|
|
By Ray Curren, on July 13th, 2010
In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attention the World Cup has gotten, maybe you haven’t, Major League Soccer is about halfway through its 30-game regular season. That’s not really fair, I’ve been fairly impressed with the crowds at MLS games this season. It’s a slow build, but the league is building. But, of course, some teams have to build more than others. Here’s where we stand in the heat of the summer (compared to what I thought at the beginning of the campaign):
16) KANSAS CITY
Record: 3-8-3 (9 pts., 6th in East)
Ranking in March: 13
Last week’s result: 0-2 loss to Chivas USA – An awful display at home against one of the worst teams in the league. Probably a low point in the campaign.
Why they’re here:
I was the one who wrote there was hope early on for an entertaining and attractive team to make a step up in the league in the Wizards. Oops. They just can’t score, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason as to why. Kei Kamara has scored six goals this season and no one else has more than one, which is a good reason why they’re at 11 – joint lowest in the league (DC United). Ryan Smith has looked good on the ball at times, but it hasn’t translated into anything, Josh Wolff looks just about done (really sad having seen the 2002 World Cup Mexico game replayed a couple of times in the last month), while the Gold Cup experience looks like it (like Robbie Rogers) might have stunted Davy Arnaud’s and Jack Jewsbury’s career more than we thought.
The back line – and goalkeeper Ryan Nielsen – have actually been decent, although coming unglued of late, with Jimmy Conrad below average at best, also sad to watch. But they haven’t won a game away from home (and only have 1 point) away from home this season.
MVP of first half: Kamara – Although the woeful miss against the Galaxy seems to have been the turning point as Kansas City has gone downhill ever since, he’s done his part, scoring more than half of the team’s goals.
15) CHIVAS USA
Record: 4-9-2 (14 pts., last in West)
Ranking in March: 12
Last week’s result: 0-2 win against Kansas City – Justin Braun broke out in a big way, and if they can get some consistent scoring from him, all might not be lost for Chivas.
Why they’re here:
There has been signs of life at times – the Chivas goal differential is only -4 – but it just doesn’t look like there’s much quality here, especially in the middle of the field. Sasha Kljestan struggled last year, but appeared to be back to his MLS All-Star self in 2010 before signing in Belgium, a seemingly good move for him, but it left a giant hole in the Chivas lineup. Luckily for Martin Vazquez, Jonathan Bornstein seems emboldened by his World Cup experience and ready to make the step up into MLS star finally. Rookie Blair Gavin is also playing well, but the backline is still shaky, and their home record is as well, not encouraging signs.
MVP: Mariano Trujillo – The midfielder/defender is the only player on Chivas to have played in every minute of every league game this season.
14) DC UNITED
Record: 3-9-3 (12 pts., 7th in East)
Ranking in March: 9
Last week’s result: 0-0 draw at Red Bull New York – Didn’t threaten the New York goal all that much, but an encouraging result for a team that seems like it’s feeling a little more confident.
Why they’re here:
They’re here mostly because of the disaster at the beginning of the season for Curt Onalfo that almost cost him his job just a few games into his tenure. To his – and his team’s – credit, they have righted the ship somewhat, at least slowing the leaks in the hull. It doesn’t take long to see what their big problem is. Their leading goal scorer? 2. Yes, Danny Allsopp, Adam Cristman, young Andy Najar, and Chris Pontius all have a pair of goals this season and that leads the squad.
Their goal differential is by far the worst in the league (-14), but there’s been signs of life of late. Julius James, although always a bad tackle from being sent off, his played well, and the backline seems to be steadying. Clyde Simms leads the team in minutes and does his best in the midfield, but he’s definitely not the playmaker DC needs, even in MLS. Unfortunately, their woeful start will probably do in any playoff hopes DC has.
MVP: Simms – He gets the nod in a pretty weak field for his consistency to stay on the field if nothing else.
