Thoughts on yesterday's match...

[AzzurriDawg4]

We played better than the score indicated, even though we were lucky to get the equalizer. Some of the best ball possession I have seen from the US against a quality opponent. Probably the best ball possession and passing that I have ever seen from the US in a world cup.

Onyewu made a couple of mistakes, but overall was awesome yesterday.
Cherundolo is probably my least favorite US player, but he played a GREAT game yesterday.
Findley can fly. Jozy is going to be hell in Brazil in 4 years I think. He is strong and fast. I hope he can leave his mark on this cup, I still dont know how that ball didnt go in yesterday, even after it hit the post.
Really good game by Bradley. He showed good vision and played a couple of really good balls. He was also tough in defense.
We will need more from Dempsey and Donovan, but they both had their moments in the game. Donovan played some great balls and Dempsey of course got the equalizer.
DeMerit didnt have the best game. I really put that Gerrard goal on him. He was out of position when Heskey received the ball and played it in to Gerrard.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

We played better than the score indicated, even though we were lucky to get the equalizer. Some of the best ball possession I have seen from the US against a quality opponent. Probably the best ball possession and passing that I have ever seen from the US in a world cup.

Onyewu made a couple of mistakes, but overall was awesome yesterday.
Cherundolo is probably my least favorite US player, but he played a GREAT game yesterday.
Findley can fly. Jozy is going to be hell in Brazil in 4 years I think. He is strong and fast. I hope he can leave his mark on this cup, I still dont know how that ball didnt go in yesterday, even after it hit the post.
Really good game by Bradley. He showed good vision and played a couple of really good balls. He was also tough in defense.
We will need more from Dempsey and Donovan, but they both had their moments in the game. Donovan played some great balls and Dempsey of course got the equalizer.
DeMerit didnt have the best game. I really put that Gerrard goal on him. He was out of position when Heskey received the ball and played it in to Gerrard.

 

[Sutterkane]

the last 30 it was like we were hanging on for dear life. I thought it was only a matter of time before Rooney scored. I thought it'd be just like everyone on the pack had predicted, a late giveaway while it was tied.

 

[patdog]

England is arguably the most talented offensive team in the world and they were desperate for a win. You had to know they were going to give us all they had that last 30 minutes and our defense (including the goalkeeper)held up. I don't think many defenses in the world could have held up to that kind of pressure.

 

[Fresno Bob]

From Azzurri's thoughts, I'd take the ball possession the last 1/3 of the game as one of the keys of why the defense held up. Not that we dominated it but had any at all. I think you're right on just that the defense got a boost from the fact we had the ball in midfield and had scoring chances late in the match giving the D somelegit down time.</p>

 

[Sarc Dawg]

Passed the ball well and didn't just pack it in all the time waiting to counter with 1 or 2 players sprinting forward. There were a number of nice build ups and passing sequences. Really pleased by the way we looked.

That being said- was NOT impressed by England. Lots of stars, but they didn't play as a team until late. Their back line is not very fast, and for all the talk that their manager is a genius he still started someone who couldn't physically make it to halftime.

And Sutterkane, if youcould get a copy ofthe US Gold Cupwin against Spain last yearyou'd see the definition of holding on for dear life.... yesterday was nothing compared to it.

 

[patdog]

This is supposed to be their "Golden Generation," and it's coming to an end with a long history of underachieving. As you say, for a "genius," their manager looked like an idiot yesterday. He had to sub a player in after just 15 minutes, and not because of an injury. That's unheard of. By the start of the 2nd half, he'd already used 2 of his 3 substitutions.

As for possession, I saw a stat that the US had possession 46% of the game to England's 54%. That's pretty damn good for the US to be that close against a team like England.

 

[qbdog]

DeMerit didnt have the best game. I really put that Gerrard goal on him. He was out of position when Heskey received the ball and played it in to Gerrard.

That goal was all on Ricardo Clark and no one else. He lost focus on that throw in and Gerrard made him pay. DeMerit was right on Heskey but he just made a good pass.

