Official World Cup 2010 thread

[Shzm13]

Result can't be changed... But the ref could get canned!

Malian referee Koman Coulibaly, criticized for disallowing a potentially U.S.-winning goal off a free kick in Friday's U.S.-Slovenia World Cup clash, may be dropped by FIFA for the rest of the World Cup, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.

Citing a FIFA source, the report says Coulibaly is poised to face an expedited performance review from the refereeing committee of world football's governing body. Officials plan to review footage on Saturday from the Group C game to evaluate Coulibaly's performance after several U.S. players blasted his handling of the match, Yahoo said.

 

[Stout]

Again, I think a lot of the Altidore criticism is over the top, but someone did make a good point, which I will expound upon. Altidore, I think, would be a very good partner to someone like...Davies (funny how good he was when he was paired with Davies, eh?). Altidore isn't terribly good when he is 'the' striker, but when he is partnered with a quick, technically skilled player like Davies, he shines. Granted Davies was still working on his technical skills, but he was very dangerous.

What is entirely stupid, and what I hope was not our purposeful game plan, is the poke-and-hope attack strategy. Simply booming the ball downfield and hoping our guy gets it is incredibly stupid and a massive waste of possession. If it's a goal kick then that is a different story, but our defenders and even midfielders simply kept turning and firing. Possession, possession, possession, especially against what should be a lesser opponent! Yes, Altidore should have been able to get to more of those, but when those are pretty much the only touches you have a chance to get as a forward, it's very difficult to get into rhythm.

 

[English on tour]

Laurel and Hardy, Algeria supporters.



I'm off to the pub. Hoping for a nice game ending in a great result.

the poor lads ears will be shot to *****.

 

[Chaplin]

Netherlands still hasn't looked all that great--but they got 6 points and are a lock to get through.

 

[Lorenzo]

I only watched the second half of the game because I've been out of town. But I thought jozy was a difference maker at that point. he was a difference maker and so far england and slovenia have had trouble dealing with him physically. I think Jozy's biggest problem is that he's a young arrogant kid, but that's about it. You know you are going to have inconsistency with any young player playing at that level. But I like that he is in the mix up front and is unlucky not to have a goal so far. he will break through soon. I think jozy will be a great striker(the best in USA history) if he continues to mature. At 20 years old he's already better than any other striker in their pool....aside from maybe dempsey or donovan if they are slotting up.

I agree with stout. In order for jozy to be effective he has to have guys creating chances for him so that he can put the ball in the net. In the second half against slovenia the possession and service was much better. I think the USA are wasting space with findley up front. dempsey is better off playing as a forward and putting an extra midfielder in like holden or feilhaber. Also bradley needs to figure out what he's doing to help bradley in the middle.

How effective does wayne rooney look with his lackluster midfield that is clearly better than what the USA is fielding?

 

[Chaplin]

I only watched the second half of the game because I've been out of town. But I thought jozy was a difference maker at that point. he was a difference maker and so far england and slovenia have had trouble dealing with him physically. I think Jozy's biggest problem is that he's a young arrogant kid, but that's about it. You know you are going to have inconsistency with any young player playing at that level. But I like that he is in the mix up front and is unlucky not to have a goal so far. he will break through soon. I think jozy will be a great striker(the best in USA history) if he continues to mature. At 20 years old he's already better than any other striker in their pool....aside from maybe dempsey or donovan if they are slotting up.

I agree with stout. In order for jozy to be effective he has to have guys creating chances for him so that he can put the ball in the net. In the second half against slovenia the possession and service was much better. I think the USA are wasting space with findley up front. dempsey is better off playing as a forward and putting an extra midfielder in like holden or feilhaber. Also bradley needs to figure out what he's doing to help bradley in the middle.

How effective does wayne rooney look with his lackluster midfield that is clearly better than what the USA is fielding?

I agree that he needs some time, but right now, he's not lucky, he's just not very good. He was only effective once in the England game and once or twice in the Slovenia game (including the header pass he made on Bradley's goal). The guy can't score for Hull City, he's not going to score against international defenders. I'm not saying kick him off the team, I'm saying stop overrating the guy.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I agree that he needs some time, but right now, he's not lucky, he's just not very good. He was only effective once in the England game and once or twice in the Slovenia game (including the header pass he made on Bradley's goal). The guy can't score for Hull City, he's not going to score against international defenders. I'm not saying kick him off the team, I'm saying stop overrating the guy.

This...

And to be fair... I really like the guy and think he will be very good for us in Brazil. It might be too early for him though IMO.

I think the best thing to happen to the US is that Findley is out for Game 3. Hopefully Buddle finally gets his shot and makes the most of it.

Buddle keeps possession so much better than Jozy or Findley and therefore should keep things calm up front.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Any chance we play a 4-3-3 and move Donovan up top against Algeria?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Altidore is our Emile Heskey: a striker who doesn't score.

He was our leading scorer in qualifiers....

He has had 2 or 3 great chances to score this WC thus far.

 

[Zeno]

Any chance we play a 4-3-3 and move Donovan up top against Algeria?

I seriously doubt it, Donovan is more comfortable/effective coming out of the MF. My guess is we will continue with a 4-4-2 with Buddle or Gomez partnering Altidore up top. It is anyones guess who starts with Michael Bradley (Edu/Torres/Clark), it might come down to who is looking better in training leading up to the match.

