2009 Confederations Cup

[Mathew81]

Any one know if the Champion of the Confederations Cup gets an automatic bid to the World Cup?

Just wondering with a win tomorrow, would we clinch a berth for the WC 2010

Nope.

 

[Zeno]

The only way I see us winning against Brazil is if it goes to PKs. If our defense plays as inspired as they did against Spain we have a chance to hold them scoreless--the South Africans almost managed to do that and our defense is much better than theirs. Unfortunately our Midfield continues to be inconsistent in the attack and that leaves the forwards without good service which means they will have very limited goal scoring opportunities.

I'm not suggesting we pack it in but they need to be smart when going forward or the Brazilians will kill us on the counter. Bocanegra & Spector both lack the ideal speed to track back after making long runs so any offense on the wings will have to be completely generated by the outside MFs(Donovan & Dempsey most likely).

It should be fun to watch regardless.

 

[Stout]

So pretty much what I said then about Dempsey (we'll disagree about Feilhaber for the moment - hoping he proves me wrong). I would like to see Dempsey and Donovan be allowed a bit more freedom. Dempsey is great when running at defenders and Donovan has proven he can control the play when allowed to play his own game.

No, you were pretty unclear with what you said. 'In a more forward role' to me read playing him as a midfielder that pushes forward, especially with your comment of him and Donovan switching flanks. I don't want to see Dempsey in midfield AT ALL, no matter what his role. He's too much of a defensive liability, and it more than overcomes his offensive capabilities. If you meant in an actual forward role, I wouldn't want him starting. As another poster pointed out, he doesn't hold the ball at all. His game has one thing and one thing only--take shots on goal. That's fine and dandy in an offensive sub, but we need someone better beside Altidore, someone who can do more than just shoot. And no, I don't think that someone is Ching or Casey.

So, no, not pretty much what you said, Milgod.

 

[Milgod]

No, you were pretty unclear with what you said. 'In a more forward role' to me read playing him as a midfielder that pushes forward, especially with your comment of him and Donovan switching flanks. I don't want to see Dempsey in midfield AT ALL, no matter what his role. He's too much of a defensive liability, and it more than overcomes his offensive capabilities. If you meant in an actual forward role, I wouldn't want him starting. As another poster pointed out, he doesn't hold the ball at all. His game has one thing and one thing only--take shots on goal. That's fine and dandy in an offensive sub, but we need someone better beside Altidore, someone who can do more than just shoot. And no, I don't think that someone is Ching or Casey.

So, no, not pretty much what you said, Milgod.

I fail to see how not starting a player of his caliber is good for the team. Dempsey to me is a player who's best attribute is running at defenders, not just one to take shots. I know national teams are different to clubs, but he manages to hold on to the ball fine for Fulham.

I hope Feilhaber has a great game I really do, I just want to see Dempsey play from the start.

 

[Lefty]

Dempsey with an early goal as the US is up 1-0 over Brazil. This is the first time in 15 games that Brazil is losing.

 

[BirdMan21]

Goal!!!! 2-0

 

[Lefty]

Donovan scores and the US just had a great shot at another goal. Up two, I hope they don't play conservative yet.

 

[BirdMan21]

Donovan scores and the US just had a great shot at another goal. Up two, I hope they don't play conservative yet.

They gotta just try to run Brazil off the pitch.....just embarrass them. Cause if we start dropping back, Brazil is the type of team who can score in bunches and beat us 4-2.

 

[PoolBoy]

Tim Howard has been amazing. So has Oguchi. greatttt first half.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

My hands are shaking a little. What an amazing first half.

 

[Zeno]

Nice half...my first sub would be Ricardo Clark though, he is giving the ball away in the MF way too much--just don't sub him for Kljestan...Davies is giving the ball away too but his speed is causing problems(and that was a sweet assist on Donovans goal).

My dogs are scared and won't hang out with me right now, me yelling "GOOOOAAAAALLLLL" twice, freaked them out.

 

[Ronin]

 

[Renz]

Choke.

 

[hafey]

Bradley is still a moron. The subs were Kjestan and Bornstein?? Horrible.

 

[Chaplin]

Feilhaber must have been really tired, he was one of the best players on the field for us in the 1st half.

And did Sacha complete any passes? I only remember him giving the ball away over and over again after he was brought in.

 

[PoolBoy]

yikes. USA looked dead mentally and physically in the second half.

 

[Milgod]

Tactics were the problem there. When they decided to stop attacking it was game over.

Still, this tournament has been better than anyone could have imagined. The team showed that they do have some ability to compete with some good teams.

