Comments on: Duh

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:24:07 +0000

I am new to the website and forgive me if this has already been discussed but does anyone else think we should have put another back on the field right away like Ianni? Or maybe subbed a little earlier? It was the same thing Arena did against Italy where I don’t think he used all the available subs being down a man (or two against Italy).

On a different note, I love Mcbride.. he works hard and scores some great goals but I hated the pairing with Jozy. They play the same big mans game. We needed someone who was a little bit trickier on the ball in my opinion.

By: Carter Daly

Carter Daly — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:04:39 +0000

Yes Rick, in the long run we are taking leaps and bounds in quality. But there is no way i’m going to think of that immediatley after we blow a golden opportunity to not only advance but possibly go a little bit farther in a tournament as stacked as these Olympics. Overall I agree with you on both accounts.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:54:09 +0000

Carter, I also think your assessment was a little harsh, although I also mostly agree with you. In my mind, however, there is NO DOUBT that we’re coming along by leaps and bounds. The overall quality of play and talent and skill of the players far outdistances what we’ve had in the past (i.e., 5-10 years ago). Wynn, Jozy, Davies, Edu, and of course Adu and Bradley are all upgrades again over what we’ve had on the national team. The attacking, the ball control and flow of the game are all getting better. Finishing still mostly sucks, but that’s improved, too. Knowing what to do in the final third still leaves a lot to be desired, but overall, it’s improving.

What really shows, and what really needs work, is the lack of overall footballing intelligence, and I think that’s just going to take time. The quality of play is improving, but the game savvy isn’t there. We need better and more demanding coaching, and more competition; in other words, MLS has to improve–and it WILL–but it’s not going to happen overnight. Just because players make mistakes doesn’t mean they should be banned from national service. Most of these players will learn from their errors and we’ll have a better player pool because of it.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:31:42 +0000

No use debating the force or the direction the elbow took. Chest or head it’s a red card. Know why? Because FIFA says so, furthermore they send FIFA instructors to tell their referees so. Whine about the ref if you want to, but he’s a cop and he has to enforce the law or he’s not reffing anymore. I got a striking idea. Blame the Player. It’s not like this is a secret, you’re not supposed to throw elbows, it’s a big deal. The way I see it though you should expect this kind of reaction from US players. Just look at the MLS, it’s full of referees that are instructed by USSF to go easy on the players. Let them get away with bullshit like elbows and foolish fouls. Thats what leaves them with Yellow Card accumilation and getting stupid Red Cards. Final note, when I’m speeding I don’t say “I was only over but 10 MPH” because guess what, that’s speeding. You can’t say “I only elbow’d him a little bit.”

By: rslackde

rslackde — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:19:47 +0000

I thought that US Olympic team did a dis-service to the country during the game against nigeria. I can’t believe how immature some of the players acted, get over it and play the game. Whining about ref’s calls gets your nowhere but acts as a distraction.

And why wasn’t Davis in the entire game? How about looking for a foreign coach, if more competitive countries than our can why no us?

By: CW

CW — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:35:37 +0000

So now that we’ve blown the kiddie-tournament, how do you guys see the true US starting XI shaping up for qualifying?
Here’s mine:

Altidore
Donovan
DMB, Adu, Bradley, Deuce
Left back is tough…
Bornstein, Blackmouth, Gooch, Wynn
Timmy H

Subs:
Cooper, Davies, or Ching
Edu, Feilhaber, Mapp?
DeMerit, Simek, Wingert (from RSL. You’ll laugh but the guy is awesome at either right or left back)
Guzan

Should never wear the colors again:
Twellman, EJ, Frankie H, Woof, Convey, OROZCO (unless it’s verde, blanco, y colorado), Rolfe, Gavin, and Pablo is borderline.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:25:27 +0000

Let’s see now, players out of control in multiple games, the players selected can’t seem to score, the team as whole looks disorganized more times than not, what is the real problem? Duh, maybe the coach? I have disagreed with this coaching choice from the beginning. This team and coach were going nowhere, regardless of whether they tied Netherlands or not.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:38:45 +0000

wow, tahts really negative.
We playd our worst game against Japan by far and played nobley against NIgeria despite the harsh call and the 10 men.
Tough breaks is what it came down to. I am wondering if you watched the games actually…

This was by far the most talented team in the US’ history of particpation in this tournament. I think that showed even with a poor coach.

I have never seen a US team attack and create chances like that. WC 2014 should be a good one for the US. We just need to put everything together and get results.

By: Guy

Guy — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:59:25 +0000

I think it was a fair call by the reff plus I think there should have been even more red cards for the Usa plus a few penalties for the Nigerians, Usa played shitty and didnt deserve to win any game, in fact Usa shouldnt even have a football team they should just voluntarily drop out evrey year. Here’s something to make you happy though,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS-FoXbjVI.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:58:04 +0000

WHY?????? Why do I punish myself by supporting this team? I woke up early for this? So many invariable factors combined forces to sink the dream: Holden’s lust for glory on the 2 on 1 breakaway; Adu’s near decapitation of the Dutch goaltender; Bradley’s yellow card; Holden’s errant tackle; Orozco’s flying elbow; and topped off with Davies’ header hitting the cross bar. You just knew that was going to happen, didn’t you? That’s fate right there.