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Another of my favorite attacking outside backs played for France... guh... late 80s? Amoros. Him, Brehme, Dungha... loved the way they attacked AND defended. Roberto Carlos didn't defend as well, IMO- but deserves mention because of how well he got forward.
France also had Jean Tigana in the midfield (a personal favorite of mine) and could add Desailly at the back. He was a beast in 1998.
This is a good list. Jurgen Kohler is one of my favorite players ever. Obviously never seen Fritz Walter or Gerd Muller play, but they are both automatic on this team. GK is very tough, but Maier is probably also in the automatic category (over Kahn and my personal favorite, Der Toni). I've never seen Netzer play either. I might stick the Kaiser at his familiar "libero" position and re-jigger the lineup a bit to work in a couple personal favorites - Thomas Haessler and Pierre Litbarski.
Frank Rijkaard also frequently lined up in Holland's back four, although I think he is better known in his holding midfielder role at Milan.
Anyone else remember the first game of qualification a few years ago? Beating the #### out of the Barbados 8-0?
I remember Dempsey scoring like 2 minutes into the game.ETA: looked it up....Barbados, not Bahamas. And Dempsey scored in the 1st minute. 
Just noticed the Czechs are ranked 29th in the FIFA rankins, which I realize are crap, but still surprised they are ranked that low.ETA: LOL at Portugal #3.Anyone else remember the first game of qualification a few years ago? Beating the #### out of the Barbados 8-0?
For some reason it's not in our nature to produce stud defenders on a regular basis. I mean, after Stam and De Boer, I can't really name one. Will again be the achilles heel of this team.
Breitner has to find a place in the side somewhere surely, either for Vogts or Brehme at fullback.
I don't doubt that Maier should be an automatic selection at GK, as I've obviously never seen him play, but Kahn in his prime was just incredible.
would rather see Jozy out there than Johnson....chemistry is so important and he and Buddle need to start trying to create it...like yesterday.Beasley??? WTF??Looks like Bradley is using this game to make some roster decisions, but is it really necessary at this point??thoughts?
.... typical performance by him- stretches where he's really involved and tight on the ball making nice passes to danger... then he disappears or clunks it up. Too bad- I like his game when it's on, but it's never on for a full 90 at this level.
... nice goal and all, but didn't do much. i wasn't liking his runs and wish i could've seen more of him on the ball going at guys (although given his one on one, mebbe not). still like what he did more than EJ or Buddle, but he benefitted from pairing with Ching.
Great write up as always Floppo. Just to let you know we are discussing this in more depth in the World Cup thread.Caught the game late... some thoughts on questions I had going into the game:Back 4- Already talked about Gooch, but I wasn't liking the spacing between the center backs and the MFs- might be on the MFs, dunno without seeing it live- but gaps were there and just were'nt exploited. Seemed to hold their line fairly well, so ... shrug. Left Back- we have an answer. More on that later.Gooch- expected to see some rust on his touch and timing. Touch let him down a bit with his distribution (which had been looking improved after the move to Milan), but he made his decisions fairly quickly which is good. First step was slow- fouled a player above the box where he looked to be right next to the ball but still got beat to it... not good. Timing was off in the air what seemed to be all night- wtf?! giving up that goal? First time I've ever seen him so weak in the air... hopefully the timing comes back in the remaining games- WQ sure as #### isn't the time to risk it.Cherundolo- had some flashes of the old Cherundolo... taking guys on, getting the attack going. But seemed to overdo it a bit in the first half, and then seemed to wear down in the second. Looked slow a couple of times late in the game, getting beaten badly with pace and/or dribble- not good. If he's on the Right, we can't afford to have to sub him because he's tired.Goodson- I'm a fan and have been since first seeing him. Yeah- he makes the occasional clunker play with his marking, but overall is a beast in the air on both sides of the ball (great effort on that 2nd goal), spaces well with his center back partner, tackles well and distributes the ball well (better than Marshall or deMerit). If he was on the bubble, I think he secured a spot tonight.MFs- so hard to tell what was going on there with possibly no starters on the field. Didn't like how they played with the forwards in the first half (much improved in the second) and didn't do much to hold the ball. The second half saw better and more productive possession, which I attribute to better forward play as much as MF play- but nice to see either way. Thought without Bradley, the defensive posture was weak through the middle. Edu missed him in there.