13) NEW ENGLAND
Record: 4-9-2 (14 pts., 5th in East)
Ranking in March: 11
Last week’s result: 2-0 win over Los Angeles – A tremendous result in an otherwise dark season for the Revolution, and it was deserved, the Revs outworked the Galaxy for 90 minutes. Can they build on it?
Why they’re here:
I was about to point to the fact that they can’t score, but they’ve allowed the most goals in all of MLS (26) as well. I think both are misleading, they’ve gotten lots of goals in a couple of wins and given up a ton in a few big losses. They truly miss a guy like Taylor Twellman, who was opportunistic enough to take advantage of the chances that Shalrie Joseph would hand to him and bury them. Rookie Zack Schilawski has five goals, but four of them were in one game (against Toronto). Kheli Dube works hard, but really can’t score. Darrius Barnes had a great rookie year, but was hurt by injuries this season. It’s not a coincidence that Barnes and Joseph both played 90 minutes in New England’s upset last Saturday. If they can give those guys on the field and scrape a goal or two together, they can be competitive, but I don’t see a huge run to the playoffs, meaning their long streak should be over.
MVP: Sainey Nyassi – One of the many Gambians in MLS, Nyassi has only scored twice, but he’s been fouled a remarkable 28 times and is rounding into a pretty good player, although he’s still got room to improve.
12) PHILADELPHIA
Record: 3-8-2 (11 pts. last in East)
Ranking in March: 16
Last week’s result: 1-2 loss to San Jose – A crushing (and undeserved) loss at home in stoppage time. They dominated about as much as you can dominate, but got nipped at the death. Growing pains for a young squad.
Why they’re here:
I thought they would struggle more than they have, but lately, Petr Novak has figured out a good combination – especially at home – where the Union have been very, very good. They have dominated their last two home games, and still have plenty of home fixtures remaining with the late opening of PPL Park. It’s a good mix up front, with veterans like Sebastian Le Toux, Fred, and Alejandro Moreno flanked by January’s top pick, Danny Mwanga. Mwanga is rounding into form, and has shown he can score goals at this level.
The back still needs plenty of work, though. Danny Califf has been dreadful, as has goalkeeper Chris Seitz, and any kind of pressure seems likely to result in a goal against them. That may keep them out of the playoffs in their first year.
MVP: Le Toux – Not only has he scored six goals, but he’s taken 37 shots, 23 of which he’s put on frame. Seattle wishes they had that kind of production.
11) SEATTLE
Record: 4-8-4 (16 pts., 7th in West)
Ranking in March: 2
Last week’s result: 1-1 draw vs. FC Dallas – It was a better effort for the Sounders, but still only one point to show for it. And that’s at home, too. We’ll see if they can build on it with a win.
Why they’re here:
It seems a case of what can go wrong has gone wrong for Seattle. Freddy Montero did not play well at the end of last season, and it’s carried over to 2010. He has scored six goals and been fouled 32 times, but it just seems like there’s something missing, especially of late. Maybe he’s not getting enough help: the other Freddy – Ljungberg – has yet to score this season and seems increasingly unhappy in Seattle, even with their great crowds. Both Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and now Tyrone Marshall have missed time with injuries, and even Kasey Keller has let in a couple of outrageously soft goals. Brad Evans was not himself and went out with an injury.
You still see all the talent in Seattle on paper, but something’s missing. If they figure it out, there’s still time for a playoff run. But it has to start soon. Adding Swiss international Blaise Nkufo won’t hurt.
MVP: Montero – I don’t think he’s played that well, but his numbers are still very good. I still think he’s capable of more, though.
10) HOUSTON
Record: 5-7-4 (19 pts., 6th in West)
Ranking in March: 4
Last week’s result: 0-0 draw vs. Columbus – Brian Ching missed a sitter that would have given Houston a first-half lead, and the Dynamo actually played pretty well for most of the match, but couldn’t come up with a winner.
