WORLD CUP 2010 - Pre-Event Whistle Wetting

This is EXACTLY what we heard in Germany 2006.

"Let's do now, what they did then, 'cause everything old is new again."

 

and my USA away shirt arrived today. Woo and also hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be breaking it in at the Lion and Rose on the 12th.

 

Latest word? According to Sky Sports News.

a. Ivory Coast officials have said that the injury will not necessarily mean that Drogba can't play
b. Drogba has told his teammates that he's out of South Africa 2010.

Tune in to find out who's in charge.

Meanwhile, Emile Heskey has improved England's chances of succeeding in South Africa by crocking Rio Ferdinand in training. Rio is going home to be replaced by Michael Dawson. Bad news for us on 6/12. I quite liked the prospect of facing the centerback pairing of out-of-form Terry and not-in-match-shape Ferdinand, but now we'll have to face England's best central defender, Ledley King.

 

WC: Moyes on Donovan and US

Nice article on Donovan (supposedly) written by David Moyes. Thanks to WN/TFS over on Friends of Fulham for finding it

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 144818.ece


Donovan danger


The searing speed and will to win of Landon Donovan can hurt England on Saturday

David Moyes

Landon Donovan arrived at Everton in January with a nice southern California tan and we laughed because when he left he was as white as me. Landon lost his colour on Merseyside but he gained a lot of friends and a lot of credit. And Everton gained — significantly. For the United States to have a good World Cup, they’ll need Landon to do well. He’s the one who can give them some special moments.

The players and staff at Everton took about 60 seconds of his debut to understand his value. He’s the kingpin of the American team, the closest thing his country have to a big soccer star, yet he has no ego. That was, perhaps, the biggest thing that struck you about him. You noticed it when he walked into the dressing room and you noticed it after about a minute of his first game for us, away to Arsenal. He was playing on our right. The ball got knocked down the line, Gael Clichy set off on the run and he turned and tracked Clichy, step for step, for 70 yards. At that point the lads said: “You’ll do for us, any day.” He showed exactly the team-oriented spirit we want at Everton, not to mention fantastic speed to stay with Clichy. He came off with cramp after 70 minutes because he’d worked so hard, and afterwards every player patted him on the back.

Landon epitomises the total-effort, team-focused American attitude that will confront England on Saturday. And there are also special elements in his game. Traditionally, USA sides are built on their players’ honesty and endeavour but the current one has two footballers, Landon and Clint Dempsey, who possess something of a different dimension.

Landon is not Wayne Rooney and he’s not Lionel Messi, in that he’s not going to beat you single-handedly, but if there are good players around him who can give him the ball in the right areas, he will hurt you. The problem for the USA is supplying Landon properly. If England do their job in terms of pressing and defending, I’m not sure the Americans have enough quality to do so.

Bob Bradley, the USA coach, has a choice of whether to play Landon in the middle — where he sometimes operates for LA Galaxy — or on the flank, where we used him at Everton. Centrally, if he gets the ball in the right positions, he would worry the centre-backs. If he could get them faced up, he’d have the speed to go past them.

He can also do great work on the wing. For Everton I felt he did particularly well against quick full-backs, such as Clichy or Ashley Cole, in attack and defence. Landon could be important for USA in stopping Cole. Bradley looks likely to settle on a system that would see Landon stationed in midfield but with responsibility to move out to the right.

He played 13 games for us and we would like to have kept him longer. Before the January transfer window, his agent revealed he was looking to move to Europe on loan and there was a clause in his contract allowing him to do so in LA Galaxy’s off-season.

We knew he was a good player after facing the MLS All Star XI in a friendly and my interest grew after conversations with Tim Howard and Bruce Arena. Tim raved about Landon’s speed and his scoring ability. Bruce, Landon’s coach at LA Galaxy, also said he was a really top finisher. I thought: “Pace and a top finisher? That’s too good to pass up.”

I was a little concerned that he’d twice had spells in Europe, with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, which didn’t work out. Then I considered that Landon is regarded as America’s best player and, having taken Everton to America and holidayed there several times, I think the standard of the MLS and its players is better than people in Europe imagine. If the work permit rules allowed, you’d see a lot more US players able to do a good job in the Premier League.

I was interested in Clint Dempsey before he went to Fulham, signed Brian McBride for Preston and Everton and watched Jozy Altidore before he went to Villarreal. So I thought if Landon was the best US player, he wasn’t going to be far off the mark. He was worth the risk and we weren’t disappointed in any way. He reminded me of Andy Johnson with his lightness across the ground. He’s physically slight and glides over the top of the surface. He could be somebody who, with the slightest contact, you can knock over and give a penalty away.

He’s composed on the ball and I loved that he wanted to stay on the training pitch at the end of sessions to practise finishing and speak further with the coaches so he could understand what we wanted him to do. He’ll face England confident that he knows the English players and has managed to cut it in their world. I know, when he left, he was full of admiration for the Premier League because of the tempo of games and the effort required in England of playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday at that level.

Myself and the Scots in my backroom staff had plenty of banter with him and Tim Howard about playing against England. What could we do to help? I remember Tim lying on the treatment table, wondering how the USA could get a draw out of the game, and the Scots boys were in there working it out with him.

The Americans are not looking at England as a game they’re likely to win; they want to get it out of the way, avoid sustaining heavy damage and use their other group matches to qualify for the next round. I’m desperate for Tim to do well because he’s a fine lad and a really good keeper. I can only think of one mistake he made in the whole of last season, which shows his consistency.

I have a warning for Frank Lampard: we’ve done a lot of work with Tim on penalties. As proved by his performance in the shootout in our 2009 FA Cup semi-final and a couple of saves from the spot last season, he’s excellent at saving them.

Profile of the US stars likely to face England

Tim Howard (GK, Everton): The 31-year-old kept 15 clean sheets in 51 matches for Everton this season

Jonathan Spector (FB, West Ham): A versatile defender, comfortable at full-back or centre-back, the 24-year-old missed the last World Cup with a dislocated shoulder

Jay DeMerit (CB, Watford): The 30-year-old Wisconsin-born defender was playing non-league football just six years ago before signing a pro contract with the Hornets

Oguchi Onyewu (CB, AC Milan): Having missed most of the season through injury, ‘Gooch’ signed a 12-month wage-free contract extension last month

Carlos Bocanegra (FB, Rennes): Formerly of Fulham, the team captain played in 15 of USA’s 18 World Cup qualifiers

Benny Feilhaber (MF, AGF Aarhus): The Brazilian-born 25-year-old made just 10 Premier League appearances for Derby County before being jettisoned two years ago

Michael Bradley (MF, B M’gladbach): Son of the USA coach, Bradley Jr scored five goals in the CONCACAF qualifying campaign Broke his nose in March while on club duty

Maurice Edu (MF, Rangers): The box-to-box midfielder joined Rangers from Toronto in August 2008 for £2.6m. Missed the opening five months of the season with a cruciate ligament injury

Clint Dempsey (MF, Fulham): The Texan was a major factor in Fulham’s march to the Europa League final, scoring a superb chip against Juventus in the last-16 tie

Landon Donovan (F, LA Galaxy): The most capped player in the current USA squad. Impressed during his brief loan spell at Everton last season

Jozy Altidore (F, Villarreal): Top scorer in qualifying, the former Hull striker struck once in 28 Premier League games

PF Note: Little did I know I was posting a 'funny response' and stepping on this.