2009/2010 Football (Soccer) Thread

[Hoax]

1) You are right, but honestly how else can you explain why Bocanegra is an automatic starter every game even when he's at a horrible fitness level and he gets the goddamn armband?  He has been playing worse then DeMerrit and Gouch the only guys who they put back there that didn't play better defense were Hejduk and Bornstein that time he was at LB getting burned every 5 minutes.  I just assumed he must be one of these MLS guys who gets P/T because he's great in the MLS even though they look out of place and lost against real competition.  I'm looking at you Holden, who I'm still not at all sold on.

2) Dempsey is probably the best non GK American at club level currently.  BUT he is also the American Anelka, the guy is invisable, sulky, prone to shit decisions and even worse fouls.  He will play entire games where it seems like its his mission to make bad passes and he's fucking lazy as shit defending set pieces.  You can't not start him but I bet money that everyone will be talking about how Donovan and Dempsey need to lead the team to victory.  As long as that is the plan we're totally fucked.

[sigil]

1) You are right, but honestly how else can you explain why Bocanegra is an automatic starter every game even when he's at a horrible fitness level and he gets the goddamn armband?  He has been playing worse then DeMerrit and Gouch the only guys who they put back there that didn't play better defense were Hejduk and Bornstein that time he was at LB getting burned every 5 minutes.  I just assumed he must be one of these MLS guys who gets P/T because he's great in the MLS even though they look out of place and lost against real competition.  I'm looking at you Holden, who I'm still not at all sold on.

2) Dempsey is probably the best non GK American at club level currently.  BUT he is also the American Anelka, the guy is invisable, sulky, prone to shit decisions and even worse fouls.  He will play entire games where it seems like its his mission to make bad passes and he's fucking lazy as shit defending set pieces.  You can't not start him but I bet money that everyone will be talking about how Donovan and Dempsey need to lead the team to victory.  As long as that is the plan we're totally fucked.

Carlos is captain because he's the  leader of the team. He sets the example in practice and in all facets of the game on and off.  Now, wether otr not that should be Landon doing that, is a whole different matter.



Landon's better than Dempsey. The team dies without Landon. the team makes do and adapts without Dempsey.

Dempsey has shown up plenty when he's played in a position where he gets the ball regularly with space to go forward. CD9 getting hurt might  just force Bradley to do the better overall move and put Dempsey in as forward He'd probably work best with a target man, but we'll also need to see if and how Jozy develops. I still think Findley needs a shot to prove himself.  but  realistically that's probably going to be Gold Cup 2011

[Hoax]

I have no idea what kind of crack you have to be on to think Bocanegra is our best defender.  I'm not even sure he's in the top four after the final month of WC qualifiers.  Bob Bradley and by extension the USMNT "media" sure as shit seem to think he's the best.

[sigil]

Did not say he was the best defender.

He's the leader of the team. He's a vet and the hardest worker. He does a lot of stuff behind the scenes on  the training ground and off the field.

The captain of the team is not the best player. He's the spokesman and leader.

Although, once again, I think Landon should step up for that. But you don't exactly beg for it unless your a whiny Brit who's overrated.

[HaemishM]

Please, Dempsey is one of the USA's top 3 outfield players, for whatever that's worth. Yeah, he has his moments, for reasons only he knows why, but saying he is a "worthless dick" is just utter garbage.

No, I'd agree with him. Dempsey is shit. Almost every goal I've seen him make in international play he lucks into. He disappears for most of the game, shows up to head home an easy one, then disappears again. I can't stand him.

[sigil]

Well, you'd be wrong as well... 

Mostly i'm just playing around, although if you're going to nitpick the yanks, at least try to know who they play for. 

[Hoax]

Well, you'd be wrong as well... 

Mostly i'm just playing around, although if you're going to nitpick the yanks, at least try to know who they play for. 

I assumed he was playing for MLS because he sucks yet always makes the starting lineup.  My bad, jesus.

Dempsey is the American Lampard + Anelka he poaches odd goals which is a talent but he's hardly a superstar.  The people who say that he should be playing forward because he scores goals are clueless.  He's not a big physical player so how exactly do you think he's going to get the space to shoot?  A blistering run at defense (lawl) a cutting run (triple lawl) if he would pull his head out of his ass he'd be a great player as a midfielder.  He has a nose for goal and is always around in the box.  But every other facet of his game is shit when its against top competition for the national side.  If we played a 4-4-3 or something fine you can say he's a forward.  But him and Jozy as a strike pair has the work rate of a dying tortoise.