Why they’re here:
We’ve entered the “Still have hope” portion of the rankings because there’s still a lot to like about the Dynamo going forward. We knew losing Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark would hurt, but the injuries to Geoff Cameron and Brian Ching might have hurt worse. Unfortunately, Cameron is still a long way from coming back (late news: he might be back by mid-August, great for the Dynamo), but Ching seems to be rounding back into form. The mysterious exit of Adrian Serioux – now back on the roster – was also damaging.
Guys like Danny Cruz and Mike Chabala are good role players, but as Dominic Kinnear is finding out the hard way, it’s hard to build a winning team around players like that. But, as I said, they’ve got some people back and they look like they might be ready to make a run.
MVP: Lovel Palmer – The Jamaican has played well in the midfield, and seems to be gettting stronger as the season moves along, good news for Houston fans.
9) SAN JOSE
Record: 6-4-4 (22 pts., 5th in West)
Ranking in March: 10
Last week’s result: 1-2 win at Philadelphia – The Earthquakes were outplayed for much of the game, but were able to pull it out through an Arturo Alvarez winner, a good sign for San Jose, who is going to need Alvarez if they’re going to make the playoffs.
Why they’re here:
This may rile up San Jose fans, but when Chris Wondolowski has six goals, you might think there’s a little bit of luck involved with their fine record and that’s reflected in their relatively low spot here. It also seems like they’ve stolen an awful lot of points that they otherwise shouldn’t have gotten. All credit to Frankie Yallop and crew, but often times those things seem to even themselves out over the course of the season.
If Alvarez comes back into form, Bobby Convey continues to play extremely well, and Ike Opara continues to improve at the rate he has in the last couple of months, San Jose has a good chance to make the playoffs. But they’ll need some help, and it’s hard to see where that is going to come from over the long haul.
MVP: Convey – Somewhat quietly (he hasn’t scored this season), Convey is back in form as one of the top midfielders in MLS, and he more than any other player is the reason why the Earthquakes are above .500.
 CHICAGO
Record: 4-5-5 (17 pts., 4th in East)
Ranking in March: 5
Last week’s result: 0-1 loss vs. Real Salt Lake – It’s always frustrating when you lose at home, but there were a few positives to take out of a decent performance against the champs. That home record continues to be a problem for the Fire, though, and that is a problem.
Why they’re here:
The Fire have played a ton of close games this season, and they simply haven’t won enough of them to move any higher in the table. Marco Pappa might even be able to make a case for himself for league MVP of the first half as he’s scored six times, half of those winning games for the Fire. But Brian McBride has been a bit of a disappointment, although his stats aren’t terrible. As it is with a lot of MLS teams, it’s hard for them to hold the ball in the middle of the field, Logan Pause has tried his best, but has one goal and two assists to show for it. Of late, Carlos de los Cobos has had to go to a makeshift back line with an inexperienced goalkeeper in Andrew Dykstra (although he’s probably been as good as Jon Busch), and that could spell trouble in the next few games.
MVP: Pappa – The Guatemalan is third on the team in minutes as well this season.
7) NEW YORK
Record: 8-5-2 (26 pts., 2nd in East)
Ranking in March: 8
Last week’s result: 0-0 draw vs. DC United – After not getting a draw in their first 13 games, the Red Bulls have gotten draws in back-to-back games, and this one was particularly disappointing. Coach Hans Backe agreed, calling it “boring”. Good for him.
Why they’re here:
I said in the preview that people forget how injured the Red Bulls were last season, and they’ve been much healthier in 2010, particularly Juan Pablo Angel, who can still finish with the best of them. Angel has scored nine times, but is also second on the team in minutes played (behind rookie Tim Ream), and has been the threat he was when he led New York to MLS Cup two years ago. It is a little bit disconcerting that Angel does have half of its goals, but that should be where Thierry Henry steps in to help Angel. That really could be a fun combination to watch.
Backe has tried to sure up the back, which was incredibly leaky last season, led by Ream. Backe has recently replaced Mike Petke with Carlos Mendes, and there’s plenty of work still to do, which is why New York is not further up this list.
