Official World Cup Soccer Thread

[Blackjack200]

The one where Puyol was grabbing him from around the back as Puyol was falling was clearly in the box. That should have been a PK.

I distinctly remember that as happening outside the box. Can you see what time it happened at so I can go back and look? (ESPN still makes the full games available, right?)

 

[Gooberlx2]

The one where Puyol was grabbing him from around the back as Puyol was falling was clearly in the box. That should have been a PK.

this one? Totally not in the box. If not, can someone link to the right one? I'm having issues with youtube today (I had to VPN to my machine at home to get there), and all the usual highlight sites seem to be blocked at work. (lol that IT caught on after it all ended)

 

[palswim]

The one where Puyol was grabbing him from around the back as Puyol was falling was clearly in the box. That should have been a PK.

That would have been a clear red card, but not a PK. As it stands, Puyol did enough to mess Robben up, but since Robben had the chance to shoot, there's no FIFA officiating precedent for that.

It's quite ironic that the one time Robben chose not to dive probably would have been the best time to go down.

 

[Terzo]

Terzo,

Up until the game with Ghana, I was most impressed with the US. Damn near zero flopping or tactics to cause cards. They took hits and got up and kept playing until the whistle blew when they could. They just sort of ran out of steam against Ghana.

I don't know if I was expecting too much or whether this is a legitimate criticism, but I was frustrated by two things. First, the tendency to give up a goal in the first 10 minutes or so, and second that it felt like our offense had so many chances on which they simply couldn't capitalize. Good or bad, watching our games always had me on the edge of my seat.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I don't know if I was expecting too much or whether this is a legitimate criticism, but I was frustrated by two things. First, the tendency to give up a goal in the first 10 minutes or so, and second that it felt like our offense had so many chances on which they simply couldn't capitalize. Good or bad, watching our games always had me on the edge of my seat.

Legitimate. But it's just a matter of improving the squad. I do like USA's style of play otherwise.

 

[Zargon]

Legitimate. But it's just a matter of improving the squad. I do like USA's style of play otherwise.

too much down the line and cross in.

we are too small a team to rely on the headball

few teams do it well, especially those with a striker named Klose on their team.

with donovan and dempsey and bradley we shoulda been feeding the 18 from the corner on the ground instead of the 6 in the air and let them shoot on goal IMO

 

[Blackjack200]

too much down the line and cross in.

we are too small a team to rely on the headball

few teams do it well, especially those with a striker named Klose on their team.

with donovan and dempsey and bradley we shoulda been feeding the 18 from the corner on the ground instead of the 6 in the air and let them shoot on goal IMO

Altidore has good size, doesn't he? I don't know too much about his ariel game though...

The problem with feeding the 18 is that it's pretty easy to defend. Look how much trouble Spain had with it, and they have much better players than we do.

 

[bigrash]

New Larissa Riquelme photoshoot pic: why is her mouth always open?. Also keep browsing through the slide for interesting pictures on the next page.

 

[Gooberlx2]

New Larissa Riquelme photoshoot pic: why is her mouth always open?. Also keep browsing through the slide for interesting pictures on the next page.

Yikes, some unexpected NSFW images coming from a yahoo sports news page.

 

[yuchai]

this one? Totally not in the box. If not, can someone link to the right one? I'm having issues with youtube today (I had to VPN to my machine at home to get there), and all the usual highlight sites seem to be blocked at work. (lol that IT caught on after it all ended)

For this play, the ref could have done 2 things:
1. Award a FK just outside the box
2. Award the advantage (which is what he decided here)

No offence to Robben but he does tend to fall quite easily. If I'm the ref and saw that he stayed on his feet, I can only assume that the tackle is soft and that Robben himself wanted to take the advantage on a goal scoring opportunity. After Robben failed to capitalize, it is too late to call the play back to have the free kick.

If the ref gave the free kick instead, you could again argue that he should have given the advantage on a goal scoring opportunity.

All in all it's controversial but I see no clear error here.

 

[Gooberlx2]

All in all it's controversial but I see no clear error here.

Agreed. I think the ref made the better (non)call. From my perspective (when I played) I'd much rather stumble through and go 1v1 with the keeper, versus allowing the entire team to reassemble themselves inside the box during a freekick.

 

[yuchai]

Interesting article on the final:

http://www.football365.com/john_nicholson/0,17033,8746_6256940,00.html

I find myself agreeing with almost all the main points that he made.

 

[Zargon]

Altidore has good size, doesn't he? I don't know too much about his arial game though...