[sigil]

Well, you'd be wrong as well... 

Mostly i'm just playing around, although if you're going to nitpick the yanks, at least try to know who they play for. 

I assumed he was playing for MLS because he sucks yet always makes the starting lineup.  My bad, jesus.

Dempsey is the American Lampard + Anelka he poaches odd goals which is a talent but he's hardly a superstar.  The people who say that he should be playing forward because he scores goals are clueless.  He's not a big physical player so how exactly do you think he's going to get the space to shoot?  A blistering run at defense (lawl) a cutting run (triple lawl) if he would pull his head out of his ass he'd be a great player as a midfielder.  He has a nose for goal and is always around in the box.  But every other facet of his game is shit when its against top competition for the national side.  If we played a 4-4-3 or something fine you can say he's a forward.  But him and Jozy as a strike pair has the work rate of a dying tortoise.

With that logic,  Eddie Robinson and Wade Barrett would have a shitton of caps. Just jerking your chain. 

All I'm saying is that you're quick to smack down everything American, when the reality is they not as bad as that.  They're not megastars with lots of cash and WAGs to die for, true. But  when the US get amped up, and they play their game together, they overcome their deficiencies to produce a damn decent product. It can boggle the mind when you really break down those pieces as you have done. The US survived a second half meltdown against portugal in 02 with a lineup that was not this good overall as this one, then they outplayed Germany in the quarters.

It used to be that when the US was up, they'd still get smacked down by most of the better teams no matter what.  Now USA has a window where when things kinda fall their way they have a decent shop of taking down top class competition. We have a little time left to solidify a few holes. As long as the US doesn't make it all about England, they should be in good position to move into the round of sixteen . We'll see what happens there.

The US has at least one upset in them for South Africa. Frankly I'd rather it be later than early, but  it looks to be fun.



Also, Fabio Capello is scheduling Mexico to "play a team that's similar to the Americans" I'd still be laughing from that but the US just lined up a frinedly with Northern Ireland, so  .

[WayAbvPar]

I think the logic behind putting Dempsey up top is that he can finish and he does the least damage defensively from there 

US is training at altitude and their home base in SA is at altitude, so I don't think it will affect them as much as it may others who end up based near sea level.

[sigil]

I think the logic behind putting Dempsey up top is that he can finish and he does the least damage defensively from there 

US is training at altitude and their home base in SA is at altitude, so I don't think it will affect them as much as it may others who end up based near sea level.

I'd buy both of these :)

also playing a full tournament with those god damned vezuvelas will help as well.

[sigil]

The Premiere league this season is fucking  goofy.

[sigil]

So, Birmingham City is in sixth place behind Spurs,  Arsenal  and Aston Villa and the usual Two.

And London Donovan is going to Everton on a Beckham type loan.

Just keeps getting weirder.

[Amarr HM]

United should probably buy David Bentley.

[Bokonon]

Huzzah Fulham!

[HaemishM]

Liverpool can barely put 2 goals past a Wigan team with a chaotic defense and a goalkeeper that took a knock early on in the game. And they cough up a decent but not spectacular goal in the 92nd minute that made the last few minutes of the game nervy. Again, Rafa sits Aquilani for 60 minutes, but at least he didn't start Lucas. The team is plodding, slow and for some reason most teams who aren't in the top 6 just sit back and wait or Liverpool to miss their goal 30 times a game before they can pot an easy one instead of attacking the shit out of Liverpool's slow and inept defense. It's like some of the Premier League teams feel bad about beating Liverpool when they clearly deserve to get the piss knocked out of them.

[Bokonon]

Haha ManU!

Looks like you got your wish, Haemish.

[HaemishM]

The Reds just keep kicking their fans in the balls. I eagerly await next week's Wolves fixture, where Rafa runs Jay Spearing out in the midfield instead of Aquilani - he's going to have to put someone in for Masch. It makes about as much fucking sense as putting Adrea Dossena at left midfield instead of left back or instead of Yossi Benayoun. Either he wasn't taking Pompey seriously, which means he deserved to lose, or both Benayoun and Aquilani are hurt more than he's letting on.

