2014 World Cup (Brasil)

kosherrock · **Joined:** Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:35 pm **Posts:** 3187

Jess wrote:

That Ghana game wasn't indicative of how the US likes to play or their strengths. They couldn't match ghana's athleticism on top of their speed. How physically imposing is portugal? I know they have speed but that's not enough to mimic ghana's game plan. Michael Bradley played an atrocious game and had zero first touch ability for some reason. The US likes to run their offense through Bradley and I think that's when theyre at their best. Bradley had been playing really well up until last night. I don't foresee him squandering so much possession and making so many unforced errors again. So I don't think portugal's matchup advantages are as big as you think. And Portugal may be without 2 of their best defenders.

i'm no sure no team is liking the way they're playing when they're being dictated to. you honestly think demarcus beasley has a shot in hell at defending cristiano ronaldo? keep in mind this team has never faced a player of his quality in a competitive match, that's not an overstatement, that's a fact. beasley is going to need help, and a lot of it. that's either going to keep jermaine jones or michael bradley out of the midfield operating where they're most useful. beasley and johnson needed help from the midfield, and they'd shoot up the wings, and leave an acre open...do that against guys like ronaldo and nani. portugal's advantages are exactly as big as i think they are.

kosherrock · **Joined:** Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:35 pm **Posts:** 3187

Jess wrote:

Jozy had a scoring drought for 6 months. But he scored as many goals against Nigeria 2 weeks ago as johansson has scored in total in his ten or so caps. Every striker has droughts. To focus on the drought is just an arbitrary assessment of a player. And against a team like Ghana you'd be crazy to want johansson on the field more than Jozy. Yeah he should have buried that shot. So what? Everyone does that. Everyone misses those shots some times. And that wasn't as simple a shot as Torres' flub. He had a split second to place the ball and chose wrong. Plus it's a lot easier for us to place a shot when we're watching from an aerial view. I don't get why a striker can get so much crap for that when they have a totally different view of the field in general and so sometimes deserve the benefit of the doubt. Torres just fucked up though. Calling jozy a clown for that is nonsensical, especially since his wonderful sub did less in 80 minutes than Jozy did in 20. And Ghana had 4 or 5 such chances they fucked up before finally scoring. Germany had at least 3. Bunch of clowns I guess?

a full, 38 round season is a pretty good sample size to get a grasp of someone's ability to score at a competitive level...jozy has been as productive as donovan during his sabatical. problem is, jozy misses those shots most of the time, at least lately, and by lately i mean the past year.

Jess · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:15 pm

I imagine klinnsman will recognize Ronaldo's skill and not leave Beasley out there alone with him. Jones and beckerman have more defensive roles so Bradley can be more offensive. I doubt Ronaldo is the fastest player they've faced. You seem concerned by his speed on open spaces. The solution is to not let Beasley or Johnson leave those spaces open. I don't deny Ronaldo's skill and superior ability on almost every situation imaginable but I think youre predicating this largely on open spaces for him to operate in which won't necessarily be there if klinnsman has half a brain. Slowing him down will go a long way to keeping him bottled up relative to his skill when he moves freely. This USA team is more concerned about physical imposing teams than speedy teams.

pgm · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:17 pm

On travel and temperature.

Jess · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:23 pm

kosherrock wrote:

Jess wrote:

Jozy had a scoring drought for 6 months. But he scored as many goals against Nigeria 2 weeks ago as johansson has scored in total in his ten or so caps. Every striker has droughts. To focus on the drought is just an arbitrary assessment of a player. And against a team like Ghana you'd be crazy to want johansson on the field more than Jozy. Yeah he should have buried that shot. So what? Everyone does that. Everyone misses those shots some times. And that wasn't as simple a shot as Torres' flub. He had a split second to place the ball and chose wrong. Plus it's a lot easier for us to place a shot when we're watching from an aerial view. I don't get why a striker can get so much crap for that when they have a totally different view of the field in general and so sometimes deserve the benefit of the doubt. Torres just fucked up though. Calling jozy a clown for that is nonsensical, especially since his wonderful sub did less in 80 minutes than Jozy did in 20. And Ghana had 4 or 5 such chances they fucked up before finally scoring. Germany had at least 3. Bunch of clowns I guess?

a full, 38 round season is a pretty good sample size to get a grasp of someone's ability to score at a competitive level...jozy has been as productive as donovan during his sabatical. problem is, jozy misses those shots most of the time, at least lately, and by lately i mean the past year.