MVP: Angel – Just look at his stats, including a remarkable 21 times offside this season. Yes, that can be a good thing, at least he’s getting into those positions this season.
6) COLORADO
Record: 6-4-4 (22 pts., 4th in West)
Ranking in March: 7
Last week’s result: 0-1 loss to Toronto – As they have plenty this season, the Rapids were stymied by Toronto in Canada, another shutout loss for one of the worst offenses in MLS.
Why they’re here:
You can kind of look at the Rapids from a half full or half empty perspective here.
In the half full camp, they still have a pretty good record even though they haven’t played particularly well, and Gary Smith’s interesting experiment to play Marvell Wynne and Drew Moor in the center of the defense despite a noticeable lack of size has paid off. Wynne and Moor have played every minute of every league game this season and the Rapids have allowed only 13 goals in 2010.
On the other side of the ledger, how can this team not score more goals? Conor Casey has six and Omar Cummings has four, but with that kind of talent, they should be doing more, no? And they haven’t gotten much help. Part of it is Smith going with the favorite World Cup formation of 4-2-3-1, with Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni playing holding midfielders. They’ve done a good job, as the defensive record attests to. But do they need more goals to be a contender? Well, I don’t want to play them in the playoffs, put it that way.
MVP: Wynne and Moor (tie) – Hard to separate the two, but both have found their niche in 2010.
5) DALLAS
Record: 5-2-7 (22 pts., 3rd in West)
Ranking in March: 15
Last week’s result: 1-1 draw at Seattle – The fact that their back four looked more than a little wobbly is a problem, but the fact that they came back and got a point is definitely a positive in a tough environment.
Why they’re here:
The awful atmosphere hid a lot of their hard luck early in the season, but even the attendance at Pizza Hut Park is improving, albeit slightly. It’s actually a very attractive team to watch, with guys like Jeff Cunningham, Atiba Harris, Brek Shea (minus cornrows), and most of all David Ferreira, who would be the league’s MVP at the halfway point if I had a vote (not only do I not have a vote, but there’s no such award. Oh, well.)
Heath Pearce – a little like Bobby Convey – seems like he’s starting to gain in confidence – and Dax McCarty is also a solid player, giving them depth a lot of teams in this league just don’t have.
Like I said, the back four has been slightly worrying of late (although they’ve only given up 13 goals), and their schedule hasn’t been the toughest. Cunningham somehow hasn’t started of late as well, so he’s having a little bit of a confidence problem. But they have the talent to compete for a league title if Schellas Hyndman doesn’t screw it up.
MVP: Ferreira – My favorite stat: Ferreira has been fouled a league-leading 41 times this season. Dallas hasn’t been on TV much this season, but next time they are, watch Ferreira, he can play.
4) TORONTO
Record: 6-4-4 (22 pts., 3rd in East)
Ranking in March: 14
Last week’s result: 1-0 win over FC Dallas – A Preki special, Toronto snuffs out a decent offensive squad and gets a goal in the second half to win the game 1-0. That’s the way Toronto rolls these days.
Why they’re here:
Ah, Preki. He dismissed what seemed like the entire team to finally get the squad he wanted on the field. Preki soccer is not pretty, closer in style to what Holland tried to pull over the weekend against Spain. Toronto has 30 yellow cards and 4 reds this season, but their physical style is extremely tough to play against, and there was no way Preki was getting rid of Dwayne DeRosario, who has scored eight times this season and is always a threat to score. Young Gambian Amadou Sanyang combines in the midfield with Julian DeGuzman to form an extremely athletic, but physical pairing, and Stefan Frei is one of the league’s best goalkeepers.
It won’t be pretty, but beating Toronto will be very difficult the rest of the way.
MVP: Nana Attakora – Obviously, DeRosario is the easy choice, but Attakora has been a rock in the back for Preki, leads the team in minutes, and has the potential to be an All-Star in this league.
