Comments on: Gold Cup Squad With Olympic Feel

By: Deron

Deron — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:32:57 +0000

I agree with what you have written.

I too felt the USA played well in the Olympics, and I think you’ve pointed out the critical errors.

Too many of the criticisms of that team are driven by player preference, or rather a desire that Benny Feilhaber would get more time. That may have been preferred, but to prove the point too many critics discount the play of the players who did play, magnifying errors and minimizing successes.

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:57:53 +0000

Adam Edg,

VERY VERY good points. Same points I’ve always made about officiating vis a vis CONCACAF and the rest of the world. Also the reckless nature of some of our players has to be weened out or we are really going to pay.

By: Adam Edg

Adam Edg — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:37:18 +0000

Whether in the Olympics, Confed Cup, WCQ, or any other important event, the only consistent thing about the USMNT is a lack of discipline. We get far too many reds & yellows – especially Bradley. We need to reign in our tackles and maintain our composure.
How many games would have turned out differently had we avoided a stupid and/or reckless challenge resulting in a second yellow or straight red? Would we have lost 3-1 to Italy in the Confed had we not been a man down? Is it possible that we would have beaten Italy in WC 06 if Mastroeni didn’t get a straight red? Would the Olympics have yielded a better result if we kept our penalties in check?
Granted I think that not all of our penalties are warranted. Pablo’s red in 06 still seems very questionable, for example. It’s not secret that much of the world openly hates the US, so why not punish us through our soccer team? I hate to think that refs bring this kind of bias but sometimes it seems that way.
I know that bias is a constant theme in CONCACAF, although in our conference we are on the good side of that bias. Watching last night’s game, I could not believe some of the calls against us that were not made. The problem is that our guys experience CONCACAF refs and expect similar non calls overseas, which results in the decks of cards we receive.
Hopefully Bradley or his successor can figure out how to not only use our current wealth of talent, but also learn to keep them disciplined. We are blessed with a crop of players and a deep pool that the US has never experienced before, hopefully we do not screw it up. Looking at our “B squad” in the Gold Cup, I think they could beat some of our “A squads” from the last 20 years. That is a great situation to be in…

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:41:13 +0000

i’m already pumped for the upcoming U-20 World Cup.

By: Joe in Indianapolis

Joe in Indianapolis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:52:45 +0000

Are these games available for free on the internet?