Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Friday, March 01, 2013
Update your bookmarks, it’s the soccer thread.
Football hipster word of the month: Catenaccio
THTF news: Two months of fixture hell begin in which Spursin’ it up becomes all too possible
Shooty news: He’s decided to follow Real Zaragoza, because that’s totally not a hipster choice
Hamburglar / French Freiburg news: I still find both puns funny. Monthly updates to follow
News news: I am now done with the bit.
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I dunno, I'm hardly a soccer expert just don't see what Johnson brought to this game. I watch Johnson on the sounders, he's not a hold up guy but a pace player, no?
Yeah Mexico probably should've had a penalty kick but the US played very well overall.
Zusi hasn't done much IMO. Some of the MLS guys have been successful (Besler, Gonzalez), and some have not (Wondowlowski, Brad Davis). Though of course it should be noted, every guy in the game has played in MLS.
It's nice not to have to give a #### about Gio Dos Santos anymore. Was Omar Gonzalez as good as what I've been reading today?
Zusi hasn't been great, but he's worked hard and been fairly tidy with the ball, he's certainly been better than Danny Williams impersonating a wide midfielder, which goes back to my original point of MLS star vs. fringe Euro player. He's not able to run up and down the field all game, put in the defensive work and be a dangerous creative attacker, but that is really hard to do and part of what makes Landon Donovan kind of awesome when he's at the top of his game.
With Wondo and Evans, I think it's a fit thing. Wondo is poacher who is dependent on service and the national team just doesn't have enough creative attackers to support that type of player. Alan Gordon from the same MLS team, is much less skilled than Wondo, but was able to contribute as a big, physical worker in the last round of qualifiers. Davis seems like mostly set piece specialist, but he's kind of limited otherwise, I think he was brought into the game hoping the USA could pound in a corner or free kick against the run of play, but they didn't get too many of those after he came in.
I thought so. Where I think he and Besler really distinguished themselves in not making any real glaring mistakes. DA is right that Mexico were pretty poor but part of that was minimizing the real catastrophic mistakes. There were a couple including a particularly exciting sequence where Edu gave the ball away on the edge of the box twice in about 20 seconds but got bailed out both times by Beasley.
Besler was the guy I was impressed with. Early on a bunch of guys were scrambling any time they got pressured. Besler and Bradley were the only two who seemed capable of getting a ball in the defensive third and while being pressured make a pass to an actual teammate rather than one of the guys in the other uniforms.
Edu is just straight garbage every time he puts on a USMNT uni. I hear nothing but good things about his club performances but he constantly hesitates in the attack and either kills the counter or gives it away too easily.
He makes Jones look like Xavi.
Edu is out there for his defense, not his offense. Jones and Bradley are obviously better offensive players and better overall, but Edu is a good defender, he covers a lot of ground, is a strong tackler and is good in the air. I'd rather have him out there than Beckerman or Williams and he's better than someone like Kljestan if they want to play defensively. He's a limited player, but there is pretty big drop off after Bradley and Jones and all the options are going to be weak in one way or another.
Bradley completed 57/58 of his passes last night, really impressive.
On the one hand, that does seem a bit excessive.
On the other, I'd like it if anyone caught shining a laser at a player on a soccer pitch was dragged 'round back of the stadium and hit in the head with a brick, so I guess I'm a little conflicted about this one ...
Yea I'm not really complaining that he was selected, just pointing out what a drop there is from Jones to Edu. To be fair, Edu should have given away a penalty and only a very generous ruling (probably helped by the broadway performance flop from the mexican guy when all he should have done is fell over) saved him.
Bradley is always composed on the ball and does a great job linking the back 4 with the midfield, but the only time the US had any sort of combo play in the final 3rd was when Altidore connected with him and Clint. Clint was fairly useless last night in the 2nd half, I thought he should have been subbed out for maybe Klestjan.
Glad for the point, but I still have serious questions about the team going forward, especially if Donovan is out much past June.
Univision has replay of Edu's possible penalty from a different angle than ESPN that shows that the non-call was probably legit, Aquino basically kicks the ground and falls over. The Univision announcers even say they don't think it's a penalty.
Yeah, I see a lot of people arguing that today. I think the ref makes a non-call because he thinks Edu poked the ball away, hence the corner kick. Otherwise, you have to go to Univision's slo-mo, where even then, when the contact takes place vs. the scuff is very close. And then you have to ignore Edu's trailing leg taking the Aquino out, and we know PK's are awarded all the time for mere fouls in the box.
I still say, they were way damn fortunate Mexico wasn't awarded a PK.
That's how I interpreted it too.
Stuart Holden goes on 30 day loan to Sheffield Wednesday. Any playing time is better than no playing time.
It's a really crappy third division team, so it is either charity or him wanting to play a long Football Manager campaign in real life.
Landon Donovan is back. I completely understand why he took a break, and I just hope he feels properly rested and happy to be back at his soccer. If he is, there's plenty of time before Brazil for him to get back into form and into the US starting XI. My only concern is if he feels like he needs to come back because this will likely be his last World Cup as a starter and is coming back before he's really ready to play again.
From his comments he says he's hungry again and all that. I take it at face value: he needed a break, took one, and now feels ready again. That said, he's lost a step, and while still far and away the US' most creative player in the midfield, this is not 2008 Landon Donovan that we'll be seeing in the Hex and (knock on wood) in Brazil.
That said, I can't wait to see what the US looks like under Klinsy when he gets a full roster healthy and training together. With Fabian Johnson, Dempsey, Landon, Chandler, Altidore, Jones and Bradley in the fold we might actual see some 3-1, 2-0 results.
