This game reminds me of the Celts/Lakers game last night: Stand around while letting Eto'o do all the hard work.
Does anyone else think the new ball is the result of the poor quality of play in the WC so far? -Goalkeeping errors -Strikers struggling to get distant shots on goal, normally far off -Long passes have been extremely inaccurate -Ball seems to speed up gradually when kicked with force, tons of errant passes to wingers running down the sides It really does look like a K-Mart soccer ball out there, swerving and floating around. Not sure why Adidas does this every WC.
ALL TEAMS are playing with the same ball, on the same pitch, etc., etc. What, are you all saying that GERMANY made the ball and had it before all teams did? Don't blame the "poor quality of play" on the ball that is the same one for all of them. Not all of them, though.
I think this has been the most extreme of all. It certainly seems to be affecting the play and that is not a good thing. Usually, you just chalk it up to goalies being whiny b****es. I can't see how any one is pleased with this ball. I've been waiting to see all these fantastic shots from distance in the flow of play and off free kicks. Nearly every one of them have been well off target. Crosses and corners are going too long. Through balls are going out of bounds. Not a whole lot anyone can do about it now except work on things in training.
Is Japan over Cameroon really the upset of the WC so far? Just looking at FIFA rankings (which I understand aren't reliable), it would seem Korea over Greece was a bigger upset. Is it because it's an African nation?
Japan with the upset. Cameroon had all the speed and athleticism in the world but a complete lack of skill. All their touches were a bit too heavy and nothing but long balls from the outside.
I had high hopes for Cameroon, I really thought they would be better than they showed today. Their passing was atrocious, lacked any cohesion in the midfield, and WTF was Eto doing playing the wing? Also how the hell fo you leave Alex Song on the bench? Just terrible decisions by the coach, I would fire him today for this. Eto usually had 2-3 players on him whenever he touched the ball, if he was in the middle he would have opened up somebody to who he could have passed to, but no he played him on the friggin wing
Obviously Germans seem to be used to and very proficient with the K-Mart balls - but not everyone has that luxury. Hopefully we'll see more cohesion and accuracy from the better teams in the next couple of days. sew: South Korea over Greece was not an upset.
A tackle from behind is not an automatic red by any means. It also was from the side. It was bad tackle, late, but to get a straight red, it either has to be dangerous play (ie, studs up, stamping) or stopping a clear goalscoring chance, such as bringing down an attacker as the last defender. That was neither, just a late tackle he tried to pull out of but couldn't. Yellow card.
Cameroon was pathetic! I really don't understand what Eto was doing on the wing and why Song was on the bench. Just ridiculous!!!
FUNNY Stuff from the New York Post in talking about how good a job Tim Howard did on Saturday, and how much the US hates the Brits :grin: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/soccer/howard_shows_he_DqeKiE8l7tdQCLU7xlDdPP :grin:
Also keep in mind some of these games are being played at around 4,000 feet above sea level, which combined with the new ball is probably making for some of the adventures we're seeing. Does anyone know the altitude that the Germany-Australia game was played, since the Germans didn't seem to have any ball problems? Or maybe Adidas just conspired with the German team... Also, neither Green or the Algerian keeper's errors had anything to do with the ball. The Algerian keeper is just plain terrible, while Green has a history of mistakes (which is why Hart should have started, but that's a different matter).
"Perhaps, just like North Americans used to put the fattest kid in the hockey goal, the Brits have never prioritized the position with its best athletes." Yeah, England has a great history of amazing goalkeepers. Gordan Banks, who made what is considered the best save ever from Pele in 1970, Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton, David Seaman, Nigel Martyn. With that said, since Seaman got too old (hello 2002), we have had a derth of top English keepers. James is good, but old and prone to Green-like errors. Here's to hoping Joe Hart develops. Oh, why couldn't Shay Given be English?