- DMB... DM mofo B. IMO, showed the burst and moments of aggresiveness plus composure on the ball to earn a spot... maybe. Touch looked decent too. Disappeared for stretches, but so did most of the team. Mostly I liked the composure- call me conservative, but I want to have guys in the 23 who I know won't #### it up on the field- and I think DMB has enough experience to be that guy and maybe bring something else. Looked good against Holland and did fine tonight.- Torres... meh. I liked that he was getting on the ball a lot. Didn't like what he did with it when he was. Touch didn't look convincing and passes weren't crisp or productive offensively. Still on the bubble IMO- interesting to see if he's there tomorrow- I'm still a fan, just don't think he brought enough tonight or recently really.- Edu... he's in. didn't love what he did on the night- I kept waiting for him to pop into the screen on 2nd balls in the back, but was repeatedly left hanging. Again- I want to see what he does with Bradley... will it be him or Clark? Or Benny? Nothing answered here.- Sascha... :( .... typical performance by him- stretches where he's really involved and tight on the ball making nice passes to danger... then he disappears or clunks it up. Too bad- I like his game when it's on, but it's never on for a full 90 at this level.- Holden... another guy suffering from rust. Touch was off, timing was off... pretty much everything was off. But he still has an explosiveness on the ball and a great work rate on both sides of the ball that is lacking on the team. He's gotta be in, maybe starting if Dempsey goes up front.- Bedoya... I've honestly seen zippo from the guy. Has a moment here and there where he shows a flash, but most of the games I've seen him I don't even remember that he's playing. That's not enough.
They're saving themselves for Sunday when I'll be in the crowd
What's wrong with being talismanicy?
I have no problem with the act, just the way the word is nonchalantly thrown around. I've seen nothing talismanic about 90% of the people to whom it's attributed--including Lampard. Hell, someone in this thread used it with respect to Charlie Davies in the last few weeks.
I was Spinal Tapping.
Wolfgang Overath should be in there instead of Netzer. Uwe Seeler is also missing, it sounds weird, but he should be in there maybe instead of Rummenigge.
Yeah, Seeler is the guy I knew I shouldn't be leaving off. I'm surprised he wasn't mentioned yet.I can't imagine leaving Netzer off, though.
Could go with this:
It was me IIRC.I think it's undeniable that the USMNT has had an attacking edge and achieved a level of success that they lacked without Davies. In that sense, yes, I believe that his presence was/is talismanic for the USMNT.
I was their the day Jamar was introduced as a teenager to the NE crowd. This was back when NE had a great fan base before the Krafts pissed it all away (Seattle, pay attention!).He got a huge standing ovation and even had to take a lap around the field to acknowledge the crowd. It was one of the first times I felt soccer had made it in this country.
lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalIcan'thearyoulalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala
Since his brilliance with Chelsea, he's became my favorite coach in all of sport. I wish we had somebody like him in the states.
What's the point really?
I sort of doubt this. Players are going to want to take time off over the summer and there will be a new coach who is going to want to see new people. My guess is none of the Euro based players play and we see a lot of fresh faces. But it's cool to play Brazil any time.
No, I don't think so. It's pretty rare a guy stays on for 2 cycles so I'm making an assumption here.
You've got to hand it to the US/MLS...we really are turning around the soccer program in this country. I'd be surprised if you don't see us steadily rise in the soccer rankings over the next couple of decades.Heck, you can already see the positive impact MLS has had on this WC team.
Can he take Hicks with him too?
I wish. The guy ####### sucks ###. The fact that he's responsible for Mack Brown being at Texas still can't overcome the #### he's pulled on the Rangers and Liverpool.
