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Philly Rover ®

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Posts posted by Philly Rover ®

  1. I've finally seen the penalty, and pretty much agree what most others have said. Neill shouldn't have gone to ground, and he was certainly in a position to foul Grosso, but Grosso skipped over the challenge unfettered only to fall to ground without being touched. A stupid play by Lucas, and a good play by Grosso selling it, but it was never, EVER a penalty.

    My condolences to the Aussies... whereas the Yanks never looked like playing good football, you had a great chance in this one and lost out to a terrible call. Further evidence that the refereeing has been very suspect this World Cup.

  2. What are we doing w/ the Bellamy windfall?

    I'd like us to sign Saviola, who although he didn't have the greatest of games on Saturday, would more than adequately replace Bellamy. Not happening though.

    Oh, and you're welcome. :)

  3. Ignore my own players diving? No American has ever taken a dive in our national team history. It's only the greasy Italians and the pretty boy Portuguese and Spanish that dive all game, every game.

    :rolleyes:

    One thing I will stand by that I said throughout the World Cup is the fact that the referees are far too willing to influence the outcome of the games. Now I haven't seen the Neill penalty--so I could be talking complete crap here--but from what it sounds like, it was a debatable penalty at best. I'm still of the opinion that things like red cards and spot kicks should not be given lightly... better to err on the side of not giving them, and thus not influencing the outcome of the game, than to give them and have it be a highly questionable decision. In the end, the referees should let the players decide the game.

    Of course, it's all a matter of opinion.

  4. The constant whining at how Italy cheated (Not necessarily on here), getting the word "cheat" into every sentence etc. just makes me wish Italy had won the game. So incredibly sore "losers" after drawing a game 1-1 where you had ZERO shots on target... Italy don't dive more than other teams, but because people watch their games knowing their reputation they interpret anything as a dive. Been shown in countless psychological experiments that people see what they want to see.

    Not to re-open an old debate here, Lathund, and I haven't seen Italy's penalty from today yet... BUT from what it sounds like, Grosso threw himself down to win the penalty for the Azzuri. You still think Italy don't dive more than other teams?

    ;)

  5. To answer the title question: yes, Argentina can be beaten.

    I'm of two minds about that match. Part of me thinks that Mexico's showing demonstrates that a team that comes in with a solid gameplan, plays pressing, couterattacking football, and takes advantage of set pieces (read: Italy when on song) can knock off the Argentines.

    The other part of me thinks that the Argentines didn't really get out of second gear and still dispatched a pretty quality Mexico side--which is really scary.

  6. I must say I think the US coverage of the World Cup is poor. The production is terrible, the timing of the camera angle changes shows how little the people understand the game.

    The commentating is god awful, Marcelo Balboa is getting right up my nose. For an ex international he is ignorant about the game. Alexi Lalas repeatedly saying Kasey Keller is the best goalie in the WORLD ticked me off too, he may as well have had stupid tattooed on his forehead.

    To me they are doing a poor poor job of selling the game to a mostly soccer apathetic public.

    Your thoughts ex pats and yankee fans alike. Am I right or have I just been brought up with quality football commentary and being a little harsh.

    I think that's pretty much spot on. As far as selling the game to the American public goes, I think that's probably why they throw up all the annoying graphics and talk about Kasey Keller as the best goalie in the world (I'd cringe every time I heard that): they're trying not to get too technical with soccer terms and in-depth analysis. For God's sake, they're explaining the off sides rule at the beginning of every game!

    It's certainly painful to watch, but the consolation is that I'm getting to watch some good football for a change.

    And philip... do you just hate everything American?

  7. Fans all over the place have talked about being done by the ref's in two games. Both sendings off in the Italy game were deserved (Mastroeni's a tad harsh) and today's penalty was a bad one. But these excuses mask what was a very ineffective US team. They hardly got into the box in all three of their games and some of their players weren't up to it. I think Arena (the coach) has a lot to answer for. He should walk, or be pushed. Tactically the USA were miles behind and although many will feel sorry for them they weren't good enough to progress.

