Just Enough To Win (Again)

2008-09-10T20:39:27-04:00

2008-09-06T22:08:58-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:30-04:00

2008-09-10T20:39:27-04:00

rook119

Easton 446903

2 Adu may be dynamic but he is also at times infurating to watch. I saw a few US U-20 WC matches in Toronto last summer. He without a doubt the most exciting player in the tourney to watch and only Kun Agureo and Maxi Rodiguez were better (and not by much) than him in the tourney. Freddy is deadly on the wing, and could beat almost anyone one-on-one when he has space. He's also a deadly goal scorer on the wing and whips in a nasty cross from the position as well. The crowd, which was not made up of that many Americans ohhed and ahhed when he was able to show off his dribbing skills. However, his enormous ego gets the best of him. Its why he's still not a regular on the US squad. He always says he hates playing the wing and that he thinks of himself as a Kaka like center mid who plays behind the strikers. So watch him, too often he gets the ball on the wing and turns inside. The problem is that he's a below avg passer in the center of the pitch and almost all of the time CB and holding mids easily outmuscle and disposes him. If you take away his space to work with he's a pretty poor player (unfortunately he does this himself). This is why the US U-20s despite being probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the tourney, got beat in the quarterfinals by a mediocre Austria squad. There is no excuse for his underachieving. You aren't Kaka Freddy, heck you aren't even Hull City's Giovanni. YOU SUCK AT PLAYING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PITCH PLEASE STOP! Maxi and Kun are stars in LaLiga while Freddy couldn't get a game at Benfica and had to loaned out. 2711607

2008-09-10T19:00:45-04:00

Gregga

Los Angeles 520655

1 Can you elaborate? Tell us why this strikes genuine fear in you or you otherwise believe its a subject of amusement. bwhahaha 2711123

2008-09-10T04:21:16-04:00

SouthBronxFC

Atlanta 520359

yea, soccer's great and all but...shouldn't we be more concerned with Grant's "gorgeous (and scantily-clad) men" comment??? bwhahaha 2707341

2008-09-10T00:33:47-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/481/189/thumb/Eric_Cantona_kung-fu_kick.jpg 458 MN

Chucky_985DS

Saint Paul 481629

I think it time for GUUS chant GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS GUUS.................. oh yeah the player do suck man what a disgrace just to win 1-0 nad be proud of it. I 'll be more jawing on my teammate for lack of play. This is what happen we the USSF decide to hire an inexperince coach. You know what maybe you could ask USSF to stop dream and face the truth, or they just to cheap and to proud to admit that we suck in futbol not soccer. If you want to win hire a REAL PROFESSIONAL COACH THAT HAS A PROVEN RECORD AND GET RESPECT FROM ALL THE TOP PLAYER AND COACH'S IN THE WORLD. IT"S time for GUS HIDDINK. HE HAS PROVEN RECORD EVERWHERE HE TOUCH REAL MADRID, KOREAN, AUSTRALIA, AND RUSSIA WHO SHOCK THE DUTCH IN EURO CUP THIS PAST SUMMER. 2706973

2008-09-09T20:57:59-04:00

mick

San Diego 21726

The Cuba game was a disgrace. The fact that Bradley and some players were cool with it, is disgusting. 2706115

2008-09-08T22:47:24-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/188/348/thumb/Fc_barcelona.png 54 PA

FC Barcelona

Mechanicsburg 188648

The fact of the matter is, when it comes down to style or quality of play, the United States plays in such a way that makes it borderline impossible to come from behind and win. When you have 6 defensive-only players on the field (tactically speaking), that obviously leaves 4 attacking players on the field. Now, if you have quality at the (presumably) 2 MF attacking/distributing roles, then its not going to be terribly hard to break-down a defense or counter-attack when these 4 players have no defensive responsibilities. In the case of the United States, not only do we lack the pure passers/dynamic attackers (outside of, arguably, Adu), but our 2 defensive MFs can't, for the life of them, link up play between the defense and offense. So in essence, we shoot ourselves in the foot twice. Lacking the sharp/quick/long passes or through balls, the counter-attack is dead before it begins. Making matters worse, we can't play a controlled, close/short passing game around midfield to break down a defense as we don't really have anybody who can supply the killer pass to send anyone through. It's fine and all grinding out 1-0 wins against Cuba, but is playing like this seriously going to help if, oh I don't know, we play someone like Argentina, Spain, Brasil and they HAPPEN to score first? Especially when teams like these don't bunker down after going up a goal? I swear, everytime I see Bradley or Edu miss a 5-10 yard pass, I die a little inside. Same goes when our back 4 clears any ball within reach inside our 1/3rd. Ugh...sometimes, I don't wonder why people tune out Soccer in the United States... 2696472

2008-09-07T21:44:04-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/116/547/thumb/logobraves.gif 2126 NY

BuffaloTF

Buffalo 116847

I gotta say... I'm a bigger fan of Dempsey now more than ever. I think he should have the reigns to center midfield... and Landon should be playing right wing on the attacking midfield line.... like David Beckham has forever played at ManU, RM, and now LA. I think he'd be much better served serving the ball across the box to people that aren't 5 foot nothing like he is to try and win a header... if he has an attacking opportunity, he can cut in on the net in the style that Thierry Henry has made his career..... cuz he is fast enough to do that. 2685692

