The Swamp

Guzan, huh?

mister d wrote:Guzan, huh?

Arena has said Howard is still not 100% and takes longer to recover.

Not sure that I've ever heard anyone talk faster than the female host of the NBC Universo pregame studio show.

Disaster early. This team is kinda a joke defensively right now.

The literal US effort right now is atrocious.

need to get to halftime without anymore damage, they are wilting.

Imagine if someone won a 1-on-1 battle ever

What does Zusi do?

This is all Jurgen's fault.

mister d wrote:What does Zusi do?

What does Beasley do?

mister d wrote:What does Zusi do?

My daughter's first crush?

Pretty not psyched about a home and home with Australia just to make the World Cup, you guys.

Yeah, I'd hate to be Panama right now

Man, who are these incredibly soft and slow guys

fucking ugly, but that'll do I guess.

Credit to grind and find one I guess. Wasn't much to believe in that whole game.

Peru with a huge win in Quito to keep hope alive. Hasn't qualified since 1982.

Could be a Peru vs New Zealand playoff.

What the hell happened to Chile? That's a way bigger meltdown than what's going on with the USA.

Rex wrote:What the hell happened to Chile? That's a way bigger meltdown than what's going on with the USA.

Aging team out of gas I think. Almost the same 11 guys all the time. Vidal and Sanchez aren't the same. They play a pressing style.

2014 World Cup
2015 Copa
2016 Copa
2017 Confed

Is a lot of football.

Didn't Mexico play in all of that and the Gold Cup too?

It was sad seeing DMB get beat continuously like that. He was awful. Others too, but he really stood out to me. And did Bradley touch a ball that wasn't a free kick?

Rex wrote:Didn't Mexico play in all of that and the Gold Cup too?

Yup but Mexico is a lot younger and has more depth.
And it's CONCACAF.

Argentina drew 1-1 at home to Venezuela.

That team's got problems too.

Wood looking rather massive right now. 2-0 Panama.

Shirley wrote:It was sad seeing DMB get beat continuously like that. He was awful. Others too, but he really stood out to me. And did Bradley touch a ball that wasn't a free kick?

No.

And Beasley still starting in such games for the US is, at this point, a screaming indictment on the whole US player development process.

So, soccering question related to Bradley. In that lineup, is it his responsibility to go back and get the ball or is it Guzan's / the defender's responsibility to be able to get the ball to the midfielders rather than constant long-balling?

mister d wrote:So, soccering question related to Bradley. In that lineup, is it his responsibility to go back and get the ball or is it Guzan's / the defender's responsibility to be able to get the ball to the midfielders rather than constant long-balling?

Not sure on Bradley but if you really want to go deep on this stuff, I recommend
https://www.amazon.com/Mixer-Story-Prem ... B01N2QBCOJ
and his web site/twitter-- zonal marking

Almost bought that a few weeks ago. Have you read it?

Is that a link to The Mixer? I bought it, but haven't opened it yet. Cox is great on soccer strategy.

mister d wrote:Almost bought that a few weeks ago. Have you read it?

I am cheap and pretty much exclusively read out of the local public library, used book stores, and amazon used options.

I just bought used copies of the 4 "Secret Footballer" books (which includes one on tactics). More than happy to send them onto another swamper when I am done. Just PM me the postal info and they will go out

If you don't know the secret footballer....https://www.theguardian.com/football/se ... footballer

Nonlinear FC wrote:Yeah, I agree with you guys... Getting 4 points this round was pretty big. We'd have to shit the bed the next round for there to be any drama in October. But when you look at this coming round... Just not a walk in the park. A team in CRC where we have always struggled and then down in Hon where they will be (assuming a win over TnT) playing for a spot in the top 3.

That whole conversation back then was pretty prescient. I mean, it's not rocket science to predict this being a rough round, but getting that point last night was huge.

mister d wrote:So, soccering question related to Bradley. In that lineup, is it his responsibility to go back and get the ball or is it Guzan's / the defender's responsibility to be able to get the ball to the midfielders rather than constant long-balling?

I'll answer with a bit of a tangent.