The probably with feeding the 18 is that it's pretty easy to defend. Look how much trouble Spain had with it, and they have much better players than we do.

altidore doesnt have the brain for it yet. hes only 6 1 so hes not all the huge.

spains problem was slowing the pace down when they got to the box and playing with the ball

it was painful watching all the semi open shots pass them by only to make 3 passes then shoot into traffic.


another good article on the ref'ing

http://worldcup.football365.com/story/0,27111,18486_6256631,00.html

 

[Blackjack200]

altidore doesnt have the brain for it yet. hes only 6 1 so hes not all the huge.

Yeah, I was a bit down on Altidore but I felt like he really matured in this WC, even though he didn't score. I thought he did very well in the group stage.

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah, I was a bit down on Altidore but I felt like he really matured in this WC, even though he didn't score. I thought he did very well in the group stage.

I'm concerned about his scoring touch, he's really not done much on goal at all. Great pace and a force on the break, but I really want to see him start putting it into the net. I really enjoy watching him out there though.

KT

 

[Blackjack200]

I'm concerned about his scoring touch, he's really not done much on goal at all. Great pace and a force on the break, but I really want to see him start putting it into the net. I really enjoy watching him out there though.

KT

That's funny, beacuse it's the only part of his game that I'm not really concerned about. Even though he shanked a couple of shots in the WC, I've seen him shoot enough that I know it's in his toolbox. That shot in the 2nd half against England was fantastic, off the keeper's fingertips and then off the post, that's just unlucky.

Does the US have any young scorers outside of Davies and Altidore? I don't really know of any, not sure if Adu even counts at this point.

 

[KeithTalent]

That's funny, beacuse it's the only part of his game that I'm not really concerned about. Even though he shanked a couple of shots in the WC, I've seen him shoot enough that I know it's in his toolbox. That shot in the 2nd half against England was fantastic, off the keeper's fingertips and then off the post, that's just unlucky.

Does the US have any young scorers outside of Davies and Altidore? I don't really know of any, not sure if Adu even counts at this point.

Yeah, but he kind of looked like crap at Hull City. Maybe he's just not meant for the EPL, but aside from a few bursts here and there, he looked kind of lost whenever I watched him. Do we even know who he is playing for now? :hmm:

KT

 

[Zargon]

doesnt seem like it.

Altidores issues is an inability to get rid of the ball when he does have it. he makes 2-4 good touches, then bam

the dude couldnt even dribble on the breakaway when he needed to, and gave it up.

hes young, he spent more time in SA on twitter than he did playing soccer. he needs to grow up, sack up, and learn from Donovan and Adu

Dempsey is a true stiker, a cherry picking bastard that never gets back enough But I still like him, when he does play hard, he plays hard.

 

[kinev]

For this play, the ref could have done 2 things:
1. Award a FK just outside the box
2. Award the advantage (which is what he decided here)

No offence to Robben but he does tend to fall quite easily. If I'm the ref and saw that he stayed on his feet, I can only assume that the tackle is soft and that Robben himself wanted to take the advantage on a goal scoring opportunity. After Robben failed to capitalize, it is too late to call the play back to have the free kick.

If the ref gave the free kick instead, you could again argue that he should have given the advantage on a goal scoring opportunity.

All in all it's controversial but I see no clear error here.

I actually think the ref did the right thing in that instance. Robben kept posession and had a chance to score. Ref couldn't call the foul (but, don't be fooled, there was a foul). I was using the two breakaways as examples of the different styles of play: fighting and flopping.

As far as size goes for the U.S., unfortunately, Gooch has been our big guy for a while despite the fact that he is a horrendous defender. Before the World Cup began, I called that half of the goals scored on the U.S. would be at least partially his fault...I think I was almost correct. :thumbsdown:

I will say that I was glad that the U.S. got over their fear of taking the long shot on goal. Sure, we don't have the pinpoint strikers that other countries have, but as Dempsy showed, you can only score if you take the shot.

 

[Zargon]

torres is out again for a while, no surprise, he looked weak all cup


bornstein did a GREAT job replacing onyewu, who I always thought was a liability due to his lack of quickness on defense.

I hated findley after his first appearance but he did much better in his second game.

 

[KeithTalent]

torres is out again for a while, no surprise, he looked weak all cup


bornstein did a GREAT job replacing onyewu, who I always thought was a liability due to his lack of quickness on defense.

I hated findley after his first appearance but he did much better in his second game.

Poor Torres. Seeing him pull up on that break near the end of the Final, with the pulled hammy made me sad.

KT