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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (1 Viewer)

'LHUCKS said:
Bradley on the bench is the most puzzling to me...he needs to get work.
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Bob said yesterday that he expects all 6 of the field players on the bench to get time in today's game, so he should get in at some point.I honestly think he's just resting them ahead of Canada on Tuesday night.
 
Lucky it's not 2-0 in the first thirteen minutes...terrible offsides call and off top bar.

 
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So I didn't see a discussion of this, but it seems pretty exciting:

Barcelona signs American 10 year old to youth contract

Last weejend Barcelona won its fourth UEFA Champions League title, the second it has earned in the past three years. The victory cemented the club's place at the pinnacle of European football, with many calling the current Barcelona incarnation the greatest club team ever assembled.

Of course, the trick with Barcelona is that its top team is as much built from within as it is assembled, thanks to its youth development program, the pride of the organization. And now, for the first time, an American is joining that very outlet. According to a variety of sources, Southern Californian Ben Lederer signed a two-year development contract with the club's youth academy.

The American soccer prodigy, whose style of play and precocious ball control skills have drawn comparisons to Barcelona star Andres Iniesta accepted the team's offer, with his future in Catalonia to be reevaluated after his initial two-year stay at the club. His parents are also reportedly moving to Barcelona to be closer to their son as he continues his soccer development abroad.

While the professional moves of any number of prior American stars have been held up as hallmark moments -- with Landon Donovan's failed German adventures and loan deal with Everton, and striker Jozy Altidore's move to Villareal among them -- the signing of an American 10-year-old with what is almost inarguably the world's most decorated soccer development school is truly a watershed. For the first time, it signifies officials at the highest level possible recognizing that American youth soccer talent does in fact match up well with its global counterpart.

As for Lederer himself, who was raised as a Barcelona fan, the move almost surely marks the fulfillment of a dream, albeit earlier than he or anyone could have reasonably imagined. Of course, all of that is only speculation, as his parents and others have understandably protected him from public comment because of his age.

It's impossible to know if Ben Lederer will still be a part of Barcelona's developmental plans in three years, let alone begin to predict when he might break through to the Barcelona senior team. After all, for every Leo Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta, there are dozens of Dos Santos brothers, incredibly talented players who never truly make the phenomenally high grade required to have a significant impact at a club like Barcelona.

Still, it's almost impossible not to dream of a day eight or ten years down the road when Lederer might make his way onto a Barcelona pitch -- or even any other field within the realm of La Liga -- representing the first American to break through as an authentically dual citizen of global soccer, a prospect who was raised on both American training and its counterpart at the world's best club.

 
When I first sat down about 15 minutes into the game, I thought we were the team in white. I thought "damn we look good".

Yea, not so much.

 
'LHUCKS said:
Agudelo and Altidore are 2 on 5 with what few posessions they get...midfield needs to stepup.
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There's an inherent problem with playing 2 (essentially) holding midfielders in the center, having another center mid out of position on the right, and having a mediocre pure winger on the other side...
 
Might as well have sent a HS team

As expected, both wings are total non-factors. Sasha is an absolute walking turnover.

I'd honestly pull Howard. It's not his fault, but this thing could be 5 already. Save him the embarrassment.

 
Ok I just caught up in DVR. Holy hell :(

I had a bad feeling the US was going to have a hard time today and then I saw the starting lineup and I was shuked as I was out all day and had no idea where everyone was.

That being said, I thought Ream has struggled. Rogers is hardly lighting up MLS, this was going to be nothing but a mess for him, he is so far out of his depth. Sacha gave away too many unpressured balls.

I thought Juan at least looked alive, Jozy barely touched the ball it seemed.

 
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Dempsey, Wondo, and Cherundolo on.

ETA - sounds like wholesale changes...I didn't see the other 3 at the touchline.

 
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'NewlyRetired said:
Acting president of CONCACAF is now also suspended

This is so pathetic.
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I actually give CONCACAF credit for ousting this guy. This moron went in and tried to can anybody that was involved in ousting the bribes. It's implicitly understood that FIFA is rotten to the core, but there are those in the organization that really seem to have no fear in making it explicit. Like they are somehow oblivious to the fact that there is a giant microscope on them right now.I guess that's one good thing to come of all of this. FIFA has kind of used up its quota of corruption. Blatter is going to have to circle the wagons a little tighter. At least for the short-term. Maybe even show a little shame now and again.