3) COLUMBUS
Record: 8-2-4 (28 pts., 1st in East)
Ranking in March: 3
Last week’s result: 0-0 draw at Houston – Not exactly the most entertaining game in the world, but another result for a Crew squad that’s seemed to get a lot of results this season, as their record obviously shows.
Why they’re here:
A little like Toronto, minus the violence, and with a little more depth in the quality up front. Guillermo Barros Schelotto has missed Alejandro Moreno a little, but one of the most underreported stories of the season has been the play of Eddie Gaven, who was the next MLS superstar as a teenager, then a bust, and now is one of the big reasons why Columbus leads in the East. Oh, and he’s only 23.
The back four is as solid as there is in MLS, and that will serve them well the rest of the way. They’ve recently moved Steven Lenhart to the bench, which I can’t approve of, but you obviously have to consider the Crew title contenders, certainly the favorite in the East.
2) SALT LAKE
Record: 9-3-3 (30 pts., 2nd in West)
Ranking in March: 6
Last week’s result: 0-1 win at Chicago – Robbie Findley’s goal was controversial to say the least, but with the road form that this franchise has enjoyed in their history, they’ll take anything they can get away from Rio Tinto.
Why they’re here:
When you break it down player by player, it’s quite the lineup that Jason Kreis has amassed at Real Salt Lake, with all kinds of attacking options in Findley, Alvaro Saborio (7 goals), Fabian Espindola, and Javier Morales. That’s the most attacking depth in the league, hands down. And Kreis, starting with last year’s playoff run, has sured up the back. Jamison Olave and Robbie Russell are new people compared to what they were two years ago, and I haven’t even gotten to players like Will Johnson.
Maybe the last frontier for this squad was winning on the road, and they’ve done that of late, too. They’re No. 2 in the rankings, but you might as well consider them No. 1A. Let’s hope they and Los Angeles will meet in the Western final, should be a heck of a game.
1) LOS ANGELES
Record: 11-2-3 (36 pts., 1st in West)
Ranking in March: 1
Last week’s result: 2-0 loss at New England – Pretty embarrassing effort by the league leaders, actually, they were listless from start to finish without Landon Donovan, who didn’t even make the trip. Is there a crack for Real Salt Lake to move through? The next couple of weeks will tell.
Why they’re here:
They’re the best team in the league, silly.
Seriously, prior to last Saturday’s debacle against New England, the Galaxy had only allowed five goals all season. Even more amazing, they had given up only one road goal in seven games. Remember, too, that not only were they without Donovan, they were missing Omar Gonzalez, who was suspended due to five yellow cards this season. Offensively, obviously Edson Buddle has carried the load, but 12 different players have scored for Bruce Arena’s bunch, as he’s been able to keep his mix of young players (Tristan Bowen), grizzled veterans (Clint Mathis and Mike Magee), and Brazilians (Juninho and Alex Cazumba) into an extremely cohesive unit that doesn’t lose very often.
Even though they’ve clearly been the best team in the league to this point, there are more questions with the Galaxy than there are with Real Salt Lake. First is Donovan. If he goes, the Galaxy loses its playmaker and may lead Arena to play like Preki the rest of the way. You also have to wonder whether they may be hitting a little bit of a wall, allowing Salt Lake to catch and maybe pass them. The next few weeks will be key.
By Ray Curren, on July 11th, 2010
Day 31 of the World Cup saw Spain eventually prevail over the Netherlands in a final somewhat marred by 14 yellow cards. Did it have to be that way? Well, short answer is yes with a but, and the long answer is no with an if. I’ll try to keep it short. A month after the Opening Ceremonies, Spain and the Netherlands brought the curtain down in South Africa, but it’s never too late to learn things:
1) Say what you will, but Holland had to play the way they did
I’m not saying it was attractive to watch from a technical standpoint, and that it wasn’t borderline dirty, but what else were you going to do if you’re the Netherlands? You’re going to do what Germany did and sit back and watch Spain do circles around you in the World Cup finals? Yea, right.