    First of all, thanks for your support for the American team... us American fans need all the help we can get over here.

    I wanted to clarify my stance on the refereeing. The U.S. did not go out of the World Cup because of the referees, but rather because they came out flat against the Czechs and couldn't muster a goal (or two) when they needed it in the second half against Ghana. In the end, whatever the dodgy decisions, you have no one but yourselves to blame when you don't create enough offensively and grab a mere one point from three matches.

    However...

    The officiating in this tournament, on the whole, has been way too nitpicky. I understand FIFA's desire to clamp down on dirty play, but the main objective in refereeing should be to avoid impacting the outcome of the game. Giving dodgy penalties (like Onyewu's) and carding players for taking spot kicks too early (Gyan for Ghana against the Czechs, a yellow which got him suspended for today's match) is ruining the tournament.

    Beckenbauer is absolutely spot on: let the players play. If you're going to call a penalty, make sure it's the indisputable right call. If you're going to red card someone, make sure you're absolutely positive they deserve it. Bad calls are a part of the game; but in a 38-game Premiership season they tend to even out, whereas one bad call in a three-game group stage is potentially disastrous to a team's chances.

    Overhaul the system? No, but we sure need a massive shot in the arm because in three games we didn't look like much of a threat at all.

    The first thing the U.S. can do is to start playing in the Copa America. UEFA teams have the European Championships, Africans have the African Nations Cup... we have the Gold Cup. I personally don't care what the effect is on the MLS: the future of U.S. soccer is more dependent on the national team than on a league which cannot keep its best players, and if we're to progress as a footballing nation then we have to play better sides than the CONCACAF ones.

    It's too late for the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela (not that that wouldn't pose political and security nightmares anyway), but going forward I think it's something U.S. soccer needs to pursue.

  8. Shev, didn't see the game at all, so I'm only going from hearsay. But if what you say is true, I think it further speaks to my point that the referee was subpar and had far too much of an impact on the game. As I said before... the best referees don't even seem like they're on the field, such is their minimal impact on the flow of the game.

    Still, the ref wasn't to blame for the Czech Republic game, so I suppose we dug our own grave. I just can't help but think how different this game could have been if we went into the half at 1-1 with all the momentum.....

  9. Not wanting to sound bitter, but that's two games in a row where the referee has completely affected the outcome of the game. I don't mean to dredge up the Italian game again to debate those calls; but whether you agreed with the red cards or not, the fact was that the referee called the game too tightly and had a huge impact on the outcome.

    Now this. Had the U.S. gone into the half 1-1, as it allegedly should have been, the second half would have been completely different. Knowing you have to score two goals to advance is a lot different than knowing you have to bag just one... it's hard to play well when a team knows you're going to press and can sit back, soak it up, and counter when appropriate.

    I'm gutted. We may not have played well, but we deserved better than 1 point and 2 games where referees played a major role in the outcome.

  10. Can't see the game as I'm stuck at work, but both Eurosport and Sky Sports said that the U.S. were very hard done by with that call.

    Can't say I'm surprised though... the U.S./Italy game showed how ridiculously close the referees are calling these games. Just let them play for God's sake.

  11. Well, it looks like Sven has broken up the Lampard-Gerrard midfield pairing, as many of you were hoping he would.

    Unfortunately, he took off the wrong one... and brought the wrong holding midfielder on in his place.

  12. Perhaps a bit of hyperbole, philip, but I think that Ghana's certainly been overlooked to this point.

    When the draw came out I was legitimately scared of the Black Stars. Besides Essien, they have a great core of young players who are almost all playing at the highest level in Europe: Gyan and Muntari (Udinese), Amoah (Borussia Dortmund), and Appiah (Fenerbahce, formerly of Juve). Addo and Kuffour play for PSV Eindhoven and Roma, respectively, and had to content themselves with places on the bench against the Czechs.

    There was a lot of attention heaped on the Ivory Coast--quite rightly, too, because they played very well against Argentina and Holland--but Ghana might just be the best African side in this tournament. And they're still capable of qualifying for the second round with a win over the U.S. on Thursday.