Come to think of it a lot of nations are corrupt. I suppose it might be hard to transition from a life where corruption is rampant and open to one where one has to at least make an attempt at concealing it.

 
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What an interesting game the US have coming up against Canada. It is a game of almost no excuses

1) Gold Cup with a meaningful prize at the end

2) Playing at home

3) Playing against the best first round opponent

4) Coming off an embarrassing loss making people question why the game was even scheduled

5) Having most of your top 20 players available for selection

I will be really bummed if the US come out an lay an egg against Canada. However, just as I feared the US was going to get swamped against Spain, I think they will come out with their pants on fire against Canada and really take the game to them.

I think we have all been very patient with Jozy and he has been lucky that the amount of choices to replace him has been limited, but this is really a key tournament for him in my eyes. If he does not produce (not goals per say, just good all around play), I am going to seriously question whether he should be an automatic starter any more.

While Jozy is younger and still has room to grow, I fear Gooch may be close to hitting the wall which is early for a central defender. I don't think it is due to his injury, but since his injury, he seems to have lost a step. And now being paired with Ream, his poor ball skills stand out even more. Like Jozy, but with different consequences, this is a big tourney for Gooch.

 
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Argentina doesn't look very good. I know it's not their A squad but coming off a 4-1 pasting by Nigeria, they are looking very shaky against Poland today.

 
Gold Cup starts today. Double header in Texas stadium where there is rumor that there will be a few Mexican fans in attendance. :)

Costa Rica vs Cuba followed immediately by Mexico vs El Salvador. First game kicks off at 6 eastern. Second game is scheduled for 8 but I would think it would not kick off until 8:15 ish

Both games are being shown live on Univision.

I will check out some of the Mexico game. Hopefully CONCACAF has sorted out the production mess of the non stop highlights while play is going on that we saw during the CCL.

 
'NMYMND said:
'El Floppo said:
'NewlyRetired said:
Hopefully CONCACAF has sorted out the production mess of the non stop highlights while play is going on that we saw during the CCL.
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:goodposting: flat out ruined that game.
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Completely screwed up Mexico's first goal, but thankfully, they had replays to show you what you missed live.
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And it was such a unique/weird goal they screwed up too.They waste 2 seconds getting in and out of the replays with the stupid spinning trophy.
 
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'Senor Schmutzig said:
I'm coaching my son's U6 team in a 5v5 tournament this morning. Should be interesting. Four teams, round robin. Top two teams after 3 games play each other for championship. I have a few 6 year old ringers and I think we can take this thing! Kids are pumped to win the trophy....

12 minute halves of swarm. May the team that can make one pass win!

Will report back.
Click to expand...
The kids made me proud this weekend. After the round robin part of the tournament, they were 2-1 and had enough points to qualify for the championship game. It was against the team that we had lost to 2-1 in the 2nd game and also a team from the league that was hosting the tournament. The kids were a little down when they found out it was a re-match because they knew that the other team was a little taller, a little stronger and a little quicker. We started the game on our heels as we went down 0-2 after 6 minutes. Luckily we pulled one back right before the half and went into the tunnel down by only one. At this time, I know that something had to change. I really didn't want to do this, but I pulled out my best Vinnie Jones impersonation to try and light a fire under these 5 and 6 year olds. I just couldn't stand on the sidelines and let them continue playing the way they did in the first half. This was for the 5v5 U6 2011 Championship!

My boys trotted out there for the 2nd half and I could see a glimmer in their eyes. They believed in themselves! I believed in them! They could win this thing!!!! With about 4 minutes gone (they were playing 12 minute halves), we had a great opportunity off of a corner kick. Enrico, my best player, had been driving the corner kicks into the box time and time again but we had not been able to convert. This time, I decided to put Enrico at the top of the box and let David take the kick. He put it right at the feet of Enrico who one-timed it into the bottom right corner (after bouncing off two or three defenders on the way in). The game was tied!

