lol diving against Panama

6/11/2011 9:33:45 PM

FINALLY

6/11/2011 9:34:02 PM

yay

6/11/2011 9:34:05 PM

there you go goodson

6/11/2011 9:34:12 PM

wow. way to blow your load on that one.

6/11/2011 9:47:25 PM

I blame his long last name on that one

6/11/2011 9:47:29 PM

that was so sucky

6/11/2011 9:49:15 PM

that was the best possession of all night. couldn't finish though.


game. canals

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 9:56 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2011 9:56:34 PM

what the fuckkkkkkkkk.

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 9:59 PM. Reason : pitiful finishing]

6/11/2011 9:58:16 PM

lol at Boca crushing that dude

6/11/2011 10:01:55 PM

that sucked

6/11/2011 10:02:47 PM

the RailHawks beat Panama two years ago

6/11/2011 10:09:46 PM

Hey guys I think we need to play our best players on the eve before the Gold Cups against top opposition. I mean, really, its not like we don't dominate CONCACAF.

Pathetic.

6/11/2011 10:19:03 PM

1st loss EVER in the group stage.

6/11/2011 10:19:15 PM

Oh, wow. In all ten? Great stat. How many draws to shitty teams?

Sorry for the acerbity, I'm just sick of this shit.

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 10:27 PM. Reason : .]

6/11/2011 10:22:56 PM

Quote :

"Hey guys I think we need to play our best players on the eve before the Gold Cups against top opposition. I mean, really, its not like we don't dominate CONCACAF. Pathetic."

Calm down. The fact that we lost to Panama is even more of an indictment on Bradley. And I never said we dominate CONCACAF. I said that constantly playing CONCACAF teams with our A team and turning our noses at opportunities to play against high competition is a mistake.

In case you haven't noticed, we didn't get an invite to Copa America this year. Mexico, Japan, and Costa Rica all got invited over us. Probably because of our pathetic showing last time around. But hey, we're in prime position to get an invite to the Confed Cup...oh wait, we just lost to Panama.

It's pretty obvious that our guys were not in sync tonight. Hell, even his tactical decision to put in Wondowloski seems suspect when he blew a wide open goal opportunity. Why are you defending him?

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 10:33 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2011 10:29:00 PM

What in the hell are you babbling about? Defending who? Invitation to the Confederation Cup? Can somebody explain what this guy is talking about?

6/11/2011 10:43:31 PM

Oh, i'm sorry. Let me rephrase that. We are in prime position to qualify for a spot in the confed cup. Sorry, I can see how that would TOTALLY confuse you. Also, I was referring to your adamant defending of Bob Bradley's decision to not play our best guys against top opposition, as you very clearly made it a point to say that playing against top opposition is worthless when we have Canada, Panama, and Guatelupe to worry about.


Now that we have established that you are a stickler for semantics, you can stop throwing a hissy fit.

6/11/2011 10:51:34 PM

Quote :

"I said that constantly playing CONCACAF teams with our A team and turning our noses at opportunities to play against high competition is a mistake."

What's the point of playing our A team against good teams if they can't even beat Panama? More importantly, why the hell are we even wasting our time with Spain if we can't comfortably win games in the Gold Cup?

I cannot speak for elduderino but I hate Bob Bradley as our coach, no matter what. If you have interpreted my disdain for the federation and the friendly scheduling for some kind of defense of Bob Bradley, let me correct that now. Our first half bullshit has gone on way too long, against good opponents and shitty opponents, and with completely different rosters of our own. That shit eventually has to be on the coach.

Also, first loss EVER to Panama. GTFO Bob.

6/11/2011 10:56:30 PM

Nice try covering your ignorance, playing the semantics card by the way. Do a little research before you try blasting me on a board, as I've been calling for the firing of Bob Bradley since before the World Cup. Fucking noobs.

6/11/2011 11:05:24 PM

Quote :

"What's the point of playing our A team against good teams if they can't even beat Panama? More importantly, why the hell are we even wasting our time with Spain if we can't comfortably win games in the Gold Cup?"

I know you don't like him. I don't like him either. But, and I feel like I keep belaboring the same point, playing top opposition is the only way you can improve. It's like US Soccer is trying to "teach to the test." You see this all the time. We are geared to play to the same level as Mexico, as they are our best competition most cycles. US Soccer can beat teams like Mexico with some regularity because of our athleticism, size and speed, but you never see the creativity and technical skill demonstrated by soccer powers from US players. Dempsey is the closest player we have to being that creative on the field. I think that says a lot. That doesn't all fall on Bradley, obviously (the roots are much deeper than that), but putting your best guys on the field when you have a chance to play against quality opponents would certainly help, in my opinion.

