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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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May 23, 2014 - 05:45pm PT
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Leaving Donovan off makes no sense. If they flop Juergen will look like a dufus.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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May 23, 2014 - 07:26pm PT
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can't wait. I love this time of year: World Cup and Tour de France. makes me hopeful
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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May 24, 2014 - 05:50am PT
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I think in leaving Landon off Juergen is admitting defeat and throwing in the towel. Never been much of a Landon fan but he is still one of our best players. Would much rather have him than Bekerman in just about any situation. Same goes for Bedoya.
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bpope
climber
Sunnyvale, CA
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May 24, 2014 - 07:46am PT
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i don't follow...why does leaving donovan off the roster mean that klinsmann has thrown in the towel?
donovan took a year off, obviously isn't in top form anymore and isn't in sync with the squad. he's done great things for us soccer, but I think leaving him off could be a good move for this year and gives other young guys potentially great exposure.
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this just in
climber
north fork
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Topic Author's Reply - May 24, 2014 - 10:22am PT
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Haha, I've never been a Donovan fan either mostly from watching his post game interviews.
He does always seem to create chances, but more so he's U.S. Football's icon and everyone on that team views him as that. Klinsman knows how to coach and knows what's best for the team I believe, so I'm good with the decision, it was just a surprise and they don't really have a chance in their group anyways. I do wonder if/when they fail in their group if Donovan will be the biggest reason ze German gets fired. Throwing in the towel? No, we are still talking about a German.
Flip, that must have been an amazing Cup experience. Going to the Allianz is on my Bucket.
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this just in
climber
north fork
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Topic Author's Reply - May 24, 2014 - 11:04am PT
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SteveW, so who you going for today in Champions? Trick question?
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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May 24, 2014 - 02:17pm PT
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Because on Beckermans best day he does not have the soccer vision of Donavan. I played and I watch all the national team games. Have not been impressed with Bekerman or Bedoya. As I stated earlier, not a fan of Donavan but he is a very gifted player. Look at the heat maps of games when he plays. Often it looks like he is not doing much be he is all over the field and his accuracy is as good or better than just about any other national team player. Bradley and Dempsey are work horses but Donavan is a maestro. Donavan was not left off the field because of his soccer abilities he was left off because Klinsman does not like him. There is a reason the German National Team fired him.
Years ago there was a soccer interview with top MLS soccer players (they included foreign players) and they asked who was the best at what. Donavan's name consistently came up with the word vision and accuracy. There is a reason he has five World Cup goals and fans chant dos o cero when is on the field.
Columbia got it right when they continued to play Valderama, they guy was not fit anymore and was only good for about 6 steps, but his vision and accuracy could not be matched and the team could always dump it off to him and he would get it to someone. it was amazing to watch.
Bruce Arena said it best, "If there are 23 better players than Landon, then we have a chance to win the World Cup."
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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May 24, 2014 - 02:22pm PT
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Oh, and one other thing. Brooks over Edu? Really? Brooks play really bad against Ukraine.
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Osprey
climber
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May 24, 2014 - 02:47pm PT
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Behind the scenes, soccer is a very political sport. With that in mind, the motive behind the Donovan cut concerns me. I feel the US plays at their best in the western hemisphere, with the proof being their records in the US, concacaff play, and past Copa America invites. This really could have been their year to advance, compete in round two and set themselves up for a possible birth in the quarters with the cup being in S America. Will the US raise to the occasion without the play and leadership from Landen? Still to early to get a feel for the team. IMO
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Lorenzo
Trad climber
Oregon
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May 25, 2014 - 12:22pm PT
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IMHO US football has been in a death
spiral since the '94 cup. Yeah, we beat Portugal in S Korea but that was
a total fluke although IIRC Donovan played a rather large role in that.
Huh? In 1994 the USA hadn't been to a WC in 44 years. The only reason they were there then was because they were hosts. Every time since they have gained a spot through qualifiers.
And your litany of USA results in 2002 falls short. Go back and look again. After the results against Portugal and S Korea was the Dos a Cero match against Mexico, and Germany only won 1-0 because a Torsten Frings handball at the line ignored by the ref. That cup was no fluke.
