I'm seriously worried about Portugal putting Ronaldo on the right wing.

6/16/2014 8:28:24 PM

6/16/2014 8:36:22 PM

You can mark people so much better on the wing so I'd much rather have him there than right between our centerbacks

Nothing changes just put Wondo in Jozy's spot. The goals will come.

6/16/2014 9:10:09 PM

Quote :

" if Jozy's done for the tournament, I'm not sure what we'll do. Dempsey up top with a 5 man midfield?"

Listening to Klinsmans presser, it doesn't sound like he wants to shuffle the position roles of any players. So I think it's unlikely that Dempsey will be asked to do anything he hasn't trained for all summer?

6/16/2014 9:23:32 PM

yeah that's fair.

Bradley needs to step his damn game up. And I have faith he will.

6/16/2014 9:28:04 PM

Wooooooo! We did it!! While you were all celebrating the win I was watching the game doing my own stressing out. Thank god we didn't blow that with all the injuries we really needed to secure the 3 points there. Now with how Portugal looked I think we could get the win and secure our spot before even having to worry about Germany. Great nail biter of a game just like every US game seems to be. USA! USA! USA!

6/16/2014 10:49:41 PM

Can someone explain it to me like I'm 5, how we would advance out of group play? Like do we have to be the best in our group?

6/16/2014 11:07:57 PM

Top two from each group advance

6/16/2014 11:08:58 PM

Let's see.

Lost two starters, Deuce broke his nose, Bradley was awful, and we still won.



Also, LOL at the best in-box possession of the second half coming from a center back.

6/17/2014 2:50:58 AM

I hope Jozy comes back. What is the speculation there?

6/17/2014 6:15:10 AM

Theres already a whole thread about it

6/17/2014 6:47:26 AM

Nothing official released, but if it's a serious pull that's a couple weeks minimum and the chance of re-injury is very high until he gets off it for a significant amount of time.

6/17/2014 7:04:29 AM

Quote :

"Lost two starters, Deuce broke his nose, Bradley was awful, and we still won."

Yep. somehow ghana put 27 crosses into the box and only a couple of them were dangerous in any way. Play a team with skilled wingers and we get destroyed. Luckily, we have nowhere to go but up in our own play.

Also curious from anyone who watched Klinsy's postgame, did he say he wanted our team to sit back defensively after the first goal? or was that just our players being timid and/or reverting back to old ways? Hate that tactic if it was his plan.

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 7:30 AM. Reason : d]

6/17/2014 7:25:37 AM

I just think he meant he didn't want to let their pace in behind our defense. The plan seemed to me - Jozy holds up, lays off to Dempsey/Bradley, and Jones/Bedoya running in behind. Well, Jozy goes down, Dempsey gets hurt, Bradley gives the ball away the entire game, and Jones/Bedoya can't risk going forward if we can't even keep the ball long enough for them to get forward. I think if Besler hadn't gotten hurt, he would have used a sub on Dempsey for somebody like Mix.

Just to prove I'm not a total JK homer, I think he most definitely deserves blame for not bringing somebody like Boyd that can remotely play the same type of role as Altidore. Also, the fitness and injuries. wtf is up with that

6/17/2014 8:30:04 AM

I was very disappointed in Bradley. He is going to have to be much much better against Portugal. I dread a constant attack from Portugal like Ghana did. Give Ronaldo half a yard and he will make us pay. Bradley's lackluster performance, paired with Jozy's injury meant our counter attacks were virtually useless. Need to be better than that.

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 9:01 AM. Reason : .]

6/17/2014 9:00:50 AM

Quote :

" I think he most definitely deserves blame for not bringing somebody like Boyd that can remotely play the same type of role as Altidore"

Agreed there. We had a good system in place with Altidore up top but it was always unclear who the substitute was to replace him if needed based on the roster we brought. It's going to be interesting to see what our plan is there on Sunday.

As far as the injuries, I'm still thinking "bad luck." Hamstrings are very susceptible to injury during explosive sprinting even on someone will well-built legs who is well warmed up. If Altidore didn't get hurt, would we even be putting much thought into the other minor issues coming out of a game against a very physical opponent like Ghana?

