OT: soccer thread

[SWedd523]

and another!


2-1 off the Dempsey header

[SWedd523]

just earned a PK after Johnson gets taken down in the box... let's see what happens

[SWedd523]

Just like that, 3-1 on an Altidore PK

[fatlever]

You guys gonna watch the game right now (SVN-USA)? This is our first game under new coach. Hope we win

forget the score, i thought you guys looked really dangerous. #23 was fantastic for you.

[fatlever]

swedd what did you think of fabian johnson? i thought he was impressive. i like him much more than danny williams so far. i was happy to see bradley in for edu. i cant stand the beckerman/edu partnership. i really cant wait for holden to come back. i really want to see a bradley-holden central midfield with donovan and shea (or johnson) on the wings and dempsey playing just behind jozy.

[SWedd523]

Honestly I can't say because I haven't watched the last few games so I've missed the Danny Williams experiment.

That said, I was highly impressed by the offensive side of the game today. Buddle looked better than I've ever seen him... much more assertive. Dempsey has looked fantastic (and creative) ever since he started playing for JK, Adu looked strong, and Fabian Johnson played with a ton of pace and technical skill.

Those 4, along with Bradley, looked very comfortable with each other. I saw more technical skill and creativity between those 5 today than at any point under BB. Give and go's, roll offs, touch passes, it all looked crisp and strong.

and finally, FINALLY somebody decided to take a shot from outside the 18! It's always seemed like our guys are allergic to taking some strikes from outside and only try and score off set pieces and crosses.


The only bad spot today was the back line. Timmy Chandler got abused multiple times on offside traps and allowed too many shots on goal............ and I guess you could say I'm not a fan of Beckerman

[Bizz]

I'm OK with the result. This was our first game under a new coach and he was trying a lot of different things. Matić who was responsible for USA first goal doesn't belong in the first unit but he used to play for our coach in a club so he gave him a chance. And it was real dumb for Birsa to shoot that last free kick Vršič scored 4 times in our league this year from that position, not to mention the goal against Serbia.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGnP7kpmac[/youtube]

But a good attacking game from both teams. We need to strengthen our defense and we will be fine. An yeah Tim Matavz 23 will be a star, catch him in PSV if you have a chance he has a real nose for goals. In his debut in the national team he scored a hat trick.

[SWedd523]

Yeah that Matavz guy is a boss. He had three chances back to back and finally got one to fall. Very tenacious

[Det the Threat]

Some news from Germany.

We won against the Netherlands 3-0, with Klose, Oezil and Mueller scoring.

They pretty much didn't give a fight, while we dominated the whole game.
My guy, Marco Reus, only got to play about 10 minutes, but what can you do if you have guys like Mueller, Podolski, Oezil, Goetze etc. playing the same positions...

The final four teams for next years european championships are also set, with Portugal, Czech Republik, Ireland and Croatia winning their qualifiers.

The pots for the draws are set as well and there should be some interesting groups, with Ukraine and Poland being in pot one, thanks to them hosting the tournament.

Here are the pots:

Pot 1: Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands, Spain
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Sweden, Denmark
Pot 4: France, Portugal, Ireland, Czech Republik

I pretty much expect us to draw either Netherlands or Spain(we don't have that much luck in draws, regarding european championships) and we could be in it with Portugal/France and Croatia in our group as well.

Though, if you want to win, you have to beat every team in your way...

BTW: Regarding the Bundesliga, my team is still kicking it. We're at 4th place, with 23 points after 12 games, and will host 3rd place Bremen this weekend.
Marco Reus finally found his scoring touch again and scored all four of our goals during those last two 2 -1 wins against Hannover and at Berlin.

[fatlever]

det, i think portugal is in pot 3, right?

i am looking forward to the group of death with spain, germany, portugal and france.

det, what can you tell us about fabian johnson? he looked pretty good for us yesterday vs slovenia. it was his first start for USA.

[Det the Threat]

det, i think portugal is in pot 3, right?

i am looking forward to the group of death with spain, germany, portugal and france.

det, what can you tell us about fabian johnson? he looked pretty good for us yesterday vs slovenia. it was his first start for USA.

Yeah, Portugal will be in pot 3.

