We looked like SHIT tonight. Aside from the second goal most of the game's goals were fucking garbage (especially our first one). I am so pissed off right now. How are we supposed to compete with England if we let the Czech Republic (a fucking hockey country) hand our asses to us on a silver platter in soccer. No hope right now...we better win the next 2 friendlies.
And why the fuck didn't we start Tim Howard tonight? He would have saved the Czech's 2nd goal.... Jesus..
Classic overreaction, especially with 7 starters out and 7 guys that played at least a half that probably won't even see a minute in the WC or even be there for that matter. In 2002, we got our asses handed to us by The Netherlands in the send off series, then we turn around and beat Portugal, Mexico, and outplay but lose to Germany.
I know it's just a friendly to evaluate players but damn I don't like how they scored 4 fucking goals.
i'm guessing that its because he's had a nagging injury and we didnt want him hurting himself worse before the WC in a game that didnt matter at all
Why are people so in shock about how bad our reserve back line was? We have no depth there. If we can develop some back line players in the next few years (with what we have emerging up top and at mid), I think we can make a legit run in 2014/2018. It's hard to point to exactly what caused Gooch to misjudge the header on the set piece (whether it was physical or mental), but it was really bad. Torres (pretty sure it was him on the right side in the first half) really stood out. Really liked Buddle's and Gomez's energy and determination. Like Holden as well. Our WC success depends (as I expected it would) on how well our back line can hold up.
All playing Howard would have done would be to risk injury. Remember, he just went through an entire EPL season. No point in him playing this game. It was more for a final look at the borderline players.
First one was a baaaad mistake by Gooch and the others were all reserve players or keepers. It's not really indicative of much, except that we have no depth on the back line (which everyone knew going in).
We know Guzan will go to South Africa though, I mean we have to have at least 2 goalies there. Also, I don't think our defense was that fucking great. On one of their goals we had 4 guys in the box and their guy was on the outside and just kicked it into the box and our defense allowed a guy to just run in and score (I remember #21 just standing there).
I also think Turkey is better than the Czech Republic so we'll see just how good we can bounce back on Saturday.
That's a case of being fixated on the ball and forgetting to mark or know where the opposing players are. Even then, they couldn't clear. Lack of skill and/or experience. Once (forget his name, starts with an 'S') missed the desperation slide tackle, I knew they were in deep shit.
I didn't like losing because we looked like tards. But I know it wasn't our top group of guys when it got bad. There were so many good points to tonight though. Goodson looked good at CB. Torres, Edu, and Holden looked very good in the midfield. I thought Gomez did well, and thought Buddle did pretty well in the first half. I laughed when i read all the people saying leave gooch at home. He has 3 weeks still to train and get in shape. He was kinda held down on that header, but I thought he held his own moving around and playing defense.
I didn't know whether to or when the lobsterback announcer described Ching as 'dynamic'. And the ice on the knee was the final confirmation that Gooch wasn't 100% but if he got held down like that, it tells me he's not as close to 100% as I had hoped but like you said there's still a few weeks.
Don't care about what they were formerly, all I know is we are #14 in the world (apparently) and I believe the Czechs are somewhere between #25-35 in the world. We should have won when you think about it.
To Chings credit he had a few bright spots tonight. he did a good job holding it in a few spots and nearly led to a goal when he played it back to someone who played it to the corner of the box and flicked it to holden for a shot that was blocked. But there is no way we can play Ching in South Africa, outside of his ability to hold the ball, he brings nothing. No creativity in the box or when he has the ball at his feet. Buddle did just fine holding the ball I think. The team we played wasn't the 14th ranked team in the world. And while there's was to their ranking, they're no chumps...
Gooch played like shit, if Bradley wasnt naming a team tomorrow I'd would have liked to seen how Gooch responded to another 70 minutes after only a few days rest. That's my main concern with him and Holden. Can they bounce back and give the effort that is necessary at the WC for the US to be succesful. With them coming of injuries, their fitness will be in question till they can show that they can make it. Gooch is better than how he played tonight, he just seemed to be favoring his knee more than one would hope. Still think any success for the US in the WC is going to be based on how well Gooch can play.
