All Things World Cup Soccer

Donate To GopherHole

TruthSeeker said:
If you have a problem with no alcohol at sporting events, then don't host events where alcohol is prohibited.

Is anyone actually surprised?
Click to expand...
Surprised? No.
Pretty pathetic that FIFA actually believed the Qatar government when they agreed to allow beer sales in order to secure hosting the World Cup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ


Donovan said:
Surprised? No.
Pretty pathetic that FIFA actually believed the Qatar government when they agreed to allow beer sales in order to secure hosting the World Cup.
Click to expand...
I'm sure that was the plan the entire time. Promise to serve beer to help secure the bid, then backout at the end, knowing FIFA can't and wouldn't do anything about it.
 

a draw feels like a letdown after how we dominated the first half.
 


Go4 said:
a draw feels like a letdown after how we dominated the first half.
Click to expand...
Did the US really even try to score in the 2nd half? Heaven for bid you go get a 2nd goal as opposed to relying on 1 goal to win the game. Felt like I was watching a PJ Fleck team where he wants to win 6-3, but one little thing goes wrong and you don’t win.
 

Painful to watch. Don't pretend to know soccer strategy well enough to bitch. I know that it had anything to do with how the game played out, but when Lalas starts saying, "put Wales out of their misery," said "Oh shit!" Those type of comments are a jinx.
 

felt like the US took its foot off the gas in the second half. (just like watching the Loons with a 1-0 lead at halftime).

can't fault the call on the PK.

Now, some of the rest of the calls for the day were interesting. didn't seem to be a lot of consistency on what drew a yellow card.

but in the end, it feels like the US let that one slip away. makes the match Friday with England really big.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
felt like the US took its foot off the gas in the second half. (just like watching the Loons with a 1-0 lead at halftime).

can't fault the call on the PK.

Now, some of the rest of the calls for the day were interesting. didn't seem to be a lot of consistency on what drew a yellow card.

but in the end, it feels like the US let that one slip away. makes the match Friday with England really big.
Click to expand...
I feel like soccer has the most inconsistent reffing of any sport. It amazes me that they have the biggest playing surface and with the most people out there and they expect 1 ref and 2 linesman to be able to see everything going on on the pitch. That is especially true when it comes to time wasting and diving.
 





TruthSeeker said:
I'm sure that was the plan the entire time. Promise to serve beer to help secure the bid, then backout at the end, knowing FIFA can't and wouldn't do anything about it.
Click to expand...
Ya I think this is true too. It’s just funny that anyone believed Qatar to begin with.
 





Wow, shocked to wake and see Saudi beat Argentina. I didn't expect that.

Go USA!!
 

BleedGopher said:
Wow, shocked to wake and see Saudi beat Argentina. I didn't expect that.

Go USA!!
Click to expand...
Everybody is shocked I think. Especially considering the form Argentina had been in heading into the tournament. Certainly makes Poland-Mexico (and the rest of the group overall) more interesting.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Did the US really even try to score in the 2nd half? Heaven for bid you go get a 2nd goal as opposed to relying on 1 goal to win the game. Felt like I was watching a PJ Fleck team where he wants to win 6-3, but one little thing goes wrong and you don’t win.
Click to expand...
This is where you question subbing Jordan Morris instead of Gio Reyna. Reyna is clearly a better, more explosive and gifted player. But Berhalter decides to essentially sit on a one-goal lead with a playmaker like Reyna (who says he's ready to go) sitting on the bench. And it comes back to bite them in the end. Nonsensical in my eyes when you could have had the full three points.
 

MRJ said:
This is where you question subbing Jordan Morris instead of Gio Reyna. Reyna is clearly a better, more explosive and gifted player. But Berhalter decides to essentially sit on a one-goal lead with a playmaker like Reyna (who says he's ready to go) sitting on the bench. And it comes back to bite them in the end. Nonsensical in my eyes when you could have had the full three points.
Click to expand...
Never settle for 1-0 with more than an entire half to play. That's a loser mentality.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ

MRJ said:
This is where you question subbing Jordan Morris instead of Gio Reyna. Reyna is clearly a better, more explosive and gifted player. But Berhalter decides to essentially sit on a one-goal lead with a playmaker like Reyna (who says he's ready to go) sitting on the bench. And it comes back to bite them in the end. Nonsensical in my eyes when you could have had the full three points.
Click to expand...
I don’t pretend to know who’s who and what they are trying to accomplish. What i did see reminded me so much of the Minnesota United game vs the Sounders in the playoffs 2 years ago I think. USA gets off to a great start and scores in the first half. They then make no attempt to score and can’t play possession in the 2nd half and it was just a matter of when not if wales was gonna score. Add in that in soccer you get the ball into the penalty area and everyone is looking to be fouled the tying goal was almost destined to be a PK.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
I don’t pretend to know who’s who and what they are trying to accomplish. What i did see reminded me so much of the Minnesota United game vs the Sounders in the playoffs 2 years ago I think. USA gets off to a great start and scores in the first half. They then make no attempt to score and can’t play possession in the 2nd half and it was just a matter of when not if wales was gonna score. Add in that in soccer you get the ball into the penalty area and everyone is looking to be fouled the tying goal was almost destined to be a PK.
Click to expand...
The American football analogy of playing prevent defense on one side and making conservative play calls on offense on the otherside of the ball is apt since it relays more of a mindset than anything else. Simply sitting back and absorbing pressure does no good, especially since it allows the other team to grow into the game. I'm a firm believer in keeping the peddle down and exploiting weaknesses even if you are ahead. I personally hate it when teams get conservative after dominating early but it happens all the time. This is the World Cup. Gotta have the peddle down for 90 minutes imo.
 

