I don't know if Jozy can play against Portugal, but he shouldn't, IMHO. I'm not Jozy, I'm not a doctor, and I'm not there, so I don't really know, but I play soccer and I've pulled muscles, and I was watching when Jozy pulled up lame. Clearly he was hurt. I'd be kind of surprised if he can come back at all, but if it's not serious enough to keep him out for the tournament, I'd bet $1,000 that it's serious enough that it would get worse comiing back too soon. Trying to play against Portugal could very well aggravate the injury and ensure that he's out for the rest of the competition.

The US loses a lot without Altidore, but Portugal is not Ghana. and they have their own issues with injuries (and discipline). Johannsson was invisible against Ghana, I agree, but his skill set might well match up better against Portugal. They may be more skill and finesse and less of Ghana's strenth and speed style.

If you've played sports involving direct competition with an opponent (i.e. not against a clock), then you know that sometimes opponents with supposedly inferior quality can give you more problems just because of the style match-up. That may well be the case with Ghana and the US; they seem to give us more fits than other teams ranked higher.

That said, the US does need to get better performances out of some key players. Bradley in particular was disappointing on Monday. He seemed to misjudge a lot of head balls and his passing was way off. I'm not sure if it was because he was playing a 10, or if he just had a really off night, but he needs to step it up; his performance is vital if we want to contend.

I don't think that the US tried to stall after the early goal. I think that they were forced back by Ghana's speed and power (give credit where credit is due) - and by their own poor ball control. I think that their ball control can get better, and hope it does.

I also think that Donovan should be on the team. Not in place of Johannsson, who has done enough to earn his own ticket, but in place of Green, who is only on the reserve squad of his German team and has done nothing for the US to merit inclusion this year.

DF, you're absolutely right that the US played horribly for pretty much the entire game. That, however, I don't expect to be repeated. Ghana, as RW pointed out, is a very physical team. Ours got beaten up, and that had an impact.

I think there was also a bit of a psychological disadvantage, particularly when Jozy went down. I'm not saying that's ok, because it really isn't a good thing, but it is what it is.

As for Donovan, he wouldn't have been a good replacement for Jozy. While he can play as a striker, Landon is really a midfielder--and most certainly not a holding forward like Altidore. So the question really isn't Aron vs Donovan. Should Donovan be on the team? Maybe. I happen to believe that there is more to the story that we're not hearing. LD sort of disappeared when Klinsmann took over. I don't think they get along. LD plays for Bruce Arena, who was the nat coach in 2002. If LD was bad for team chemistry, I'm fine with him being left off.

I agree with RW that Jozy shouldn't play, and I'm pretty certain he won't. How do we replace him? We don't really have another holding striker. Aron can be useful running off the ball, but he's a replacement for Dempsey, not a compliment.

Hodgson will be staying on till the Euros I think. After him they'll most likely look at grooming Gary Neville for the job. I don't think you necessarily need a hugely experienced, big name manager for international football. Slaven Bilic took the Croatia job as his first job in any form of coaching and he was their most successful manager ever. Klinsmann did a great job with a weak Germany squad despite never having done any coaching before. All you really need is a bit of tactical nous and the ability to gain the respect of the players. Neville would be an excellent choice for England I think.

I'm not sure thyis latest biting incident will knock too much from Suarez value. If he keeps on scoring so many goals then somebody will come sniffing around him soon enough. What it may do though is allow Liverpool to keep hold of him for one more season.

I agree about Fellaini btw. It was puzzling to see him used so badly by Manchester Utd given that Moyes knows all about him. The way they tried to set up with wingers putting so many crosses into the box, Fellaini could have been a real weapon for them last season. Instead they tried to use him as a deep lying midfield player, which was a waste of his ability.

Did Italy and the Ivorians both get hosed yesterday?

A straight red for Marchisio seemed quite soft, and they missed the bite (which, by the way, hopefully earns Suarez a suspension for the rest of the tournament. We'll see if FIFA has any stones.)

Then that late stoppage time penalty to Greece, Samaras tripped over his own foot.

The refs seem to me to have been pretty good overall, and it's been such an exciting tournament. Since the gaffe involving a phantom penalty to Fred in the opener, they've been good. But yesterday was not.

ruffhaus

Rodgers managed to usher Liverpool to one of the all time choke jobs as they somehow botched the premier league title

Choke?
In its last 15 games Liverpool lost once and tied twice.
The champions lost twice (once to Liverpool) and tied thrice. This is an inaccurate description of their title chase.
I get it that everyone rationalizes their poor forecasting. But characterizing a 15 game spell like Liverpool had as a choke flies in the face of reality.

rufhaus

Given the task both men had, I think Moyes did a better job

Based on your predictions of United success and Pool failure earlier, I can't quite grasp how you conclude this. Man U did worse than you predicted and Pool better.
Were you delusional then but have found the right drugs now?

Is it possible to look at otehr teams on teh MacDonalds FiFa thing. i chose my team in about 5 minutes without reading the rules .... major regrets. But i was wondering how Sloterp and others with good teams decided on their teams.
And how do i get rid of Suarez from my team now?

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opin ... /11372137/

I can't quite figure out whether this is just a parody. Under normal circumstances I'd assume it has to be, but it is Ann Coulter...

Sassenach wrote:http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/06/25/coulter-growing-interest-soccer-sign-nations-moral-decay/11372137/

I can't quite figure out whether this is just a parody. Under normal circumstances I'd assume it has to be, but it is Ann Coulter...

It has to be.....right??

There are so many holes to poke in that article that there'd be nothing left by the time you were done.

Well, her political comments are similarly outlandish...it wouldn't surprise me if her public persona was (at least a good deal) made-up to garner attention, ratings and (most importantly) money...otherwise, if her shtick is not made-up, her comments about soccer are serious... Of course, if her routine is not shtick she is a complete idiot...

She's not an idiot. So it's quite annoying to see such sweeping generalisations and outright lies, used to promote some twisted view. But that is her M.O. so...

meh.

Yeah, she sure does not sound like an idiot but she is constantly saying things that divide people..what do you call such a person? The words that come to mind are not politically correct...

I admit that I do not know all the criteria for granting a penalty kick, but I don't see how you give Holland the game when if the Dutch player did not trip he had no play.

It probably wasn't a penalty in truth, but that's the risk you take when you go lunging in against a player who's known for going over easily when there wasn't any drastic need to do it. Marquez is playing in his 4th World Cup and should have known better.

Any foul in the box is a penalty. Robben was fouled, even if it was soft and he played it like he'd been shot. He had definitely been lucky not to have been booked for an earlier dive, but not that one.

Just watched the Belgium - USA game. What a climax! Belgium have the better players and if not for Howard would have wrapped it up much earlier. But the US played their hearts out for 120 minutes.

I don't know if anyone can call these last 8 teams - they all have flaws but can also turn a game.

It was an exciting finish. So often I will hear that a keeper has been making great saves and think, wow, the ball is hit right at him, what's the big deal? But Howard made some actual really good saves and made some really good decisions to come out and cut down angles.
We actually had a very good chance to win at the very end of regulation. And after going down two goals down in the OT Green had a nice goal and there was a very nicely executed set piece free kick with Dempsey that almost got us the tie.
But...it was disappointing in our last two games to have play mostly dominated by Germany and then Belgium. A lot of heart, yes, but not enough talent.

ruffhaus

Fellaini is a great player, and will flourish in Manchester under better circumstances with Van Gaal

Prognosticating is such a cruelly difficult enterprise...

Marouane Fellaini to be offloaded as Louis van Gaal says £27m dud 'is not a Manchester United player'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/worldc ... z36PZpakSO
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