Well I don't give a damn about Sunderland. I care about the USA team in the World Cup. And Jozy broke his international scoring drought 2 weeks ago and looked more dangerous against Ghana in 20 minutes than johansson did in 80. Does he really always miss those shots? Proof? And for the USA not Sunderland. And yes it is arbitrary to look at a scoring drought for a club and extrapolate that to international play and to assess the player in general based on it. He's not a world class forward or anything but he's been the usa's most consistently threatening forward and has goals to show for it. Hell, messi has had a year or two when he only scored 1 or 2 goals for Argentina. And I bet you Argentina fans don't give a damn how he does for barca if he's not producing for their own country.

clarksided · **Joined:** Fri Oct 15, 2010 6:06 pm **Posts:** 1912

that second belgian goal was sexxxxxxxxy

pgm · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:46 pm

'Twas.

Am I bad U.S. fan for not rooting for Brazil (against Mexico) here? I know they're our rivals, but I don't feel the rivalry outside of the CONCACAF context (as in, I don't feel it now), and I'd really like to see this upset.

Yngtchie Blacksteen · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:59 pm

Brazil's national anthem, that was a powerful display of passion and unity. Hoping the actual game will be even more passionate and memorable.

kosherrock · **Joined:** Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:35 pm **Posts:** 3187

this ref doesn't seem too concerned about safety. brazil is owning right now.

clarksided · **Joined:** Fri Oct 15, 2010 6:06 pm **Posts:** 1912

that was one hell of a save

Georgi · **Joined:** Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:37 pm **Posts:** 9165

Bones wrote:

Wanta, Mexico are displaying a brilliant "bus parking" if you're watching this game.

Nah not really

Hang · **Joined:** Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:04 am **Posts:** 3756

seriously. defending well =/= bus parking.

Ochoa is having an excellent game.

kosherrock · **Joined:** Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:35 pm **Posts:** 3187

Jess wrote:

Well I don't give a damn about Sunderland. I care about the USA team in the World Cup. And Jozy broke his international scoring drought 2 weeks ago and looked more dangerous against Ghana in 20 minutes than johansson did in 80. Does he really always miss those shots? Proof? And for the USA not Sunderland. And yes it is arbitrary to look at a scoring drought for a club and extrapolate that to international play and to assess the player in general based on it. He's not a world class forward or anything but he's been the usa's most consistently threatening forward and has goals to show for it. Hell, messi has had a year or two when he only scored 1 or 2 goals for Argentina. And I bet you Argentina fans don't give a damn how he does for barca if he's not producing for their own country.

yeah, apparently jozy doesn't either. he scores 1 goal, just 1, all season for sunderland, and parlays that into eight goalless matches against very weak opposition. as for proof, off the top of my head, go check the highlights of the turkey game, before that, the match against azerbaijan.yes, the drought was broken against nigeria, strictly in a literal sense, but his display was hardly anything that's going to change opinions. fact is, your boy fucking sucks, for club and country. and i've seen johansson put the ball in the net as of late. unfortunately, he had zero service last night as the long ball to altidore was really the last good ball played to a striker for the rest of the night.

kosherrock · **Joined:** Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:35 pm **Posts:** 3187

mexico has had some really, really quality chances, but how that ball has stayed out of their own net is beyond me. jesus.

this game is fun.

Forgotten Son · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2014 3:49 pm

With the wing backs pushing high up the pitch when Mexico have possession. This is far from an example of parking the bus.

2014 World Cup (Brasil)

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