 

[Chaplin]

Any chance we play a 4-3-3 and move Donovan up top against Algeria?

No, if they were even entertaining moving any midfielders up to the front, it would be Dempsey, not Donovan.

 

[English on tour]

He was our leading scorer in qualifiers....

He has had 2 or 3 great chances to score this WC thus far.

That and Heskey is complete joke.

Its the reason we will never win anything, as long as we keep taking managers that pick the same squads of media darlings or those that have been in the squad for years it will alsways be the same.

I am not just saying this because he play for Sunderlsnd but how can you leave a man that scores 25 goals this year for one who scored 3 and could get a game for his club side...and then that the knacker in the World Cup?? The reason he plays he is becuase he can act a Rooney's minder. If you want to win you need to players up fornt who score and not play with what might as well be ten men. If Rooney if the player we all think he is then he needs to go out there and show he can handle the big time and not whine like an overpaid child.

 

[rode kardinaal]

Probably familiar already, but i laughed.

RT @curry684: The England team visited an orphanage today. “It’s heartbreaking to see their sad little faces with no hope” said Jamal, aged 6. #wk2010

 

[Lorenzo]

I agree that he needs some time, but right now, he's not lucky, he's just not very good. He was only effective once in the England game and once or twice in the Slovenia game (including the header pass he made on Bradley's goal). The guy can't score for Hull City, he's not going to score against international defenders. I'm not saying kick him off the team, I'm saying stop overrating the guy.

I'm not overrating him, neither is stout I don't believe.

I'm just saying he is not a guy that I would bag on. He is the best striker on this team aside from dempsey and donovan. and he is 20. a striker is only as good as the midfielders who are creating the goal scoring opportunity. and altidore shows ability to make something out of nothing and does well standing up tall on long balls. I am impressed by his play at such a young age.

I could care less about his performance at hull. for one, hull is an aweful team. Club play doesn't necessarily mean anything come world cup. look at rooney. He tore it up at MAN U, what's he doing? again as a striker you need help to get the opportunity to score a goal.

Jozy has played very well at such a young age when wearing his national colors at every level. and you can't fault him for trying to get overseas when he showed at age 18 that he was probably the best goal scorer(or one of the best) in the MLS.

 

[Lorenzo]

I seriously doubt it, Donovan is more comfortable/effective coming out of the MF. My guess is we will continue with a 4-4-2 with Buddle or Gomez partnering Altidore up top. It is anyones guess who starts with Michael Bradley (Edu/Torres/Clark), it might come down to who is looking better in training leading up to the match.

yeah donovan is our best offensive midfielder. dempsey is more likely to move up...but will probably start in the midfield early.

altidore is going to start alongside buddle or gomez unless bradley decides to pair jozy and dempsey from the start which will add another MF'er like holden or feilhaber.

the pairing with bradley will depend on the matchup i guess. clark is not a offensive minded player. he is almost like an extra defender and does not go forward. I think the flow looked good with torres and edu. you do worry about the goals surrendered though.

 

[Mathew81]

Italy currently tied with New Zealand 1-1 in the 2nd half. It would be a hell of a result for New Zealand if they could get a point here. Italy is really annoying with the theatrics on every foul.

 

[Lorenzo]

Italy currently tied with New Zealand 1-1 in the 2nd half. It would be a hell of a result for New Zealand if they could get a point here. Italy is really annoying with the theatrics on every foul.

yeah, but they are getting the calls. funny how that works.

 

[Milgod]

yeah, but they are getting the calls. funny how that works.

Who are getting the calls? Italy?

They certainly didn't on New Zealand's 'goal'.

 

[Lorenzo]

Who are getting the calls? Italy?

They certainly didn't on New Zealand's 'goal'.

yeah they did not, that's why it's only fair they got a cheap PK. I agree with that.

At least the official wasn't calling all of the flops at the end. he made them play on so that was good.

 

[Lorenzo]

the mali ref was the 4th official in the italia game....lol. i guess his presence was felt...some bad officiating was the theme again today.

 

[Shzm13]

Sunderlands Paraguayan boys are doing really well in this world cup. Its a shame we wont get to see Paraguay vs Netherlands, Paraguay would've been my pick to upset the Dutch.

 

[Chaplin]

the mali ref was the 4th official in the italia game....lol. i guess his presence was felt...some bad officiating was the theme again today.

By bad officiating, if you mean not calling dives, then you're right. And that penalty kick call was bogus as well. But otherwise it wasn't THAT bad.

 

[Milgod]

The penalty was definitely a penalty. He might have gone down easily but he was certainly be held. That is what we have been shouting about for the Edu call. You are not allowed to hold a person's shirt, the defender did.

 

[Chaplin]

The penalty was definitely a penalty. He might have gone down easily but he was certainly be held. That is what we have been shouting about for the Edu call. You are not allowed to hold a person's shirt, the defender did.

That happens dozens of times a game. Come on now.

I've said there were fouls like that in the Edu goal, but I've never said that a call should have been made. It was a no call because that happens every time in the box. EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

[Shzm13]

Go Ivory Coast!