Bert van Marwijk is no dummy. He’s not going to lead his team to a slaughter with a smile on his face. He’s going to talk to his team and show him the tape of the Germany game and tell them how important it is to get in Spain’s face. It’s not his job to make an entertaining product. It’s not his job to raise television ratings. It’s his job to give his team the best chance to win the World Cup, and you know what? He was pretty darn close, maybe closer than he should have been.
You can argue that putting guys like Ryan Babel, Eljero Elia, and Rafael van der Vaart on the field might give them a better chance to win, but I don’t think so. It wasn’t a huge coincidence that the game opened up right when van der Vaart was subbed in for Nigel De Jong. I give van Marwijk credit for going for it at that point.
Van Marwijk not only got his six back players to pressure, that was the most I’ve seen Arjen Robben play defense, well, ever. And if Robben finishes one of his two breakaways than the Dutch are holding the trophy. And as the immortal Herm Edwards once said, “You play to win the game.”
Don’t you?
It kind of goes back to the Luis Suarez argument. The Netherlands didn’t do anything illegal, and when they committed fouls, they were punished, eventually having a player sent off – correctly – and might have lost the game because of it.
“I’m a little sick of that entire discussion,” standout goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg said to ESPN after the game. “It’s really just about results at a tournament like this. You can play beautifully and … then you get bounced in the first knockout phase. We made the final. So beautiful soccer you can set on fire for all I care.”
You want a match, Maarten?
(And Spain has nothing to apologize for, either. They are now the European and World Cup champions, and neither one was close to a fluke. Again, the object is to win. The New Jersey Devils played ugly hockey and won, so they tweaked a few rules. The Miami Heat played hideous looking basketball and won, leading to a few tweaks in the NBA rules. Maybe FIFA should do the same thing, we shall see)
2) Howard Webb did a decent job
I’m not going to say he was stellar, because I don’t think he was, but I think he did an admirable job. You can look at the card count and say he was awful, but (as it was in 2006 when these same Dutch took on Portugal and Valentin Ivanov brandished 20 cards) he has to officiate the game in front of him.
Holland was always going to play a game of chicken with Webb today. They were going to be extremely physical until Webb gave them cards. After all, that’s what the card system is designed to do. A yellow card, by definition, is a warning and two yellow cards means an ejection. Mark van Bommel and Nigel De Jong both had yellows in the first 28 minutes of the game, which would seem to help the Spanish, but Holland was smart enough in the second half to spread the wealth. Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Jonny Heitinga picked up yellows early in the second half, but there were a couple of times where Webb could have given a second yellow (or a straight red to De Jong, maybe) and did not. He finally had to send off Heitinga in extra time, but the game may have called for a red card before it.
He missed a couple of other minor calls, but he had a couple of penalty shouts that he got absolutely correct, and that’s better than we can say for most.
Again, the game dictates how a referee will call the game. This game was – more or less – a bloodbath, and it needed a ref that would give cards for offenses that warranted them. The fact that he handed out 14 doesn’t mean he did a bad job. You could make a good argument there should have been more.
I looked at all 14 yellows again, and I can’t find a really poor one among them. Some games you can say the man in the middle did a good job because you didn’t notice him, but the way this game played out, there was no way you were not going to notice Webb in this game.
Again, he was far from perfect, but I don’t think there were too many in the world that would have done a better job than him today.
3) Is there a difference between “going to ground easily” and “diving”?
Having missed one breakaway and on his second one late in normal time, it looked like Arjen Robben was pulled back by Carlos Puyol when he was going to be in on goal alone. But one of the biggest “divers” in the game amazingly stayed on his feet and finally had the ball taken from him by goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
So, let’s look it at like an experiment, shall we? Mr. Robben did the “right” thing and stayed on his feet, and what was his reward? Nothing.
Had he “gone to ground easily”, Webb probably would have been forced to show a red card to Puyol, and Holland would have had a free kick in a dangerous position.