MRJ said:
The American football analogy of playing prevent defense on one side and making conservative play calls on offense on the otherside of the ball is apt since it relays more of a mindset than anything else. Simply sitting back and absorbing pressure does no good, especially since it allows the other team to grow into the game. I'm a firm believer in keeping the peddle down and exploiting weaknesses even if you are ahead. I personally hate it when teams get conservative after dominating early but it happens all the time. This is the World Cup. Gotta have the peddle down for 90 minutes imo.
Click to expand...
I have no stats to back me up, but I imagine scoring a 2nd goal increases the likely hood of winning greater then being up 1-0 at half time. If you wanna park the bus and play prevent up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go have at it, but for that to be your mentally the entire 2nd half is a losers way of thinking. It’s like PJ Fleck and assuming the worse is gonna happen to you if you are the aggressor. Someone’s it might, but often times something bad happens to you even if you are prepared and trying to avoid it. This is especially true when I would think the US is a stronger side than Wales.

Anyway onto Black Friday and the Lions who are gonna score goals so the US better be able to score at least 3 if they want any chance of winning.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ

From the Parkinglot said:
I have no stats to back me up, but I imagine scoring a 2nd goal increases the likely hood of winning greater then being up 1-0 at half time. If you wanna park the bus and play prevent up 1-0 with 10 minutes to go have at it, but for that to be your mentally the entire 2nd half is a losers way of thinking. It’s like PJ Fleck and assuming the worse is gonna happen to you if you are the aggressor. Someone’s it might, but often times something bad happens to you even if you are prepared and trying to avoid it. This is especially true when I would think the US is a stronger side than Wales.

Anyway onto Black Friday and the Lions who are gonna score goals so the US better be able to score at least 3 if they want any chance of winning.
Click to expand...
That's gonna be a really tough game. England has world class players all over the field while we're still young and learning. Getting any points there would be huge heading into the Iran game.
 

Wales has an easier path to move on than we do. They get to play England last, and by that game England will probably already be a lock to advance so they can play their second team and give everyone else a rest. The bottomline is we will play a much better England lineup than Wales will see. If Iran beats Wales, that helps us a lot. If that happens, then we just need to beat Iran in our last game and we're most likely moving on (may come to goal differential if Wales beats England).
 

... Also, Mexico is now in a lot of trouble. Argentina is very likely going to win its last two games, meaning the most Poland and Mexico can get is 4 points.
 

denguegopher said:
Painful to watch. Don't pretend to know soccer strategy well enough to bitch. I know that it had anything to do with how the game played out, but when Lalas starts saying, "put Wales out of their misery," said "Oh shit!" Those type of comments are a jinx.
Click to expand...
From a strategy standpoint, in the first half Wales was playing a low block, meaning extreme on defense. The idea is you pack the back with players to clog everything up, and when the moment comes you do a quick counter (breakout) to score. This is done by a lot of teams, including Iran who we play in our third game. In the second half, with Wales being down a goal they completely changed their strategy and started pressing upfield. They needed to do this to try to create opportunities to score. Bottomline - the reason for the big differences between the two halves was Wales changing their strategy more so than our changing anything.

To counter, the U.S. should have put Reyna in the mid-field replacing McKinnie who already had a card and as such couldn't play as aggressively as needed. Reyna is far better at pushing a breakout and making through passes. Putting Yedlin and Morris into the lineup made zero sense. Scally over Yedlin and pretty much anyone over Morris.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
From a strategy standpoint, in the first half Wales was playing a low block, meaning extreme on defense. The idea is you pack the back with players to clog everything up, and when the moment comes you do a quick counter (breakout) to score. This is done by a lot of teams, including Iran who we play in our third game. In the second half, with Wales being down a goal they completely changed their strategy and started pressing upfield. They needed to do this to try to create opportunities to score. Bottomline - the reason for the big differences between the two halves was Wales changing their strategy more so than our changing anything.

To counter, the U.S. should have put Reyna in the mid-field replacing McKinnie who already had a card and as such couldn't play as aggressively as needed. Reyna is far better at pushing a breakout and making through passes. Putting Yedlin and Morris into the lineup made zero sense. Scally over Yedlin and pretty much anyone over Morris.
Click to expand...
Interesting, thanks.
 



Full Speed Ahead said:
... Also, Mexico is now in a lot of trouble. Argentina is very likely going to win its last two games, meaning the most Poland and Mexico can get is 4 points.
Click to expand...

They said on the telecast today that the Mexican government expected 70-80k to travel to the Cup from 🇲🇽 - this excludes ex-pats living in the US.

And they crapped all over them today- weak showing IMO.
 
Last edited:

MRJ said:
This is where you question subbing Jordan Morris instead of Gio Reyna. Reyna is clearly a better, more explosive and gifted player. But Berhalter decides to essentially sit on a one-goal lead with a playmaker like Reyna (who says he's ready to go) sitting on the bench. And it comes back to bite them in the end. Nonsensical in my eyes when you could have had the full three points.
Click to expand...
Yeah I thought for sure Reyna would come in after Bale tied it. Feel bad for Zimmerman he really played well out side of that one play and Turner guessed right, it was just a better strike by Bale
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom