The Official 2014 World Cup Thread

[HoodieBets]

I'll agree with Jermaine Jones. He had a hell of a game. Best he has had in a US shirt. My 2nd was Bedoya. He played his heart out on defense. They gave Dempsey man of the match. He scored a great goal but did nothing afterwards. He doesn't really help on defense.

I agree on Bedoya he was the best player out there for lengths of the game. The questions have to start coming on how well conditioned is this team. Too many cramps and muscle injuries.

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[dreamcastrocks]

Beckerman for man of the match or riot!!


All kidding aside, I didn't think he was as atrocious as Stout seemed to think. I'd put more of the blame on Beasley on the left side, and Bradley for playing like absolute crap all game. He's supposed to be the man (along with Dempsey I guess) and was totally awful.

Agreed. Beckerman is never as bad as Stout says. If there is a change to be made, I'd like to see Chandler get another shot. Beasley had a rough, rough game out there.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Beckerman for man of the match or riot!!


All kidding aside, I didn't think he was as atrocious as Stout seemed to think. I'd put more of the blame on Beasley on the left side, and Bradley for playing like absolute crap all game. He's supposed to be the man (along with Dempsey I guess) and was totally awful.

I agree on Bedoya he was the best player out there for lengths of the game. The questions have to start coming on how well conditioned is this team. Too many cramps and muscle injuries.

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The Altidore injury can happen to anyone. It happened to Cointreau in the Portugal match. You also can't plan for a hell of a kick to the nose that Dempsey took. Besler and Bedoya on the other hand, maybe you could argue.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

PS that pirlo shot that bended over the wall was one of the nicest shots I have seen that didn't make the back of the net. He amazes me every time I watch him he just has such a command and touch over the ball. A rare breed don't know if Italy will ever find another like him when he decides to hang up the cleats

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Indeed. That shot was pure magic. He is the best in the world at free kicks.

 

[Stout]

Agreed. Beckerman is never as bad as Stout says. If there is a change to be made, I'd like to see Chandler get another shot. Beasley had a rough, rough game out there.

No way! Chandler has been worse than Beckerman. Although Chandler showed flashes earlier in his career, he's been awful. We're just going to be weak at LB, that's all. We know it and can plan to provide cover. Sadly, Beasley is our best option right now.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

No way! Chandler has been worse than Beckerman. Although Chandler showed flashes earlier in his career, he's been awful. We're just going to be weak at LB, that's all. We know it and can plan to provide cover. Sadly, Beasley is our best option right now.

Yeah, he made a mistake against Turkey, but I still like Chandler over Beasley.

 

[Chaplin]

And I must say, Taylor Twellman is a terrible color guy--he knows very little about the tournament. When it was tied, he said that this game wasn't crucial for the team. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that. Had he not seen who else is in our group? For us to even have a small chance, we HAD to have a win here. Mathematically, we could still advance with a draw, but that would be extremely difficult. To me, winning this game was a must.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

And I must say, Taylor Twellman is a terrible color guy--he knows very little about the tournament. When it was tied, he said that this game wasn't crucial for the team. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that. Had he not seen who else is in our group? For us to even have a small chance, we HAD to have a win here. Mathematically, we could still advance with a draw, but that would be extremely difficult. To me, winning this game was a must.

I say he was right. Portugal is ripe for the picking at the moment. If we win that game we would have been at 4 points to Portugal's 0 and Ghana's 1 against Germany. I would have taken that in a pinch.

His biggest point was that we cannot afford to lose.

 

[ajcardfan]

And I must say, Taylor Twellman is a terrible color guy--he knows very little about the tournament. When it was tied, he said that this game wasn't crucial for the team. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that. Had he not seen who else is in our group? For us to even have a small chance, we HAD to have a win here. Mathematically, we could still advance with a draw, but that would be extremely difficult. To me, winning this game was a must.

Yeah, that was weird. I thought they must have been told by ESPN to talk up the US' chances if there was a draw to keep ratings up.

 

[crisper57]

98.7 is carrying the US matches. Listened to the last 20 minutes on my drive home. The radio duo seems to know its stuff.

 

[HoodieBets]

The Altidore injury can happen to anyone. It happened to Cointreau in the Portugal match. You also can't plan for a hell of a kick to the nose that Dempsey took. Besler and Bedoya on the other hand, maybe you could argue.

