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Just finished watching the England game, really pathetic. For such an individually talented team, they really are not good right now. Nobody is on the same page, guys are getting frustrated, you can really tell the pressure and expectations from the fans and media are really getting to them.
It works out for the USMNT though, now any kind of win gets them through to the knockout rounds.
The thing you need to remember is that all Cardinals fans and all White Sox fans are very bad people. It's a fact that has been scientifically proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Being a Cubs fan is the only path to rightousness and piousness. Cardinal and White Sox fans exist to be the dark, diabolical forces that oppose us. They are the yin to our yang, the Joker to our Batman, the demon to our angel, the insurgence to our freedom, the oil to our water, the club to our baby seal. Their happiness occurs only in direct conflict with everything that is pure and good in this world.
-Dirk
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I thought I would have calmed down by now but still really pissed about that disallowed goal. It's so hard to look at this team going into the third game knowing they should essentially be through already. I think alot of the U.S. problem is down to team selection. Ogouchi is clearly not fully fit. He is still big and physical so he will continue to get a spot, but hist positioning and tactical awareness has always been poor and now that he isn't at full pace it is really showing, he dropped back on the first goal and left Birsa the space and on the second got sucked forward and let the runner in free behind, neither was 100 percent his fault but with some better positioning or as I would prefer a defensive midfielder playing I don't think either goal is scored.
For the Algeria game Bradley needs to get away from the 4-4-2. It worked great with Altidore and Davies, but there is no one on this team that can fill in properly for Davies. I really want to see the same back four, Edu in front of them and then Michael Bradley and either Feilhaber or Torres (I know Torres was disappointing, but I think he would look better with Edu behind him covering some of the defensive responsibilities so he can focus on going forward). I would like to see Altidore alone up front holding up play, and then let Dempsey and Donovan play free running up and down the flanks, cutting inside, and switching sides at will. Donovan and Dempsey are our most skilled players and I want to see them able to play more freely, they aren't true wide players and aren't true forwards, they should both play a hybrid role in my opinion.
I'm just glad I'm not an england supporter. How Heskey continues to get playing time is beyond me, either play crouch in a 4-4-2 or play Joe Cole out wide and put Gerrard off of Rooney. I think part of the problem is England's players just aren't as good as some of their fans think. I think they really only have four world class players who could get into any team, and thats Rooney, A. Cole, Gerrard and Lampard (I would have put Terry in that list 4 years ago but he's way past prime by now). The rest of the team is just average at best, they can do one or two things really well but thats not good enough for a team that is supposed to be one of the favorites to win it all.
I really think the U.S. knowing they just have to win will come out fast and get an early lead, have a few nervous moments, but then get a second and win 2-0. I think England will score against Slovenia, the question will be if their defense and GK can hold up.
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The thought behind Heskey is that he is a work horse forward that is going to free up space for Rooney. We saw yesterday how important that can be, when Gomez and Altidore drew defenders to free up Bradley's equalizer. The problem is, that Rooney was invisible yesterday. Whether or not that is a result of Heskey, I'm not sure. If I'm Capello I do change it up, I put Defoe up top, and Rooney off of him. Rooney played as a second attacker plenty of times with United in the past, and since he really hasn't done much so far, I think that pushing him back a little gets the ball to him more. Johnson has shown little at Right Back, and Joe Cole has got to get some minutes. While Lampard is a world class player at the club level, him and Gerrard simply can't play the same position at the same time. I think Lamps could be used as a late sub, or in the holding position, supplying balls to Lennon, Gerrard and Joe Cole. Consider it crazy, but this is how I would do it:
DAWSON------TERRY-------KING-------COLE
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--------------------LAMPARD-------------------
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LENNON-----------GERRARD------------COLE
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-----------ROONEY-----------------------------
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--------------------DEFOE----------------------
I hate my pretentious sounding username too.
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I wish I was there so I could boo England.
