Actually US defense in the first half wasn't that good aswell. They were leaving waaay to much space on the sides, and even though they were solid in the middle with that Wall in the box. When I said throw everyone in front, I ment: You can't afford to pressurize, because pressurizing means moving forwards and being agressive towards the player who has the ball, which means your rushing into a player, who is superior in skills (lets not lie brazil>Usa individually) and therefore there is a risk that you will fall for there dribbles and tricks, and your defensive wall and organization will fall aswell, creating more space, and therefore more holes for the opposing team to come in and create.
No, you are pressuring the guy, not giving him space to pass and to look over the field, if you need to bring your forwards back to help, do it. But you can not be backpeddling and laying off them, that is what I am saying. I think you just read my comments and created your own version of what you thought I meant... DD
COWARDS!?? OMG! I've NEVER seen the US play this kind of defense before (well before this cup, they played great against Spain). There were a NUMBER of great defensive plays in the 2nd half. Brazil's pressure + talent was just to much to overcome. How many teams can stop a guy like Kaka?
Translation: I press the turbo button (LB) to catch up with the player with the ball, then I hit B in order to tackle it away, afterwards I hit Y button for a long through pass to a streaking forward for a goal - not sure why the US can't understand how this is unpossible, I beat Argentina 6-1 like this once in a 64-team custom user created tournament.
Kaka is certainly a wonderful player, their team is great, but I think the USA shrunk from the moment. As soon as they conceded that 1st goal their aggression on defense went WAY down. I am not sure what the USA can do going forward? We need more players who can create and control the ball, and not just launch it deep down the pitch. DD
Take it easy -- that was more of an expression of surprise. You should know how difficult/impossible it is to secure season tickets for Manchester United.
When you pressurize him, there is a risk - and it is big when playing a team as technical as Brazil - that the player you pressurize will get past you, and therefore, create a hole in the defensive lines.. Scenario1, no aggressive pressure: Player1.......Player5 Player2.......Player6<-----Player Attacking Player3.......Player7 Player4.......Player8 Scenario2, aggressive pressure: Phase1 Player1.......Player5 Player2....................Player6<-Player Attacking Player3.......Player7 Player4.......Player8 Phase2 Player1.......Player5 Player2.......<-Player Attacking....Player6 Player3.......Player7 Player4.......Player8
Oh hey, SamFisher being his typical rude self. Got to love a guy who has no positive impact or actual commentary and rather just attacks a poster with rudeness. Maybe your boy JVG will get hired somewhere so you can find a new place to post.... Oh, and funny how you know all the button combos....I guess you need to look up transference. DD
You're talking about Soccer here. Not hockey or basketball. It's a big open field you know. It's not that easy to defend a skill ball handling team with precision passing in a big open field.
Good game by Brazil. Hats off to you, United States, for becoming masters of the non-possession football and scoring on counters with beauty. Too bad Brazil isn't Spain. Excellent game. About time the U.S. shows the world how well it can play it. 8 defenders waiting to steal the ball and send off Donovan and Davies off to the races. Those two scores were genius. Watch the replay of Donovan's goal. Bocanegra, Demerit, and a couple more U.S. defenders were celebrating the score way before the ball was in the net. I would disagree. It was just a couple of mistakes. That header by Lucio was off a free attacking defender. You gotta cover everyone. Also, no one was on the far post, and Lucio was free. They could have brought in an extra forward to push the ball. Casey was in too late. Gooch's header was close. These last three games should propel the U.S. to about 3rd or 4th place in the rankings. Be proud.
Oh and bringing back one of your two lonely strickers mean's you player just like England when they played with Crouch alone up front, meaning you compromise your offense and only try to score on corners, freekicks, etc. Which cleary the americans weren't trying to do.
Well of course we are talking about soccer...but you don't give 5 yards of space, you can be the ...."Man on" ...you know. I hate Crouch....... I like Rooney and miss the old Michael Owen... I like Strikers who fight for the ball get knocked down and get immediatly up and back at it. Altidore drives me nuts, he is decent in the physicality department but he quits on the ball....there was a ball in this game where he was coming back post on a cross and he assumed the guy in front was going to get it and slowed down. If he keeps going there it is 3-0....but he quit on the ball.....he needs to stop doing that. DD
I think if you are playing scared, you are going to lose anyway.....go at em. First half - not scared Second half - scared (right after their first goal). Can't play scared.... DD
There's absolutely nothing wrong to defend when you are up 2-0. Nothing "scared" about that. Playing scared would be what ManU did in this years Champion Leagues final.
And there was the goal that was taken back on a bad call, and the numerous saves by Howard. I do agree that a timely midfield sub or two could have helped balance out the pressure ... the midfield play of the USA completely disappeared. But that still doesn't take away from the brilliance of Brazil's attack. There was a lot of skill on display out there especially from Fabiano and Kaka. There are things the USA could've done better and that they will learn from, but there is no shame in losing a game like this. Brazil is the best team in the world, and today they demonstrated why.
Oh man...I was in a pub in London watching that......yikes !!! But we got it last year when Terry choked in Russia. DD
