The Soccer Thread (Version 7.0)

Inky_Wretch · Sep 9, 2012

Sir Alex and Sean Connery hanging out getting drunk at the US Open. Awesome.

kingcreole · Sep 9, 2012

TrooperBari said:

kingcreole said:

USA needs to win Tuesday. Huge game, which is baffling for the fourth game of qualifying. I'm sure Jamaica will pack it in and try for a goal on the break. Didn't watch the game, but it seems the USA had zero creativity. Haven't heard one word about Jozy Altidore. Seems like only Dempsey played well. And for the love of all that's good in this world, can Kyle Beckerman please never see an international soccer field again? Graham Zusi is better, albeit a different kind of player.
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It would be harsh to pin much blame on the forwards. With the US playing so narrow and with three D-mids, there was no service regardless of who was running around up front. The US might be able to generate some offense with Baby Bradley charging forward and two other D-mids hanging back, but any other combination simply will not work. Jones and Edu are pure destroyers -- the very occasional shot from distance notwithstanding -- and Beckerman can be box-to-boxish at an MLS level but is too much of the same in international play.

Did it look to anyone else that the US set out to get a draw in Kingston? I thought the US was supposed to be striving for more than that after hiring Klinsmann, who is all about positive, attacking play. Grimly grinding out results was the old way under Bob Bradley, but the US I saw on the field against Italy, Mexico and now Jamaica was almost no different. This max-protect approach removed any chance of offensive impetus and allowed Jamaica to be in position to win with two set pieces despite generating almost nothing from the run of play.

Now we need to see whether this high-minded rhetoric from Klinsi has any substance to it. The US has to put Jamaica under pressure on Tuesday with width and possession. There should be two defensive midfielders at most in the starting lineup. Goodson/Cameron is acceptable as a center back partnership as playing Bocanegra risks getting caught out for pace. Johnson would be better served on the left wing rather than left back, but the lack of any good left back options (no Spector or Boca) means he's stuck there for the time being. Cherundolo needs to reclaim his place at right back to at least get some extra width.

Midfield is where the US lost in Kingston and it's where it will have to win in Columbus. Since Klinsmann is unlikely to play a flat-out 4-4-2, putting Edu and Williams in front of the back four should provide sufficient pace in the midfield shield. That frees up Dempsey, Torres and Shea to play in an attacking trio behind Altidore -- preferably with Torres in the middle. Torres obviously isn't in Klinsmann's good graces at the moment, but he's the kind of player the US is going to need to keep the ball and make plays in the space Jamaica will inevitably leave as it sits deep and tries to play on the counter. Gomez could start for Dempsey if he's too gassed after Friday, and Zusi is certainly an option off the bench if Bad Brek makes another appearance.

The Hex is far from lost, of course. Three points on Tuesday and another three at Antigua & Barbuda gives the US 10 points going into the finale at home to Guatemala. With Guatemala and Jamaica playing each other on Oct. 12, even a draw on the 16th should be enough to secure a top-two finish. Then comes the Hex, which brings with it slightly more margin for error. (As an aside, I really hope Canada makes the Hex. They haven't made it that far since qualifying for France '98 and it would be great to see them back in the mix.)
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Canada's results look encouraging. They're in great shape to make it to the Hexagonal along with Mexico.

derwood · Sep 9, 2012

The committee will advise manager Brendan Rodgers but will also, interestingly, take on a much wider role as to how Liverpool is run, the type of football the club will play and all the 'technical’ aspects that are sometimes taken by a director
of football.
Although Rodgers, as part of his negotiations to take over at Anfield, insisted he would not work directly for a director of football, despite Liverpool sounding out several candidates, including former Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, the club has
not ruled out eventually making the appointment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9531116/Liverpool-manager-Brendan-Rodgers-to-receive-help-from-technical-committee.html

Bubbler · Sep 9, 2012

derwood said:

The committee will advise manager Brendan Rodgers but will also, interestingly, take on a much wider role as to how Liverpool is run, the type of football the club will play and all the 'technical’ aspects that are sometimes taken by a director
of football.
Although Rodgers, as part of his negotiations to take over at Anfield, insisted he would not work directly for a director of football, despite Liverpool sounding out several candidates, including former Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, the club has
not ruled out eventually making the appointment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9531116/Liverpool-manager-Brendan-Rodgers-to-receive-help-from-technical-committee.html
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Tee-hee. What Liverpool needs a time machine to fix their deadline day hilarity.

Only then I'd need a time machine to go back, Michael Biehn-style, to stop that from happening.

deskslave · Sep 10, 2012

It's a long-overdue cap, but I can finally say I've made my international debut, having taken in Holland-Turkey in Amsterdam on Friday night. Pretty average game, that the Turks could have and probably should have gotten a point from, but in the end a Van Persie header and a last-minute breakaway sealed it.