Klinsmann's squads are always very well conditioned. I would question being over-trained recently (which can certainly be an issue for something like a hamstring) before I'd question Jozy being in poor fitness coming into this game. Also, I was trying to find an article, but I remember during qualifying that the players were talking about how much harder their fitness (and also weight training) was under Klinsmann compared to Bradley.


[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 9:43 AM. Reason : ]

6/17/2014 9:34:12 AM

If jozy is done. Cant we call up another player who was left home?

6/17/2014 9:38:19 AM

no

6/17/2014 9:38:47 AM

^

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 9:40 AM. Reason : ]

6/17/2014 9:40:32 AM

I see Wondo is being left out of the conversation. He's going to make you pay.

the lot of you...

6/17/2014 9:43:14 AM

he's not being left out. He's a capable scorer as are the other forwards we brought. Just on paper, none of them flourish in the type of system we had set up for Altidore, especially if Bradley doesn't step it up. I think that spot is pretty open, unfortunately.

6/17/2014 9:45:57 AM

haha I have no problem with Wondo as a late game poacher. I'm just saying JK clearly set us up to play with a target forward that can hold the ball up. Surely he should have thought about a like for like replacement in case of an injury?


sucks about Jozy. I was looking forward to using this gif in some games



[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 9:52 AM. Reason : .]

6/17/2014 9:46:20 AM

World Cup, Your Replays Are Strange. (3:01p)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvUcQjNxYK4

100% agree. Also I love Flula.

6/17/2014 10:34:58 AM

@AndyGlockner: With so many Tottenham players in BEL-ALG, shouldn't this match be on Thursday?

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 11:14 AM. Reason : I'll say it. I think Algeria gets something in this game]

6/17/2014 11:13:01 AM

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 11:31 AM. Reason : nm]

6/17/2014 11:30:40 AM

^^ that's actually hilarious

6/17/2014 11:36:44 AM

sucks for you Belgium

6/17/2014 12:33:48 PM

The Belgian bubble has burst

#Jinx

6/17/2014 12:35:12 PM

It's called the Belgian Dip.

6/17/2014 1:25:02 PM

Quote :

"The Belgian bubble has burst #Jinx"

6/17/2014 1:27:30 PM

terrific counterattack. Algeria just ran out of gas

6/17/2014 1:37:25 PM

perfectly executed counters are probably my favorite

6/17/2014 1:52:37 PM

6/17/2014 2:00:06 PM

6/17/2014 2:12:43 PM

Neymar didn't wait 60 seconds to writhe on the ground.

Least likeable Brazil team ever.

6/17/2014 3:05:41 PM

Ref is not calling much...and home cooking on the foul calls he makes.

6/17/2014 3:07:23 PM

^yep

slide tackle on MEX from behind? no call
slide tackle on BRA from behind? foul

6/17/2014 3:10:03 PM

every Brazil possession ever

6/17/2014 3:16:33 PM

Mexico can't even get out of their own end.

It's only a matter of time...

6/17/2014 3:22:34 PM

"The Brush" has got to be the stupidest nickname ever

6/17/2014 3:24:06 PM

Julio Cesar parries the shot over the bar?

Goal kick.

6/17/2014 3:24:55 PM

nice save by guillermo

6/17/2014 3:27:32 PM

as far as I'm (and I'm sure many others) concerned, every call against Mexico is the right call

6/17/2014 3:36:14 PM

Brazilians are always scrappy under Scolari

6/17/2014 3:37:04 PM

Guardado is so nasty.

I can't believe he hasn't gotten more of a look by bigger clubs.

6/17/2014 3:42:55 PM

Ochoa is balling

[Edited on June 17, 2014 at 3:48 PM. Reason : lol at this https://vine.co/v/MIDwzOjhrXi]

6/17/2014 3:44:51 PM

another goal kick instead of a corner for MEX? sheesh

6/17/2014 4:15:13 PM

mexico unloading on brazil

6/17/2014 4:15:18 PM

In any other setting/game, fuck Mexico. Rooting hard for them in this game though. Would love to see Brazil eat it here.

6/17/2014 4:16:39 PM

I having a hard time figuring out what fouls warrant a yellow card. that last yellow on MEX didn't seem overly hard, intentional or malicious...

6/17/2014 4:21:37 PM