I don't know if people watching the game understand just how horrible that field is. Guys were passing the ball with their laces to make 15 yard connections. That shit was like playing on fly paper.

So, the inclination to launch the ball in the air, especially in that heat... It's hard to resist hoofing the ball up field in those conditions.

Nonlinear FC wrote:

mister d wrote:So, soccering question related to Bradley. In that lineup, is it his responsibility to go back and get the ball or is it Guzan's / the defender's responsibility to be able to get the ball to the midfielders rather than constant long-balling?

I'll answer with a bit of a tangent.

I don't know if people watching the game understand just how horrible that field is. Guys were passing the ball with their laces to make 15 yard connections. That shit was like playing on fly paper.

So, the inclination to launch the ball in the air, especially in that heat... It's hard to resist hoofing the ball up field in those conditions.

EPL has strict requirements on grass height. Almost surprised FIFA does not have the same. And no surprise that CONCACAF does not.

wlu_lax6 wrote:

Nonlinear FC wrote:

mister d wrote:So, soccering question related to Bradley. In that lineup, is it his responsibility to go back and get the ball or is it Guzan's / the defender's responsibility to be able to get the ball to the midfielders rather than constant long-balling?

I'll answer with a bit of a tangent.

I don't know if people watching the game understand just how horrible that field is. Guys were passing the ball with their laces to make 15 yard connections. That shit was like playing on fly paper.

So, the inclination to launch the ball in the air, especially in that heat... It's hard to resist hoofing the ball up field in those conditions.

EPL has strict requirements on grass height. Almost surprised FIFA does not have the same. And no surprise that CONCACAF does not.

The thing is, I'm not even sure it's the height, it's the actual grass. I think it's like a heavy soiza or something. My in-laws have it, and it's kind of like FL grass they use for the roughs down there on golf courses.

It can be 2 inches high and you lose your golf ball. Thick as shit, but also spongy.

Just a fucking terrible grass for a soccer field.

There was a cross in the first half out to our right wing. (Not sure who it was, but I don't think it was Pulisic.) The ball was pretty high and had traveled far. He let it go over his shoulder and bounce. After two bounces, it was rolling on the ground, right at his feet. He never actually touched it before then. It looked like the kind of awesome touch I'm always impressed by, but in this case, he never touched it. The grass did all the dampening.

Shirley wrote:There was a cross in the first half out to our right wing. (Not sure who it was, but I don't think it was Pulisic.) The ball was pretty high and had traveled far. He let it go over his shoulder and bounce. After two bounces, it was rolling on the ground, right at his feet. He never actually touched it before then. It looked like the kind of awesome touch I'm always impressed by, but in this case, he never touched it. The grass did all the dampening.

That would also explain Omar misplaying the ball leading to Honduras' goal. The ball didn't move the way Omar expected. We held a practice for my daughter's team on a grass field the other day, after playing almost exclusively on turf. The difference is amazing. The grass wasn't all that high, but extremely thick. Even for professionals at that high level, I can totally see it screwing them up.

I had texted "I really like Gonzalez" about 90 seconds before that goal.

People are overreacting to this "round."

We called it after the last round: CR is a VERY good squad right now, and pose particularly bad match-up issues for us. Honduras is still playing for something, and they take full advantage of their home field.

I watched that game last night knowing the result. So with a fairly dispassionate view. We played fine. It was an ugly game in general, and we created a bunch of chances, mostly in the first half.

We are far from great right now, but we are also not a roaming tire fire. Getting all "this team is the worst" about these two games is typical US soccer fan (not talking about this board), it's also just goofy given the circumstances.

I think it was brian who said back in the middle of the previous round, if we can't beat Panama, we don't deserve to go to Russia. Let's see what Bruce dials up for Orlando.

Yep, still true. If you can't beat Panama in a must-win game at home, don't deserve to go to Russia.

I'd also say that if you can't get a point off Costa Rica and Honduras you don't deserve to go and that really should have been their fate. Credit being in the right spot and making the plays but that ball bounces differently 95/100 so it's tough to give them a pass. Everyone knew those games were the key to qualifying and they all but played themselves out of the world cup. New day new games maybe things turn 180 and the comp should help a lot but pretty bad really.