Apologies in advance for the incoherent rambling - just a bunch of thoughts since last nights game. If I offend you, take heart, I probably meant to offend.
First the game. There are several ways to look at it, one is certainly to dwell on the gut punch of the late goal. I am not going to lie, it was one of the most gut wrenching goals to see, but there have been worse. Imagine how Panama felt when the US scored late to eliminate them from the WC altogether. Its easy to sit back and assign blame for the last goal - its what most sports fans like to do. Did Bradley lose the ball too easily? Should Beasley have closed down Ronaldo? Should Besler have done a better job marking the Portuguese forward? Where was Gonzalez? etc. The flip side, if you are a Portuguese fan, is that your players played until the final whistle, they stole the ball, got it to one of the best players in the world, who made a perfect cross, onto a player who made the right contact, and scored a miraculous goal. There were so many things that had to go right after Bradley lost the ball - its as much credit to Portugal as it is blame on the US players. It still hurts, but its important to have perspective.
Another way to look at the game is to consider the game as a whole. The US found itself down very early, but to the credit of the team, picked themselves up off the mat, and continued to play. They did not compound the initial error, but instead found their footing, and began to play their own game. They found a deserved equalizer, and even got a go-ahead goal against one of the top teams in the world (not top-3 as their FIFA rankings suggest, but still a very good team). That says a lot about the US players, coaches, and tactics.
[side rant - Watching the players last night reminded me how much I really despise guys like Lalas, Twelman, and their ilk, who live in a world where they think guys like Jermaine Jones, Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Julius Green, Mix Diskerud, Aron Johannsson, and anyone else who did not grow up in suburbia America don't belong on the USMNT. Lalas' great fallback has always been "those guys better want to win for their country" with the implication that they won't try as hard as "homegrown" players. Jones and Johnson are the two who are starting, and I have not seen anyone on the team give more effort, sweat or blood for this team as those guys. Stop griping about how things used to be, and embrace where we are, which is a team with better skilled players, who are all fighting to win games.]
Still another way to look at the results, is to consider that after two games, the US has 4 points and has scored 4 goals. The o/u on US goals going into the tournament was 3. Ask nearly anyone before the opening kickoff if they would take 4 points after two games, and they would have said yes, in a heartbeat. So, while we can talk about the what ifs, and what might have beens, the reality is, the US have put themselves in a favorable position going into the last game. From the oddsmakers, the US was underdogs to both Ghana and Portugal, and still managed to get results in both games. They are doing more right than they are wrong. No matter the result on Thursday, they have acquitted themselves well.
On Bradley specifically - I have yet to go back and re-watch the game, but my initial thoughts were that he did not meet expectation in the game. The caveat, of course, is that I had very high expectations for Bradley, and my initial thoughts were influenced by the last play and by the number of times I said "Damn it Bradley" during the game. Bradley certainly played better than against Ghana, and he made a number of very nice plays - plays that most people on the field could not make. The open goal look, was just that a look. He did what he should have done on that play - get a foot on the ball, put it on net. You cannot imagine how easy it is to flub that play. Bradley did not flub it. Credit to the Portuguese defender for getting back and being in position to make a play. There are a few players in the world who could make a clinical strike in that situation - it is not a knock on Bradley to not hit a corner in that situation.
In this thread - I think it is fair to have reasonable disagreements over Bradley's play. It feels though that some are being overly critical, and some are being overly protective. Bradley was as much a reason why the US gained a draw, as he was the reason they settled for a draw.
Which brings me to Trolls - you know who you are. Grow up. I don't care if you like soccer. I understand why you might not enjoy it. But, don't come in here and piss all over a sport or a game because you don't like it, or you don't understand it. The game has lots of nuances that are very different than many typical sports that American's like to watch. Different is not better or worse - just different. I happen to love watching the sport. I played it somewhat competitively for nearly 20 years. I have a much different understanding of the game than someone who never played, and who never watched. I get that watching a new sport can take a while to grow accustomed to many of the nuances, like the diving, or the clock, or off-sides, or yellow/red cards - and if you don't want to invest the time to become familiar with those things, thats fine. But please leave the thread for those who have an interest. I promise that they don't judge you for not liking the sport, so no reason for you to judge those that do.
at the Trolls.
