ES Soccer Thread

[RichmondRedskin88]

Just lots of unlucky stuff tonight. It happens.

[boysetsfire]

Tired so I'll keep it short.

Apart from that header off the post Onyewu is not starting material. AT ALL.
Gomez is a BEAST.
Bradley has improved so much on the ball.
Fabian Johnson looks pretty promising on the wing.

Neymar with so much talent is a diving hack. Can't respect that kid.

[Skinz4Life12]

Lol I was hating on Neymar too. A lot of bad bounces tonight for the US

[Bostic Hog]

I will preface my post by saying I don't know **** about soccer; but I have found myself becoming more interested -- the EPL on TV more often in my area has helped.

The US Team seems to be getting really old. I mean, the centerpiece of the team is still Donovan and Howard -- these guys are old (or are they in soccer years?). Where are the young studs????

While this group has had some pretty nice successes, are we about to enter a new lull in the winning because all of the good guys are retiring?? Like another 20 years of sucking real bad?

We can produce the world's best in bball, baseball - why not soccer? I know I know, the good athletes go to the money in football, baseball and basketball leaving only the sucky athletes to play soccer. But is that the ONLY reason?

[Willy Wonka]

USA had a few great chances to score but so did Brasil. In the end, Brasil proved to be a much better team. You have to finish most of your scoring chances and that is what they did. Just a side note, there were a few guys on the Brasil squad that most likely won't be on their 1st team when it comes down to it. But either way, it was a very entertaining game to watch and I thought the USA played as good as they could have against Brasil.

[RichmondRedskin88]

I will preface my post by saying I don't know **** about soccer; but I have found myself becoming more interested -- the EPL on TV more often in my area has helped.

The US Team seems to be getting really old. I mean, the centerpiece of the team is still Donovan and Howard -- these guys are old (or are they in soccer years?). Where are the young studs????

While this group has had some pretty nice successes, are we about to enter a new lull in the winning because all of the good guys are retiring?? Like another 20 years of sucking real bad?

We can produce the world's best in bball, baseball - why not soccer? I know I know, the good athletes go to the money in football, baseball and basketball leaving only the sucky athletes to play soccer. But is that the ONLY reason?

Things are slowly converting. Our development programs are mentoring our future players. You will see a major turnover soon. Right now their currently mixing young and old to help the transition.

[jobaga]

I will preface my post by saying I don't know **** about soccer; but I have found myself becoming more interested -- the EPL on TV more often in my area has helped.

The US Team seems to be getting really old. I mean, the centerpiece of the team is still Donovan and Howard -- these guys are old (or are they in soccer years?). Where are the young studs????

While this group has had some pretty nice successes, are we about to enter a new lull in the winning because all of the good guys are retiring?? Like another 20 years of sucking real bad?

We can produce the world's best in bball, baseball - why not soccer? I know I know, the good athletes go to the money in football, baseball and basketball leaving only the sucky athletes to play soccer. But is that the ONLY reason?

Our best young player Stuart Holden suffered back to back serious leg injuries. He may never be the same, but he was looking excellent for Bolton and the US before De Jong broke his leg. Howard can play into his late 30's, so he doesn't need to be replaced. Fabian Johnson looks legit. Between Gomez, Agundelo and Boyd, one of the will be a good player. Who knows, maybe Jozy will stop being lazy?

[I_Bleed_B&G]

Fun game today at Fedex. RG3 was there and cheering hard after the U.S. scored. They showed him on the screen. I was pumped when I saw that. Can't wait until I see him on the field

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

Our best young player Stuart Holden suffered back to back serious leg injuries. He may never be the same, but he was looking excellent for Bolton and the US before De Jong broke his leg. Howard can play into his late 30's, so he doesn't need to be replaced. Fabian Johnson looks legit. Between Gomez, Agundelo and Boyd, one of the will be a good player. Who knows, maybe Jozy will stop being lazy?

it was Johnny Evans.

US have some encouraging signs but that defense is terrible and old and has no one else in the pipeline.

---------- Post added May-31st-2012 at 01:56 AM ----------

I also dont think this Brazil team, or the full national team, are that good. Cant see them winning gold in London.

