OT: Discusión del Fútbol (EPL, FIFA, LIGA, USMNT, USWNT, MLS, etc) - Parte Uno

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Spain and one of England or Uruguay will be officially eliminated after their 1st 2 group games. Crazy.

 

[Bananas]

What are our options w Altidore out?

I'd like to see j green in the line up. Maybe play a 4-5-1? Who's your choice for striker? I'd almost be tempted to play Dempsey there.

 

[sycamore]

Chile is my backup team in case anything happens to the US. I am absolutely smitten with them. Not only are they good, they are just fun to watch. They remind of the 2010 Caps with their damn the torpedoes approach to offence.

 

[Raikkonen]

Spain and one of England or Uruguay will be officially eliminated after their 1st 2 group games. Crazy.

Actually if there is no tie in England-Uruguay match the loser still has some chance if Italy will win their match.

One team with 9 points and three teams with 3 points will result in a team with better goal difference (between 3 of them with equal points) advancing.

 

[Raikkonen]

Klinsmann is not a loser. Period.

He is not a winner of WC either (with USA team).

I've got an impression he's actually a good motivator.

Anyway you need to beat Portugal and you're OK. I guess it's doable.

 

[Ajax1995]

What are our options w Altidore out?

I'd like to see j green in the line up. Maybe play a 4-5-1? Who's your choice for striker? I'd almost be tempted to play Dempsey there.

Frankly I didn't like the 4-4-2 diamond anyway so going back to a 4-5-1 with Dempsey up front would be my call also. He's strong enough to hold things up with his back to goal and having that extra man in the center of midfield should help them not get overrun there like against Ghana.

 

[artilector]

artilector, keep an eye for Chile. No one is talking about them because they are not a traditional power, but they looked utterly dominant against a scrappy Australian team. Their offence is phenomenal. I see Chile taking a lot of teams by surprise and moving deep into the tournament.

Nice call on Chile. They played great against Spain.

 

[sycamore]

Nice call on Chile. They played great against Spain.

Thanks.

From "hot" to "not", Cameroon might just be the worst team in the tournament. They don't seem to have any oomph whatsoever.

 

[RandyHolt]

@Syc

check is in the mail

 

[sycamore]

Rumor in the media now that Ronaldo may not play against the US on Sunday:

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2014/...t-of-the-u-s-game-and-possibly-the-world-cup/

 

[sycamore]

...and even if he does play, he's not going to be Ronaldo at 100%. So this is win-win for the US.

 

[artilector]

Speaking of Spain, I think their coach did a terrible job, the worst of any major team in my memory. At heart, Spain was Barca, and he littered the roster with players who were not suited/familiar with that style, while Xavi/Villa/Pedro/Fabregas mostly sat on the bench. Absurd.

 

[sycamore]

Columbia (along with Mexico) are notorious World Cup underachievers. I have faith they will choke somewhere down the line.

 

[Darkproducer]

incase US is out I'm rooting for the Taegeuk Warriors!

 

[RandyHolt]

Columbia Fun Bunch Skins

 

[Ajax1995]

Speaking of Spain, I think their coach did a terrible job, the worst of any major team in my memory. At heart, Spain was Barca, and he littered the roster with players who were not suited/familiar with that style, while Xavi/Villa/Pedro/Fabregas mostly sat on the bench. Absurd.

I think you could easily argue that Barca is not the same team it was even last year since they didn't win a single thing this season.

If you look at the team that started against the Dutch in the final in 2010 and the team that started against the Dutch in the first game this year there really isn't a whole lot of difference IMO.

Ramos for Puyol, who retired, in the center of defense
Azpilicueta for Ramos at right back
Alba, a Barca player, for Capdevila at left back
Silva for Pedro
Costa for Villa, two Atleti players now.

I think the loss of Puyol for both Barca and Spain isn't being given enough emphasis. His leadership was sorely missed by both teams.

 

[Ajax1995]

Columbia (along with Mexico) are notorious World Cup underachievers. I have faith they will choke somewhere down the line.

Columbia hasn't qualified since 1998 so I don't know how much the play of Valderrama, Higuita, Asprilla et al really has to do with this group of players. Obviously not having Falcao isn't going to do them any favors though.

 

[sycamore]

"Drogba" sounds like a Game of Thrones character.

 

[artilector]

I think you could easily argue that Barca is not the same team it was even last year since they didn't win a single thing this season.

If you look at the team that started against the Dutch in the final in 2010 and the team that started against the Dutch in the first game this year there really isn't a whole lot of difference IMO.

Ramos for Puyol, who retired, in the center of defense
Azpilicueta for Ramos at right back
Alba, a Barca player, for Capdevila at left back
Silva for Pedro
Costa for Villa, two Atleti players now.

I think the loss of Puyol for both Barca and Spain isn't being given enough emphasis. His leadership was sorely missed by both teams.

Spain actually started pretty decent against the Dutch, I don't think the final result was indicative at all of Spanish potential -- Dutch just had very uncommon finishing, and Casillas has been way subpar.

But even then, Pedro and Villa can be very significant players, especially considering that their replacements have been such a poor fit.

I agree that Barca's decline has been significant, but not enough, IMO, for an early exit. I didn't like the Spanish coach's choices back in 2010 either, as guys like Silva, Alonso, Torres were a poor fit then, as well, IMO. But the rest played so well, and other teams were so lost against them, that it didn't matter.

Still, in a short tournament like this, familiarity is a huge advantage, especially early on. I heard the commentators say that Costa was playing for like the 4th time with this Spanish team... that is insane for a squad whose main strength has been being on the same page as far as movement and passing.

 

[RandyHolt]

Nice dive by Rooney

 

[kmart]

Klinsmann is not a loser. Period.

He is not a winner of WC either (with USA team).

I've got an impression he's actually a good motivator.

Anyway you need to beat Portugal and you're OK. I guess it's doable.

i think u can compare him to bruce boudreau, great motivator, very little inside knowledge

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Suarez of all people putting England essentially out. Public enemy #1 a year ago, now where?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

i think u can compare him to bruce boudreau, great motivator, very little inside knowledge

Huh? Care to expand on that? One of the greats of all time as a player and he's what...you're suggesting not that knowledgeable about the game?

 

[Ajax1995]

...very little inside knowledge

Other than winning the World Cup with West Germany in '90 and the European Championship with Germany in '96 and earning 108 caps between the two to say nothing of his stellar club career you mean...?

 

[sycamore]

You think Spain's performance at this WC was bad? England has just about hit rock bottom. Can they even be considered a soccer power anymore? They won a WC in 1960, they got to the quarterfinals in 86, got to the semifinals in 1990...and it's been all downhill from there.

It's time for English fans to stop being so damn polite and start getting angry. This result is just not acceptable.