The Soccer Thread (V)

[amraeder]

Well ... poop.

 

[Smash Williams]

Yeah, what I said about Howard playing like ****? Still true.

Also, Mexican-style soccer might just be the ugliest thing to watch in this hemisphere. So much diving and whining and kvetching.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

That was all kinds of ****.

 

[Webster]

Smash, not quite sure how you can think that the 3rd or 4th goals were Howard's fault. The third was a perfectly placed shot and the fourth he was 1 v 1, forced the player to dribble and no defender stopped him and he hit a perfect shot.

 

[Smash Williams]

Fourth one is on him because if you're going to come out that aggressively as a goalie, you have to get the ball. His defense put him in a terrible spot, but he needed to cut his looses after the first dive and miss because he ended up just making the situation worse.

Third goal was a misread of the shot, which is something you can take.

First goal he got himself wrong footed and ended up with far too much weight on his outside leg cause he was thinking far post. The forward read that and went near post.

And the second goal was offside, which is why he was so screaming mad about it. That one I can give him.

 

[Webster]

The second goal was not offside. Chicharito never touched it.

The first goal was basically one on one. He had zero chance.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Well now our summer 2013 calendar opened up.

 

[kingcreole]

The second goal was not offside. Chicharito never touched it.

Was he offside on the initial cross? The actual goal, he was good.

Other than his shot off the bar, Clint Dempsey was the invisible man. Juan Agudelo did nothing. Freddy Adu may have been the player of the game for the USA. Bradley did some decent things but had two horrible giveaways.

Mexico's depth and creativity dwarfs that of the USA's. They have so many play makers, so many guys who do some dazzling **** on the ball, so many guys who can score goals. Chicharito was one of Mexico's least impressive players, and yet they still win 4-2.

 

[Webster]

He was a hair offsides on the cross. Not sure if it would have been called, but a smart move not touching the ball.

Adu can have moments of brilliance, but how many times can he dribble aimlessly into the right sideline?

Dempsey was invisible and sulky.

Bradley needed to be great and he drifted too often. Jones was also not there.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Drives me nuts the number of times Dempsey takes himself out of a play with a horrible dive.

The defense looked like the Washington Generals tonight.

Adu was very good again tonight, but it's very frustrating to me that someone could come in from exile and instantly be the architect of so much of the offense.

That Dos Santos shot was outrageous. It would have been nice if someone stopped him before he waltzed through the box, but damn, was that a nice finish.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

1. Blowing dos a cero is what makes me really angry.

2. Yeah, the Dos Santos chip was amazing. But there were six (6!) defenders in the box who failed to close him down. That doesn't even include Howard, who by all rights should be allowed to stab his back-line defenders.

3. The youth program better be churning out some new players soon.

4. The FSC color guy was horrible. He made Jack "Mine eyes have seen the glory" Edwards sound neutral. And worse than homing up on the USA, he often seemed like he was watching a different match.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

I don't give a **** if Univision is partisan. It's a much better viewing experience.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I don't get all the love for Howard. He rarely makes a transcendent save, and has come up small a time or two.

 

[MileHigh]

You can't gag away a dos a cero, even if you're playing at Azteca II.

Guessing Bradley will survive all this, but ... whatever. The last 60 minutes were a joke, with a bunch of statues in white who looked like they were playing defense like it was the NBA in the 1980s.

 

[MileHigh]

I don't get all the love for Howard. He rarely makes a transcendent save, and has come up small a time or two.

About his only accomplishment was his distribution to Donovan in extra time against Algeria.

 

[Mark McGwire]

The third goal was unstoppable. One timed, thing of beauty.

In no way can that be on Howard.

 

[kingcreole]

You're right in that Howard rarely makes the stunning save, but he can rarely be blamed on the goals he allows.

 

[mb]

So, guess we solved that starting-slow problem. What's next?

 

[Blitz]

Was out at dinner watching for all of the final period. What a dominant second half for Mexico.
Had a friend two weeks ago who watches lots more soccer than me, calling for the U.S. coach's head when they lost to Panama.
Does he survive this loss or is he in danger at all?
I say keep him ... even though they are consistently falling short still, there is at least some excitement and interest generated with the US program.

 

[derwood]

Bradley better be gone. We have conceded nine goals in last two GC finals.