It feels as if we are concerned more with making World Cups (which we should be, to an extent) than with becoming a stronger soccer nation (this is where my beef comes in to play). You can only become a better soccer team (in my opinion) by getting quality minutes against better opposition. For a lot of our guys, playing against a team like Spain would be valuable experience, because some of them are stuck in the MLS, and the ones that play abroad don't get too many minutes against top flight opponents. But, whatever. Agree to disagree, i guess.

Quote :

"Nice try covering your ignorance, playing the semantics card by the way. Do a little research before you try blasting me on a board, as I've been calling for the firing of Bob Bradley since before the World Cup. Fucking noobs."

Look, when you're done flexing your cyber-muscle, I'll make an honest effort to have each of my posts peer reviewed by a group of internet scholars and publicly notarized.

Until then, just calm the fuck down. Go for a jog, or something

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 11:15 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2011 11:05:58 PM

Bob Bradley has to go. That's the only answer. Sunil Gulati would be a close 2nd though. USSF needs a complete overhaul IMO. We are completely stagnant under Bradley. It was a HUGE mistake to give him another 4 years after the WC. Maybe he can turn it around but I don't see that happening.

6/11/2011 11:10:56 PM

Quote :

"putting your best guys on the field when you have a chance to play against quality opponents would certainly help, in my opinion."

We don't disagree with the theory behind this. I think you're just underestimating the gap between a country like Spain and us. Yeah, we beat them in a tournament setting where a lot of things went right and it was nice. But we are not even the same universe as them. Putting us on the field will do nothing for our players except give them a chance to say "I played the world champions" to their grandchildren. The "experience" of Tim Ream standing around watching Spain pass around him like he's a cone doesn't help him at all.

I would like to play quality opponents in friendlies too but "quality" opponents doesn't have to be countries that won a World Cup.

6/11/2011 11:13:18 PM

The problem is not strength of schedule. The problem is strategy and a system. We could play Spain everyday for the next year, it's not going to make us any better. Bob Bradley and the USSF are terrible at identifying and fixing problems. Like aimorris said, we still only play one half of football, never adjust and expect by some god damn miracle things will right themselves. Oh, but I bet if we kept that strategy playing Brazil everyday we would overcome it.

And I'm done listening to this clown. It's pretty clear he's sailing solo on an ocean of his own bullshit.

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 11:18 PM. Reason : .]

6/11/2011 11:15:55 PM

Quote :

"I think you're just underestimating the gap between a country like Spain and us"

Not really, I don't think. I know where we stand, and it's not close to Spain. I think we're arguing more about the Spain thing than is necessary. I just am noticing a pattern with Bradley and US Soccer in general. The decision we made in Copa America was terrible, and it cost us another chance to go to Copa America again this cycle, which would be a huge experience, especially if we don't qualify for the Confed Cup this time. The more games US Soccer plays against good opponents, the better in my opinion. There's always going to be scheduling/club-country obstacles, but you HAVE to make the most of your opportunities. I just don't see the leadership willing to do that. Every time, we put the most importance on the Gold Cup and qualifying, but we always see similar results in the World Cup because we don't give ourselves the experience of playing different teams with different styles. The only real reason why we went far in 2002 is because we landed Mexico in the knock-out round (a team we see often).

As to your argument about it not being a good idea to field a good team that will see its opponents run circles around them, let me ask you this. Would it be any more useful to field an even weaker team to see the opponents do the same thing?

Now we are currently stuck in the situation where if we don't do well in the Gold Cup, our opportunities to play different countries with different styles are reduced. That's a problem.

Quote :

"And I'm done listening to this clown. It's pretty clear he's sailing solo on an ocean of his own bullshit."

Jesus, did I fuck your mother, or something? Relax. It's okay to disagree with someone. I still have faith that someday you and I will be friends. I see us at the dinner table, discussing soccer with other friends, and you flying off the handle for some tiny slip-up a new member made. And there I will be, apologizing to everyone for your behavior. "Oh, don't worry guys, that's just elduderino. He gets like that. he doesn't mean it." Then we'll have a glass of wine and laugh at it all.

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 11:41 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2011 11:26:44 PM

Quote :

"Would it be any more useful to field an even weaker team to see the opponents to the same thing?"