The guy had his forearm on his shoulder and jumped off of him. I rewatched that like 5 times. Not much he could have done aside from marking the guy better
I watch a lot, and I know this was just testing some guys to figure out the final WC roster but I get pissed off at losses regardless. I'm just that kind of person when it comes to sports. Don't mistake my whining for not watching soccer. I need to work on my reactions to losses a little better, because I tend to get very pessimistic when it comes to sports. I mean fuck, I'm a Gamecocks and Braves fan for Christs sake.
whichever one of you keeps saying that the CR is a former top 10 country... ...that doesnt matter at all. their current crop of players is shit and it is disappointing to lose to them, period. having said that, it's not the end of the world but i want to kill bob bradley because he holds us back.
just waiting to see him cut a young guy who would help in SA for a "veteran" who is a possible liability...
Yeah well it's always frustrating giving up another goal in the 90th minute, glorified scrimmage or not.
Anyway, a part of me wants Bob Bradley to fail hard so Jurgen Klinnsman can perhaps become our next coach. I saw that they were talking to him at hafltime but I was in a bar and the fucking subtitles were moving extremely fast so I have no idea why he was there or what they were talking about. Can anyone clarify?
He was just there to be part of the broadcast crew. He mostly talked about whether or not gooch is ready, and the debate over whether to get your starting 11 some game experience together, or to give some guys a last minute shot to show that they belong on the squad.
Last 2 posts were top notch, sort of failed to take that into account in my overreaction. So will we play our starting 11 vs. Turkey or will it be similar to tonight?
There will be more of our 11, but Bradley is retarded if he tips his hand to Capello this close to the match.
Shit is a little bit of an overstatement when I can guarantee all their players collectively play at better club teams than the team we fielded today play for.
We need our back line to be Spector - DeMerit - Gooch - Boca with possibly Goodson in favor of DeMerit if he plays poorly. I don't see any other players on our roster who can compete at that level. Cherundolo gets entirely too much praise for being garbage. He might have had a prime, but he was getting worked last night and had zero chemistry with Holden on the right in the first half and barely anything contributed in the second. He's a liability on the right. Spector needs to be there when we open against England.
I don't know what game you were watching, but Cherundolo was one of our best performances last night.
Our left side was getting torched last night. not our right. Dolo isn't going to start but he has the RB #2 on lock behind Spector. The only defender last night that that is gonna start(or I think will) is Gooch. DeMerit, Boca, and Spector were all held out last night and expect our back 4 on Saturday to be them 3 + Gooch with Goodson getting time.
Grant Wahl just tweeted that Brian Ching has been spotted in the Hartford airport. Not a good sign for him making the final 23. (yes I have twitter. It's actually great for following sports.)
Um, you do know that they played last night in Hartford? He does have to leave Hartford one way or another...
American Outlaws via Twitter "Brian Ching boarding a plane bound for Houston at the Hartford airport, Didnt look very happy at all..Hmm? Thought Ching would've made squad "
Um, the final 23 is all scheduled to be in attendence in Bristol when they announce the team on ESPN. So if he's leaving now I doubt he's flying to Bristol.
leaving by plane would mean he's not leaving with the rest of the team (unless he's flying to Bristol or just skipping the ESPN announcement...)
My 23 pre-announcement: GKs - Howard, Hahnemann, Guzan (3) DF - Bocanegra, Onyewu, Demerit, Spector, Goodson, Cherundolo, Marshall, Bornstein ( ) (8) MF - Donovan, Bradley, Edu, Holden, Clark, Beasley, Feilhaber, Torres (8) F - Altidore, Dempsey, Buddle, Gomez (4) Cuts - Pearce, Bedoya, Kljestan, Rogers, Ching, Findley, Johnson I put Marshall in over Rogers, Ching and Johnson because as was evident last night, we need depth in back.
i thought Rogers had a decent game last night. doesnt help that our midfield is stacked. I would love to see Marshall make it, but with him not playing last night, I dont see him making the roster. even though it might be a little risky, i'd love to see Bornstein left off in place of Rogers. Boca, Spector and Dolo are all versatile enough to play the LB/RB positions. but if Bornstein has to go, he needs to be used only as a sub or as a last resort sub.