Johnson is a guy that started out at 1860 Munich, went to Wolfsburg(but didn't play there) and is now at Hoffenheim.
He's an athletic guy that runs a lot and can play on both wings(offensively and defensively) but has been installed at defensive midfield by head coach Holger Stanislawski.

I think he could either take over for Cherundolo or on your left back position, but it's up to Klinsmann to find the best possible position for your squad.

BTW: This weekend the top four teams(currently) will play against eachother in the Bundesliga, with Bayern(#1) hosting Dortmund(#2) and Gladbach(#4) hosting Bremen(#3).
And my team is still kicking it, by beating Bremen 5-0 thanks to a hat trick by Marco Reus and two other goals by Juan Arango and Patrick Herrmann.

Which Bundesliga games were you able to watch?

[fatlever]

goltv had the gladbach game on saturday, but i was not able to watch anything on saturday. sunday i didnt see what game was on as i was watching chelsea crap their pants again vs liverpool.

[Eoghan]

sunday i didnt see what game was on as i was watching chelsea crap their pants again vs liverpool.

That's all I've got to say about that.

[fatlever]

yeah yeah

its been a rough past month for chelsea, lost to QPR, got destroyed by arsenal, drew to little genk then lost to liverpool. and thats 3 in a row to liverpool. ouch. somethings got to change. too many old slow players left over from the mourinho days. villas boas needs his own players. until that happens, its gonna be ugly at times. i just hope we get it together enough to finish in the top 4.

that battle for the last 2 champions league spots is going to be brutal. man united and city are in. but then you have arsenal, chelsea, liverpool, tottenham and newcastle fighting for 2 places. i have to think newcastle will eventually fade as their lack of depth will surely expose them in the 2nd half. but it wouldnt surprise me at all to see chelsea finish 6th this year.

......... which probably means another new coach next year, which sucks because i really like villas boas. he is young and smart and i like his attacking style. but until he gets some true wingers to play his 4-3-3 this team will struggle. anelka, sturridge, kalou and malouda are not wingers. and they insanely high back line needs a lot more work to be successful at this level. thank god we signed mata. he has been just about our only consistent attacking player all season.

as for liverpool, i hope you guys keep it up. i would much rather see you guys at the top than city, united and arsenal. unfortunately city looks unstoppable and van persie is playing out of his freaking mind at arsenal.

so what are the chances landon donovan makes another jump to europe after finally winning the mls cup?

[Det the Threat]

goltv had the gladbach game on saturday, but i was not able to watch anything on saturday. sunday i didnt see what game was on as i was watching chelsea crap their pants again vs liverpool.

Yeah, looks like Chelsea needs way more "tweaking" to get back to the top again.

BTW: This weekend there've been two Derbys in the Bundesliga.
Today, Borussia Dortmund beat Schalke 2-0 and took over the top spot of the table(Bayern will play tomorrow) for at least a night.
Yesterday there was the Derby at the "Rhine" between FC Cologne and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
We easily won(like most of the time) 3-0 and dominated them the whole game.
Though, Marco Reus suffered a broken toe and might miss some time.

Anyways, should be a good week, with the NBA news, the Euro 2012 draws on Friday and the top match of the week between Borussia Moenchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund next weekend.

[Eoghan]

Drogba is past it I think. They need to just bite the bullet and play Torres since they're paying out the arse for him.

[fatlever]

Drogba is past it I think. They need to just bite the bullet and play Torres since they're paying out the arse for him.

drogba has started the last 3 games and has looked pretty poor in all three. torres gets a ton of crap for missing some sitters this year, but he has looked pretty good other than that. his work rate pressing and off the ball trumps drogba. that alone should earn him starts when neither player is in form.

thank god for mata. he is a stud.

great day today, man u and arsenal both draw today. maybe liverpool and city can draw tomorrow.

as for bundesliga, i saw that chandler scored today. awesome.

[SWedd523]

Anybody a fan of any MLS team?

[fatlever]

Anybody a fan of any MLS team?

i watched the finals, does that count? i've had a hard time really committing to the MLS mainly because charlotte doesnt have a team. if i had a team to root for i would totally get more into it. i usually watch the concacaf champions league games when MLS teams are playing. at least then i have a clear favorite team to pull for. i guess this year i was watching some philly union games to see adu.

[Eoghan]

^yeah, if NC had a team I'd be all about it. As it stands, I'm a very casual Columbus Crew fan.