World Cup Thread

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Definitely. Germany got help by Neymar getting hurt for the rest of the WC. That's one HUGE threat off the board for Brazil.

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Yes, that hurts, but frankly I think Thiago silva being out is a bigger loss. He's the captain, and really the only player on that team that is purely defensive. Even his CB partner David Luiz will venture forward, and he is the man they count on to be their rock. Losing him will force Marcelo, Luiz, and whoever plays RB to stay back more. Think that loss is a much bigger one. He's the captain, and Neymar can be so up and down. With Neymar, they can do a like for like switch with Willian or bring in another holding or attacking midfielder. They have no one who can step in easily for Silva

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Originally Posted by DudyDawg

Yes, that hurts, but frankly I think Thiago silva being out is a bigger loss. He's the captain, and really the only player on that team that is purely defensive. Even his CB partner David Luiz will venture forward, and he is the man they count on to be their rock. Losing him will force Marcelo, Luiz, and whoever plays RB to stay back more. Think that loss is a much bigger one. He's the captain, and Neymar can be so up and down. With Neymar, they can do a like for like switch with Willian or bring in another holding or attacking midfielder. They have no one who can step in easily for Silva

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If Brazil removes Fred from the lineup and inserts Bernard, they won't be any worse than they have been. Of course, the main reason they haven't been as good as they're capable of being so far is that Fred's been playing up top. He has no positive qualities as a soccer player, it blows my mind that they keep inserting him. So they'll still be not as good as possible.

What they should have been doing is either playing Hulk up top or going with a false nine, with Oscar in the middle and Bernard and Neymar on the wings.

Now, they should absolutely play Oscar in the middle with Bernard and someone like Willian on the wings and Hulk up top. That would still be a very dangerous attack.

Hulk isn't made to play up top and I don't think the number nine will work for any team but Spain. Brazil can't dominate possession like that and they use counters and long passes and shots and I think they would be too congested without a 9 stretching the defense. Bernard can't play up top and I'm not sure he has the pace to be a winger against Lahm, so I would either just move Willian in for Neymar, or move Bernard into the middle and oscar wide right with hulk left with Fred up top. Fred is good for their scheme because he can hold the ball w his back to goal and play thru balls to the speedy wingers on a counter. He's also invaluable as far as defensive headers on corners and set pieces. One of the better forwards in the game at that.


Bet Diego costa wishes he woulda stuck it out w Brazil tho

Jurgen with a good discussion on what the USMNT needs in the MLS to make us a powerhouse. Points to better tempo and rhythm in the games to develop even better players. Here's the FanSided article about it. http://fansided.com/2014/07/06/jurge...-usmnt/#!9rgKZ

After looking back on our game vs Belgium I think we played way too defensively and their size vs our defenders killed us. We also let them possess the ball way too long. Jurgen played Croom style futbol. Play not to lose and you're guaranteed to lose.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Jurgen with a good discussion on what the USMNT needs in the MLS to make us a powerhouse. Points to better tempo and rhythm in the games to develop even better players. Here's the FanSided article about it. http://fansided.com/2014/07/06/jurge...-usmnt/#!9rgKZ

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Completely agree. The biggest problem in the MLS isn't the athleticism or speed of individual players, it's the style of play that makes it hard for players to use it. We play a dumbed down version of English football, with square passes with the inside foot, crosses, and slow buildup. The MLS needs some more guys like Ozil and Di Maria who can create passed and breakouts that most guys can't, which would up the speed of the game here. I think kaka is a step in the right direction for us

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Originally Posted by DudyDawg

Completely agree. The biggest problem in the MLS isn't the athleticism or speed of individual players, it's the style of play that makes it hard for players to use it. We play a dumbed down version of English football, with square passes with the inside foot, crosses, and slow buildup. The MLS needs some more guys like Ozil and Di Maria who can create passed and breakouts that most guys can't, which would up the speed of the game here. I think kaka is a step in the right direction for us

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Kaka is a good pickup for the MLS. If we can start getting more high-profile players, we can see a slight development of the MLS.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Kaka is a good pickup for the MLS. If we can start getting more high-profile players, we can see a slight development of the MLS.

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MLS is already a pretty good league. I would equate it to turkey or Portugal as far as the average talent level. The only difference is we are struggling to find elite offensive guys while those leagues have one or two a year. We have the elite defenders here, but not offensive. I think that will start to change tho as scouting and youth development continues to absolutely boom here. Won't be long before we are consistently sending guys to the top leagues and teams over seas, both offensive and defensive.

Kaka, David Villa, Bradley, Defoe, and likely Robinho (also with kaka in Orlando) are some of the big attacking names that have signed in less than the last year alone. It's a trend that's not stopping

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Originally Posted by Dawg61

After looking back on our game vs Belgium I think we played way too defensively and their size vs our defenders killed us. We also let them possess the ball way too long. Jurgen played Croom style futbol. Play not to lose and you're guaranteed to lose.

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I disagree with this. I think we played a lot more open than people think in that Belgium match, and we ended up with 52% of possession. Our problem was that there were a few different times where Belgium had the ball down on our end for extended stretches, with several shots out of each one, and we couldn't seem to regain possession in those instances.

