The Beautiful Game Thread, 11/12

[10spro]

My guess is that Napoli hasn't won anything since the glorious' days of Maradona?

[fsquid]

They won Serie C in the mid 2000s

[Macca00]

They won Serie C in the mid 2000s

Yeah, and Liverpool won the Carling Cup in 2012.

Wait. I just insulted my own team.

But seriously, yeah - it's the first thing they've won in something like 20+ years so they were understandably happy. Though they missed out on a Champions League spot so who knows.


Oh, and what about Ligue 1? MONTPELLIER won the title beating out moneybags PSG and Lyon! Awesome stuff for them and the league. Marseille finished 10th which was enough to impress the Liverpool hierarchy to consider giving their manager an interview. (As you can tell, I have Liverpool on the brain even more than usual.....sorry).

[fsquid]

can't say I care for anything French.

[fsquid]

looking forward to seeing my first USA game in person this Sat. in JAX. Surprised that over 32k tickets have been sold as this place it pretty redneck and football only.

[RobVarak]

Some d-bag City fan got Bill Harris to devote a Dubious Quality entry to football. The nerve!

http://dubiousquality.blogspot.com/2012 ... drama.html

[davet010]

I threatened to turn up at Bill's house bearing cucumber sandwiches if he didn't print it

In other news, fsquid's favourite pigs blew their chance of going into the Championship by losing on penalties to Huddersfield. Bet he's dancing round now.

[fsquid]

League One looks great on a Pig, Dave. About to go to the US-Scotland friendly and meet the Tartan Army here in a bit.

[fsquid]

USA game be fun. 44k came out in JAX which was twice the amount they were expecting. The SCot fans were very gracious and even gave my six year old stuff. Thought we dominated the game. We certainly seem to actually possess the ball with a purpose now. Haven't seen that in quite some time from the national team.

[Naples39]

USA game be fun. 44k came out in JAX which was twice the amount they were expecting. The SCot fans were very gracious and even gave my six year old stuff. Thought we dominated the game. We certainly seem to actually possess the ball with a purpose now. Haven't seen that in quite some time from the national team.

I haven't really been paying too much attention to the USA team recently, but last night was everything you hoped for from the Klinsman hiring. Tidy touches, numbers flowing forward, pressuring the ball on defense---it was a dominating effort and as entertaining a performance I can remember for the team.

Donovan also returned from a long absence, and the wing forward position he was playing suits him perfectly. You won't see a cooler hat trick, with 2 assists to boot. Bradley's goal was a screamer too. Simply picture perfect.

[davet010]

Without wishing to sound ungracious - from top to bottom, Scottish football is sh1te. If you put that team into the Premiership, I doubt very much that they would reach 20 points by the end of the season.

England's performance last night was stunningly average. Hodgson won't last 2 years if he believes that players like Andy Carroll, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson even deserve to be in the same post code as an England squad. There again, the commentator (Tyldesley) wasn't helping - he seemed to believe that Phil Jones is the second coming of Duncan Edwards (yeahhhh, I guess he actually meant 'equally clueless in any position across the back 4'), and that the 18-yr-old-with-9-PL-appearances for 'Robin Van Persie plus 10 FC' is the second coming of Garrincha.

[miget33]

England's performance last night was stunningly average. Hodgson won't last 2 years if he believes that players like Andy Carroll, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson even deserve to be in the same post code as an England squad. There again, the commentator (Tyldesley) wasn't helping - he seemed to believe that Phil Jones is the second coming of Duncan Edwards (yeahhhh, I guess he actually meant 'equally clueless in any position across the back 4'), and that the 18-yr-old-with-9-PL-appearances for 'Robin Van Persie plus 10 FC' is the second coming of Garrincha.

But that combo totally worked for Liverpool this season, why wouldnt it work for England?

[Zeppo]

USA game be fun. 44k came out in JAX which was twice the amount they were expecting. The SCot fans were very gracious and even gave my six year old stuff. Thought we dominated the game. We certainly seem to actually possess the ball with a purpose now. Haven't seen that in quite some time from the national team.

It'll be interesting to see how we fare against the Brazilian Olympic squad on Wednesday. Sounds like they were pretty lackluster against Denmark yesterday. Maybe, just maybe, we will finally see Donovan and Dempsey on the field at the same time for the first time under Klinsi. Bradley was fantastic last night.

[davet010]

England's performance last night was stunningly average. Hodgson won't last 2 years if he believes that players like Andy Carroll, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson even deserve to be in the same post code as an England squad. There again, the commentator (Tyldesley) wasn't helping - he seemed to believe that Phil Jones is the second coming of Duncan Edwards (yeahhhh, I guess he actually meant 'equally clueless in any position across the back 4'), and that the 18-yr-old-with-9-PL-appearances for 'Robin Van Persie plus 10 FC' is the second coming of Garrincha.

But that combo totally worked for Liverpool this season, why wouldnt it work for England?

Downing had 1 (!) assist this season, and that was getting Dogleash the thumb tack

[fsquid]

While I agree with Dave about the skill of the Scots, the midfield for once actually looked like they knew what they were doing. I've seen the midfield be s*** against costa rica.

[davet010]

Apparently Captain Attention-Seeker (aka Eden Hazard) has decided, after much public deliberation, to join....Chelsea.

One word about his not joining City. ARSED.