The team deserves to lose. They get a goal down to the bottom team in the league and fall the fuck apart. They started brightly, with composure - they just didn't have the finish. They get a goal down from a poor clearance and they never recovered. Their passing went to shit, they had NO FUCKING IDEAS about how to score, and then they lost Mascherano to a harsh red card (should have been a yellow at worst) and the game was fucking over. They are starting to look like a not-relegation-bound version of Newcastle from last year. Their fans think they are better than they are - or their manager does and won't listen to anybody the fuck else about it. If they keep playing like they did this weekend, forget top 4 - they might be lucky for a top 10.

[Amarr HM]

Mascherano to a harsh red card (should have been a yellow at worst)

I thought the Ref was spot on. Liverpool were poor United even poorer, though they have the worst injury crisis in their history (if you don't inlcude the Munich air disaster).

[sigil]

That was a well earned win by Leeds. Wes Brown looked like total crap today. Gary Neville looked ancient. Beckford owned his ass.

[sidereal]

Unlucky not to have won 3-0.  Man U had one legitimately good chance (when the ball was pinging around the box for 10 seconds).  Leeds had 4-5 clear runs that ought to have finished better.  They obviously wanted it a lot more.

[sigil]

Agreed.  Beckford and Snodgrass were both unlucky.

[Amarr HM]

It's no secret United threw that game, now lets talk about an important competition.

[sigil]

It's no secret United threw that game, now lets talk about an important competition.

You can pull that newcomer frontrunner bull if you want, but Man U losing to their ultimate archrival Leeds United is going to royally piss off the faithful.

[WayAbvPar]

I keep telling myself that it will save wear and tear on the already dicey back 4. That is about all I can cling to at this point. That was dreadful. I am shocked that A) Wes Brown wasn't sent off in the first half, and B) that Rooney didn't snap and stomp someone's nuts. You could feel the waves of frustration coming off of him. And wow do they miss Van der Sar. Going to be scary when he retires unless they sign someone soon.

[Amarr HM]

You can pull that newcomer frontrunner bull if you want, but Man U losing to their ultimate archrival Leeds United is going to royally piss off the faithful.

If by faithful you mean 70 year old buspassers who can remember when Leeds had a great team, jaysus that rivalry died when the FA cup stopped being an important competition. Leeds fans are a pack of wankers and the club deserves to be in League one I hope they stay there I'm sure I'm not alone on that. As far as my own team goes I'm delighted to be out the FA cup so early with the recent injury list & I'd be surprised if SAF wasn't secretly a little pleased about it too.

[Endie]

It says something about Leeds fans and their club that, despite being a Liverpool fan, I would have preferred United to win that game.

The Van Der Saar thing WayAbvPar mentions is true, though: last time Man United had a settled keeper who was the obvious front choice and one of the best in the country (Schmeichel, of course) his departure lead to years of searching and dodgy experiments.

[sidereal]

As far as my own team goes I'm delighted to be out the FA cup so early with the recent injury list & I'd be surprised if SAF wasn't secretly a little pleased about it too.

You're fucking kidding me.  I thought your first post was some quality sarcasm, but you're actually serious.  Yeah, no doubt Ferguson was aching to lose at home to a rival.  So much that he played Berbatov and Rooney and had the temerity to bitch about getting 'only' 5 minutes of extra time in a half with no major injuries and no goals.  All the hallmarks of a guy throwing the towel in.

But whatever gets you to sleep at night.

[Amarr HM]

Heh, I was being sarcastic I never said we didn't try and win, just genuinely think it's a good thing.

[Righ]

It says something about Leeds fans and their club that, despite being a Liverpool fan, I would have preferred United to win that game.

Manchester United or Leeds United?  

It's always good to see Ferguson's blood pressure get raised. Even though Leeds' fans are unlikely to get any more pleasant collectively, their bad form will come to an end at some point. If that means more wins against Man U, I'm in favour of it.

[Amarr HM]

Manchester United or Leeds United?  

There's only one United.

[sidereal]

Newcastle?

[sigil]

DC? 



Also Leeds was in the Champions league  in 2001. I seem to remember a semifinal... It's not like those old timers are all that old.

[HaemishM]

Sheffield?

[Amarr HM]

Screw you guys 

[Endie]

He's Irish.  He probably means some potato-botherers like Waterford United.