 

[SilentDog]

i'll give you Rooney, but after that they don't have anyone else in the top 25 or 30 forwards in the world.</p>

 

[jsireland]

jay demerit had a great game. you know why? bc rooney didn't do anything.

 

[SilentDog]

apologies.

last post was in reference to PatDog's retarded mumbling of "England is arguably the most talented offensive team in the world..."

 

[StateLover]

that other players besides forwards can play offense. England's dangers start with Rooney. But they also have Lampard and Gerrard who are two of the best attacking midfielders in the world. Not to mention Lennon running all over the place and Cole and Johnson flying forward from their outside back positions.

I think it is safe to say that they have one of the top attacks in the world.

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

As far as offense goes, I would rank them:

1. Spain
2. Brazil
3. Argentina
4. England
5. France

 

[Todd4State]

how good are the other two teams in our draw?

I don't know much about either of them. It sounds like Algeria is the World Cup version of the Charleston Chiefs. I know nothing about Slovenia.

 

[rugbdawg]

Algeria...not so much.

 

[Hotel Roosevelt]

England was by far the toughest game for us and a draw is a good result. Both of us should make it out of the group stage. I don't know much about Slovenia or Algeria myself, aside from what the commentators talk about during and between matches on espn.

If you put any stock in Fifa world rankings,
#8 England
#14 USA
#25 Slovenia
#30 Algeria

 

[TheStateUofMS]

Azzurri I can't believe you liked Findley's play! He was God awful. He took dives, lost the ball, lazy...just a bad game. I would start Buddle over him the next game and sub him out for Gomez if needed.<div>
</div><div>I thought DeMerrit had a great game and I wouldn't put that goal solely on him, but on the defense in general in marking up. When a player makes a run people just need to communicate better and someone get on him, so I wouldn't blame it on DeMerrit but the defense in general.</div><div>
</div><div>Donovan and Dempsey need the ball at their feet alot more, they just know how to make plays and Dempsey knows how to find the back of the net.</div><div>
</div><div>You are right about Cherundelo, he played awesome. Maybe the best player for us yesterday.</div><div>
</div><div>Overall I thought it might be one of the best modern US performances in terms of just playing really good quality soccer. They possessed the ball, had good service from the wings, had some nice shots on goal, and some good individual efforts from players like Dempsey and Altidore at times.</div><div>
</div><div>I think we're in good shape. After watching Algeria and Slovenia we should outscore them at least 5-0. If we allow a goal to Algeria we're in trouble.</div>

 

[AzzurriDawg4]

dude is hella fast. I would like to see what Buddle or Gomez could do with extended PT though.

 

[rugbdawg]

as dogs than favorites. We can't choke away the opportunity we earned against England.

 

[rugbdawg]

of the Slovenian game. They are going to sit back and defend...we need Torres' offensive skills and creativity. They shouldn't pressure us too much on the defensive end so no need for Clark.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

of the Slovenian game. They are going to sit back and defend...we need Torres' offensive skills and creativity. They shouldn't pressure us too much on the defensive end so no need for Clark.

After watching Altidore blast through, Jamie Carragher, I think it was we need to play more through balls and balls over the top to Altidore. I think that's something major we could use to our advantage with this size, strength, and speed.

 

[rugbdawg]

nm.

 

[patdog]

And England's midfielders are outstanding. They "only" scored 34 goals in 10 qualifying matches to get to the World Cup. That was 8 more than the second highest scoring team.

 

[patdog]

#5 England
#17 USA
#42 Slovenia
#82 Algeria

We should get two wins, or at the very least a win against Algeria and a draw with Slovenia. Either result would be enough to get us through to the next round. Algeria looked very unorganized and undisciplined this morning. Slovenia is good defensively, and has a good goalkeeper, but they showed me no offense at all.

 

[o_1984Dawg]

Judging off of that game only, England and the US will be trying to outscore each other because we'll both be finishing with 7 points. HOWEVER, if Slovenia can beat Russia they can beat us. Algeria though, I just don't know. They won't get a point from England so they could just be ready to go home when they get to us or they could be motivated to get at least a point from Africa's World Cup.<div>
</div><div>Either game, I'll be disappointed if we don't win.</div>