FIFA 2009

[Baby Lee]

US short sided, and up 1-0 on freakin' Italy.

Are you kidding me?

[stlchiefs]

Originally Posted by kcxiv

Castillo's nickname isnt el diablo for nothing. lol

I'll just call him puta.

[WoodDraw]

Ref BS aside, we could've played so much better.

The inability to hold and pass the ball continues to kill us, just like against Brazil. We failed to play through the MF and the offense suffered.

Bocanegra played like balls. Cherundolo actually played well. Onyewu looked great, minus being a bit late a couple of times. DeMerit, whatever.

Bradley had a couple good balls late, but bleh. Did Clark play? Dempsey and Donovan were both average, although that's not entirely there fault. Davies looked good. Ching was Ching. Alitdore, not enough of a chance.

[Ultra Peanut]

Seriously, we were terrible.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

Ref BS aside, we could've played so much better.

The inability to hold and pass the ball continues to kill us, just like against Brazil. We failed to play through the MF and the offense suffered.

Bocanegra played like balls. Cherundolo actually played well. Onyewu looked great, minus being a bit late a couple of times. DeMerit, whatever.

Bradley had a couple good balls late, but bleh. Did Clark play? Dempsey and Donovan were both average, although that's not entirely there fault. Davies looked good. Ching was Ching. Alitdore, not enough of a chance.

What do you expect when you play without a midfield?

[kcxiv]

Originally Posted by stlchiefs

I'll just call him puta.

Funnything is thats what the Mexican fans yell everytime the oppossing goalie kicks the ball. lol

[WoodDraw]

How do we switch up the central MF now? We obviously need someone with more creativity. Maybe start Benny and have him play more forward? I've never seen Jones play, but if he can hold the ball and distribute it forward to Dempsey and Donovan, that'd be a huge improvement.

Bocanegra needs to slide down one on the depth chart too. I don't want to kick a dead a horse, but awful. Just terrible touch and form all around. Awful.

[Spicy McHaggis]

Originally Posted by Ultra Peanut

I hope Panama gets ****ing invaded.

Well, the US did back in 89. They might still hold a grudge.

[the Talking Can]

i didn't see it all, but listened to it


what i saw was a bunch of reeruns kicking the ball in random directions with random amounts of strength......can we really still not pass in the midfield? like ever? our freaking NATIONAL team?


fuk that was frustrating, i thought we'd lay it on them...

[WoodDraw]

Some final thoughts:

-Bocanegra needs to resign the captaincy. He's not the first choice starter at any of the defender spots, and needs to be relegated to first CB sub.

-We've got to learn how to possess the ball from the defense through the MF. Too many of our defenders (everyone other than Onyewu?) tend to boot the ball as soon as they get it, giving way too much possesion away. It might be time to look at alternatives in the central mid too.

-Ching no longer should start for this team. He couldn't even hold the ball when he got it today. And that's what he's there for.

Positives:

-Davies showed he's an answer as a forward. Probably the best US performance today.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

-We've got to learn how to possess the ball from the defense through the MF. Too many of our defenders (everyone other than Onyewu?) tend to boot the ball as soon as they get it, giving way too much possesion away. It might be time to look at alternatives in the central mid too.

I think this has been our main problem, our defense sends the ball directly to our forwards or out of play 95% of the time.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

Some final thoughts:

-Bocanegra needs to resign the captaincy. He's not the first choice starter at any of the defender spots, and needs to be relegated to first CB sub.

-We've got to learn how to possess the ball from the defense through the MF. Too many of our defenders (everyone other than Onyewu?) tend to boot the ball as soon as they get it, giving way too much possesion away. It might be time to look at alternatives in the central mid too.

-Ching no longer should start for this team. He couldn't even hold the ball when he got it today. And that's what he's there for.

Positives:

-Davies showed he's an answer as a forward. Probably the best US performance today.

Besides Onyewu, our defenders dive and (late) slide tackle way too often.

With that said - this loss is on Bradley. After the 10th minute, we had no players on the ball or behind the ball when Mexico had the ball. We literally looked like a hockey team on penalty kill with just about 10 men in or near the box.

I dont think Donovan had a bad game at all....same can be said for Jozy, etc. They freakin' never got any touches due to the penalty-kill "just clear it out" mentality.

I've seen the US play much, much better...and I've seen our midfield handle the ball at the very least repectably (Spain game and the 1st half of Brazil).

Yesterday's antics are a direct result of Bradley's gameplan. He must have thought we couldnt handle the altitude, smog, whatever....and the plan was to tire out mexico by hanging back and letting them bring the attack to us. Hell, I think 90% of the game was played in the last 25% of the pitch (unfortunately, that was our 25% of the pitch).