 

[Chaplin]

yikes. USA looked dead mentally and physically in the second half.

I disagree. I just think Brazil REALLY turned on the afterburners. Physically we were a little tired keeping up with them, but I'd hardly say we were "dead".

 

[PoolBoy]

I disagree. I just think Brazil REALLY turned on the afterburners. Physically we were a little tired keeping up with them, but I'd hardly say we were "dead".

before Brazils 3rd goal Davies gave the ball away in their zone. GAVE it. after Brazil scored the first goal the teams will died.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I disagree. I just think Brazil REALLY turned on the afterburners. Physically we were a little tired keeping up with them, but I'd hardly say we were "dead".

The Brazilians ripped us apart in the 2nd. More energy, better set pieces, and more talent.

We need better depth than what I have seen this year. And unfortunately, Bradley hasn't come up with a consistent substitution pattern.

Also, we seem to play way to much defense when we get the lead. We have to continue to use the two strikers up front to keep our backfield from getting so damn tired.

When you are consistently defending you are wasting twice as much energy. When we can control the ball.... We look much more dangerous. Of course we played the two best teams in the world the last two games we played. And they should be expected to be harder to take off the ball.

No shame in this loss though. The world will take notice. USA! USA! USA!

 

[Wildcat05]

We can't be disappointed with the last 3 games of the tournament. Even the second half, it seemed like the talent wasn't there to compete against Brazil, but we still had our opportunities and played well.

Imagine, if instead Bornstein, we had a starter for the European champions come in off the bench. Well, that's what Brazil was able to do.

I'm not disappointed in Bradley either, he coached well. He got us into the final with aggressive attacking strategies (playing out of the back with pace and sending through-balls to our forwards on runs), which was much different than our first 2 games. He also started Davies up front to be the workhorse for Altidore, which was a great change from the start of the tourney.

I'm proud with how we played and I think some of the players could even have won themselves some good looks from some better European teams (Demerit and Davies come to mind). Those are my 2 cents.

 

[Zeno]

Feilhaber must have been really tired, he was one of the best players on the field for us in the 1st half.

And did Sacha complete any passes? I only remember him giving the ball away over and over again after he was brought in.

I was thinking the same thing in regards to both your observations. He brought in 2 guys that give the ball away too much(Bornstein & Kljestan) and added them to a midfield that already had one guy doing it so often I wondered if he thought his team wore yellow (Clark).

I'm hoping the Gold Cup helps a few guys emerge so that Beasley, Kljestan & Casey have a hard time even making the roster.

A lot of effort though, I can't be too disappointed. Brazil is better without any shadow of a doubt but we had guys play their hearts out.

Landon Donovan again was awesome as was Onyewu. If we can beat Spain 2-0, take a 2-0 lead on Brazil we can win in Azteca stadium in August. The players should have a real boost to their confidence.

 

[Zeno]

On another note....Clint Dempsey was awarded the "Bronze Ball" award for being the tournaments third best player, behind Fabiano & Kaka.

Tim Howard was named the Best Goalkeeper.

I wonder which of our players earned a transfer to a bigger club. Supposedly Rennes is interested in Rico Clark (why?) but I haven't heard much else.

 

[Stout]

It galled me that we gave up the lead, but it was still nothing to hang our collective heads about. Brazil IS the better team, and talent won out plain and simple. Granted, better managing (ALL of the subs were WTF subs to me, except for Casey, when Bradley had simply left himself no choice) could have won it for us, but we just don't have that good of a manager. It came down to the players, and theirs are better.

Oh, and if Kljestan ever sees the field again, I might puke. And someone needs to sit down with Clark, Davies and Altidore and knock some sense into them. I'd say coach them up, but with our coaches...ugh. Altidore stops playing and whines too often for my taste, and Davies and Clark need to figure out their assignments and make better decisions.

 

[Stout]

I fail to see how not starting a player of his caliber is good for the team. Dempsey to me is a player who's best attribute is running at defenders, not just one to take shots. I know national teams are different to clubs, but he manages to hold on to the ball fine for Fulham.

I hope Feilhaber has a great game I really do, I just want to see Dempsey play from the start.

You say that as if Dempsey is actually on par with the bigger stars of the world. He is not a must play and even after the last few games this fact doesn't change. He is far, far too streaky for us to rely on game-in and game-out. Sure, he had a good run of 3 games. How was he the...what was it, 4, 5, 6 before that? I'm not sure how many games it was, but he was putrid for quite a while before his hot streak. When he's on, he's on. We rode his hot streak and that was a good idea. When he's not on, though, he should be nothing more than a late offensive sub. He is NOT that good.