No my problem with games against Spain (especially in a friendly where drawing or winning doesn't matter) is that even with our A team, we aren't furthering our level of playing ability because the only chance we have is pack it in, play long ball, counterattack, and get lucky. Obviously fielding a weaker team doesn't help either. So my solution is to stop playing so many damn high profile friendlies. They're pointless.

We're in agreement about Copa America. I was really pissed off about that when it happened because outside of the top South American teams, the rest of the continent are teams that I would like to play against more. And doing it in a tournament setting is even better.

I hate Bradley, don't get me wrong. But it's not his fault the state of soccer is what it is right now. How much is MLS helping us? How helpful have US Soccer youth programs been? We can't even qualify for the U20 World Cup at that level. They have trouble targeting talented players early (Dempsey and Holden, both late bloomers) and fail on the prospects (Adu and sadly, Altidore should be considered a flop right now).

6/11/2011 11:39:16 PM

I hate that we don't start playing really well in some games until we're down by goals. We need to come out strong early every game.

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 11:45 PM. Reason : .]

6/11/2011 11:45:39 PM

Quote :

"I hate Bradley, don't get me wrong. But it's not his fault the state of soccer is what it is right now. How much is MLS helping us? How helpful have US Soccer youth programs been? We can't even qualify for the U20 World Cup at that level. They have trouble targeting talented players early (Dempsey and Holden, both late bloomers) and fail on the prospects (Adu and sadly, Altidore should be considered a flop right now)."

Perfect post. We're fucked as a soccer nation (as in never being a consistent top 10 global team)if drastic changes are not made from the ground up. Bradley is simply a faulty part to a non-functioning machine.

6/11/2011 11:48:18 PM

Quote :

"I hate Bradley, don't get me wrong. But it's not his fault the state of soccer is what it is right now. How much is MLS helping us? How helpful have US Soccer youth programs been? We can't even qualify for the U20 World Cup at that level. They have trouble targeting talented players early (Dempsey and Holden, both late bloomers) and fail on the prospects (Adu and sadly, Altidore should be considered a flop right now)."

Really couldn't have said it better myself. This is the problem. Not scheduling. Youth soccer in the US is a joke compared to other top countries. This is why I really wanted Klinsmann to take over in 2010. I think he could have started revamping the system and made it more European (which hopefully would have made us more competitive years from now) but oh well...we'll stick with what "works".

[Edited on June 11, 2011 at 11:51 PM. Reason : ^we're on the same page]

6/11/2011 11:51:05 PM

I know he's not American and it's not a MLS thread but I had no where else to put this goal and I had to post it somewhere. Sickkkkkkkkkkkkk.



[Edited on June 12, 2011 at 1:00 AM. Reason : figured this would help cover the embarrassment that usa was today]

6/12/2011 12:46:29 AM

^^ Yes, agreed. We can argue about stuff happening today like scheduling, roster selection and coaching staff but those are really just symptoms. The youth system here is weak and I don't know that it will ever be what the top European nations have.

I also don't think MLS will ever compare to European clubs. Part of the problem is geography. European nations are tiny and densely populated. This allows for easy promotion relegation as you have several clubs of variously levels all within the same major metro areas. Here our top clubs are spread all over two massive countries. The smaller clubs can't handle the economic strains of potential promotion (travel, stadium upgrades, etc) and current MLS clubs would probably fold if they were relegated to NASL or a similar tier-2 league.

This feeds back into the development problems, since everything is so spread out all the clubs are like islands and apparently our talent recognition at the national level is very poor to begin with at an early age. Without some kind of major financial investment and insurance to clubs that they will be taken care of I don't see us breaking this trend by simply switching coaches.

6/12/2011 8:15:44 AM

^^kasey keller has had the exact same look on his face after every goal ever scored on him

6/12/2011 4:22:12 PM

Quote :

"Part of the problem is geography. European nations are tiny and densely populated."

I have to disagree. We have the best basketball team in the world and beat up on some of those smaller countries that have good basketball teams. The difference is basketball is a bigger part of our culture just like how the nation of England cares more about sooccer than any other sport. The size of our nation is no excuse for being crappy at any international sport. If anything, a larger population gives a nation a bigger advantage.

6/12/2011 5:36:23 PM

This shit sucks even worse because Mexico is raping fools left and right, while drawing 80k crowds in the US compared to our 28k

They're dominating Costa Rica 4-0 right now

6/12/2011 9:34:12 PM

^^ I'm not disagreeing with that either. There is definitely a lack of soccer culture here compared to the major sports like basketball and baseball. Unfortunately I don't see that changing anytime soon either. It's going to take a generational shift away from American football which is by far the most profitable and successful league in the US, possibly the world. Not happening anytime soon...