A hamstring is more in danger when dehydrated than not. At times Besler Bedoya Cameron Johnson and Jones all cramped up. It is a concern when it wasn't nearly as bad of conditions as it will be in the upcoming games.

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[Kel Varnsen]

98.7 is carrying the US matches. Listened to the last 20 minutes on my drive home. The radio duo seems to know its stuff.

That was JP Dellacamera. I used to listen to him call Pittsburgh Spirit indoor soccer when I was a wee lad.

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The broadcast could have used some filtering of the crowd noise, though. I couldn't hear much of what the color guy was saying.

 

[cardfaninfl]

Not a fan of the Diamond Formation or Kyle "Medusa Hair" Beckerman, but we beat Ghana in a World Cup match. Job done. I was listening to the BBC commentators (30 seconds after Jozy went down, Twellman's comment about Donovan being left of the roster made want to never hear his opinion again) and the Brits were condemning most of the USMNT players, with exception to Beckerman, Jones and Besler. In the Diamond Formation, Beckerman is being asked to play as a high-line defender. It aint sexy, but he did his job.

In the Diamond, the two central mids are asked to double-team opposing wingers, and help support the wide backs run forward. Jones and Bedoya did their jobs, as well. The biggest problem for the US was DeMarcus Beasley's inability (or unwillingness) to counter-attack once possession was regained. Give credit to Ghana for not only recognizing the weak-link in the American armor, but continuing to exploit the problem. We saw how well Fabian Johnson plays the role as a Diamond wide-back against Nigeria and a couple of times against Ghana. The US just couldn't get the ball to that side, enough.

The three players up-top (Bradley/Deuce/Not Altidore) are required to maintain possession in the opposing half and create chances. They failed horribly. "Parking the bus" has 10 or 11 men behind the ball, tonight was just the Diamond Formation being exploited when the top three's play is crap.

It did appear the US switched to a more 4-4-2 type formation around the 80th minute, and will be interested in seeing the line-up for the Portugal match. "General" Bradley has to do better, Dempsey has to play hard for 90 minutes, Wondogoalski has to become the target forward or Kevin Bacon has to do well in a "False 9" Formation.

Hopefully, Matt Besler will have a healthy return. I'm happy for John Brooks and hope he has plenty of time to talk about his winning goal with all the players sitting on the bench along with him. He is a frightening liability in defense.

Still, 3 points and the US control their destiny. Job done.

 

[Mulli]

Great googly moogly that was so awesome. Didn't deserve it? Come one now.


Scoreboard.

 

[Milgod]

Not a fan of the Diamond Formation or Kyle "Medusa Hair" Beckerman, but we beat Ghana in a World Cup match. Job done. I was listening to the BBC commentators (30 seconds after Jozy went down, Twellman's comment about Donovan being left of the roster made want to never hear his opinion again) and the Brits were condemning most of the USMNT players, with exception to Beckerman, Jones and Besler. In the Diamond Formation, Beckerman is being asked to play as a high-line defender. It aint sexy, but he did his job.

In the Diamond, the two central mids are asked to double-team opposing wingers, and help support the wide backs run forward. Jones and Bedoya did their jobs, as well. The biggest problem for the US was DeMarcus Beasley's inability (or unwillingness) to counter-attack once possession was regained. Give credit to Ghana for not only recognizing the weak-link in the American armor, but continuing to exploit the problem. We saw how well Fabian Johnson plays the role as a Diamond wide-back against Nigeria and a couple of times against Ghana. The US just couldn't get the ball to that side, enough.

The three players up-top (Bradley/Deuce/Not Altidore) are required to maintain possession in the opposing half and create chances. They failed horribly. "Parking the bus" has 10 or 11 men behind the ball, tonight was just the Diamond Formation being exploited when the top three's play is crap.

It did appear the US switched to a more 4-4-2 type formation around the 80th minute, and will be interested in seeing the line-up for the Portugal match. "General" Bradley has to do better, Dempsey has to play hard for 90 minutes, Wondogoalski has to become the target forward or Kevin Bacon has to do well in a "False 9" Formation.

Hopefully, Matt Besler will have a healthy return. I'm happy for John Brooks and hope he has plenty of time to talk about his winning goal with all the players sitting on the bench along with him. He is a frightening liability in defense.

