ucking:
dmmd98 said:
Absolutely.. Bruce Arena doesn't give a rats ass about the final result of these warmup matches. He uses them to work on certain areas of the team that need worked on (whether it's ball control, defending the flanks, or whatever). They will purposedly let their opponents have certain areas of the field when attack to work on certain aspects of their defense, and they will purposedly attack the same areas of the field to work on certain aspects of their offense.
The final score is meaningless. The U.S. has gone from looking like "complete shit" to "unbelievable' from game to game. It's not that their form has changed, it's just that the tactics and objective of the manager have changed.
It's all about World Cup preparations, not blowing out some chump team just to impress the crowd. You learn more from losing than you do from winning.
acw said:
Nobody has a CLUE as to who will show up or not show up at the World Cup.
A team can play three great matches and go 0-3. In Soccer, there are so much randomness with lucky breaks/bounces, perfect timing, and one single mistake that may cost a goal. In my opinion it's the most difficult sport in the world to handicap because of the amount of randomness/unpredictability.
Basing a team's chances on what they are doing in friendlies may be the worst possible route to follow.
Portugal and Brazil played to a 1-1 draw in April 2002 friendly. Where did their World Cup directions go?
France lost friendlies to Morocco and Russia prior to the 1998 World Cup? What happened?
Brazil drew 1-1 with lowly Canada in June 1994 Friendly.
These are irrelevant matches.
I realize these matches are meant for teams to prepare for the World Cup and you shouldn't put too much emphasis on the results but this USA team has problems. This is one slow soccer team. They have absolutely no pace whatsoever. Did they put lead in their shoes before the match? The other real problem they have is they give the ball away far too much in midfield.
The two things I mentioned above didn't really matter too much in their qualifying matches because they had far more talent than the teams they had to beat to qualify for the World Cup but when you play in a group with Italy and the Czech Republic, those flaws that this team clearly has will get them soundly beaten. They may be able to draw or get a win against Ghana but those are the only points this team will get in that group.
The two things I mentioned above didn't really matter too much in their qualifying matches because they had far more talent than the teams they had to beat to qualify for the World Cup but when you play in a group with Italy and the Czech Republic, those flaws that this team clearly has will get them soundly beaten. They may be able to draw or get a win against Ghana but those are the only points this team will get in that group.
soccerbob said:
soccerbob.. Arena said they were a little leg weary from training camp. Again, you are making assumptions based on watching one friendly that meant nothing.
This team is MUCH better (and faster and experienced) than the 2002 team that beat Portugal, and Draw with South Korea on their turf.
They have a tougher draw this time around, but the team is better, and I believe Italy is very vulnerable with all the scandals going on, they will be distracted.
Totally agree
Not only has Coach Lippi been dealing with this situation throuhout the Azzurri's training sessions...
Last night, starting Goal-keeper Gianluigi Buffon was summoned to leave the club's camp near Florence.
He was asked to meet with Parma prosecuter's this afternoon,which caused him to miss practice.
Team manager Gigi Riva acknowledged that the latest questioning of Buffon was affecting the Azzurri's morale...
" The state of mind isn't certainly the greatest,but that's the situation and we cannot hide it."
Team captain Favio Cannavaro told reporters that he and other players want to " know how the scandals will end."
Players also heard that foreign referees may be officiating in the upcoming Serie A season.
Sekrah said:
Not only has Coach Lippi been dealing with this situation throuhout the Azzurri's training sessions...
Last night, starting Goal-keeper Gianluigi Buffon was summoned to leave the club's camp near Florence.
He was asked to meet with Parma prosecuter's this afternoon,which caused him to miss practice.
Team manager Gigi Riva acknowledged that the latest questioning of Buffon was affecting the Azzurri's morale...
" The state of mind isn't certainly the greatest,but that's the situation and we cannot hide it."
Team captain Favio Cannavaro told reporters that he and other players want to " know how the scandals will end."
Players also heard that foreign referees may be officiating in the upcoming Serie A season.
Griffination said:
This is gonna hurt the US team down the road. They have 16 days until kick-off and Reyna gets hurt. WTF?!?!
I would rate Reyna as the 6th most important player on this team after McBride, Donovan, Beasley, Onyewu, Pope, and Keller
He is CONSTANTLY hurt and his value to the team is highly overrated. That being said, the MRI today showed it to be a minor injury, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he re-aggravates it in Germany during the WC based on his history.
Sekrah said:
Sekrah,
You need to learn, when Anorak CW speaks (through his only option open because hes got no personality, wait for him to cream himself talking about his database that he wanks over every night, ) you have to bow out and say, yes oh Lord. Remember, The Database is the Force, then Asian Books. Ignore this Bollocks and carry on contributing. :drink:
Griffination said:
Actually I think it means Dempsey will start and that kid can f*ing play. Personally, I think he is better than Reyna. Not 100% sure who the 4th starting MF was, but Reyna, Beasley and Donovan were the other 3. I am fairly certain Dempsey wasn't the 4th. Never good to lose a starter, but Dempsey can fill in very well.
fhmesq44 said:
Bingo.
The offense gets a MAJOR boost whenever Reyna isn't on the field. He's a holding mid and he has tendencies to slow the game down because he doesn't have the speed to take on defenders himself.
There's TONS of options available to fill in for Reyna. You can put John O'Brien in there and he can do a great job.. As mentioned by fhm, Dempsey is going to be a stud down the road. I would LOVE to see Dempsey get 90 minutes every game.
One could argue te defense is more vulnerable when Reyna isn't on the field,. but it's negligible. I've seen him have some rotten games where he wasn't hitting his passes and really leaving our guys in the back to bail him.
The point is, he's hardly one of the most important players on the team..
If you take away either Beasley, Donovan, or McBride, it would take away one of the three avenues of attack on offense and I'd be very worried about our ability to score goals. Neither of those three can be replaced. Onyewu and Pope are a very formidible central defense and there is hardly any depth behind him that can do what they do. Keller is one of the best GK's in the world when he's in the zone and he can single handily keep you in a game if the defense is faltering.
Reyna.. VERY replaceable. We've had to win difficult games without him int he past because of his injuries and we'd have no problem doing it again.
