Ghana dominated the first half. The US dominated the second half. Ghana took extra time. Period. they deserved to lose. Nobody has said anything different.
are we counting the goal directly relating to clark's play or just the minutes? are we counting the cost of having to sub a player in the first half?
The US was flat the whole game. I didnt get the sense that Ghana was better. The better team doesnt always win in soccer or any sport for that matter. I just think we were gassed from the first round and Ghana played with more energy. In the end they deserved it
Yep. Guts, determination and team spirit only get you so far. It's a tough ask for Landon Donovan, your only 'quality' player to play at such a consistently high level when you know that if you shut him down, essentially you shut the US down. You don't possess a world class player and you need a decent sprinkling of those when you step up against classy opposition. A lot is made of the importance of Clint Dempsey, but the reality is that in the Premiership, he's a jobbing 2nd striker for a very, very middle of the road side in Fulham. Jay DeMerit plays for Watford in the league below the Premiership, etc.
Taking your sweet *** time is one thing. Faking injuries is bush league IMO. I'm not saying that it would have mattered, but basically Ghana was saying that they didn't have a whole lot of confidence that they could shut out the US in the extra time.
You didn't suffer with Ricardo Clark like us partisans did Boom. Bradley played even in the first half and stayed even. that was the difference really. But the Clark move proved to be a disaster and cost us a goal. Although I blame Howard for that goal. Ghana deserves the win. The US had them and couldn't bring themselves to put them out of their misery in that second half. But the same breakdowns happened that happened 2 years ago vs. Honduras. HONDURAS.
considering the technical deficiencies of the team, edu and feihaber should be starting. they can both handle pressure and pass onyewu not being fit also ended up really hurting. jay demerit essentially plays on spirit alone on defense lol
All of that is understandable and I agree...... But he whole of the US squad is better than which colors you wear in the premiership. if we held a draft in the Con Cup ..we would have laughed..yet the US beat Spain and had Brazil down 2-0. All we ask as partisans..is the same organization. Dempsey is a lucky ****....I ****ing love him. he falls down and a goal goes in. Give me those guys every day.
You took Clark off because he was already on a yellow card against a team that was moving the ball quickly and there was a strong chance you could have played a half or longer with ten men. The substitution of Clark didn't actually, tactically do anything. Because Ghana were playing Asamoah Gyan on his own up front and five in midfield, it meant that Dempsey had to tuck in and Donovan had to do the same. The US was getting overrun by Kevin Boateng floating and no-one picking him up and then Ghana's ability to push the fullbacks on allowing them to get the ball wide. The only difference Edu made at that point was that he was better in possession. He played better in the second half but at that point the substitution made no tactical difference.
Feilheiber made more difference to the way you played than anyone. Crazy name, crazy guy. You looked a better team with hikm in it. Was Buddle injured? Only, Herculez Gonzalez was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
You didn't see Clark get pulled over and over again for the same mistakes for 2 years. This time he turned it over for a goal...and grabbed himself a Yellow for good measure. he has been our Third banana to play next to Bradley for 2 ****ing years. it has been a musical chair. I as soon just bring on DeMarcus Beasley to play in Donovan's spot and play Donovan next to Bradley...He is that terrible.
i think the team can use some fresh foreign eyes to manage the squad. bradley envisions a squad that cannot be. we also cant forget davies either. goodness, if he was on the field...he can operate with others and is creative
All of those things are things we scream about Boom. Bradley plays favorites...and boy...Clark has been his boy...Herc Gomez is his new love.
More of a question for the USA coach is why wasn't Benny Feilhaber starting? Forget the Edu/Clark thing, I don't think Edu did much of anything offensively, although he didn't screw up like Clark did. Feilhaber on the other hand changed the game in the second half. I think he freed up Bradley/Dempsey/Donovan and they looked much more dangerous going forward. I still say Dempsey is the best finisher and the best on the ball when pressured. Clearly Donovan is good at crossing and from set pieces, but he certainly struggled today when pressured on the ball.
it was bradley smacking his head and admitting a mistake. the kid gets a yellow and f's us in the first few minutes. possession was everything in that first half. im not sure im following you because as soon as edu came in we held the ball and moved. and he actually plays good position defense. he even turns his head to check what is going on around him!
BTW..Findley...again..did a Spectacular job of running really fast in a straight line. LOL The Fins should sign him to run clearing routes. I will give you 20 to 30 strikers that bury that chance he had in the first half.
I take the Confederations Cup defeat of Spain with a pinch of salt though. Great result, but when you look at that tournament, Spain were flat physically. Almost all of their players had battled out the league titles in La Liga or the Premiership in 2007 and our contingent of Spaniards played in the 2007 Champions League final in Athens at the end of May. Then straight to the European Championships. Xabi Alonso had played 62 games even before the Euros. They win that tournament, have 2 weeks off and are back at their clubs, again fighting for the biggest prizes in Club Football. The Barcelona players won La Liga and the CL, the Madrid players pushed them all the way, the Liverpool players lost in the CL semi and lost the Premiership by 4 points. Again players like Torres, Alonso, Arbeloa played for us at the very highest level in four competitions and if you look at the Spain side, Puyol, Pique, Xavi and Iniesta were all mainstays of Barcelona's season. They go straight into the Confederations Cup and looked exhausted. I'm English not Spanish so could care less, but I think it's a very vital factor in what happened in that competition. Take nothing away from the US but that wasn't reflective of how good Spain are.
It's always tough to come into a game like that, but Hercules looked about 20 leagues out of his depth bud.
another bang your head against the wall question. this is what we are talking about. it would be one thing if these guys were being sat for some young flashy phenom or something. its frustrating. they are obvious choices for a team needing creativity benny is foreign born. i think you asked that earlier
hes great for headers against bad teams though. in fairness he is fearless and isnt afraid to challenge the keeper. the team as a whole lacks that sort of recklessness that can get you lucky
yeah he's Brazilian originally but you wouldn't know it from the name, lol... I wanted to check the roster to see how many were born outside of the US for curiousity.
shot in the dark. id like to see mark cuban or some billionaire soccer fan to buy a team and start offering contracts to top american athletes to convert to the sport. ultimately money is holding the sport back, imo. too many world class athletes going elsewhere
Cannot complain, the match was fairly called, Ghana simply outplayed the US. I have to question Coach Bradley's methods though, Ricardo Clark was a disaster in the the last round, and made a horrible decision with the ball on Ghana's first goal. The other thing that bothered me about Bradley and this US Cup team was, it was the same team, it never improved in a single phase of the game, the defense was leaky early, the passing never firmed up, and the lineup was a mess and Howard gave up dummy goals. To me, the US won despite Bradley's Coaching moves, not because of them.
only 4 of the 23 US players play in the MLS. Double edged sword... the 19 who don't get good exposure overseas, great experience since those international leagues are of a higher quality... BUT, the MLS suffers because of it. MLS needs more money behind it to bring in better players. In time perhaps...
disturbing trends almost always trickle back to coaching in any sport there has been a call to elevate expectations, the first step is coaching
The thing is, the US team just was NOT that talented, Bradley did a fine job in his results with that squad, however when you have Donovan and Howard as your two frontline "grade A" players, and a handful of minor players you just are not going to win consistently. Bradley's oddball moves didn't help, however at the end of the day when a team is outmanned, it is outmanned, add in the US's remarkable ability to not capitalize opportunities consistently and a Sweet 16 appearance is a good job this World Cup. Seriously when your only talent is heart, sooner or later the ship will smack into the sandbar.