Still, 3 points and the US control their destiny. Job done.

Really not sure what you were listening to. The British media were impressed with the US. When everyone on here was moaning on the first half the BBC were praising how easy the US were finding things. Ghana didn't do anything to make them or me worried. For about 20 minutes in the second half they stepped it up, but that was it. As soon as the equaliser went in US pressed forward and we're rewarded.

 

[cardfaninfl]

Really not sure what you were listening to. The British media were impressed with the US. When everyone on here was moaning on the first half the BBC were praising how easy the US were finding things. Ghana didn't do anything to make them or me worried. For about 20 minutes in the second half they stepped it up, but that was it. As soon as the equaliser went in US pressed forward and we're rewarded.

Don't know ex-athletes that either mumble their way through poor grammar or make comments that are designed to be controversial that have a British accent as well as the Americans. Perhaps it was iTV. It was the commentator that criticized Tim Howard on the Ghana goal, along with other players, when he wasn't praising Jones and Beckerman.

 

[HoodieBets]

Really not sure what you were listening to. The British media were impressed with the US. When everyone on here was moaning on the first half the BBC were praising how easy the US were finding things. Ghana didn't do anything to make them or me worried. For about 20 minutes in the second half they stepped it up, but that was it. As soon as the equaliser went in US pressed forward and we're rewarded.

All US commentators and announcers were saying how Ghana had controlled the first half after the first 10 minutes and it will be hard to keep Ghana on a clean sheet with all the chances they keep giving up.

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[Stout]

Belgium tried to crap the bed. Played like crap for 3/4 of the game, turned it on for a moment, played like crap again, and turned it on for a final moment. I mean, Algeria offered nothing going forward, and got a penalty call on one of the very few threatening moments. Belgium had possession but couldn't do anything with it, mostly. But hey, two moments of brilliance are all it took lol

 

[HoodieBets]

Belgium tried to crap the bed. Played like crap for 3/4 of the game, turned it on for a moment, played like crap again, and turned it on for a final moment. I mean, Algeria offered nothing going forward, and got a penalty call on one of the very few threatening moments. Belgium had possession but couldn't do anything with it, mostly. But hey, two moments of brilliance are all it took lol

that pretty much summed up the US game yesterday. 2 moments of brilliance with a bunch of sloppiness in between

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[dreamcastrocks]

Belgium tried to crap the bed. Played like crap for 3/4 of the game, turned it on for a moment, played like crap again, and turned it on for a final moment. I mean, Algeria offered nothing going forward, and got a penalty call on one of the very few threatening moments. Belgium had possession but couldn't do anything with it, mostly. But hey, two moments of brilliance are all it took lol

They thought it was smart to leave the fullbacks back against a defense that had 10 players in their defending 3rd at almost all times. They should have been sending one or both of their fullbacks the entire time.

I love how they blasted Fellaini and his substitution only for him to make them eat crow. He made the difference. It could have been 3 or 4-1 if he would have capitalized on his chances in the box.

 

[Milgod]

All US commentators and announcers were saying how Ghana had controlled the first half after the first 10 minutes and it will be hard to keep Ghana on a clean sheet with all the chances they keep giving up.

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But surely you could tell the US were letting Ghana have the possession. As long as they weren't threatening, what did it matter? They kept just crossing from the right. Wasn't til the second half that they pressured.

 

[Chaplin]

The US played pretty bad, or at least, mediocre at best. The fortunate thing for us is that Ghana was worse. Or at least, they didn't have the kind of opportunities we took advantage of.

 

[HoodieBets]

But surely you could tell the US were letting Ghana have the possession. As long as they weren't threatening, what did it matter? They kept just crossing from the right. Wasn't til the second half that they pressured.

I would say they had at least three good chances in the first half two off the cross and 1 within 5 yards that was miss hit. I also don't think it was the US plan seeing that they were so sloppy with poor passes and losing the ball. 40 of the 50 first half minutes were controlled by Ghana and the US couldn't stop it if they wanted to especially on the right side where Beasley started to look like burnt toast.

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[Milgod]

Must be mentality of US soccer fans stateside. Get yourselves set up for elimination by being pessimistic. Not Ince in that 1st half was I worried. Besler and Cameron looked at ease. Beasley was the weak link for sure.

 

[Dback Jon]

Another tie - SK and Russia 1-1