IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Yea but we have to play counter if we have any chance of not being down about 3-0 by half. If we try to go out and break them open we are going to get destroyed at the back.
2016 COPA America Centenario
Yea but we have to play counter if we have any chance of not being down about 3-0 by half. If we try to go out and break them open we are going to get destroyed at the back.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
World of difference between counter and turtle. IOW, not advocating being dumb (wide open attack).
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
I figured as much, sorry
I was really surprised at how many empty seats there were in Seattle. Pretty underwhelming considering many people call it the soccer capitol, there aren't many USMNT games there, and it's a knockout game in a major tournament. Columbia vs Peru got 79,000. That being said, the atmosphere still sounded really good which is the most important factor I guess.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Agreed. Very disappointing attendance. Especially considering how the Sounders draw. Guess CONMEBOL and CONCACAF figured the ticket price elasticity incorrectly.
Deleted member 533939
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Guest
The Soldier Field games were extremely overpriced. I have extreme soccer friends in my group and they didn't even consider going after seeing the prices.
I have a feeling this is going to be like the Belgium game in 2014 just hope Guzan can play out of his mind.
And if they sold the games out that would be one thing, but they didn't.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Well, that was discouraging. Couldn't string three passes together before turning it over. Certainly didn't expect a win, but total domination? Very disappointing.
Shane Walsh
aka "Captain Oblivious"
- Cynthiana, Kentucky
Argentina was on a whole different level skill-wise. At least it was not 7-0. :thumb:
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
No doubt. And virtually everyone knew that going in. But the way our guys played, decidedly no bueno.
Deleted member 3875
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Guest
Should have been in Portland.
Agreed, that was a sad performance. I was at the Argentina-Venezuela game - it was way more competitive than this match despite the similar 4-1 score line. I can't even count the number of silly turnovers the US had in the middle of the field.
Can believe WONDO started, he looked horrible. The only games he has every performed in our against low level CONCACAF teams. His turnover and foul lead to Messi free kick goal, which essentially wiped out the US chances.
Anyway, I hope the US shows up for the 3rd place game. It is important for them to perform well to erase the Argentina performance in my mind. Columbia or Chile are the type of quality teams that could easily run into in the WC knockout rounds. Need to take advantage of the opporunity.
ChiCityHoops34
- DeKalb IL
Bradley has been awful.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Wondo was really bad. Think his MNT days are over after Saturday.
Our mids uniformly sucked. Tons of unforced errors. Depressing.
Yes, team has to bounce back strong on Saturday. Pretty confident we'll be playing Columbia. Have to play them tougher than the first time.
We're a different team if Altidore, Johanson(sp), and Wood are on the pitch last night. I'm still intrigued by Julian Green who may be in the dog house for his club team because he is playing for the USMNT instead of the Germans U23 team. He's in the bundasliga 2nd division and performing pretty good. We'll be tough in 18!!!!
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
How many forwards are you going to play? Argentina would've El Tri'd us. Wood, sure. Altidore and Johannsson are Woods' backups. Our mids still have to get the ball to the forwards. They stunk. How many times did Dempsey get a touch last night?
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Bradley had actually been quite decent in the 2 games leading up to last night. Unfortunately, Jones and Bedoya were suspended. Bradley played out of position, and was unable to consistently complete a pass. Beckerman sucked as well, and was as much at fault on the first goal as Guzan.
I am not a soccer fan but will occasionally watch a US game. Has there ever been serious discussion about trying to eliminate the ridiculous flopping that seems to be an epidemic. Can't they give these idiots yellow cards for acting like they have been shot when they are brushed by an opponent. I realize that you would have to go back after the game and review it but surely something can be done.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
The ref can give a yellow or straight red for diving. Doesn't happen enough, but it does happen more frequently than in the past. It's definitely becoming a thing in the EPL.
The flip side is that the players are very exposed. What looks like a minor dustup can be excruciatingly painful. That said, lots of acting going on.
I've heard of youth teams having clinics teaching kids how to dive and flop?? That seems insane to me. Soccer is a rough and physical game but so is hockey. It's not so much the initial dive that drives me crazy it's the writhing around on the ground that I can't take. The remote control gets picked up quite often for me. I am sure I am not the only one.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
One of my sons played travel youth soccer at a very high level for 8 years. We were immersed in it. I have never seen or heard of teaching kids to dive and/or flop.
I have only been following futbol for about two years, formerly a USMNT occasional fan as you describe yourself. The more I watch, the less inclined I am to think the acting is significantly over played. Running full out and getting kicked in the knee, having your foot stepped on, or being thrown off balance has momentarily dropped me when playing basketball and softball back in the day. Watching up close slow motion replays every weekend during the EPL season I see a lot more of the actual contact. In a way, it reminds me of stubbing your toe, a few moments of real pain, some hopping around, and then gingerly going about your business.
Not NFL hits of course, more like MLB collisions, but sharp hits with no protection or possible prepping. There is more to it than it may appear, imo.
IlliniDent
- Chicago, IL
Anyone who has played soccer knows how much more painful or how easy it is to get knocked over when running full speed and someone clips you. Sure people embellish but still most people who haven't played think it's all just flopping.