I mentioned it during the game yesterday...it was almost like watching Rocky fight Mr. T the second time.....trying to tire out the opponent by withstanding wave after wave of attacks. (except the US never went southpaw in the second half, nor went into any resemblance of an "attack")

Bradley pulled a Marty yesterday....when you play not to lose....you dont win. (and apparently dont "tie" either).

Oh...and Dempsey was worthless yesterday. With that said, there IS enough talent on this team to win (witness the Spain and Brazil outcomes) - but bad gameplanning has doomed this team before the first whistle has blown in several games now (mexico...at El Salvador...at Costa Rica).

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Besides Onyewu, our defenders dive and (late) slide tackle way too often.

With that said - this loss is on Bradley. After the 10th minute, we had no players on the ball or behind the ball when Mexico had the ball. We literally looked like a hockey team on penalty kill with just about 10 men in or near the box.

I dont think Donovan had a bad game at all....same can be said for Jozy, etc. They freakin' never got any touches due to the penalty-kill "just clear it out" mentality.

I'm not sure this is entirely true. I'd have to rewatch the game, but I think Davies and Ching both played forward for most, if not all of their time.

Regardless, I doubt his gameplan was "get destroyed in the MF and launch the ball forward from the defense." The bunkering look was a byproduct of never controlling the ball from the defense through to the MF. When your constantly making poor clearances out, allowing consistent attack from Mexico, your MF is going to be dragged forward.

That's the players, not the tactics. We depend far too much on getting a lucky counter from one of our forwards or attacking mids. That's fine, but you also have to be able to control the ball in the defense and MF. Dribble out of trouble and make controlled passes to set up an attack, or at the very least, hold possesion and slow the game down a bit.

Sometimes I wonder if I watched the same Spain and Brazil games as everyone else. We still had zero possesion in the Spain game, especially in the second 45'. If anyone wasn't nervous as hell during that, I want some of whatever pill they get to take. Same with Brazil, once they got things together.

Really, the biggest problem was that everyone not named Charlie Davies had a shit game. Some worse than others, but a strong bleh across the board.

Now we need to fix this shit, and soon. But let's remember - Mexico always wins at Azteca. And we came in and played with them for 90'. I was pissed off as much as the next guy, but not a terrible result.

[JuicesFlowing]

It would be nice if the US could control the ball. Every game I watch, they get outshot by a landslide, yet are fortunate enough to actually score and keep themselves in the game somehow. You can almost feel the loss coming once the opposing team just starts getting shot after shot after shot. The game against Brazil was the same way.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

I'm not sure this is entirely true. I'd have to rewatch the game, but I think Davies and Ching both played forward for most, if not all of their time.

Regardless, I doubt his gameplan was "get destroyed in the MF and launch the ball forward from the defense." The bunkering look was a byproduct of never controlling the ball from the defense through to the MF. When your constantly making poor clearances out, allowing consistent attack from Mexico, your MF is going to be dragged forward.

That's the players, not the tactics. We depend far too much on getting a lucky counter from one of our forwards or attacking mids. That's fine, but you also have to be able to control the ball in the defense and MF. Dribble out of trouble and make controlled passes to set up an attack, or at the very least, hold possesion and slow the game down a bit.

Sometimes I wonder if I watched the same Spain and Brazil games as everyone else. We still had zero possesion in the Spain game, especially in the second 45'. If anyone wasn't nervous as hell during that, I want some of whatever pill they get to take. Same with Brazil, once they got things together.

Really, the biggest problem was that everyone not named Charlie Davies had a shit game. Some worse than others, but a strong bleh across the board.

Now we need to fix this shit, and soon. But let's remember - Mexico always wins at Azteca. And we came in and played with them for 90'. I was pissed off as much as the next guy, but not a terrible result.

I respect your opinion - but I disagree with players/tactics.

We let mexico waltz the ball across midfield without a defender within 5-6 yards of the ball (and even players off the ball). We didnt apply defensive pressure until the last 25% of the field.

That's Bradley's tactics, not the players.

If 9 of your 11 men are in the box area, there's no one in a true midfield position to outlet the ball to. True, they shouldnt blindly clear the ball - but at the same time, no one is in good position for an outlet in the midfield (why do you think each time we tried to go up front to Davies or Jozy, there were 3 mexican players surrounding them?).

While the US has never controlled the ball with first touches like a Brazil or Italy....I dont believe these guys on our squad or so horrible that they cant stretch the field some and play up on the ball more.

Playing a game "not to lose" is not a good result in my opinion.

Why do you think we shocked Mexico in the world cup in 2002? We attacked...beat them at their own game. Even after scoring the first goal. We sure as hell didnt go into a shell and hope for a tie.

[Ultra Peanut]

Donovan played the full 90 at Azteca while suffering from swine flu.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_b...1n1-virus.html