6/13/2011 10:49:02 AM

^Soccer will always be #1 in England, football #1 in the USA, rugby #1 in Australia, and hockey #1 in Canada. There will be no generational shift. That still isn't an excuse for losing to Panama though.

6/13/2011 9:50:12 PM

Quote :

"There will be no generational shift."

Maybe not from this generation to the next, but saying one will NEVER occur is foolish.

6/13/2011 10:21:37 PM

per Grant faggot Wahl, US under Arena and under Bradley (excluding friendlies)

Quote :

"The results were revealing. While Bradley (.670 in 44 games) and Arena (.674 in 69) have almost the exact same winning percentage in official competitions, Bradley's U.S. teams have given up the game's first goal significantly more often (38.6 percent) than Arena's did (26.1 perecent). The difference is even more pronounced in official games on U.S. soil, in which they also have virtually identical winning percentages (Bradley: .870; Arena: .861) but Bradley's teams have given up the first goal 30.4 percent of the time (7 of 23 games) compared to Arena's 8.3 percent (3 of 36). Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/grant_wahl/06/14/us.guadeloupe/index.html#ixzz1PGG3m8Fp"

Based on results, we're almost exactly where we were under Arena, except this time we're going down by a few goals before we start playing. How is that acceptable? Didn't we get rid of Arena because we were stagnant?

Wahl also says the Guadeloupe game is do or die for Bradley but my question is why should beating a shitty little country that can't even make it to a World Cup the barometer for success? I say it should be a final appearance (against an impressive Mexico) or he's gone before WCQ starts. Actually I'd like him gone anyways but I think it's fair that if he can't beat Jamaica or Panama on a 2nd attempt at home, he needs to get the fuck out.


so basically.. Tonight, we Bradley haters are all Guadeloupe fans.

[Edited on June 14, 2011 at 10:41 AM. Reason : only half joking]

6/14/2011 10:35:21 AM

^agree 100%. I think (along with probably many other people here) that we wasted an opportunity to go after a better coach after the last WC.

[Edited on June 14, 2011 at 10:41 AM. Reason : .]

6/14/2011 10:41:06 AM

Well, there's a couple decent ones available right now....





But the sad thing is... even if we get rid of Bradley, Gulati will probably hire Bruce Arena back. Or Sigi Schmid. Or Ben Olsen. Or some other MLS asshole.

6/14/2011 10:45:20 AM

Quote :

"so basically.. Tonight, we Bradley haters are all Guadeloupe fans."

Sad but true. I told a friend of mine during the Panama game a loss could be a blessing in disguise.

6/14/2011 11:54:24 AM

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6354897/sunil-gulati-most-important-man-us-soccer

here's a profile of Gulati with all his boys giving him props

6/14/2011 12:20:36 PM

I completely agree with everyone. If we lose tonight. He has to go. If we don't make the finals. He has to go. Do I think it will happen? Probably not. I think Gulati would get rid of him if we lost tonight but I feel if we make the knockout stages and lose then Gulati won't pull the trigger (just a feeling). I also worry (along with aimorris) that he'll get another MLS coach which will mean we'll go through the same shit that we've gone through the past 8 years or so. I wish there was some way to get rid of Gulati. I think he's our biggest problem.

6/14/2011 12:46:26 PM

God could you imagine the changes that would happen if we got Carlo in there? Hate him or not at Chelsea, he knows how to win games.

6/14/2011 3:36:09 PM

Wondo gets the start! Hooray! Miss open nets from point blank range and get rewarded!

I don't want to watch this game because either we win comfortable and everybody forgets how terrible Bradley is or we lose and it's the most embarrassing loss I can ever remember watching.

6/14/2011 8:46:30 PM

Carol Enchilada don't want to coach no USA.

6/14/2011 8:54:56 PM

lol, u rite

6/14/2011 8:56:15 PM

lol. fucking wondo starting. give me a break bob.

[Edited on June 14, 2011 at 9:09 PM. Reason : plz2 prove me wrong though]

6/14/2011 9:02:09 PM

Should be 1-0 to a country I've never heard of.

[Edited on June 14, 2011 at 9:19 PM. Reason : whoa jozy]

6/14/2011 9:13:15 PM

Anyone find an English feed?

6/14/2011 9:15:46 PM