2008-09-07T19:41:18-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/161/635/thumb/LIV11-1.jpg 3351 WI

Zizou10

Milwaukee 161935

I think a lot of the frustration is just that we all know there are talented US players. The best team might not be out there. I know, I know we have a lot of time to figure out the best Starting XI but the mentality of grinding it out on the road in hopes of the draw shouldn't be the norm. The other CONCACAF countries should fear the US coming in and potentially winning 2-0, 3-0, etc. We have yet to over come Azteca Stadium and Mexico in Mexico City BUT every other country SHOULD have the fear that the US will come in looking for a win. As for this Cuba match - for all of us that watched - we know what the conditions were BUT the frustration was we were FAR, far better than Cuba however play didn't indicate it. In the end it will show a win BUT we should have that killer instinct to but a team away - whether on the road or not. 2684791

2008-09-07T13:19:24-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/439/189/thumb/Fulham.jpg 9 NC

Fandango

Raleigh 439629

Thanks 11forbes. Look at Barbados- we beat them 8-0 at home, but 1-0 at Barbados. You're content with a tie on the road, and very happily "drive off into the sunset" with a win on the road. 2683119

2008-09-07T12:36:14-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/286/29/thumb/images.jpg 1365 CO

j11forbes: Go Jo-Jo Go!

Denver 28709

I agree with Fandango. You don't complain about six points from your first two games in qualifying when they are both on the road. If they're home games against Cuba and Guatemala look bad, though, then something needs to change. 2682984

HAVANA, Cuba -- Five thoughts after the U.S.’s 1-0 win over Cuba in Saturday’s Concacaf semifinal-round World Cup qualifier (many thanks to the Cuban federation for the excellent wifi in the stands, better than any Caribbean or Central American venue I can remember): • The U.S. is doing just enough to win ... and not much more. The U.S. now has a perfect six points from this round’s two games of World Cup qualifying, but the 1-0 wins against Guatemala and Cuba were hardly inspiring from a style-points perspective. If U.S. coach Bob Bradley is going to continue leaving young attacking options like Kenny Cooper, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu off his rosters, the players who do get picked need to show they can be offensive threats. Continuing to use two holding midfielders (Michael Bradley and Maurice Edu, in this case) seems overly conservative, especially against a lineup of amateurs on a bottom-feeding Cuba side. Edu, in particular, had a poor game against Cuba, causing several give-aways with misguided passes, some of them coming without any defensive pressure on him. • Frankie Hejduk is U.S. Soccer’s all-time Energizer Bunny. Who would have believed the 34-year-old Hejduk would still be a major contributor in World Cup qualifying in the year 2008? I started wondering if he was past it in 2002 (when he proved me wrong with a sensational World Cup) but it’s clear that Hejduk’s experience and speed can still come in handy. Forced into a starting right-back role due to Steve Cherundolo’s expulsion against Guatemala, Hejduk sped up and down the flank all night. It was Hejduk who drew a yellow card on Cuba’s Luis Villegas, and it was Hejduk who raced back 50 yards to snuff out a dangerous run midway through the first half by Roberto Linares. Whatever Hejduk is doing to stay fit is working in his fourth World Cup qualifying campaign. For all I know he’ll still be in the mix in 2012. • The atmosphere at Concacaf World Cup qualifiers is awesome. It’s a shame that U.S. fans weren’t allowed to come here legally and enjoy a shared sports experience with the Cuban fans. But it’s a great scene like this at all of the U.S.’s road qualifiers in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The scene here featured the following: huge amplifiers blasting Cuban music into the crowd before the game; Cubans passing around a battle of Johnny Walker Black; down-and-dirty salsa dancing in the stands; a torrential downpour dripping through the corrugated-steel roof over the fans; a rickety stadium where the lights went out 30 minutes before kickoff, forcing the teams to warm up in the dark; flag-waving supporters galore; and enough gorgeous (and scantily-clad) men and women to make a New York dance-club look lame by comparison. Oh, and there was a soccer game too. Small wonder that a growing number of 20- and 30-something Americans are doing guerrilla tourism following the U.S. national team abroad.• The most interesting guy I met all day was Manuel Díaz Rodríguez. <a href="/blogs/post/246875" target="_blank">Read more here.</a> • Through-balls: Cuban midfield Alain Cervantes provided a spark coming off the bench in the second half and dribbling rings around the Americans on a couple occasions. Why on earth didn’t he start the game? ... U.S. centerbacks Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu may not ever get high marks for their passing, but they haven’t allowed any goals in two road World Cup qualifiers, which is at least worth something ... I haven’t seen many teammates get as visibly frustrated with each other as the Cubans, who were waving their arms frantically at each other following the misplayed header by Carlos Francisco that led to Clint Dempsey’s goal ... Francisco had a rough night: not only did he make the mistake in his own box, but he had a gift-wrapped chance to score on Cuba’s first corner kick and shot wide. Gotta write a magazine story for tomorrow morning, so my apologies for not having any postgame quotes online ...  1295 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/194/315/thumb/wahl_grant.jpg 11 MD

Grant Wahl

Baltimore 194615