Unofficial World Cup Thread de 2014

[Guiness]

In fact all players (provided they worked on their aerobic conditioning and the big guys lost some weight) could be good. That's the nice thing about soccer; body types aren't as predetermined as for american football. Like I said before; the most dominant force out there is 5'7.

Peppers would have been a nice presence in goal though.

There was a center for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the '90s who'd played soccer at quite a high level, and he was there face-off specialist, rarely lost a draw. He won as many with his feet as he did with his stick!

[pbmax]

Thinking back, when they were fresh, the US couldn't counter attack effectively. As soon as Ghana got tired (or perhaps rather than tired, they lost their desperation, you choose) suddenly they were getting counterattacks through the middle.

Do they fare better in this versus Germany or Portugal?

[pbmax]

Its only 1/3 of the article, I promise. From Zonal Marking http://www.zonalmarking.net/2014/06/...p-stage-day-5/

US lead, Ghana attack

Clint Dempsey scored a fine goal inside a minute, and therefore Ghana were immediately forced to dominate in an attempt to score an equaliser.

Ghana’s problem over the past half-decade has been their inability to break down a packed defence. They’re excellent on the counter-attack, with fast, mobile players who make good decisions on the break, but this was another example of their one-dimensional play. They were always in control of possession but their players simply aren’t suited to coming from behind – they need the opposition to come onto them.



Right flank

Ghana continually looked to work the right of the pitch. Christian Atsu was the liveliest player, always looking to collect possession in wide positions before darting inside, but he frequently took the wrong option.

Behind him, Daniel Opare received space in the right-back position with Jermaine Jones playing deep and narrow, but contributed extremely little on the ball, turning in arguably the worst individual performance of this tournament so far – his crossing was shocking.

Gyan

With the Ayew brothers on the periphery of the game and underwhelming when receiving the ball in dangerous positions, Asamoah Gyan was the primary goal threat. Typically, he ran the channels throughout the first half, but the US were comfortable with him moving away from goal, because no-one else was making runs into the centre-forward position.

Gyan isn’t really about getting on the end of crosses, but Ghana created genuine chances when he stayed central at the start of the second half, and went close with two good headed chances, after crosses from either flank.

US two banks of four

Although Jurgen Klinsmann had switched to a diamond midfield in preparation for this tournament, his side essentially defended with two banks of four without possession, with Michael Bradley dropping back alongside Kyle Beckerman. And because they spent so long without the ball, they were basically a 4-4-2 throughout, with Bradley surprisingly inefficient when he received the ball, not connecting the midfield and attack.

The USA were unfortunate to lose Jozy Altidore through injury midway through the first half, and while Aron Johansson ran the channels manfully, he’s not really an Altidore replacement. The USA missed someone who could run in behind the opposition defence, and hold up the ball. They had no-one to relieve the pressure, and therefore were almost constantly stuck on the edge of their own box, soaking up pressure – although, of course, it’s arguable this was the optimum approach against a Ghanaian side depending on the break.

USA overrun in midfield

Still, even when playing defensively, you still need to have a counter-attacking threat. Bradley and Dempsey were both very quiet, while Alejandro Bedoya, the obvious man to lead the attacking transitions, constantly made the wrong decision.

In fact, when Altidore departed midway through the first half, the USA were already under heavy pressure. Klinsmann might have considered bringing on an extra midfielder at this stage, because his side simply weren’t covering the midfield ground effectively. Dempsey and Johansson were stuck upfront with little service, covering the responsibilities of one man, and it felt like the USA were playing with ten players at times.

However, Kinsmann was able to depend upon good performances at the back, while Kyle Beckerman was excellent at screening the defence – he protected the ‘red zone’ excellently, meaning Ghana always looked out wide for their route to goal.

Kwesi Appiah made three straight swaps to get back into the game, when he probably could have sacrificed right-back Opare and used a winger there – Ghana’s full-backs weren’t doing defensive work. It was surprising that Ghana’s equaliser came from Andre Ayew from the left – he had been poor, while Ghana were focusing their attacks down the other side.

Johnson attacks

The USA deserve great credit for their performance after Ghana’s equaliser – having spent more than 80 minutes solidly protecting the lead, they were capable of coming forward and playing more proactively. Right-back Fabian Johnson, having lost Ayew for the Ghana goal, seemed determined to make up for his error in an attacking sense and took up very advanced positions when the USA midfield had possession. This was a real risk – Ayew got in behind him dangerously two minutes after the goal – but it had its rewards. Johnson overlapped to force a spell of pressure down the right, and then yet another forward charge resulted in the corner for John Brooks’ headed winner.

Amazingly, Johnson was still bombing up and down the line with the US 2-1 up. He had the energy to sprint into attack, but not to get back into defence. Clearly, by this stage he should have been protecting his his centre-backs – but Ghana never looked likely to launch a second comeback.

[pbmax]

[wootah]

[Guiness]

Thinking back, when they were fresh, the US couldn't counter attack effectively. As soon as Ghana got tired (or perhaps rather than tired, they lost their desperation, you choose) suddenly they were getting counterattacks through the middle.

Do they fare better in this versus Germany or Portugal?

Severely outclassed by Germany, Portugal is a better question - what are they bringing to this tournament? Germany is, of course, a very disciplined side and frustrated the mercurial Portugese.



The US played a pretty stiffling D yesterday, if they can do the same vs Portugal, they might be able to get them on tilt.

[wootah]

Bring it!!!

[wootah]

I expect a lot of De Bruyne... Hopefully Januzaj gets some minutes as well.

[wootah]

Tempo is wayyyyyyyy too slow to be dangerous.

[hoosier]

3 shots on goal by Algeria in 74"....makes 3 yards and a cloud of dust look like the greatest show on turf.

[wootah]

Of which 1 on target: the penalty.

Belgium is playing terrible, though. Nice counter this one

[hoosier]

My inclination is to root for the underdog but it's hard when the underdog seems content with a tie, and poetic justice when they don't get it.

[wootah]

My inclination is to root for the underdog but it's hard when the underdog seems content with a tie, and poetic justice when they don't get it.

It seems like they couldn't do much better. Pretty poor team... Belgium's substitutes made the difference today.

[hoosier]

That's what I meant about friendly seeding

[wootah]

I can't disagree. Russia will be much different... Our youngsters were nervous as hell! Didn't expect that since they have quite some international experience for their age. It seems a world cup is still something else.