World Cup

[Hudsheen#Fired]

It sucks that Jozy will probably be out the rest of the world cup

[sportsfanatic21]

I don't think anyone said we lucked out. I just think that we were outplayed. We got the initial run and scored the quickest goal in World Cup history (obviously that is unusual), and then got a late goal on a header off of a corner kick. That was a well executed play. Ghana had quite a few excellent chances to score throughout the game and didn't capitalize. And once the FINALLY got the equalizer, I think they breathed a sigh of relief and four minutes later, they were down again.

I'd be interested to see whatever "saber metric" type statistics soccer has for that game. I'd bet we lost every stat except for the most important one...goals. And that's fine.

[ManAboutTown]

I agree. Anyone who watched that game with an unbiased eye could see that we were outplayed in every facet. BUT, we scored 1 more goal than Ghana did. That's kind of the beauty of the game.

And we SHOULD get pummeled by Portugal and Germany, but all it takes is for their shooters to be a little off, our goal keeper to have a great day, and one of their defenders to slip at the precisely wrong moment (for them) for a humongous upset win. That's a lot of "ifs" though.

Either way, it's still fun to watch and root for our country, and hopefully they show well and sneak into the next round. GEAUX USA!!

On the surface, we were out played. Not excusing lack of timely decisions (which I thought was our biggest embarrassment, coming in close second our first touch on virtually any pass over 5 yards) but don't forget guys, Ghana is the fastest team in the World Cup. Speed can cover up deficiencies, hence the dangers the Ghana present. I thought we were poor in the aspect of creating triangles. Thought Bradley was over whelmed with so much on his plate (he did defend well however).

There are pros and cons, but any supporter of USMNT knows that in years passed, we would have imploded after a late equalizer like that. Showing fortitude like that was new and a great take away for optimistic fans.

Losing Jozy might be a blessing in disguise. Hope Besler is back because he had several moments of brilliance on-ball defending. What can you say about Dempsey? I mean, yet again, he punches teams in the throat and doesn't back down. Thought he played at an elite level last night, even without the early strike.

RaginSaints, thanks for the invite to JSP. Could not believe the crowd, the atmosphere and the rowdiness.. Had a blast. Will be back Sunday.

[raginsaints]

I don't think anyone said we lucked out. I just think that we were outplayed. We got the initial run and scored the quickest goal in World Cup history (obviously that is unusual), and then got a late goal on a header off of a corner kick. That was a well executed play. Ghana had quite a few excellent chances to score throughout the game and didn't capitalize. And once the FINALLY got the equalizer, I think they breathed a sigh of relief and four minutes later, they were down again.

CH, clearly said "we lucked out"


Ghana had a bunch of shots, but I don't think many of them were great chances. Bradley was off and Ghana was the one team we're going to play that is more athletic than we are. They play with that kind of intensity all of the time. I think our midfielders were outstanding defensively and our defenders blocked all kinds of shots (the benefit of forcing long shots). We weren't playing to keep possession, although I think we would have liked to hold it a little longer. We burned all of our energy on the defensive side and played a great game.

Nothing wrong with winning with defense, just ask Italy.

[raginsaints]

RaginSaints, thanks for the invite to JSP. Could not believe the crowd, the atmosphere and the rowdiness.. Had a blast. Will be back Sunday.

Glad you came. Make sure you like the American Outlaws Lafayette Facebook page.

[Cajun_RH]

We have a +5 aggregate goal differential on Portugal...we can lose to them (not by much)...and hope Germany pants Ghana to destroy their aggregate goal differential...then have Ghana turn around and squeak by Portugal and have Germany coast through against us by only scoring one or two. It's possible we lose the rest of the way and still escape the group of death. Amazing. 'Merica.

That scenario would work but I would rather not leave it to that much chance. A win in either game or a draw in both pretty much wraps up 2nd in the group.

[cajunhawk]

Germany's defense is made up of 4 center backs and they play extremely narrow. That means they're vulnerable on the counter attack. Fabian Johnson and Beasley will be key in that game.

Germany is going to play a fluid 3 man attack, where all 3 guys can move in and out. It's a positive for them because it means they can start the attack from many different points on the field and it's hard for our defenders to track who is the False 9 in that situation. That's why I said it comes down to focus.

However, if they're playing 3 guys who like to get the ball in the center, it often leads very large gaps of space out wide. That space is usually filled by wing backs who make runs up the field and act as psuedo wingers but they're playing Benni Howedes and Jerome Boateng, two natural center backs, as outside backs so, while they'll still be out there filling space, they won't be nearly as effective.

