The [Horribly Unpopular] Soccer Thread

Yakima 728
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Ha!
 
Freaking ball boys....

I understand being partisan and all that, but your whole job is to quickly replace a ball that has gone out of play. Not try in your own little way to gain advantage for your team. They should send them all to the Milford School! (Arrested Development reference FYI)
 
Huge day for US Soccer. Julian Green put in for a one time exception transfer to the US. He was cap tied to Germany and made the full commitment to the US. Unless FIFA blocks it for some reason, the US just added an impressively gifted winger. One who may just crack the WC squad despite his youth and not playing with the team much. He is set to train before the game against Mexico. Personally I'd name him to the roster. Imagine the pace and ability to stretch a defense we could have with Shea and Green. Teams wouldn't know what to do with us.
 
WOO! Yeah I'm very excited about the prospects of what Green could do for the USMNT. I hope we get to see him in the upcoming friendlies.
 
hoppyhoppyhippo said:
Huge day for US Soccer. Julian Green put in for a one time exception transfer to the US. He was cap tied to Germany and made the full commitment to the US. Unless FIFA blocks it for some reason, the US just added an impressively gifted winger. One who may just crack the WC squad despite his youth and not playing with the team much. He is set to train before the game against Mexico. Personally I'd name him to the roster. Imagine the pace and ability to stretch a defense we could have with Shea and Green. Teams wouldn't know what to do with us.
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My personal guess is that if Green makes the roster, it's at Shea's expense.
 
Sad news today on the US soccer front, Cherundolo is calling it a career

My personal guess is that if Green makes the roster, it's at Shea's expense.
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Entirely possible, I'd hope Klinsmann would realize that Shea aside from Green would be the only player on the bench who can stretch the field.

Our attacking mid/striker options (which may be at least 10 spots) has locks of Dempsey, Donovan, Altidore, and Zusi. Likely locks of Johannson and Eddie Johnson. If there are 10 spots going to that portion of the roster you have a battle for the final 4 spots. You have Green, Shea, Gomez, Boyd, and Wondo fighting for those last few spots.

What would throw a wrench in Shea's chances are if Klinsmann goes def or cdm heavy and carries say Beckerman, Mix, and Klestjan on the bench or goes with 8+ defenders. Or the other one being if he views Fabian as a mid and he moves into that backup attacking mid group. Pushing him or Zusi to the bench.
 
So there's 23 spots, and in my estimation, the following are pretty well locks:
Keeper - Howard, Guzan, Rimando
Defenders - Gonzales, Besler, Evans, Beasley, Goodson, Cameron
Midfield - Bradley, Jones, Zusi, Donovan, Dempsey, F Johnson
Forwards - Altidore, Johannson

So that's 17, 6 spots to fill. Gotta assume at least 1 more defender in the bunch. Maybe parkhurst? Klinsi seems to like him and he's versatile. At midfield, you need a backup in central mid, unless you want to count on Cameron to do that, which is an option, but then you'd better add another defender if you're counting on Cameron as fill in at midfield. So I assume cameron is not considered CM backup, and then someone like Beckerman is gonna be there. So we're down to 4 sports to fill with some assortment of:

Bedoya
Mix
Boyd
Gomez
E Johnson
Shea
Green
Corona
Klejstan

I can't, in picking 4 from those 9, say that Shea makes sense if you have Green along. Either of them is likely to be used only as a change of pace guy at the end of the game, and I can't justify carrying two of those guys relative to what you'd leave behind. Just my thoughts. I've given up on kidding myself that i have any idea what Klinsi is going to do. :)
 
That's a great looking selection. Add EJ to that and I could see that being our main 18. I don't see him starting but if Klinsey keeps an eye on him when he's hot, EJ can be an explosive sub.

As far as filling in the rest of the spots:
Bedoya
Mix
Boyd
Corona
Parkhurst
 
My 23 man would be

Starters

GK Howard
LB - Fabian
CBs - Besler Gonzalez
RB - Beasley (can swap him and Johnson)
CDMs - Bradley and Jones
LAM - Landycakes
RAM - Zusi
CF - Dempsey
ST - Altidore

Backup GK - Guzan and Rimando
Buckup DF - Cameron, Goodson, Evans (though he's a big maybe)
Backup CDM - Mix (you can also put Cameron there)
Backup CAM - Shea, Green, Bedoya
Backup ST - Johannson and Eddie Johnson.