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World Cup ref's are biased against Australian strikers.
Fucking rigged...
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<!--quoteo(post=102270:date=Jun 19 2010, 07:10 PM:name=Dingo)-->QUOTE (Dingo @ Jun 19 2010, 07:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->World Cup ref's are biased against Australian strikers.
Fucking rigged...<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's not Kewell of them. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r.gif[/img]
I hate my pretentious sounding username too.
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What a mess the French team is. First, Anelka got sent home by the FFF because of an argument with Domenech yesterday, and now the team is refusing to train today.
The thing you need to remember is that all Cardinals fans and all White Sox fans are very bad people. It's a fact that has been scientifically proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Being a Cubs fan is the only path to rightousness and piousness. Cardinal and White Sox fans exist to be the dark, diabolical forces that oppose us. They are the yin to our yang, the Joker to our Batman, the demon to our angel, the insurgence to our freedom, the oil to our water, the club to our baby seal. Their happiness occurs only in direct conflict with everything that is pure and good in this world.
-Dirk
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That was quite the upset against Italy, but both teams played well so a tie was well-deserved. Not the result I had hoped for or expected, but I don't think Italy should feel any shame here.
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Breaking News: Brazil is good.
@TheBlogfines
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<!--quoteo(post=102280:date=Jun 20 2010, 09:42 AM:name=Giff)-->QUOTE (Giff @ Jun 20 2010, 09:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->What a mess the French team is. First, Anelka got sent home by the FFF because of an argument with Domenech yesterday, and now the team is refusing to train today.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Couldn't happen to a douchier team.
Rok, the Italians have a tendency to look like shit in the group games and lulling observers into thinking they're shit and then shooting thru the knockout stages. I swear they're like possums playing dead.
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The Italians are a diving scumbag team. They could win Oscars...
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This years academy award goes to the Ivory Coast player who pretended KaKa shot him in the face in todays game.
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I am not a happy chappy. England were absolutely shocking, not that it really came as a surprise. For me, and it appears the whole of England, it's quite simple to fix. Play bloody Joe Cole. We looked short of ideas against Algeria, and Joe Cole is the kind of player that can create something out of nothing. I would play Gerrard off of Rooney, and Joe Cole on the left. There is no way Gerrard should be on the left, it's clear he's not happy there, and he wanders around the pitch when he plays there, meaning the team isn't balanced. Also, Rooney is having a shocker, so playing Gerrard off of him allows you to tell Rooney to just stand up front and focus all his energy on scoring some bloody goals rather than tracking back and giving the ball away.
Everyone here has been having a go at Heskey. I actually thought he was one of our better players on Friday (not that that's hard), and he does his particular job quite well. I just don't think he should be in the team. If you've got Rooney, Gerrard, Cole, Lennon and Lampard all attacking with Barry holding (he also played well, did his job, nothing fancy), then you have to fancy your chances against most teams. I'm bloody delighted Carragher is suspended, hopefully we'll play Dawson in defence and get some much needed pace alongside Terry.
I still think we'll go through. We're not playing well enough to be knocked out yet. England always, always do this. Start slow, then scrape through the group, then we'll smash someone in the last 16 and get our hopes up, then we'll go out on penalties in the Quarters. Mark my words.
Ivory Coast have done themselves no favours, they are going to need Brazil to thump Portugal for them, and they now have to do that without Kaka. Clever.
Big European teams aren't doing well though. Italy are doing the same as England, Germany had a shocker against the Serbs (but will still be fine), Spain lost their game and France just make me feel better about life. It's always good to know there's another country fucking it up better than you. It's just really really funny (unless you're French).
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Portugal absolutely ripped <i>North</i> Korea 7-0. Holy hard labor Batman!
#17 Mark Grace for the HOF
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Good luck to the US today. I hope both you and us win and go through. If England don't win I am going on a drinking binge of epic proportions, and will very much still be drunk when I get to work on Thursday.
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