The next few minutes were back and forth with multiple chances by both teams. With 10 players on the field and no goalies, the majority of the time 7 of the kids were hovering around the ball kicking each other in the shins, two kids were just standing 15-20 feet from the action because they weren't sure what to do, and one was facing the other direction watching the game on the opposite field.

It was shortly after the 10 minute mark when Seba, my youngest, but scrappiest players went down, clutching his leg. This tends to happen periodically with him when things aren't going well and I could tell by his play in the previous three games that he just wasn't the Seba that I had seen at practice running to every ball, taking the hard shot or challenging every header. I ran over to him to make sure he was ok. Normally, Seba is used to scoring goals but so far in the tournament, he hadn't tallied any. I looked into his eyes, saw the disappointment and gave him a quick, 10 second pep talk letting him know that this was the most important game of his 2-year career so far. I needed him to dig deep and put one in the back of the net so we could win this thing. He got up, brushed himself off, gave me a big smile and ran back into the action. Not two minutes later, he fielded a beautiful cross from my son and put it in the upper 90 to take the lead! The kids were excited and slapping high fives knowing that they had just gone up on their arch-nemesis and only had to survive the remaining couple of minutes to take the trophy from the host team. What a sweet victory that would be!

The final two minutes were brutal. Parents from both teams were running up and down the sideline, going nuts, screaming at their kids like only Latino parents can. The Knights were taking shot after shot at our goal but they just weren't able to penetrate our strong defensive line. With about 30 seconds left in the match, we were down on the opponents half trying to control the ball and run out the clock with our pinpoint passing but somehow the ball got away, right to the feet of their best offensive weapon. #10 turned upfield and saw only Tomas, my smallest, slowest and least engaged player between himself and tying up the game. Tomas was standing there like a deer in the headlights, his index finger firmly planted up his left nostril. It was like slow motion as I watched #10 control the ball and take 5, 6, 7 Messi-like strides towards our goal. I was certain that this was going to be the goal that broke the will of my young team. However, out of nowhere, I see Seba rushing down the field, his eyes were locked onto the ball, trying to calculate if he could get there in time. With Messi lining up the ball for his potentially fatal shot, Seba comes sliding in within feet of the goal line and was able to deflect the ball over the end line for a corner kick! After a mad-dash around the goal after the corner, the referee blows his whistle, points to mid-field and the trophy was ours!!!!

What a great victory for these young kids. Of the six that played, 5 of them played on my U8 team this year and we finished a disappointing 7th out of 8 teams. Granted, we were a team of Kindergartners and First Graders playing mostly Second Graders but it was disappointing nonetheless. This tournament was a great way to cap off the season on a winning note and get them fired up about coming back next year to hopefully challenge for the U8 title.

BTW, if you haven't clicked on that Vinnie Jones link, do it. It's pretty damn funny.

 
'Senor Schmutzig said:
'Senor Schmutzig said:
I'm coaching my son's U6 team in a 5v5 tournament this morning. Should be interesting. Four teams, round robin. Top two teams after 3 games play each other for championship. I have a few 6 year old ringers and I think we can take this thing! Kids are pumped to win the trophy....

12 minute halves of swarm. May the team that can make one pass win!

Will report back.
Click to expand...
The kids made me proud this weekend. After the round robin part of the tournament, they were 2-1 and had enough points to qualify for the championship game. It was against the team that we had lost to 2-1 in the 2nd game and also a team from the league that was hosting the tournament. The kids were a little down when they found out it was a re-match because they knew that the other team was a little taller, a little stronger and a little quicker. We started the game on our heels as we went down 0-2 after 6 minutes. Luckily we pulled one back right before the half and went into the tunnel down by only one. At this time, I know that something had to change. I really didn't want to do this, but I pulled out my best Vinnie Jones impersonation to try and light a fire under these 5 and 6 year olds. I just couldn't stand on the sidelines and let them continue playing the way they did in the first half. This was for the 5v5 U6 2011 Championship!

My boys trotted out there for the 2nd half and I could see a glimmer in their eyes. They believed in themselves! I believed in them! They could win this thing!!!! With about 4 minutes gone (they were playing 12 minute halves), we had a great opportunity off of a corner kick. Enrico, my best player, had been driving the corner kicks into the box time and time again but we had not been able to convert. This time, I decided to put Enrico at the top of the box and let David take the kick. He put it right at the feet of Enrico who one-timed it into the bottom right corner (after bouncing off two or three defenders on the way in). The game was tied!