[pointyfootball]

Great time at the game last night, even if I thought the referee screwed it up with an early PK. US lost their composure after that and didn't get it back until later in that half (at which time they were down 2-1). The goal that they allowed to make it 3-1 seemed (to me anyway) to be a crappy lack of transition b/c the US thought (looked like rightfully so) that Gomez(?) was taken down from behind on a breakway and kind of stood around looking at the ref like "are you kidding me?" as Brazil raced the other way with the ball.

Donovan looked like he had the flu last night, and I'm a big LD fan. He was getting schooled by Marcelo all night and seemed uninterested in really fighting for the ball. Haven't watched Bradley in awhile, but as others have said, he looked very good with his head up. Not sure what Klinsmann is pushing wrt WBs, but they seemed to be late in joining the attack, and understandably so due to the entire backline's problems last night.

Overall a fun game to attend, perfect weather and exciting moments throughout the game.

[jobaga]

it was Johnny Evans.

US have some encouraging signs but that defense is terrible and old and has no one else in the pipeline.

---------- Post added May-31st-2012 at 01:56 AM ----------

I also dont think this Brazil team, or the full national team, are that good. Cant see them winning gold in London.

I thought it was Nigel De Jong the first time, he hasn't been the same since then. Maybe I'm wrong...

[pjfootballer]

(The cussing out the little kid thing was about my breaking point) says a lot.

Should have went to get security and let them handle it. I have a 9 year old great nephew and we went to the Skins/Panthers game last season and he was in tears because the adults were arguing and fighting and he's not usually a crier. He just wanted watch the game. I went to security because I'd had enough also and I talked to 2 security people right in front of our whole section. Everyone knew I went to them. Security told everyone that our section was now being watched and they were bringing in more security. It calmed everyone down. Never hesitate to call them, especially when a child is involved.

[renaissance]

We can produce the world's best in bball, baseball - why not soccer? I know I know, the good athletes go to the money in football, baseball and basketball leaving only the sucky athletes to play soccer. But is that the ONLY reason?

That's actually a pretty small reason. Are there some potentially great soccer players who stop playing at an early age because the horizon is brighter on the basketball or football side? Sure.

But then again, have you seen the world's best soccer players? They're not necessarily what most other sports would consider world class athletes. The difference between us a top-tier countries is that they know how to develop players from a young age. We are slowly getting better with this, changing our youth system and creating more club-based youth systems, but it's not a fast process.

Soccer is not like basketball or football. The world's best soccer players didn't play pee-wee ball then go on to play for their high school and college teams then go on to the pros. They play for a top-tier club's development/youth team, then go on to play for that club or be sold somewhere else. The problem is, that's not a structure that is natural in the scheme of US sports. (It's perhaps similar to baseball, but I think most would agree kids need to enter real development programs earlier in soccer.) So it's not going to be easy to convince everyone that sending a kid to the DC United youth academy is better than sending them to high school/college. (Though programs like Generation Adidas are hopefully help with this)

And notice how other countries are starting to catch up with us in terms of developing baseball and basketball. Just like they are adjusting to those sports, we are adjusting to soccer.

Also it's true that our "anchors" of the current squad are getting up there in age, but there are plenty of young guys who are capable of moving in to those roles. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore (when he's not being a lazy ass), Stuart Holden (when he's healthy), Brek Shea, etc are all young guys who have great skills.

[pjfootballer]

Anyone know if DC United will be getting their own stadium? After Houston, LA, SLC, Philly, NY and others have opened up new stadiums, it just seems like DC is an afterthought.

[Kilmer17]

I'd like to ask Jermaine Jones why he didnt break Marcelos nose when he kicked the ball into Cherundolo lying on the ground.

THAT"S YOUR ****ING ROLE!

Bunch of bad bounces. The US looked great for stretches and horrible for stretches.

Gooch- your time is done. Sad, but truth.

The positives-

We have a legit LB.
We have more midfield talent than we have ever had.
We have multiple options up top.

I have been BY FAR the biggest critic of Michael Bradley (though mostly because of his fathers nepotism), but wow is he playing lights out now.

I love watching Brazil play. It's just awesome.