The US is still looking for a player to combine with Bradley, and a consistent striker that will apply pressure. Brazil unveiled what is basically the WC winner for 2014. At least 8 of 11 starters saw the pitch for Brazil tonight. I was impressed.
Neymar turns out to be so nasty on football manager 10 by like 2012. There's no way that Santos can hang on to the both of them for too long. So ready to see Arsenal this weekend. Hopefully Cesc,RVP(coming back to training late), Song, Diaby (injury) will be available. If not, things could get interesting. Looking forward to some Wilshere though. Also this is the last plug for my fantasy premier group. It's fun and free, pm if interested, gracias.
Dont be so fast my friend....Germany will be in their prime by then.... Either them or the USA bro!!!
I love the german squad...but let's get real here.... Unless Jesus H. Christ himself puts together a soccer team with Mohammed, Buddha and Vishnu as midfielders...NOBODY..and i mean..NOBODY is beating Brazil in Brazil. and after i just saw what was a preview of their 2014 squad....forget it. I am going to enjoy the tournament in 2014 to see who makes the final to lose to Brazil.
I agree Sec ultimatelly I do...however bro, thats why they play the games right?? I cant even imagine Brazil in 2014 the country, it is gonna be chaos bro....I am planning on going....myself, and my buddy, HD said something about it too.... Do I smell an interested Section?? hahaha me and you would end up on that "Locked Up Abroad" show
IDK if I would go...I hear they have serious crime issues. But going for that WC is something that is right up my alley.
yeah yeah thats what I meant....I wouldnt go visit tomorrow...but the WC, with thousands upon thousands of people there...I would... I was in Germany when it was there.... Off. The. Hook.
Very true, the players will become more experienced and do things differently, and they may even have some more talent making the step-up.
It's going to be Germany or Brazil Hopefully the US will keep Bob Bradley and he can continue to improve the US squad. God knows the US needs to improve.
The US is not that bad IMO. They fared well in the last World Cup and appear to have some youngsters on the team that once developed, could do nice things. Rumour is Jurgen Klinsmann may be taking the job and if he does, he could take them pretty far because he's a quality coach IMO. He's better than Bob Bradley IMO.
That is who i want. it is time to take the next step and challenge for some hardware. Qualify for the Con Cup, push for the semi-s in Brazil 14'.
The US is not that bad IMO, but they are not a world class team, IMO. I've seen so many people from the US, (not you), that think the US is such a class team in the world that they need to come down to the real world. IMO, the US still have a long way to go to become a real contender in the World Cup. Losing to Ghana (twice) doesn't help the matter. Some day the US will be contender
Santos rejected a 20 mill bid from them a little while ago. Real Madrid were after Ganso before the special one took over, not so sure now.
That is such a misnomer. In every single World Cup I can remember, there has only been 4 or 5 realistic contenders in each. Making the semi-final doesn't make you a contender. The US's concern is about making the top ten and being a consistent threat to the semi-finals in the WC. There are only 4 or 5 REAL world class teams. and One of them can't seem to win anything. (England) This is the class..and nobody else: Brazil Spain Germany England Argentina Italy Knocking on the door: Nederlands France The US is with everybody else. The goal is to get into that group.
i dont see how you can have england in that group and the nederlands outside of it. england is a paper tiger every world cup. they never play like a team. i would put nederalnds ahead of england until england proves that it can field a team and not just a bunch of superstars running around like individuals
So can you put your finger on why they suck? because IMO, when you have that much talent and you lose..there has to be something wrong.
too many chiefs? :shrug: They have talent but can't put it together. It's like the MLS All-stars or one of the Pro Bowl squads. I would also put us in the "knocking on the door" group with France, I'd put England in there, and move Netherlands up to the top tier. I think we're on the verge of being perennial contenders, seriously. I am on board with Klinsmann and am hoping they make a move for him. there were rumors of Bradley going to Fulham or Aston or something; would love to see that. Neymar is fun to watch; dude has skills.
I think its a combination of things. I don't think they have a quality manager. I don't think they always select the right players who work well together. I also don't think that they react well to the bright lights. It's just the way they are IMO. There are guys you can trust, and guys that you can't. No offense to the English but they are the latter IMO.
one of the things that i wonder if it has any impact is that it seems from this amateurs eyes, that the leagues in england allow a far rougher brand of soccer than is allowed at the world cup. it seems to me that that might hinder englands defense when they play in the workd cup in that if they play the type of soccer they are used to they will get carded all day long in the world cup
Honestly, I'd be surprised if that was an issue. IMO you have to be physical to win and I think it showed when a team like Holland, who got yellow cards nonstop, were rough and physical with their opposition. They made it to the finals that way IMO. I also think there were other factors contributing to their run but I think their physicality was one of them. I think Germany's physicality in the midfield was also one of the reasons why they were one of the better teams in the World Cup despite being inexperienced. Even Spain had some moments of physicality. Ultimately, I think it comes down to the midfield of teams and you look at the teams that went pretty far, they have a strong midfield.