Mad props to the guy at the Dutch FA for arranging to have tickets left for me, though he lost a couple points when we realized that he'd put us in the very top row in the upper level. Not a bad view, though, in reality.

JosephC.Myers · Sep 10, 2012

deskslave said:

It's a long-overdue cap, but I can finally say I've made my international debut, having taken in Holland-Turkey in Amsterdam on Friday night. Pretty average game, that the Turks could have and probably should have gotten a point from, but in the end a Van Persie header and a last-minute breakaway sealed it.

Mad props to the guy at the Dutch FA for arranging to have tickets left for me, though he lost a couple points when we realized that he'd put us in the very top row in the upper level. Not a bad view, though, in reality.

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Very cool, even if it does seem pretty far away. As long as you can tell who the players are, you should be good.

deskslave · Sep 10, 2012

Yeah, it was definitely high up, but you could see who was who and what was what. The pictures being taken on a phone camera doesn't help.

PCLoadLetter · Sep 10, 2012

deskslave said:

It's a long-overdue cap, but I can finally say I've made my international debut, having taken in Holland-Turkey in Amsterdam on Friday night. Pretty average game, that the Turks could have and probably should have gotten a point from, but in the end a Van Persie header and a last-minute breakaway sealed it.

Mad props to the guy at the Dutch FA for arranging to have tickets left for me, though he lost a couple points when we realized that he'd put us in the very top row in the upper level. Not a bad view, though, in reality.

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Very cool. I'm an Ajax fan and actually took a tour of that stadium last summer, but there wasn't a game while I was in Amsterdam.

derwood · Sep 11, 2012

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1155932/uefa-withholds-cash-over-possible-financial-fair-play-breaches?cc=5901

The CFC, which is chaired by Jean-Luc Dehaene, a former prime minister of Belgium, said on the UEFA website that the following 23 clubs were under investigation:

FK Borac Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
FK Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
FK Zeljeznicar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
PFC CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)
HNK Hajduk Split (Croatia)
NK Osijek (Croatia)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Malaga (Spain)
Maccabi Netanya (Israel)
FK Shkendija 79 (Macedonia)
Floriana FC (Malta)
FK Buducnost Podgorica (Montenegro)
FK Rudar Pjevlja (Montenegro)
Ruch Chorzow (Poland)
Sporting Clube de Portugal (Portugal)
Dinamo Bucharest (Romania)
FC Rapid Bucharest (Romania)
FC Vaslui (Romania)
Rubin Kazan (Russia)
FK Partizan (Serbia)
FK Vojvodina (Serbia)
Eskisehirspor (Turkey)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)

derwood · Sep 11, 2012

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-cameron-to-apologise-to-hillsborough-families-1314813

David Cameron is to apologise to the families of Hillsborough victims this week.

In an announcement in the House of Commons on Wednesday the Prime Minister will say sorry for years of official blunders over the 1989 football disaster when 96 football fans were crushed to death in Sheffield.

His speech will come on a “momentous” day for relatives of the victims.

It will also see the release of previously unpublished files which are expected to expose widespread failures by South Yorkshire police and other public bodies.

Government sources say Mr Cameron will express his regret that mistakes were made and that it took so long for them to be revealed.

Families who have protested for years at the way the aftermath was handled expect the new information to prove conclusively that police refused to accept responsibility for the disaster.

spikechiquet · Sep 11, 2012

I know it's been talked about before, but what do you all think are the odds that the Premier League will have some sort of salary cap in the next 5 years?
A blogger for Wigan on ESPNFC posted today about it and I think it's unlikely, but wouldn't it benefit the EPL to have a little more parity?

Bubbler · Sep 11, 2012

derwood said:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/david-cameron-to-apologise-to-hillsborough-families-1314813

David Cameron is to apologise to the families of Hillsborough victims this week.

In an announcement in the House of Commons on Wednesday the Prime Minister will say sorry for years of official blunders over the 1989 football disaster when 96 football fans were crushed to death in Sheffield.

His speech will come on a “momentous” day for relatives of the victims.

It will also see the release of previously unpublished files which are expected to expose widespread failures by South Yorkshire police and other public bodies.

Government sources say Mr Cameron will express his regret that mistakes were made and that it took so long for them to be revealed.

Families who have protested for years at the way the aftermath was handled expect the new information to prove conclusively that police refused to accept responsibility for the disaster.
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Hoo boy. This is not going to end well at all, but the victims and families of Hillsborough's tragedy deserve to know the truth.

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The Soccer Thread (Version 7.0)

Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

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The Soccer Thread (Version 7.0)

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