USA vs Italy _ Confed Cup

Nah, I was just accepting the inevitability of it all. I tend to accept first, then complain!

 

What nev said about Rossi popping twine goes for me too. I defended and still defend his right to make that choice.

Doesn't mean that today I like it.

 

What a bullshit red card.

I don't know what Christian is complaining about regarding Donovan for a change, he undressed the Italy defense a couple of times for chances that Bradley and Altidore scuffed. He's not the playmaker Pirlo is, certainly, but he does pretty nicely on the run.

Oh, and fuck Joe Red.

 

Amen brother! My thoughts exactly

 

Wow! The F-Bombs are falling from the sky - The air-raid sirens are going off at my house...

I am pretty upset about it as well. The boys surprised me a few times in the first half by putting in some tough tackles and closing down the ball when others made boo-boos.

After the equalizer the pressure started to disappear and the field opened up. Bradley should have made a change then to preserve the 1-1.

Down a man and against Italy, a draw is a good result - especially when your players can only hit the target from OUTSIDE the penalty area. It seems the closer they get to goal the harder it is for them to find it - which tells me they are all peeing their pants and lacking any confidence.

Anyway - Bradley didnt make the change - the match opened up - we didnt close down the ball... And that was it.

Bradley tried to make some changes to create some attack so you have to give him that I guess... BUT - he was forced to - so I dont know if he deserves a lot of credit for that.

2nd goal - from a player perspective, if Gooch wasnt so right side dominant and he used his left foot to block the shot, he stops it... But he is a bog dope and we all know that (but he is our big dope).

I am not saying that Bradley needs to be shown the door, but -my opinion - he was out-coached today.

 

Love the passion from everyone. Here are my favorite quotes (in no particular order):

HD: Bradley -- Brilliant match. This man should be the face of US Soccer. It's time for the media's love affair with Landon to end.

DiRossi scored -- I am seriously gutted. I hate that guy. Wonder why.

Articbob:
To the tune of Oh My darling)
Where's your Father,
Where's your Father,
Where's your Father Referee?
Never had one, Never knew one,
Your a bastard referee!

Nevzter:
Fuck Italy. Y besa mis nalgas to the ref. (I dont really know what Nevzter said here but the first part sounds good enough to me)

but having a kid born in NEW FUCKING JERSEY

I think one of Bornstein's "crosses" just touched down in Madagascar...

Whitesbhoy: He sucks for everything he almost is. ('Bhoy this kinda sounds like something a women would say, but maybe that's the problem with Donavan - makes all you men think like women)

LaxAttack: I liked how Spector played today

jmh: What a bullshit red card.

Jensers:
Wow! The F-Bombs are falling from the sky - The air-raid sirens are going off at my house...

 

Y besa mi nalgas -- AND KISS MY ASS!!

And Red Joey is dead to me.

 

Wretched ref. Damn him for not letting us see what could have been had we not been down a man most of the match. One corner the whole match - no wonder we had trouble.

Italy is way better though.

And Don not everyone thinks Bradley should be fired. However, we have not looked as good since Nowak left and that's a little frightening.

I want Spector in there instead of 'dolo. and if Gooch had used his left foot he could've stopped DeRossi's goal.

The soccer commentating as usual was dismal. Almost as bad as the constant buzzing from the fans noisemakers.

 

How did Bradley and Jozy absolutely flub those two dandy balls from Landon in the first half? (I still don't know if they were shooting or what, it will probably always remain an unsolved mystery) That just freaking kills me more than anything. You don't get very many chances like that and that was the best we could do?

Those pissed me off as much or more than the unwarranted red card.

Overall I thought a good effort. Especially the 1st half. 2nd half I felt was inevitable and on the bright side, we did create a few opportunities despite being short handed.

Also....where did Rossi learn his footballing skills? In the US or Italy? If in the US, bottle the water from his home and send it out to all the soccer camps across the US this summer.

 

Loved the passion out of the team. It was inspired football and they showed a lot of heart in their play. Even at 11 vs. 11 the US looked the more likely to score. Both Donovan and Jozy had chances that easily could have put the scoreline at 2-0, alas that is football.

I really don't like to heap much blame on a referee's performance, but it needs to be mentioned in this case. He completely lost the plot with the sending off of Clark. It was a yellow card and there was nothing malicious in the tackle to me. Fast forward to the second half and you see an intentional elbow thrown from Grossa on Donovan for a mere yellow card and crunching tackles on Pirlo from Benny and Bornstein that go unpunished.