But I think part of the reason Belgium had as many shots as they did is because we were more open than we were in, say, the Ghana match. We were trying to get it up and be more proactive, we just don't have the talent yet to dictate tempo and pace against a team with the level of talent that Belgium has. You can't just decide to control possession and do it simply because you decided to do it. You have to have the talent to keep possession under pressure and to make quick, precise passes and control with your first touch, and we don't have players who can do that yet.

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Originally Posted by Pioneer Dawg

I got Argentina v Brazil. Argentina wins it all and WILL JAMES wins the Bracket Pool!!!

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Go Europe!!!

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Current WC Challenge Standings:

**NEW LEADER**

1. ToddHinman 64 pts

2. Will James 63 pts
Jack

4. Brad Stevens 61 pts
Rayburn8

6. TheRef 60 pts

7. Charlie_Sheen420 59 pts
DawgHouseUnited

9. crc166 57 pts

10. WeWonItAll(Most) 55 pts
It_Could_Happen
jumbo

13. skb124 48 pts

14. DudyDawg 46 pts

15. CD 45 pts

16. DanglyGiant 43 pts

17. BulldogBear 33 pts

Everyone's Champion is still alive except for DanglyGiant

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is that just the top 17? Or... am I last?

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Originally Posted by BulldogBear

is that just the top 17? Or... am I last?

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Sadly, you're last Bear. I eliminated everyone who joined who never picked their bracket.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Sadly, you're last Bear. I eliminated everyone who joined who never picked their bracket.

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My champ can still win!!

Argentina's Angel Di Maria will miss the Semifinal with a hamstring injury. He leads Argentina with 24 shots this World Cup.

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Originally Posted by TheRef

Argentina's Angel Di Maria will miss the Semifinal with a hamstring injury. He leads Argentina with 24 shots this World Cup.

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That's a major blow for them. They're now going to entirely rely on Messi to make things happen. That's 2 of their big 4, Aguero and now Di Maria, out. Higuain and Lavezzi are good, but they're not really creators.

Aguero will be back. So will Rojo, who missed last game with suspension.

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Originally Posted by DudyDawg

Kaka, David Villa, Bradley, Defoe, and likely Robinho (also with kaka in Orlando) are some of the big attacking names that have signed in less than the last year alone. It's a trend that's not stopping

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I think this World Cup will help out MLS attendance in a huge way. And more money = more big players from Europe and South America. I think in 10 years, there will be a "big five sports" or either soccer will just take hockey's place in the "big four sports."

Oh yeah, it'll overtake baseball not long after that.

Soccer in the US is enjoying a snowball effect right now.

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Originally Posted by hacker

I think this World Cup will help out MLS attendance in a huge way. And more money = more big players from Europe and South America. I think in 10 years, there will be a "big five sports" or either soccer will just take hockey's place in the "big four sports."

Oh yeah, it'll overtake baseball not long after that.

Soccer in the US is enjoying a snowball effect right now.

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I don't know that it will pass baseball. There's too much history in favor of baseball (the old saying goes- that's as American as baseball and apple pie). I'd be ok with it passing hockey, even though I like hockey. It's a lot easier to play some variant of soccer than hockey, especially down south.

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Originally Posted by hacker

I think this World Cup will help out MLS attendance in a huge way. And more money = more big players from Europe and South America. I think in 10 years, there will be a "big five sports" or either soccer will just take hockey's place in the "big four sports."

Oh yeah, it'll overtake baseball not long after that.

Soccer in the US is enjoying a snowball effect right now.

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Years ago, I would have laughed and said you're crazy about soccer passing baseball one day.....but now I agree. My brother is around 25, and his friends and the under 25 crowd seem to be more in favor of watching Seattle Sounders games and stuff like that....most of them could give two shits about baseball. I don't know what the dollars and stats say, but from my viewpoint, it seems like the older generation is carrying baseball right now, and if they don't give MLB a kick in the ass in terms of excitement, they may be in trouble with the younger generations not caring about it at all. Maybe I'm wrong though. I know I went from keeping a scorebook for Atlanta Braves games when I was a kid, to not watching a MLB game if you paid me now. Wonder if any others are the same? And if so, how many of those Dad's my age are taking their sons to MLB games and watching games on TV with them? I will be interested to see what happens to MLB's popularity over my lifetime, that's for sure.

My Granddaddy was a huge Braves fan. He watched every game on TBS. He drove us to Atlanta to see games. So, in turn I was a super baseball nerd as a kid. Memorized stats, had millions of baseball cards, etc. I also played baseball, but around puberty I lost interest for some reason, not really sure why. Then my Granddaddy died around that time and I didn't have anyone to talk to about baseball anymore, so it just kind of went away and I lost all interest. The only MLB baseball I've watched in 15+ years is a World Series every now and then. I watched the one where the Cardinals won a few years ago, and admittedly that was badass. I watch MSU baseball in the postseason or when we get close to the postseason.

Point of the story, yes, the older generations are carrying baseball right now. I would've never been into baseball without my Granddaddy. I went from being completely obsessed with baseball for most of my childhood to baseball being lower than American Idol on a scale of things that entertain me.