Ode to the beautiful game... (Soccer)

What the bejeebers.... ?! Scotland and Germany tied 2-2 and the first half isn't even over yet! :wideeyes:
 
Horrendous USA loss to Brazil last night. We just looked completely and totally outclassed. Worse, the USA players appeared confused, clumsy, out of sync, and unmotivated. I wonder if Klinsmann has lost the team's support and goodwill with his constant lineup changes and overall lack of any coherent plan. Although there is a lot that I like about him personally, I think that after this and our GOld Cup disaster, if we do not at least play a lot better in our Oct playoff, I would not be unhappy to see Klinsmann go.
 
Er.. the US team is not that good. That result was expected. I think their individual talent just need to play more in international clubs to gain that finesse and more importantly attack. The Brazil had literally their best on their team (Neymar, Luiz, Marcello, Hulk etc) I mean that result or even the way the US played was not in doubt.
 
Yeah, of course Brazil is a better team than USA. We all know that. I think most USA fans probably weren't expecting a win here. But you want to see the team put up a good solid fight, and we didn't even do that.

My point is, right now we're getting worse, not better. I don't think you can argue that. Two years ago, we won the Gold Cup--this year, we played really badly and didn't even make the top 3. Last summer, we held our own in the World Cup and played quite respectably and with a lot of heart, if not a whole lot of technical attacking finesse. This summer, there is no chemistry and the defense is not working well together and is not being successful. We may not be a great side overall in the last few years, compared to the top teams like Brazil, but we were a heck of a lot better even a year ago than we appear to be now.

ETA: Some interesting comments from former USA player Eric Wynalda on what he sees as problems with the team: https://twitter.com/SiriusXMFC/status/641393801806770176.
 
clairecloutier said:
Some interesting comments from former USA player Eric Wynalda on what he sees as problems with the team: https://twitter.com/SiriusXMFC/status/641393801806770176.
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Wynalda's jingoistic commentary frequently grates on my nerves, but I think he's onto something in that podcast. I watched much of the first half before starting to flip back and forth to the Williams sisters, and I noticed how the US players were barely moving while several of the Brazilian midfielders were literally running circles around them. Brazil was constantly in motion, and the US was ball-watching like a U8 team. The players just didn't seem invested at all. I saw our B+ team play live in Amsterdam, and they definitely fought to the very last minute there, scoring the game winner late in injury time. Maybe that group of homegrown players just had better chemistry than our A team full of random dual nationals who couldn't make the team of the country where they mostly grew up. I like that Klinsmann brought in a lot of new blood, but maybe it was just too much and too quickly.
 
clairecloutier said:
Yeah, of course Brazil is a better team than USA. We all know that. I think most USA fans probably weren't expecting a win here. But you want to see the team put up a good solid fight, and we didn't even do that.

My point is, right now we're getting worse, not better. I don't think you can argue that. Two years ago, we won the Gold Cup--this year, we played really badly and didn't even make the top 3. Last summer, we held our own in the World Cup and played quite respectably and with a lot of heart, if not a whole lot of technical attacking finesse. This summer, there is no chemistry and the defense is not working well together and is not being successful. We may not be a great side overall in the last few years, compared to the top teams like Brazil, but we were a heck of a lot better even a year ago than we appear to be now.
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Germany lost to Italy 4-0 or something like that a few months before the World Cup in 2006 started and look how they ended up playing during the World Cup! And the majority of the players Klinsmann took to Worlds that year were unknown and very young. He had the courage to throw out the "big names" because he didn't care for names, he cared for how the players played and we all know how that turned out.

Friendly games are test games. They also give the players a chance to play against teams like Brazil and learn from it. It can also help a coach to point out the weaknesses of the opponents so that the team is better prepared the next time they play against that opponent during an important tournament.
Klinsmann needs to find the best team for the next big tournament. He also needs to think long-term not short term. What good does it do if the team wins a friendly against Brazil and then doesn't make it past the qualifier in the next big tournament because half the team he usually relies on was injured and the other half had no experience? Of course, everyone wants to see their team win but making a team out of the pool that Klinsmann has at his disposal doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen overnight for anyone, actually.

And lasty, when Germany lost in 2006 to Italy they didn't lose because they weren't able to keep up. They lost because they heard "Italy" and were intimidated by that name, because a key player for the team wasn't on the field that night, because they didn't believe they could win. In short, they lost for mental reasons, and a coach can only do so much, he can only give the players the tools to motivate them, but in the end, it's the players who are out there, and it's only them who can implement the tools and use them out there on the field and only the players who can motivate themselves and a coach has to find the players who do that best and that takes time.

And losing a friendly to Brazil is not so bad. The Netherlands lost against Iceland, among other teams and as of now, are in a very hopeless spot regarding Euros. Even if they win each of their remaining games, they'll only make it if the teams ahead of them don't win either. ...
 
Ahem... Nope... Man U :shuffle:


P.S.
Nothing against Man C but my heart belongs to another. :D
 
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Buzz said:
Oh my! The only EPL team to win in the CL this week is Chelsea! LOL
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It says something when the players are overjoyed and emotional to beat ... Maccabi Tel Aviv :p

What's going on with Stoke? They're not expected to win the title or anything, but they're also not expected to sit in 18th with only 2 points. Meanwhile, Leicester is in second :eek:
 
Michel Platini now says he might have told American officials that he would back their bid before eventually voting for Qatar.

The Uefa president, among the candidates to replace Sepp Blatter at Fifa in February, has repeatedly come under pressure over his decision to back the controversial Qatar campaign during the bidding process in 2010.

Platini admitted he changed his mind about voting for the US after attending a November 2010 meeting hosted by the then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy at his official residence in Paris, which was also attended by senior Qatari officials
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/sep/24/michel-platini-usa-2022-bid-voting-qatar
 
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