City were interested up to the point where he announced that he would be playing in an advanced midfield role, in the centre. I'm just hoping Mancini asked him how he was going to demonstrate that he was better than David Silva, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri, or whether he wanted fitting for his own Recaro seat.

I'm just wondering whether they've asked him whether his busdriver's licence is up to date, for when they park it.

[RobVarak]

I'm just wondering whether they've asked him whether his busdriver's licence is up to date, for when they park it.

Bingo!

[fsquid]

he's great in football manager though.

[fsquid]

Here we go again in Italy.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/seri ... iew-052912

[RobVarak]

Hugely entertaining game. Scoreline flattered Brazil, but their finishing was of their usual high standard.

No team can afford for one of their center-halves to have a howler against that team, and Gooch was just never up to the task tonight. He was a half-step behind the pace all night.

Loved the fact that the US never stopped attacking and they're clearly putting Klinsi's philosophies into practice at this point. They were just too careless in possession, in part owing to the high pressure from the young Brazilians, but also had way too many unforced mistakes on the ball.

--Edit

It occurs to me that if one was a Bob Bradley believer, this sort of game was a bit of evidence in favor of his philosophy vs. Klinsmann's. Bradley emphasized caution in possession and winning the set-piece battle. US undone tonight becauset they failed to value the ball and were piss-poor defending a couple of set-pieces.

Not saying that I endorse this view of things. Just making note...

[Naples39]

Hugely entertaining game. Scoreline flattered Brazil, but their finishing was of their usual high standard.

No team can afford for one of their center-halves to have a howler against that team, and Gooch was just never up to the task tonight. He was a half-step behind the pace all night.

Loved the fact that the US never stopped attacking and they're clearly putting Klinsi's philosophies into practice at this point. They were just too careless in possession, in part owing to the high pressure from the young Brazilians, but also had way too many unforced mistakes on the ball.

--Edit

It occurs to me that if one was a Bob Bradley believer, this sort of game was a bit of evidence in favor of his philosophy vs. Klinsmann's. Bradley emphasized caution in possession and winning the set-piece battle. US undone tonight becauset they failed to value the ball and were piss-poor defending a couple of set-pieces.

Not saying that I endorse this view of things. Just making note...

I saw most of the game, and I am feeling very good about Klinsman right now. Despite the scoreline, which was harsh when you look at the chances each team had, they look like a real, threatening team out there.

The Bradley approach is not without merit, but I'll take a team playing like this any day of the week.

Dempsey, Donovan and Gomez could be pretty effective together, and my goodness Michael Bradley is playing well right now.

[fsquid]

US looks much better.

[Zeppo]

US looks much better.

Meh. It's aggravating to give up that many goals against an Olympic level squad. Yes, they are brazil and they ooze skill, quickness and talent, but four goals is just too many.

And I blame most of them squarely on Gooch. He was awful. He was behind the line all night, stepping up late and keeping guys onside all game while the other defenders seemed to be well in synch. He was sluggish reacting to the ball, and nearly caused yet another goal in the first half by oafishly getting in Howard's way, nearly preventing him from catching a cross. He was terrible. It may be that he will improve with a few more games with this team, but we clearly have major problems at CB.

The fullbacks were excellent. Dolo is getting old, but he is still solid enough. Johnson looks like he belongs and it's hard to believe how few caps he really has. He will just get better and more dangerous going forward in the future. It's a very exciting bright spot to me.

Torres was frustratingly invisible much of the match, but would pop up on occasion and do something dangerous. But clearly his spot will be filled with Dempsey when he is healthy, and Clint had an immediate impact when he came on, instantly making the team more dangerous.

Gomez was a bit of a revelation. He has been ineffective plenty of times with the Nats, but last night he showed he has a part to play with this group. Seems to have become pretty polished.

Donovan can do better but it does seem like the days of him completely disappearing have long gone. He wasn't at his best but he had his moments.

The trio in the midfield does seem to be getting better and better as a unit. I thought Edu was not at his best last night, but Bradley was excellent, and Jones avoided the total meltdowns of composure that have hurt us in the past while making his mark at times on both ends.

That brazil team seemed to really lose focus and energy in the final half hour. The last goal was a difficult one to take, as it really came against the run of play, but they could easily have scored more (Pato off the post?) and while we looked good creating chances, we just could not find that finishing touch despite having some really good opportunities. It was very nice to see those opportunities get created consistently. They certainly never gave up the fight.

Oh well. I too prefer this style of play more than the Bradley method, but this group never could have defeated Spain in 2009 I don't think. That was a supreme, team defensive effort, and while I do think this group is committed to defending as a team, the giveaways will kill ya. We should do much better throughout qualifying against weaker opponents, though, which will be nice. But you never know what will happen on the road in CONCACAF where the pitches are never level, the refferees are never sane, and the opposing fans are always throwing s***. Literally.

[Naples39]

Bradley accomplished a bit with the upset of spain, nearly beating Brazil in the final, and reaching the 2nd round of the world cup, but there was an awful lot of dreary performances in there and very close calls against crap competition. Klinsmann's overhaul is great IMO, probably even necessary.

Centerback does look like a big problem though going forward.

[RobVarak]

I definitely didn't mean for this to become a referendum on the Bradley-Klinsmann issue (or the wider philosophical debate over attacking vs. defense-first football). I just found it sort of darkly amusing that it was Bradley's points of emphasis that were pivotal in this match.