Poor Start...

[TheStang00]

what were they doing? the U.S. needs to put this behind them. im not sure i understand why john o'brien didnt start since hes probably the most skilled player on our team. landon donovan never got the ball, i hardly saw him. gooch didnt feel like marking people on defense, i want to see Carlos Bocanegra next game. and lastly, why is eddie johnson not starting? he provided really the only spark we had at all when he came in. the U.S. needs to stick to the 3-5-2 IMO the donovan, o'brien, and reyna in the middle and mcbride and johnson up top. if thats the formation id like to see eddie pope in the center back, the other two spots are really pretty wide open. if in the 4-4-2 id like to see Bocanegra back there rather than gooch. Bocanegra plays against the best players in the world every time he steps on the field in the EPL, gooch is still kind of young and he looked shell shocked today. on the left midfield, regardless of formation i think Beasley should be there and clint dempsey should be on the right.


I didnt think England looked very sharp either, although they won. paraguay is a good side but i think England is fortunate they didnt play a better team. Eriksson needs to get that team to be more aggressive, and if he could just unlock their full potential i think they would easily win the cup.

[Dublinguy]

Gotta admit I expected more from USA but after todays performance it proves too me how screwed up the FIFA rankings are. Sorry to all the USA soccer lovers but they were woeful today and to be honest it wasnt their fault. They finally have met a decent team that could show them how to play football. I think some of the poor performance came from the false sense of security that the ranking have given the team.

As for England, personally I hope they do well but not if they keep playing that way. Paraguay were very very unlucky not to get something from that game. England looked devoid of ideas and creativity especially in midfield. If they meet a decent side in the next round they could be destroyed.

My opinions anyway

[TheStang00]

the US is a good team, they played very flat though. There are some quality players there. I think they were overconfident and that was there downfall, the ranking may be a little high but they certainly are not far off IMO. You have to keep in mind that they played a very good team, and since they werent at their best they got burned. I think one of the biggest problems they had was they started a very inexperienced player in the middle of the defence. it showed on goals. It will be interesting to see how they come out against italy. It is frustrating because we spend all our time trying to prove we are a top team, and then we have a set back like this and immediatly everyone throws us to the wayside. It doesnt help any that much of the country doesnt care and doesnt like the game. it gives people that are american football buffs a chance to take a shot at the sport too, so people in our own country takes shots at the game too. I pray that we beat italy, soccer in this country needs it.

I follow the team closely though and when on they play very well, they are absolutely better than mexico, and there is no way mexico should be seeded. every soccer fan here was outraged when they received the ranking, we dominate mexico when we play them and we finished first on concacaf qualifying. there is a considerable difference from starting the tournement off with Iran rather than the Czechs

[Andydg]

That game was very frustrating to watch...I could only watch the first half. It seemed like they didn't want to attack even though they had possession like 65% of the time. The only creativity I saw was when Reyna took that shot from the top of the box.

[twospirits]

I agree, it was painful to watch. They say that there is only one team before that has lost the first game and managed to go to beyond the next level, so its gonna be very hard to get to the next level.

I follow the team closely though and when on they play very well, they are absolutely better than mexico, and there is no way mexico should be seeded. every soccer fan here was outraged when they received the ranking, we dominate mexico when we play them and we finished first on concacaf qualifying. there is a considerable difference from starting the tournement off with Iran rather than the Czechs

So True.

TS out

[TheStang00]

Originally Posted by TheStang00

I follow the team closely though and when on they play very well, they are absolutely better than mexico, and there is no way mexico should be seeded. every soccer fan here was outraged when they received the seed, we dominate mexico when we play them and we finished first on concacaf qualifying. there is a considerable difference from starting the tournement off with Iran rather than the Czechs

thats what i meant. i think you guys got the idea though.

[Dublinguy]

I think the point I was trying to get across was during your qualification you only really have the one decent team to come up against and thats Mexico. Now in my mind what I saw of USA I have to say they looked uniterested and that showed badly in the way Bruce Arena sat on the bench he should have been on that touchline bollocking the players out of it for the way they were playing.

I still maintain although the USA do have one or two decent players (the likes of Reyna and McBride) the lack of decent competition for the USA to play against leading up to the World Cup is their downfall. Most European teams can be very very clinical and unfortunately for USA they got a taste of that the other day.

To be honest I dont see them getting out of the group stage they really needed something out of that game and it is going to be even more difficult against the Italians now. The Italians know all they need is one goal to put them through to the next round and whether its the national side or a club side they now how to shut up shop after getting a lead and defend it.

Just to add something I dont want it too sound like I am slating the USA team, fair play to them for getting a decent side together. I watched them play Ireland in a friendly and thought they looked good and held out big hopes for them in this world cup. But I am sorry to say my fears for them have been compounded. They really dont know how to break down a good organised team.

I wish them all the best they have a good future ahead of them but first thing I would do is sack Arena. If I saw the Irish manager showing such a lack of interest in a World Cup match I would be furious.

[TheStang00]

^ i wasnt happy with Arena yesterday either, because of the decisions he made before the game in who he started and what formation he played. it just didnt make sense to me. you are right, the US definatly had trouble braking down the defense. thats why i was complaining about John O'Brien not starting. idk if u know anything about him but he played for Ajax for years and is the most creative player they have, i was frustrated that he didnt start. Also a young player in the MLS named Clint Dempsey has shown so far to be an exciting player down the wing, i felt like he should have started also. i think eddie johnson should start also, this kid looked before the tournement like the potential breakout star. great potential, but Arena needs to play him.

keep in mind, im not trying to rebutt what you said... im simply going off it.

[Dublinguy]

Ah no of course I understand your not rebutting me. Thats footie its all about opinion in my mind. What one person sees in a player another doesnt.

[TheStang00]

England has got to love Wayne Rooney. before he came into the game they werent doing anything. trinidad really played them well. i was dissapointed though, i wanted to see theo walcott enter the match. i thought there was a good chance that he was going to because crouch and owen together werent doing anything, and rooney wasnt supposed to play yet.