I think England's problem this past world cup wasn't the manager's, pressure or wives fault, it was a lack of quality players. Look at the team the fielded. Keeper's were weak. Green is decent but James doesn't have anything left. Hart will be playing in the next finals for them but he really only has one full season's experience at the top level. John Terry's off the field issues had a serious impact on him at the end of last season and carried over. King and Rio can't get off the trainers table and I don't know what Cashley Cole was doing but he looked terrible. Carragher isn't what he used to be. They do have players like Jagielka, Dawson, Richards, Upson and Gibbs that can step in. Gerrard and Lamps haven't really ever played well together and the problem has never been sold. Maybe having Gerrard drop deeper or something would work. Lampard will turn 36 during the next W.C. and Gerrard will be 34 so there could be some drop in quality/international retirement/left out of squad scenario's going on. Joe Cole will be 32 and if Fabio is still around won't play. Milner and Barry are good but will they lead a team to the finals? Wright-Phillips, Lennon and Walcott all have great pace but can't cross for the life at them. Anyone of them could have tormented Bocanegra on the left with their pace when we played them but it didn't happen. I don't rate carrick very high. A good role player for good teams but not a difference maker. I think they could have used Adam Johnson on the left. He should be in the squad in 2014. Wilshere and Rodwell are both being regarded wonderkids. Will be fun to see their growth, especially Wilshere hah. It would be nice if they had a tough DM, someone to do the dirty work. Either I forgot someone or they are lacking. Rooney will be 29 and still the man. Problem is who to play with him. Crouch sucks. Heskey sucks. Defoe will be 31 and I think will lose some pace. I think Darren Bent is England's 2nd best right now and he'll be 30. He could play. Youngsters who could play by then possibly Victor Moses, Delfouneso, James vaughn, Sears, Welbeck, and Sturridge. I think England making it to the quarters would be a reasonable result, possibly even over achieving. Of course the British media won't be to happy with it. And they suck at pks, go Portugal.
The problem with England is that we think we're better than everyone else and by turning up we'll automatically win and as past winners it's only hindered us at every competition since. We have a media that is obsessed and have way too much power over the public influence. We've got to accept that we are a tiny island with a limited population we could choose from and a league where 50% of the players are from all over the world and only 4 teams have qualified to play European football over the past 15 years or so with little English representation. Our style of play isn't suited to the rest of the world and once plan A doesn't work we don't have a plan B. Our robust style of play get’s us killed by talented passing teams and “lower” teams simply sit and defend knowing we have no other way of playing. The players we are producing simply can't play together. There’s no team ethos involved, I was at the game on Wednesday and it was plain to the eye that the players had one on the start of the Premiership this weekend. The rivalries produced by the big four make this almost impossible for the players to gel when called up to the England squad. Maybe getting an English coach will help? I don't see that Capelo has done much wrong since his appointment (although the press are killing him over Beckhams retirement!) he can only pick the players and give tactics - it's the players on the pitch that aren't performing - maybe EPL players have to much influence over team selection / manager popularity? That’s my rant on England over with and really looking forward to this weekends games – hopefully Arsenal will kick Liverpool’s *** (I’m surrounded by 4 scouse fans at work!) Have you guys joined skulls fantasy league yet? My team is called “The Winning XI” Also, I’d like to see Rangers and Celtic enter into the English league and no disrespect to RangerPhin but if Scotland’s big two did enter the Championship I see them being there for a good couple of seasons before hitting the premiership and a few more before they broke into the top 8 of the Premiership – it’s a hard league to get into let alone stay in and the top 7 or 8 championship sides are probably capable of matching them. Hope your teams do well this weekend (as long as you support Arsenal!) lol.
I agree with the above post regarding England's problems.. they do think they are better than everyone else but they also think they deserve it more than anyone else. The team gets psyched out when the big tourney's start, feeling all the pressure they have created themselves and they play too tight. They don't adapt to the oppositions style of play and it's nowhere to go but downhill. On Skull's fantasy league, is there still room? Never played in a fantasy soccer league before...
Kudos to ESPN..... I am excited for the opening of the EPL. 7:30 AM is gonna be tough for TOTT vs. MAN City, but I am definitely going to see the the second half.
If you put the US on the knocking on the door list, you have to put Ghana (sp), ahead of the US then. They have beaten the US twice in the World Cup.
tivo baby, it's your friend! I'm looking forward to this season. My EPL teams are Everton and Fulham, and i've lost both managers
Would love to have Klingsman....love it....I think the USA needs to learn how to win at the World level...they dont know how too...they get by on determination, and being gritty...Klingsman could bring that knowledge...
I would admit they could very well be on the knocking on the door list, but I think the US is a better team overall. I admit they have beaten us twice, but when you count everything (as a body) of what they've accomplished, I wouldn't say they're a better team. Example: Mexico has beaten us numerous times in head-to-head competition, but in any game that isn't us versus mexico, we're better; and the points results show this. We beat them in the Confederations Cup, and we finished at the top of our Group for WC qualifying (ahead of Mexico I mean, who had to play all the same teams we did). Example 2: England has never beaten us in WC competition (in fact we've beaten them once, and tied this last time). I still consider England a superior squad, even though in direct competition they haven't had our number. Analysts agree here, I think, as you see England consistently ranked in the top 10 in the world, and we've never gotten near the top 10. Ghana has had our number twice now in direct competition, but outside of those 2 matches against us, their track record is nowhere near as good as ours - and I'm talking in all competitions, not just WC. But all that said, I'd agree with you that they're on the "knocking on the door" group as far as the world stage goes. I also happen to think they are very well coached. I thought Baboo72's analysis of the English team was spot-on, btw
