All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

I agree about the second half, but the consistent pressure the U.S. put on the Austrians from the goal until about 35 minutes into the first galf should have resulted in a comfortable lead. Unfortunately, at times the final pass, or players passing up shooting opportunities hurt the team badly.

 

When I first started following the Premiership, they were fantastic, with Viduka and Kewell. It's remarkable how far a club can fall in less than a decade.

 

Indeed, and not to mention then Alan Smith. It's amazing to see teams like Leeds and Nottingham in League One.

 

I had to smile when I saw the reference to Nottingham, my grandfather's glee in seeing them beaten unmatched by much else in this world. (An uncle of mine is a Forest supporter; the rest of the family not-so-secretly exults every time they lose. And I don't even think they dislike the guy that much.)

 

Houston Dynamo sets a new record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.

This, of course, makes them the most boring team in MLS.[starman]

 

One man's take (OK, it's mine) on the summer that was for the U.S. national team:

goldenboot.blogspot.com

 

Whoa, talk about being misquoted.
Over the hump?
Did somebody say "over the hump?"
Mariotti said "we're not interested." I said, "the numbers demonstrate that it depends on how you define 'we."
How did you get from there to "over the hump"?

 

Rongen never should have started an injured Chris Seitz in goal. Seitz' chief strength in the early knockout games was his ability to come off his line and keep the area clean. When the game began with one of the defenders taking goal kicks for him, I knew there could be problems.
And, as suggested here previously, the presence of Valentin was a killer. No excuse for playing him in central defense.

 

And then Ward came in for Beltran and was an absolute nightmare. That whole backline looked like a disaster waiting to happen throughout that match.

 

Rangers, Portsmouth, and my boys Newcastle United were all served with search warrants this morning involving corruption. Alot of the speculation as far as the Rangers/Toon connection are the stupid signings that Souness made for us after moving from Rangers.

 

Rangers!?! Is Pastor okay?

 

I'll be fine. I've been reading about this for a while now. Not much will be made from it. It really comes down to Sounness leaving Rangers, going south and then purchasing a player for an amount that (once the player looked like shit in the EPL) exceeded value.

Celtic will have the same problem shortly when it is realized that Martin O'Neil, after moving to Aston Villa, artifically inflated the player values of Celtic players.

Much ado, I say.