The next few minutes were back and forth with multiple chances by both teams. With 10 players on the field and no goalies, the majority of the time 7 of the kids were hovering around the ball kicking each other in the shins, two kids were just standing 15-20 feet from the action because they weren't sure what to do, and one was facing the other direction watching the game on the opposite field.

It was shortly after the 10 minute mark when Seba, my youngest, but scrappiest players went down, clutching his leg. This tends to happen periodically with him when things aren't going well and I could tell by his play in the previous three games that he just wasn't the Seba that I had seen at practice running to every ball, taking the hard shot or challenging every header. I ran over to him to make sure he was ok. Normally, Seba is used to scoring goals but so far in the tournament, he hadn't tallied any. I looked into his eyes, saw the disappointment and gave him a quick, 10 second pep talk letting him know that this was the most important game of his 2-year career so far. I needed him to dig deep and put one in the back of the net so we could win this thing. He got up, brushed himself off, gave me a big smile and ran back into the action. Not two minutes later, he fielded a beautiful cross from my son and put it in the upper 90 to take the lead! The kids were excited and slapping high fives knowing that they had just gone up on their arch-nemesis and only had to survive the remaining couple of minutes to take the trophy from the host team. What a sweet victory that would be!

The final two minutes were brutal. Parents from both teams were running up and down the sideline, going nuts, screaming at their kids like only Latino parents can. The Knights were taking shot after shot at our goal but they just weren't able to penetrate our strong defensive line. With about 30 seconds left in the match, we were down on the opponents half trying to control the ball and run out the clock with our pinpoint passing but somehow the ball got away, right to the feet of their best offensive weapon. #10 turned upfield and saw only Tomas, my smallest, slowest and least engaged player between himself and tying up the game. Tomas was standing there like a deer in the headlights, his index finger firmly planted up his left nostril. It was like slow motion as I watched #10 control the ball and take 5, 6, 7 Messi-like strides towards our goal. I was certain that this was going to be the goal that broke the will of my young team. However, out of nowhere, I see Seba rushing down the field, his eyes were locked onto the ball, trying to calculate if he could get there in time. With Messi lining up the ball for his potentially fatal shot, Seba comes sliding in within feet of the goal line and was able to deflect the ball over the end line for a corner kick! After a mad-dash around the goal after the corner, the referee blows his whistle, points to mid-field and the trophy was ours!!!!

What a great victory for these young kids. Of the six that played, 5 of them played on my U8 team this year and we finished a disappointing 7th out of 8 teams. Granted, we were a team of Kindergartners and First Graders playing mostly Second Graders but it was disappointing nonetheless. This tournament was a great way to cap off the season on a winning note and get them fired up about coming back next year to hopefully challenge for the U8 title.

BTW, if you haven't clicked on that Vinnie Jones link, do it. It's pretty damn funny.
Click to expand...
So how was Starbucks?
 
Here is a question for everyone to ponder

* The US has gone 6 games since its last win. This has not happened since 1998.

* Assuming the US does not make the Gold Cup final

Could Bob Bradley's job be in jeopardy (predict what Sunil would do)

Should Bob Bradley's job be in jeopardy (give your own thoughts here)

 
Blatter announced today that the new FIFA Ethics Committee will be responsible for deciding whether to reopen the 2022 bidding.

Kissinger has been asked to be a part of this new committee.

 
'NewlyRetired said:
Here is a question for everyone to ponder* The US has gone 6 games since its last win. This has not happened since 1998.* Assuming the US does not make the Gold Cup finalCould Bob Bradley's job be in jeopardy (predict what Sunil would do)Should Bob Bradley's job be in jeopardy (give your own thoughts here)
Click to expand...
No and No
 
'NewlyRetired said:
Blatter announced today that the new FIFA Ethics Committee will be responsible for deciding whether to reopen the 2022 bidding. Kissinger has been asked to be a part of this new committee.
Click to expand...
So a war criminal, and one of the loathsome people in American history to boot, could assist in getting the WC moved to a sane country? I feel conflicted.
 
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