  13. Oh really, 92er? I think you're full of crap.

    ;)

    Agree to disagree then, Lathund, but I think we each know where each other is coming from. The red cards aside, that referee was still bad, and it'd be best for the tournament if that's his last appearance. I'd hate for that same thing to happen in another game because of that guy, because as I said, it totally overshadows the match itself.

    And thankfully, not all American fans are like the one that posted that crap. It's like any set of fans: there's good ones and bad ones. Hopefully those of us on this board come off as the good ones.

    It'll be interesting to see what my fellow countrymen have to say, since I'm the only one who's posted anything yet!

  14. I don't mean to belabor this point, and hopefully this is the last I will say on this, but I just have to disagree, Lathund.

    A red card should be an intentional, reckless foul. Mastroeni's was fully deserving of a yellow, but it was more mistimed than malicious. And as for the first/second yellow card thing... perhaps it's just my view, but I think the refs had better be pretty darn sure that someone deserves to go off. And if you find a replay for that one, he got enough ball to save himself from a yellow card.

    And Lathund... of course I think the red cards are ridiculous, because they went against my team. You would be pretty upset too if those calls went against Sweden.

    Of course, the saddest part of all of this is that the referee is even a topic of discussion. Had he done his job right, we could be talking about what a great match it was instead of analyzing the referee's nightmare of a game.

  15. I honestly dont think you can have any complaints about the sendings off....the first one could've easily broken the guys ankle and the second was a booking. Although i think he got the sendings off right....I agree that the ref was poor on the whole though....the u.s second goal should've stood in my opinion.

    The performance should give the US confidence going into the final game with Ghana...should be a cracker!!!

    Pope's red was, I said, questionable. If you watch the replay, he got some of the ball while he took the player... as a first yellow I could see that, but I've always felt that a referee should be really certain if he's going to send someone off, and I think it's extremely harsh to give a red for that kind of foul.

    Mastroeni's red was a joke. Surely a yellow card... but what it really was was a complete make-up call for the Italians, and it completely changed the complexion of the game. For twenty minutes, I really thought we were going to go on and win that game.

    You're right about the U.S. and Ghana though... Essien & Co. looked very good today, and the U.S. goes into that knowing its needs three points and some help, so it should be a good one.

    Oh, and philip... your prediction for us Yanks didn't quite come true, did it?

    ;)

  16. You know how the old saying goes: the best referees are the ones that you never even knew were on the field, such was their minimal impact on the game.

    Well, Larrionda put his stamp on this match from the get-go. It's a shame, because this had a chance to be a really great game. Cookiemonster showed what the commentators were talking about after the game: he was suspended from the 2002 World Cup for "irregularities" in his refereeing. So how does he make it back onto the approved list for this year's Cup? Yet another black eye for FIFA. If that man is ever allowed to referee another World Cup match, it will be a disaster for football.

    I'll just say this about the refereeing, then I'm done: it's the World Cup, for God's sake. You have got to give the players some leeway, especially when you consider how physical a match like this one is going to be. Incidentally, I thought that while De Rossi's red card was fully deserved, Pope's was certainly questionable, and Mastroeni's was a joke. A straight red for a mistimed tackle? A yellow would have been fully deserved, but to send a man off in the World Cup for a mistimed tackle is absolute tripe.

    As for the (completely overshadowed) game: you're absolutely right in your assessment, Joey. The U.S. did very well to get a point, especially after going down 1-0 and especially after going down to 9 men. I think what may have frustrated the commentators was the fact that the U.S. opened by controlling play in the first 20 minutes with 11 a side, and even at 10-v-10 it would have been a pretty even game. Down to 9 men, it turned into a siege; granted, we did well to hold off the Italians, but given the way the U.S. controlled the flow of the game for most of the first half, you got the feeling that the Azzurri may have been there for the taking.

    The U.S. were fortunate with the own goal, but in the end I think the point was a fully deserved one.

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