2014 World Cup Running Commentary

[bayonetbrant]

at this point, two draws will get us out of the group

[TheCommandTent]

at this point, two draws will get us out of the group

I think we have a shot at drawing with Portugal but if Germany plays the way they did today and we play the way we did today then there is no way we have a chance against them.

[bayonetbrant]

Germany may be resting half of their team to save them for the knockout round by then

[GDS_Starfury]

more boring then cricket. 

[bayonetbrant]

so I'm chuckling about a few things related to the game this morning

...  Mike & Mike playing all the USA-themed songs they can find.  Amusingly, of course, "Born in the USA" - never mind the political sentiment - when a handful of the team were in fact born in Germany.   They followed that with "Living in America" when, again, Brooks, Johnson, Green, Chandler, and Jones all grew up in Germany and Johansson grew up in Iceland.

...  The über-love for John Brooks for the header, as noted above.

...  people bloviating about Landon being the guy that would've replaced Altidore when Jozy went down.  Uh, no.  Not all forwards are equal, and they play very different ways.  Donovan would've been plugged in in place of Bedoya, which is where Zusi went in.  We really don't have a one-for-one Altidore replacement in the player pool.  We used to have a McBride - Ching duo that could be reasonably swapped for each other, but there isn't a good exchange for the Altidore, unless you count Terrance Boyd.

...  Paging Michael Bradley!  Paging Michael Bradley!  Anyone seen Michael Bradley?

[TheCommandTent]

so I'm chuckling about a few things related to the game this morning

...  Mike & Mike playing all the USA-themed songs they can find.  Amusingly, of course, "Born in the USA" - never mind the political sentiment - when a handful of the team were in fact born in Germany.   They followed that with "Living in America" when, again, Brooks, Johnson, Green, Chandler, and Jones all grew up in Germany and Johansson grew up in Iceland.

...  The über-love for John Brooks for the header, as noted above.

...  people bloviating about Landon being the guy that would've replaced Altidore when Jozy went down.  Uh, no.  Not all forwards are equal, and they play very different ways.  Donovan would've been plugged in in place of Bedoya, which is where Zusi went in.  We really don't have a one-for-one Altidore replacement in the player pool.  We used to have a McBride - Ching duo that could be reasonably swapped for each other, but there isn't a good exchange for the Altidore, unless you count Terrance Boyd.

...  Paging Michael Bradley!  Paging Michael Bradley!  Anyone seen Michael Bradley?

What you have there are bunch of bandwagon fans who actually don't know soccer.  Good for them for supporting it but stop talking about it like you understand the game.

If Altidore is going to be out the whole tactical style the US plays is going to have to change up front and I am at a total loss for how that will look.  Not to mention the fact they have been training with target forward and it will take alot to switch that mentality.  This is going to be interesting to watch and hopefully not to painful.

[bayonetbrant]

it was fun sitting in VA and (a) having the whole place cheer when Brooks scored, and (b) listening to the 22-yo dude next to me trying to impress his date with his (barely accurate) soccer knowledge.


in other notes - this is a good read

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/postcard-from-rio--american-couple-steals-show-with-peculiar-usa-gear-010302252-soccer.html

[bayonetbrant]

[bayonetbrant]

[undercovergeek]

you know me, bob and MD could beat Ghana?

[bayonetbrant]

you know me, bob and MD could beat Ghana?

C'mon - you're a limey (so you should know better) and you're going to give me that line?!

Did you see who Ghana was bringing off the bench?  Boateng and Essien would be starting for about 60% of the other teams at the World Cup right now.

The US played (ironically) old-school Bob Bradley-style, defend-and-counter b/c they had no one to hold up the ball at the other end after Jozy went down.  For all the grief he gets, he's an excellent relief valve for the defense to push him the ball and pull the back line up while he holds up play for the offense to take shape around him.  Johansson just can't do that - he's not big enough.  Jozy is built like a linebacker, Johansson looks like a tennis player.

[undercovergeek]

you know me, bob and MD could beat Ghana?

C'mon - you're a limey (so you should know better) and you're going to give me that line?!

Did you see who Ghana was bringing off the bench?  Boateng and Essien would be starting for about 60% of the other teams at the World Cup right now.

Ill grant you they WERE good, but theyve both been dropped from the Premiership (English top division, and forgive me i dont mean to patronise if you knew) arguably still the best league in the world, then Spain, then Germany/Italy which is where they now reside

I did like how you played - unbelievable pace in some players

[bayonetbrant]

the Premiership (English top division, and forgive me i dont mean to patronise if you knew)

I've been known to yell corrections at the telecasts of EPL games here in the states, even with English commentators on the show ;)

When you're talking EPL, you're speaking my language, and one of these days I'm going to get around to paying Bob a visit and go see St James Park for myself

[undercovergeek]

its damn near compulsory to go without a shirt on - brace yourself!!

[bayonetbrant]

http://mashable.com/2014/06/16/van-persie-header-goal-meme/