That leaves me 1 shy, I'm not sure which way I'd go. I'd probably bring Parkhurst or Chandler (if he's in form, he should be on the team) but I may go with Beckerman but I really don't like him. He's good as a cleanup guy, but he is horrible in possession. Seems like every other touch of him results in a turnover.

Basically your backup CDM is Cameron and Goodson, Evans backs up RB or LB, Mix and Cameron cover the CDMs, Zusi being an emergency cover back there if something catastrophic happens. Bedoya I see being primarily as a replacement for Jones/Bradley when we need more offense. Love his hustle but if we pull Donovan or Zusi, for me I'd want someone with pace who can fly down the wing and create havoc. Johannson and Johnson backup Dempsey and Jozy. Donovan can also rotate in there, Green can probably rotate around in there as well. Bedoya can go in for Jozy or Dempsey if we have a lead and want to go more defensive as well.
 
Also, I have to say it's incredibly refreshing (and exciting) to see people expect and want so many MLSers on the squad. Every 23 I've seen assembled has at least 6 domestic players.
 
Reno_eNVy said:
Also, I have to say it's incredibly refreshing (and exciting) to see people expect and want so many MLSers on the squad. Every 23 I've seen assembled has at least 6 domestic players.
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Bradley and Dempsey moving to MLS helps that.

I think Gonzalez and Besler are soon to move out of MLS, after world cup guys who play strong get noticed. Last WC it was Ozil and Khedira who busted out and Real went hunting them. Kagawa was another one who got more notice and moved to Dortmund. I think one of both of them will get some attention and move to the Bundesliga or lower premier league team will buy them up. Also think there's a chance some team may make a move for Zusi but I think he's happy in MLS.
 
hoppyhoppyhippo said:
They could just go and match Europe's schedule, would make many things better.
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I just can't see that happening. There are too many MLS cities that have crap weather in the winter. I feel like we'd have way too many cancelled matches.

Also, I'd rather not have to compete with the NFL. Not that there's any comparison: handegg holds the nations eyes. But the schedule we have now gives the audience professional soccer where there aren't many other options which, IMMHO, can help draw in the casual fan or the anti-MLSer.
 
MLS season runs parallel to Baseball and on the bookends of NBA, NHL and NFL. There's like a 2 month period where they don't have NBA, NHL, and NFL.

ANd MLS doesn't compete with those sports. That said, the weather is a concern. But you can adjust the schedule, and snow soccer is fun.
 
The MLS season is fine as it is. It's growing domestically and the numbers continue to improve. They don't need to compete for space and time with the NFL and College football. Yes, there is some overlap, but some overlap is still much more favorable than complete overlap.
 
lgilmore said:
The MLS season is fine as it is. It's growing domestically and the numbers continue to improve. They don't need to compete for space and time with the NFL and College football. Yes, there is some overlap, but some overlap is still much more favorable than complete overlap.
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MLS season runs from the beginning of march til the end of October, which is the entire MLB season pretty much. If they ran from say October to May you start out fighting MLB and NFL, but by the time the playoffs come around you just have NHL and NBA to fight with. You also are added to the February vacuum of no MLB or NFL.

I can see arguments for both sides, but I think for the international level it's better to replicate the other leagues.
 
If you move MLS to a international schedule, you would lose venues for games on days of the week they currently have. Having Saturdays and Sundays pretty much unchallenged for use through their season has allowed the MLS to grow as attendance on weekends is much higher than through the week.

Even the Sounders, whose attendance average is in the top 20 football wise, draws poorly for midweek games. They have to be extra special matches to draw midweek. Chivas won't cut it.

So really the MLS schedule is out of design to grow the attendance of the league. The best way to do that was not to compete with other sports (pro football, college football, HS football) that require similar stadiums or have joint use agreements.

the international model does not have another major sport to compete with beyond rugby. Here is it a upward struggle to get soccer mentioned in the same breath as football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

Different cultures, different ways to make it work.
 
Thank you for mentioning joint use stadia. There are quite a few that have handegg games played on them.
 
GuldTuborg said:
3-0 start for the Crew. Lookin' sharp this season.
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Ha yeah. And to think of all the other clubs that got a ton of hype this offseason. Best of luck to your Crew, of course until they meet LA on the glorious field of battle.
 
Talk about a tale of two halves...

Donovan looks old. Dempsey while "trying ****" as a Bruce would say is way too casual for my liking. Bradley and Beckerman should be the starting midfield pair in my book. J Jones can stay in Turkey for all I care.