All that being said, it is no surprise that the Italian side had the talent to break down the US. The equaliser eventually came and then the two to seal the deal.

If Clark was not given his marching orders, does the US go on to beat Italy? I really believe they could have. C'est la vie.

 

During the broadcast, they had mentioned the reason he left NJ w/his father at age 13 was to join the footballing academy at Parma.

 

Complaints first and compliments last. At least that was the philosophy my father passed on to me. Tear them down and build the up. I don't believe the loss to Italy is anything to overly panic about as long as the clear cracks in the USMNT are addressed in the short-term.

Complaints

Bob Bradley was out coached before the whistle ever sounded the start of the match. I have not been a big detractor of the elder Bradley but he needs to sort out his line up soon. When Roy first arrived at Fulham his initial analysis of the squad was that is consisted of too many similar players. The substitutes bench against Italy, and in several other recent matches, was flawed in this manner. When Clark went out with the red card Bradley had no defensive midfielder on the subs bench to put in the match to clog up the middle. I know some will disagree with me on this but Michael Bradley is not a true defensive mid and the subs bench was full of offensive minded midfielders. In essense Kljestan, Torres, Adu and Beasley are the same midfielder and any of the four are adequate replacements for Feilhaber. In a pinch Kljestan and Torres could even step in for Micheal Bradley. However, when Clark got the red card and Bradley turned to look at his subs bench his first thought must have been, "I am so screwed!" I know this thought must have crossed Bradley's mind because my fourteen year old son just snorted after Donovan socred the PK and said, "It won't matter because with this line up Italy will score at least three before its over." Just for the record I wish I was joking but I am not. As an aside I also need to know if anyone can recommend a good "smug" remover for a fourteen year old boys face. Bob needs to balance his subs bench. I know I will probably catch grief for this but Pablo (or someone with a similar skillset) should have been on the bench instead of one the four mentioned above. As a side note get well soon Maurice.

Benny Feilhaber looked rustier than most of the tools in my garage.

A common phrase heard at the U14 matches I attended this year applies - "SHOOT THE BALL!" - Jozy, Michael et al I know several U14 parents that can be hired to stand on the touchlines and yell the phrase to you if it would be helpful.

Red Card ..... ummmmm I don't think so.

Compliments
Michael Bradley played well and appears to be growing into the box to box midfielder we have been in dire need of. People need to quit calling him a defensive mid because that is not what he does for the US. He attacked, he shot from distance and he defended.

Benny Feilhaber saw the field very well last night. His execution may have been lacking but the vision was not. His pass to set up Jozy's penalty was very pretty. Bob needs to get on the phone and hook Benny up with someone to knock the rust off those offensive skills because we need him. He can be a difference maker. The way he attempted to spray the ball around would have been fantastic if he had connected on his passes.

Timmy is the man and kept the score respectable.

Jozy showed some flashes and the Italian back line did not look happy to be marking him.

Clint looked comfortable against a European side.

Landon looked dangerous and set up several opportunities that should have been better taken.

Spector when healthy is obviously capable and will be vying for the starting RB spot.

Demerit when healthy is the answer to question of who deserves to be the third CB.

 

A couple of thoughts since most of it's been said:

I'm a little surprised Clark hasn't caught more heat for the stupid decision that put him in that position, but agree that a straight red was a bit much.

At this point, I've pretty well reached the conclusion that if you play in MLS and your name isn't Donovan, you probably shouldn't see the pitch. They'll have an occasional good game, but the overall skillset and vision just doesn't seem to be there. Hejduk makes up for it with hustle to an extent, but having watched the last few matches, I'd rather have Spector.

As for the atmosphere, FIFA, South Africa or both dropped the ball letting the stadiums have so many empty seats. Although, given that more people would apparantly equate to more plastic horns, maybe I should reconsider that. Another observation is that the underdog support for neutral teams seems to be non-existant, which is surprising for such an impoverished nation.

 

So much to be said….oh well.

I’ve read a bunch of articles about the match…and about Rossi…..and you know what..fuck him. He’ll never enjoy playing for his country.

Think about it.

When the Italian national anthem is playing, will he get choked up? Will he get goose-bumps? Does he even know the words? He plays for Italy, but he’ll never play for his country. Sad little man.

Benedict Rossi. Whole family should be awoken at 3am, shackled and deported.

 

"little", that would be correct Whitesbhoy.

By the way, my office mate is Russian and a Chelsea fan and he says Clark totally deserved the red. Says the tackle was late and Clark put his foot up and kicked him the Italian in the knee.

 

The legacy of Glasnost!!!

:banana: