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| US eliminated | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jul 1 2014, 11:54 PM (164 Views) | |
| alabastergremlin | Jul 1 2014, 11:54 PM Post #1 |
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So, we are out. It was heartbreaking. I'd almost rather be run off the field so we have an easier time complaining about everything. Howard proved he is our most important player. That man was nearly flawless all tournament and pretty much cleaned up any weak rebound he gave up. He should get the credit for how far we made it and the fact that we were alive for that long. Howard gets MVP for the US. Most surprise player...I don't know. I think Besler did pretty well for himself this tournament as did Jermaine Jones. Both had some weak moments but overall they have to be considered two of the standouts this tournament. I actually think our back four did well for what we were all afraid of. Not perfect by any stretch but they were under attack almost the entire tournament. Most disappointing...Bradley. By far. Not even close. And while there may be some truth to the complaint that he wasn't being help by the formation/positioning, that doesn't explain some of the turnover, soft passes, bad first touches, and often time ball watching. Unless I'm mistaken, he'll have another cycle in him. He needs to have a better tournament next go-round. This one left a lot to be desired (aside from the beautiful chip to Green on the goal today). What am I looking forward to now? Hopefully the development of a team capable of solid possession. That is NOT an overnight fix nor even an fix in one cycle. Hell, it could be a generational thing even. But I think the potential is there and I do think we have the right coach in place and the right idea about long term development. We have shown that, even with a WCQ cycle where we showed a different style we still had to resort to the old ways. I suppose that is to be expected against some of the competition we were against but we need to turn that corner and see us control the game against better competition than we did this time around. We might not "take the game" to Germany in 2018 but we should be able to handle better teams than we do now. The fear of "playing for 2018" was nothing to worry about in the end. And if it was all about 2018, I'm even more excited. I'm going to predict that after 2018 JK step down and assumes a director position and continues to oversee things on the developmental side of things. But how about Green...who saw that coming? That was his best performance for us yet. No, he hasn't had many minutes before but I actually thought he was going to get a second at one point. And how crazy would that have been for him to pull the US even??? I can't wait to step back for a day or two and really take in what we experienced here, in the US, during the last couple of weeks. World Cup 2002 had some excitement along with it but the game times held it in check. It got a little bigger for 2006. 2010 was fun and the stage was set for what turned out to be one hell of a ride for 2014. I would have never imagined some of the coverage and excitement we saw. The notion that people here just don't care is bogus. The sport IS big here. And this shows it. But the other side of that is it comes along with the World Cup. I hope we see that with some other tournaments over the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see how "we" build on this momentum. |
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| vince stravino | Jul 15 2014, 02:22 PM Post #2 |
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I was actually in the car for an eight hour ride during the Final. I caught the whole WC Final on the radio! In my lifetime, I never would have guessed that would happen in the USA. It was a fun. |
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| Johnbuildr | Jul 16 2014, 12:29 PM Post #3 |
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Nice prior planning Vince. ![]() We actually watched some of the games in our car. Live streamed ESPN3 with a hotspot and Ipad. It was really very good most of the time. "What am I looking forward to now? Hopefully the development of a team capable of solid possession. That is NOT an overnight fix nor even an fix in one cycle. Hell, it could be a generational thing even. But I think the potential is there and I do think we have the right coach in place and the right idea about long term development. We have shown that, even with a WCQ cycle where we showed a different style we still had to resort to the old ways. I suppose that is to be expected against some of the competition we were against but we need to turn that corner and see us control the game against better competition than we did this time around. We might not "take the game" to Germany in 2018 but we should be able to handle better teams than we do now. " Well, gremlin, the most disapponiting part of this WC for me was that the 2012 COPA, friendlies with some top teams over the last couple of years, the qualifiers, and the lead in games totally fooled me into thinking the US was well on its way to learning the 'possession game'. Not like a Spain or Germany can do it, but well enough to be able to hold our own for decent stretches against any team. Not so. It was barely even visible when the chips were down against the better teams on the biggest stage. It made me sad, thnking we have so far to go. In spite of the close scores, we did not look like we even belonged on the field with Belgium and Germany. That is what made me sad. The close scorelines seemed more due to luck or due to our super GK and decent defense. Maybe it (lack of possession) was all due to Bradley being in a funk, but it goes deeper than that I think. The US just does not know how to maintain the close passing, possession game when under intense pressure. And it's not all skill level or lack thereof, much of it is mental and coaching. |
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Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum | |
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11:24 AM Jul 11