I'm afraid it's going to be a quick 3 and out come June. The quality just isn't there.


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Beckerman sucks. He's a solid defender but it seems like everytime he possesses the ball he turns it over to the otherside. If we wanted to go diamond midfield you put Cameron back there. That said, I like the way that Jones and Bradley play together. They allow each other to rest and focus.

Dempsey looked great. Bradley is awesome.

If the US gets out of the group with the number 2 and number 4 teams in the world. If the US loses out in all their games that will be depressing. They should be able to beat Ghana. Or at the very least draw. Unfortunately, Portugal and Germany are 4 of the best teams in the world.
 
Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:
The FIFA rankings are largely nonsense though. They take past results into account, but not the quality of the opposition.
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This. Germany has a pretty accurate ranking but Portugal is misrepresented. They actually haven't done too well this cycle: they tied Israel twice, tied and lost (kind of badly) to N. Ireland, and lost to Azerbaijan. IMMHO, not a club to really get you shaking in your boots. Will they be really good competition? Of course, but Ronaldo can't do everything. One player a WC winning club does not make.

To be honest, I'm terrified of Ghana more than the other clubs. Not only are they the thorn in our World Cup sides, but you never know what they're going bring to the pitch. However, I'm happy we play them first because if we can put a hurting on them early and gain some confidence from avenging our previous campaigns then I'm hopeful we can make it out of the group.

Final note: I think there are two groups of death. Group B is pretty scary as well as ours. But is it just me being crazy (or a homer) or is our inclusion in Group G part of what makes it the proverbial "Group of Death" over B? Because I'd say Ghana + USA > Chile + Australia.
 
And the US hasn't been in amazing form lately.

Portugal is more than Ronaldo. Just using their high value players they also have Pepe, Coentrao, Moutinho, Meireles, and Nani. They possess a great midfield, OK defense, and one of the best players in the world.

US needs an A+ effort to top Brazil.

As scary as it sounds our first game against Ghana is the most important match we play, if we lose the first match we're done. if we draw we're likely done, if we win we have a good shot as long as we draw against Portugal.

Ideal scenario for the first leg is a 2+ goal victory over Ghana and Germany to do the same against Portugal. Then draw against Portugal and we just have to get Portugal on GD to advance.

What sucks about the draws. There are a bunch of tough groups. Group D is also really tough, with Uruguay, England, Italy, and Costa Rica. The pots set this up by putting US, Mexico, and Costa Rica with Asia, which was OK when CONCACAF was only the US and Mexico, now that CONCACAF has been rapidly improving while Africa has been slipping, they should probably switch place. Also Japan's surging has made it so the Asia/NA pot only has a handful of meh teams with this year being South Korea and Australia.
 
I don't know much about this but it sure seems like USA should be giving some opportunities to the younger guys instead of just giving the nod to the most marketable/profitable players. You what good marketing is and most profitable? Winning matches...
 
HoppyDaze said:
I don't know much about this but it sure seems like USA should be giving some opportunities to the younger guys instead of just giving the nod to the most marketable/profitable players. You what good marketing is and most profitable? Winning matches...
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Acctually Jurgen has been giving playing time to those who earn it. If Jozy's poor form continues, Johannsson or Wondo will start in the WC. Landycakes has sucked and he was benched. Klinsmann is a fantastic manager for the development of the US squad because he lets people earn their way in. IF BB was the skipper, we'd still have Bocanegra at CB and Besler probably never gets a chance and Zusi is at best a bench player.
 
Well not much hope for England , not until the FA wakes up smells the coffee and realises that a continental style of football at grassroots is the way forward. . The FA thinks that fancy footwork and selfish hogging of the ball is what 8 yr olds should be taught. Luckily my 8 yr old has a UEFA B qualified coach who used to train academy football in Italy so they are well versed in a continental ticKa tacka style of play. :)
 
Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:
The FIFA rankings are largely nonsense though. They take past results into account, but not the quality of the opposition.
Click to expand...

I agree that the FIFA rankings are hard to take serious, but have to disagree that quality doesn't count....

P = M x I x T x C
T= Strength of opposing team

The strength of the opponents is based on the formula: 200 – the ranking position of the opponents
As an exception to this formula, the team at the top of the ranking is always assigned the value 200 and the teams ranked 150th and below are assigned a minimum value of 50. The ranking position is taken from the opponents’ ranking in the most recently published FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking.
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