One thing that was mentioned up thread is that while we haven't produced a truly world class field player, the US (with the help of MLS) has real depth in the pool for perhaps the first time ever. While it won't help us beat Spain or Germany, it certainly helps in the Hex.
Yeah, some sort of knee injury apparently. Supposedly not a big deal. I am terrified.
D'oh. At least there's the Vertonghen and Bale show to enjoy.
And Man City looking pretty great against Newcastle right now.
I'll spare you the suspense. It is zero. Zero goals. Before today. When he scored four.
Mother of god.
Why the heck would they not have pulled the trigger on that before the long international break?
Which isn't to say that O'Neill didn't deserve to go, just that I agree with Mattbert that the timing seems off.
I'm afraid he will be good for them before he goes too far.
It's working class, the BNP is strong there too. I don't think his politics will matter much, wins forgive everything, if he loses he will be abused anyway.
Interestingly enough, Laurent Blanc is unemployed. I think I'd rather have rolled the dice with him.
Laurent Blanc wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. Only managers for which it is a step up to a higher level or those that are desperate for a another chance after flaming out somewhere else would consider such a job. None of which explains what Harry is doing at QPR. But he has always been pretty crap at career management.
Edit: 35 minutes, Guadalajara a man down after an extended tackling attempt.
Optimism for Spurs never pays. NEVER!
Sat: Soton
Mon: Man U
Thurs: Kazan
Sun: Sunderland
Thurs: Kazan
Sun: Spurs
Wed: Fulham
edit: It's nice having an early morning game to watch. With Europe closed it is super boring today at work.
Hey, in a few hours you'll be able to watch Yankees - Red Sox! Or, at least, what remains of those two teams.
Can't wait to find out which baseballers are in top form!
I only turned it on once I started reading this topic, so I can't really comment, but it's possible that they went in with the preconceived notion that the game would be bad due to both teams playing two days ago and haven't deviated from it.
Nice finish from Ba.
Samba gives up the ball on the edge of the box and commits a penalty trying to get it back. Then Samba passes inexplicably to a Fulham player leading to a Berbatov goal. And now an own goal on Clint Hill. They are going to have a busy summer offloading all these players. Who is going to take on Samba's 100K a week salary?
Samba agreed to move to a bottom club with relegation a strong possibility, even likely, I'm sure that whatever clause there is is hugely favorable to him.
Mass hysteria!
Also, Neil Warnock the latest to get the sack from whatever consortium owns Leeds these days.
Highlights of the LFC and Spurs U-21 match. Adam Morgan is the one to watch for LFC and Ceballos for Spurs. From the Spurs perspective it's nice to see Ceballos becoming a real player and evolving from being just a youtube sensation. I would not be surprised to see him on the bench against Basel Thursday. The highlights are from LFC so it's naturally edited to make them look much better. From the written descriptions Spurs were better than the clip makes it seem which is promising since most of the team is the U-18 squad brought up to replace all the loanees.
Actually the BNP has virtually no presence in the Northeast at all. The BNP's strongholds are the post-industrial towns in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the eastern side of Greater London. They've never even had a councillor in the Northeast.
They got almost 5% in the last election up there, I count that as strong for such an extremist party.
Aw, he seemed only mildly impressed...
More a case of finally accepting he wouldn't set the record for getting teams promoted and retiring immediately instead of in May than him getting sacked. The uncertainty as to who will be appointing a permanent replacement is a fair point, though.
Jonathan Wilson ?@jonawils 31 Mar
Oh, for goodness's sake.
Trophies tarnish, The Brand is forever...
Ibra was way offside on his goal (in offside position when the header was made that hit the post, and he put in the rebound).
Did anyone see the play where the two Barca defenders collided, and were lying on the ground, playing 4 PSG players onside? I don;t think the ref called it wrong, but everyone on BArca was complaining.
Then on the subsequent corner with those two on the sideline, the PSG player plays a short corner and they never get a cross in, despite the obvious danger to Barca . Stupid.
And I like the team, but dammit.
That was a very entertaining game. PSG gave Barca all they could handle. I doubt they stand much chance back in Spain, but it's not over yet.
And has given out yellow cards for diving to both teams, both of which are being questioned by the announcers but I think are absolutely spot on.
And I like the team, but dammit.
I watched both games (Bayern - Juve on delay). Barca's whining doesn't even BEGIN to compare to the amount of whining Bayern were doing.
2006 isn't really all that long ago and Di Canio wasn't very "young" then, either. I have to admit, I'm kind of fascinated by the reaction to his hiring in England but I promise not to link to any more articles about it. I swear!
I just bought tickets to the Boston Breaker's season opener on the 14th after realizing that their home stadium is literally a 5 minute walk from where I live. Woo rooting interests based solely upon geographic proximity! Also, who the heck is buying the 90 dollar pitch-side seats? That seems a bit steep.
I forgot we were still in the March thread. Anyone who's tight with the powers that be want to submit it?
You lousy hipster! What is this blog?
edit: Also, I don't have keys.
I'm blogging all over the place now, for whatever odd reason. Red Sox blog: Replacement Level Red Sox (with Darren, Jose, and Matt(bert)). And I'm writing up my football stat stuff over at Cartilage Free Captain.
Ah. That's become one of the bigger SB sites, hasn't it? Relatively, I guess.
Two direct shots on their own goal by the Singaporean defense, split by a hand ball.
Lee Kwan Yew would be proud of their diligence.
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