So what the U.S. needs to do is immediately get the ball to the wings when we win the balls back, make Mario Götze and Mesut Özil work hard on defense. Hummels hurt himself so he may not play and Germany is already weak centrally in defense, challenge them.

The reason we've been playing with 3 center mids is because we'll need them against Germany. It will be Kyle Beckerman's responsibility to sit a little deeper and pick up whomever is centrally in their attacking triumvirate. If he can try to neutralize the delivery to that man or keep that man from facing our goal, we can shut down a lot of their attacks right away.

Their midfield is interesting. Philipp Lahm was always a right back so he's very good defensively, he's one of the best tacklers the game has ever seen, but he's flanked by Sami Khedira who's known to go rogue occasionally and get out of position and Toni Kroos who's not all that interested with "getting stuck in."

We're going to get our chances on goal, it's going to come down to whether or not we can finish them.




Also, if you think we "lucked out" against Ghana, then you probably aren't that aware of what's happening anyway.

We lucked out. I have been watching soccer for ages...I many not know all the intricacies of the game...but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when you put a team full of International Stars and UEFA Champions League winners up against a bunch of MLS All Stars and a few bench players from Europe...that the team full of better players will win 9 times out of 10. Think SEC first team against the best FCS team. I know you think the USA is better than that...but we aren't.

[cajunhawk]

I don't think anyone said we lucked out. I just think that we were outplayed. We got the initial run and scored the quickest goal in World Cup history (obviously that is unusual), and then got a late goal on a header off of a corner kick. That was a well executed play. Ghana had quite a few excellent chances to score throughout the game and didn't capitalize. And once the FINALLY got the equalizer, I think they breathed a sigh of relief and four minutes later, they were down again.

I'd be interested to see whatever "saber metric" type statistics soccer has for that game. I'd bet we lost every stat except for the most important one...goals. And that's fine.

I did say we lucked out...our first score was catching Ghana with their pants down. The score off the set piece was damn good and would have scored against most teams...but with the way the defense was playing Ghana left 2-3 goals on the table...and they knew it.

[raginsaints]

We lucked out. I have been watching soccer for ages...I many not know all the intricacies of the game...but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when you put a team full of International Stars and UEFA Champions League winners up against a bunch of MLS All Stars and a few bench players from Europe...that the team full of better players will win 9 times out of 10. Think SEC first team against the best FCS team. I know you think the USA is better than that...but we aren't.

But you really don't know what you're talking about. Always acting like an expert, even when talking out of your ___, isn't the best way to get people to respect your opinion. Does Ghana have very good players? Of course they do. Are they probably more talented than us? Yeah, probably.

But your analogy is stupid and you're completely discounting things like tactics and the way the game is set up. Allowing Ghana to shoot 15 times from 30 yards out isn't getting dominated.

You're also really undervaluing some of our players. They're not all starting for Real Madrid but we have some really talented guys on our team. Don't take everything at face value.

[SlappyCajun]

Obviously, we don't have as good of players as the rest of the world. However, I think Americans possess a different attitude/drive about athletics than athletes from other countries. That's why we scored a last second goal against Algeria and that's why we were able to rally to beat Ghana.

US is never going to outclass a Germany or Portugal. But, if we can keep the goal scoring to a minimum. Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey are entirely competent on a counter attack.

[raginsaints]

I did say we lucked out...our first score was catching Ghana with their pants down. The score off the set piece was damn good and would have scored against most teams...but with the way the defense was playing Ghana left 2-3 goals on the table...and they knew it.

Our first goal was because Clint Dempsey had a World Class first touch to get himself in a great position, then a great move inside and an excellent finish. You were just griping that our players aren't as good as theirs, then when a player does something that only great players can do, you chalk it up as luck.

Be consistent.

[cajunhawk]

But you really don't know what you're talking about. Always acting like an expert, even when talking out of your ___, isn't the best way to get people to respect your opinion. Does Ghana have very good players? Of course they do. Are they probably more talented than us? Yeah, probably.

But your analogy is stupid and you're completely discounting things like tactics and the way the game is set up. Allowing Ghana to shoot 15 times from 30 yards out isn't getting dominated.

You're also really undervaluing some of our players. They're not all starting for Real Madrid but we have some really talented guys on our team. Don't take everything at face value.

Look kid...you gotta take the Red White and Blue colored glasses off. The analogy is apt...and the entire world knows it...except you.