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Wow. 2-0 Mexico at half and it isn't a mirage, they are outplaying Brazil and creating the best chances. Brazil isn't the same team without Kaka and Ronaldinho...not to mention Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos (who I think both are retired from int'l soccer).
We'll see if Mexico folds in the second half and if Brazil steps it up.
It's weird. Mexico always gives Brazil fits, for some reason.
Brazil played much better in the second half, but they still need to improve quite a bit if they want to beat Argentina, or even make it to the semifinals. Right now, this team has a bunch of holes in it. The defense isn't looking that good without Lucio. Gilberto and Maicon just aren't that good in my opinion, but it's not like there are much better options out there. Vagner Love hasn't played well for the National Team, but Dunga has been giving him plenty of opportunities. And of course, with Ronaldinho and especially Kaká out, this team is having problems when it comes to creativity.
I expect them to look better against Chile and especially against Ecuador. Hopefully the next two games will be enough for Dunga to find the best possible starting 11 for the quarterfinals (if they make it that far).
By the way, it's the first time I post in the World Sports forum, but I've been reading the soccer threads here for a while. For some reason I'm rooting for US a little bit. Maybe it's because I want soccer to be more popular in the United States... I don't know.
__________________ About halfway through the 70-minute workout, Bucks assistant coach Brian James told the players he wanted them to "put the ball on the floor," meaning take a dribble before shooting. Fesenko was first up, and after taking a pass near the baseline, he softly set the ball on the court and walked away looking puzzled as if to say, "Why did you want me to do that?"
Last edited by PetryJr; June 27th, 2007 at 08:17 PM.
I'm not expecting a lot from the US tonight, I hope they don't bunker down, they need to attack the Argentinians all game long. Nobody expects them to get a result anyway, why not take the chance we can catch them unprepared for the US. I think a lot of people expect us to bunker down, play sort of like Guatemala does against us, 10 players behind the ball and 1 real attacking player. I just have a feeling it won't be like that. Argentina is the strongest team in the group why not go down fighting? We can get points in the next couple of games if we play as well as we are capable and that will get us out of the group stage.
I'm not expecting a lot from the US tonight, I hope they don't bunker down, they need to attack the Argentinians all game long. Nobody expects them to get a result anyway, why not take the chance we can catch them unprepared for the US. I think a lot of people expect us to bunker down, play sort of like Guatemala does against us, 10 players behind the ball and 1 real attacking player. I just have a feeling it won't be like that. Argentina is the strongest team in the group why not go down fighting? We can get points in the next couple of games if we play as well as we are capable and that will get us out of the group stage.
Sadly, I think we will bunker down. We've long had the mentality that, to beat the great teams, we have to focus on defense first. That mentality, which I fear will carry over from Arena to Bradley, will net more losses than wins or draws. I think we need to all-out-blitz attack Argentina to take this game. I doubt we can take it, because of our roster, but you never know. I think that's the only way our young kids stay in this thing.
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Veni, vidi, vici--this goes out to all our NFC West chums
Thank you for breaking the circle of suck, Bidwill--Stout, December 7 2008.
__________________ About halfway through the 70-minute workout, Bucks assistant coach Brian James told the players he wanted them to "put the ball on the floor," meaning take a dribble before shooting. Fesenko was first up, and after taking a pass near the baseline, he softly set the ball on the court and walked away looking puzzled as if to say, "Why did you want me to do that?"
__________________ About halfway through the 70-minute workout, Bucks assistant coach Brian James told the players he wanted them to "put the ball on the floor," meaning take a dribble before shooting. Fesenko was first up, and after taking a pass near the baseline, he softly set the ball on the court and walked away looking puzzled as if to say, "Why did you want me to do that?"
Last edited by PetryJr; June 28th, 2007 at 06:03 PM.
We are incredibly lucky to be tied at the break. We are being used and abused. Over about the last 15 minutes, I decided to time how long each of our possessions was. The longest was 5 seconds, and that was being kind.
The gameplan sucks, and our players are clearly outclassed. We're not trying to press at all and keep lobbing useless balls into their end, needlessly turning it back over and meekly sitting back and bracing for the counterattack. I wasn't sure who the one player was for a while, then discovered it was Mapp...he is bloody useless. All he does is paw at the player holding the ball and fouls. Johnson is even weaker than Beasley, if that's possible. Thankfully he got fouled in the box to give us the penalty. Every other time, when he can press forward and use his speed, he pulls up short and is easily dispossessed.
I lay a lot of this on Bradley. By bunkering in and simply lobbing useless balls forward, he's telling the team they aren't good enough to hang, and they're playing like it. We're not attacking the ball, and thus hardly get possession. When we do get possession, we're not trying to keep it and push forward...we just lob it right back. Bradley needs to change at halftime, or we'll be toasted. We'd be down at least 3-1 if it hadn't been for Keller.
__________________
Veni, vidi, vici--this goes out to all our NFC West chums
Thank you for breaking the circle of suck, Bidwill--Stout, December 7 2008.
I agree with everything Stout said except about Mapp. He made a few boneheaded moves, but at least he was involved in what little attack the US had. Did Clark or Olsen even touch the ball tonight? How many times did Twellman jump and miss the aerial ball by 10 feet? When the US did actually put head on ball, there was no intention or direction, seemingly heading just for heading's sake.
Also, the first Argentina goal was due to horrible defense. I don't know if the US was trying the offside trap, but it obviously didn't work. There were more Argentines in the box then US players immediately after the kick.
I'm sorry to be negative about the one good thing for the US, but it would be really nice to see Johnson finish in the run of play. I've seen him do it in MLS, so what's the problem? It looked like he could have blazed past the defense on a few occasions, but always pulled up.
The result was expected, but it would have been nice to see some flashes of good play.
Man, I don't know what to say.....I was hoping we'd have a better opening than that. One thing that really bugged me about tonights game was the fact that after we fell 1-2, our midfield and front line did not push forward to try to equalize. If we were already losing, we should have just pushed forward and risked a little more. What the hey....we were already losing!
There were even a couple of times when Mapp and Gomez seemed to get the ball and started to move towards Abbondanzieri's goal but NO one was accompanying them except for like 6 Argentinians. I don't even know whether to blame the players or Bob Bradley.
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