When Germany gets to quartersfinals in recent cups the nation calls it a great success.
And in cups since then the USA has always gotten out of group. A couple results ( Italy, England) have shocked the world.
And the USA still has a perfect record of never losing to the three lions in a World Cup.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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May 26, 2014 - 07:00pm PT
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TJI
I wanted Atletico to win, just because they were the underdogs.
They almost did it. . .
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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May 26, 2014 - 07:30pm PT
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This game for whatever reason is quite often over looked but we beat Spain. That was a huge upset, no one thought we would win that game. No actually gave us a chance to win that game, Spain was on an incredible run.
The Germany game, we were truly robbed.
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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May 26, 2014 - 07:38pm PT
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Donavans Dos a Cero match was the Gold Cup, but yeah, it was all Dovanan.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 28, 2014 - 12:30am PT
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I'll be rooting for US to make it out of their group but realistically
I will be surprised if they do. IMO the US needs more players
playing in Europe to be competitive at the WC level.
I think Klinsmann's butt is on the line after deciding to drop
Donovan from the roster. My impression is that he didn't want another
dominant personality on the squad to contend with.
I think Brazil Spain & Germany have the best talent. For
some reason, Messi has never played we'll with the
Argentine national team. The Dutch are talented but
have never been very successful in the WC. Not sure who
I'd pick for the 4th best team. In any case, this WC should be
exciting & entertaining.
Viva Espana!
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james Colborn
Trad climber
Truckee, Ca
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May 28, 2014 - 12:56am PT
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Just got done watching the US game vs. Azerbajan. Not Real impressive. First half starters had few chances against a far from top team. Second half substitutes found the goal. Mix Discarud is my choice for being the star of the team at the World Cup. Realistically, I don't see them getting out of the group stage if they don't win their first game against Ghana.
Donovans a quiter. He blew it. medium fish in small pond, MLS is weak, he had his chance to go to Everton and opted to be a pussy.
I'm putting my money on Belgium. Young team of international club team stars. Lakaku, Hazard, Mignolet, Kompany, Vertongen, Dembele, Chadli, Fellaini, Januzaj,Mirallas. These are just the English Premier league guys. I see them going all the way.
Not looking forward to ESPN's lukewarm coverage. Tonight was a great example, announcer for Sports wrap up show thought the game was in Azerbajan and his collegue was in that country, when in reality the guy was down the hall in the same studio. Classic.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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May 28, 2014 - 01:00am PT
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Lorenzo, you're right, I guess my psyche was too disturbed to remember that Germany game.
US looked pretty pathetic against Azerbaizhan tonight until Juergen put the square-head boys
in. I know it is natural to play down to the level of a lesser opponent but, really, a country with
1/3 the population of LA County?
Tuolumne, look for Uruguay to provide some fun. I actually think Argentina might be better off
without Messi. I also think France could go farther than many think, they have some great
young talent.
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tuolumne_tradster
Trad climber
Leading Edge of North American Plate
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May 28, 2014 - 11:21am PT
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Reilly: I agree on both counts...Argentina & Uruguay
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Boy, that was less than inspiring. Turkey sucks. Our defense sucks. Our
offense sucks. Altidore has zero confidence and he looks fat and slow.
Why doesn't Klinsmann start Diskerud? Why does he start Chandler?
Another week is not going to right this ship.
Italy 0 Ireland 0 Wow.
France 1 Paraguay 1 Double wow.
Portugal 0 Greece 0 How is that possible?
Bosnia 2 Ivory Coast 1 My good friend is from Bosnia. He is beyond stoked!
Cameroun was tied with Germany at the half. I imagine questions are being
asked in Germany. Not that Cameroun is chopped liver but...
Final: 2-2 Since the wife is from Cameroun we're STOKED!!!!!!
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Yeah, that was ugly. Chandler and Altidore both awful. Green not much better. Would rather have Donovan than any one of those three. If the US defense plays like that against Germany or Portugal, it will be ugly.
And while, I'm perhaps a bit biased being from SLC, don't think the choice would be Beckerman or Donovan. They don't play the same position, and the US really only has one other decent central defensive midfielder.
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