General Soccer Thread

[G. Keenan]

Castillo has not had a good game.

[thrill]

Sports sucks. Scotch time.

[G. Keenan]

Disappointing. We somehow managed to dominate possession but generate few real chances.

[thrill]

Disappointing. We somehow managed to dominate possession but generate few real chances.

That's soccer I guess. Few touches here & there & it's 3-0 at half.

[thrill]

Edu, Castillo, Torres, Orozco, Shea were gassed. Unacceptable.
Edit-Shea has played 4 games in 9 days. He gets a pass.

[MrSaigon]

Timbers 1-0 USMNT

[Fat Strat]

We get Dempsey tonight, but no Donovan? I'm really anxious to see how those guys can work together in Klinsmann's system. With this match in Brussels, I didn't think we would have everyone, but we really need to get some games in with the big three in the midfield -- Bradley, Donovan, and Dempsey. That's still the core and they've got their work cut out for them to learn a new system together, test it out together, and be ready for qualifying together.

[maddash]

From my novice eyes, it seems like the US can dominate possession, but they always seem to be looking for the perfect goal and don't take as many shots as I think they should. Maybe they just lack creativity at the striker positions. IDK, I never really played the game beyond grade school so maybe I'm just saying stuff. They always look good on set pieces though, especially when it's one of Donovan's crosses.

[lukethedrifter]

So what are the theories on why US players aren't as skillful? Is it because they all grow up playing on teams, in leagues thus don't have the unconstrained freedom to discover slick moves on the streets playing with their friends?

Maybe that's why US keepers ARE competitive. The same doesn't apply.

[thrill]

From my novice eyes, it seems like the US can dominate possession, but they always seem to be looking for the perfect goal and don't take as many shots as I think they should. Maybe they just lack creativity at the striker positions. IDK, I never really played the game beyond grade school so maybe I'm just saying stuff. They always look good on set pieces though, especially when it's one of Donovan's crosses.

Eh. Donovan is not my first choice on set pieces. Holden, Torres and then Donovan. His crosses are often flat.

We aren't known as a possession team. What you're seeing when you see lots of possession with not much payoff is a team that isn't great at possession trying to become better at it. Valuing it more. Our final ball just isn't there; that deadly pass that cuts open the defense, the individual one-on-one move that frees a player on goal etc. We're possessing the ball where it's easy to possess, in the back of the midfield and around the defense. That surgical ball that you see teams like Spain, Holland and Germany do so well isn't there. Mainly because we don't develop players like Ozil, Xavi, Iniesta, Sneijder, Van Der Vaart and of course Messi. Jose Francisco Torres is a homeless man's Xavi. Donovan is a poor man's Iniesta who, if he had been brought up his whole career to be that player, could be that player. Unfortunately through a combination of being played in systems that value hustle and athleticism more than possession and a lack of determination to play in Europe as a young professional, he isn't that player.

So basically Klinsmann is trying to force these players to adapt to this system under the Ron Paulesque theory that what hurts us in the short run will be good for us in the long run when the next generation of players cycle through.