United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

We are almost there...DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE HIGHLIGHTS, SCORE, ETC.!!!!!!! You've been warned...

I hope McBride can show Cech that he can score on him in any stage at any time....COYUSMNT!!!!

 

It has been VERY ugly in that first half. Down 2-0 it will be tough to come back McBride and Donovan are non-existent. Our midfield is the only thing we have going for us thus far...Reyna looks strong and although Convey has been quiet, his crosses have been great.

Don't even get my started on Gooch, he already got a yellow card and he was the reason Koller had a free header for their first goal. He showed his inexperience by drifting towards the sideline when the czechs were about to cross and leaving the 6'7" Czech forward by himself with Eddie Pope.

We need Convey to get free some more on the wing and put in some more of those crosses.

 

Of the post.How fucking unlucky by REyna in the first half.

 

3-0 oh dear.Arena out Arena out......................... :wink:

 

Rosicky is tearing that defense apart...its uglier than expected. Lets be honest here, we weren't expected to win considering the Czechs are ranked 2nd in the world.

I was just hoping to see some moments of brilliance from us but those moments are few and far between.

Gooch can't pass at all but has played slightly better since Koller got hurt.

 

The whole team MUST play better, of this will be a very short WC '06 showing.

McWho? Beasley stunk. Pope stunk, and I think should have had Koller marked better on that first goal. Convey had little to no impact. Johnson at least provided a spark in the second half, and Reyna proved why he is captain.

Ugh, that was difficult to watch. Time to move on and focus on Italia.

 

Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

All of this crap Donovan was talking and he did nothing to help his cause of being 'Americas best'. I'm dissapointed.

Pope shouldn't of been stuck with Koller and I blame Gooch for not marking him because on that goal, gooch was inbetween the left defenseman and his other centerback...when he should've been with Pope on the giant that was Koller.

They won't have it any easier considering Luca Toni is looking like he is really on form and is a 6'4" giant himself. As big as Gooch but definitely faster...get boca back.

 

RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

Well if you want to say Arena screwed up by not having Gooch mark Koller all the time, then I give that some credence. I want to see the replay. I don't remember thinking Gooch was out of position, but I do remember thinking Pope should have played that situation better. After that goal, Gooch seemed to "man-up" Koller better, and he made sure no more damage was done by the giant. Koller's replacement was 6 '5 and was held scoreless, so I don't foresee future problems with Onyewu marking anyone.

As I have said before, Gooch may make a mistake (which is certainly debateable here, but I will give you the benefit), but I don't count on him making the same one again.

 

RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

The US flat out sucked it up. Not one player I thought did much to show me he was worthy of wearing the shirt. The team was flat and played uninspired. After the first goal from Koller it seemed as though the US gave up and that is not what we have come to see in a Bruce Arena lead team.

Yes, the Czechs are a strong team, but things are not going to get any easier against an Italian team that are very good and unlike most Italian teams, they are not a laid back, passive, defensive team. In watching the first half of the Ghana match so far, Italy has looked dangerous and probably should have more than one goal.

I did not expect the US to get out of this group, but I did expect them to play better and more respectable. The match on Saturday against Italy is a must win for the Americans. If they lose that one, it will be lights out for Germany 2006. One last thing, Ghana is no slouch either. They will give the US all they can handle in that last match.

 

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One more point I want to make about the US team in general is that the managers need to schedule more and more matches with top-notch teams. Itwas great to play Germany in March, but in order for the US to be ready for matches lik today, they must venture out of America and Central America and play some of the top European teams on a more consistent basis.

There is nothing the US ca do about playing against the CONCACAF teams which for the most part suck ass, but I think often times US fans, myself included, get a false sense of belief that this team is really good and can hang with the best in the World.

The bottom line is that this team is NOT the fifth best team in the world and to be honest with you I would question whether this team is even one of the 20 best teams in the world. Rankings mean nothing.

In order for the US to make that next step, they are going to have to play against better competition and likely take some lumps and bruises along the way as they did today against the Czechs.

The 2002 World Cup was unbelievable, but if people really think the US can and should repeat the quarterfinal appearance they reached in 2002, they are kidding themselves. Much work needs to be done before the US is seriously considered a powerhouse soccer nation. It will happen one day and progress is being made, but we are not there yet.

 

RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

Eh.. tom. 'Any given day'

Noone believes US is in top 5.

Depending on how they played last, could be anywhere from top 15 to top ten.

It was REALLY more a matter of Czech making a move for top rank.

 

Re: RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

I do not neccesarily believe that Petty. I have read posts on here, BigSoccer and even talked with people who genuinely think the US is one of the best teams in the world. I am going to go into details of said posts and conversations, but sometimes I think fans of the US team are often narrow-minded and do only see the wins by the US against the shit squads of CONCACAF. There is more to it than beating those teams and Americans need to realize we have a long way to go.

 

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

Maybe I should be blaming Arena a bit then, because I saw Pope covering Koller while letting Gooch shadow the left back, so maybe it was a tactical thing. None-the-less, Pope could've done more but still its a huge mismatch 6'1" Vs. 6'7". Not one of those guys played well and maybe they are full of themselves.

I hope we shock Italy because although they looked good (Luca Toni and Francesco Totti were awsome) they may be looking at us as an 'easy' win and we all know what happens when teams do that!

USA! USA!

 

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: United States Vs. Czech Republic [R]

I made a comment on loose marking that I was seeing in all thesae games.

If you have the players (skill and confidence willing) marking tighter, the whole thing changes.

 

Embarrassing

Well I hate to be negative and bitter but I'm from New England and a huge Red Sox fan and this is what New Englanders do...

I honestly felt embarrassed to be an American while I was watching that game. The little island of trinidad and tobago held Sweden to a 0-0 draw. Now Sweden might not be at the same level as the Czechs but definetly a respectable team that gives England trouble from time to time. T&T has a population of 1.2 million and showed a lot of heart and grit to end with a draw in their first ever world cup. The Americans on the other hand started the game thinking they were the shit and ready for the world stage only to find out that Pavel Nedved decided before the game that he was going to make them his bitch. There was absolutely not passion in the U.S. game

Now I know the U.S. isn't the most creative and exciting team in the world but you don't need to finish every goal with a bicycle kick to be successful. I really believe that if you perform the basics of passing, ball handling, and shooting to near perfection you can win any game. My only worry coming into the World Cup was that the U.S. still hasn't learned the little tricks when playing European and South American teams such as fouling a the right times and counter attacking. And thats why I felt they wouldn't come out of the group not because of the basics but because they still need to learn the the little tricks that can change again.

Unfortunetly the U.S. not only showed that they dont know the tricks but they also showed that they can't perform the very basics of the game to that level of perfection. Their passing was terrible, their trapping was terrible, rarely were they able to beat a Czech defender one on one, and for an 'old' team the Czechs looked a lot faster than the Americans.

If this was a display of 'progress' in U.S. soccer then I call it dissappointing progress and something needs to be down in terms of development in this country or the next 15 years are gonna continue to be disappointing...