What did young Mr. Robben (and the billion people watching the game) learn here.
That play in the World Cup finals is a microcosm of something that isn’t talked about overtly, but perhaps it should be.
“Going to ground easily” is a skill, and an important one in the modern game. When someone tugs barely on a shirt or a shoulder, if you can fall down, and make it look good, you will get the call. Most of the best players in the world do it extremely well. Some others, when they go down, it just doesn’t look natural and you don’t get the call.
You can go down too much. It seems that the officials have turned on Cristiano Ronaldo of late, and he doesn’t get as many calls as he used to, but if you watch the game like I do, you know what I’m talking about.
I’m not talking about out-and-out “diving”, when there is absolutely no contact. I’m talking about the ones with minimal contact that are embellished. Robben proved today that staying on your feet may not be worth the trouble most of the time.
4) In the end, the best team won
Through seven games of the World Cup, Spain was the best team. They passed the ball the best, and – more importantly – played the best defense. Yes, they scored only eight goals – three fewer than any other team that has ever hoisted the World Cup – but they were in control of every game they played. Even in their loss against Switzerland in their first game, they dominated but got beat on a counterattack.
When faced with some adversity, they didn’t panic, didn’t change their style, didn’t change their game. They stayed patient, stayed strong in the back first, and are now World Cup champions.
So for all our talk the last month, the most talented team won the tournament. And even I feel good about that.
5) It’s hard to get a good final
Anyone watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals? Yuk. It was horrible. The 2006 World Cup final was no gem, either, and the 1994 final? Again, yuk is the proper term, I believe.
If Spain scores early – and they had a couple of chances to – it’s a different game (or if Holland scores, for that matter). But they didn’t, and we got what we got.
In big games, nervousness and excitement produce tightness and that usually translates into players not being in their top form, certainly applicable today.
Bonus) Everything is cyclical, offense is not dead forever
I doubt we’ll see 6-5 games anytime soon, but the trend – led by Jose Mourinho and the Greeks, it’s sad to say – is toward defense and holding midfielders. It will be interesting to see how teams go about combating them, but if sports history teaches us anything, the great minds of the game will find a way. Or maybe referees will give out more red cards and force players to stay on their feet more. Or maybe we’ll come out with a ball that tricks goalkeepers and allows players to score from 40 yards out.
Oops, tried that one already, FIFA. Back to the drawing board. But it will be interesting to see what goes on that drawing board in the next few years.
For those that came back and read every day of this World Cup, I thank you and I encourage you to leave feedback both through this site and through Twitter (orangeorange05). It’s been fun, and we’ll certainly be back soon with MLS coverage and next month with previews of the English Premier League and others.
By Ray Curren, on July 11th, 2010
Day 30 – the penultimate day of the World Cup – saw what you get out of third place games: lots of goals, some pretty good soccer, and a general lack of enthusiasm. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t learn a few things from Germany and Uruguay:
1) Bastian Schweinsteiger deserved to be in the conversation for the world’s best players
Not to belabor a point I’ve made throughout this tournament, but because he doesn’t play in the English or Spanish leagues, Schweinsteiger sometimes goes unnoticed, but let’s put it this way – he’s probably better than Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard at this point. He wins more balls and is just physically stronger. With apologies to guys like Xavi Hernandez and Wesley Sneijder, both of whom are better pure technical players, he might be the best midfielder in the world.
2) Diego Perez might be due a spot on the tournament’s Best XI
I know many of you hate what defensive midfielders have done to the game, but Perez was everywhere when Uruguay was shutting teams down in the group stage, and making their way to the semifinals. He did what defensive midfielders do, make a menace of himself, and he did it very well, probably well enough that if it weren’t for his age (30), he might be looking at a good contact (he’s currently at Monaco).
(It will be interesting to see if anyone bites at his partner, Egidio Arevalo, who has also done well, still plays in the Uruguayan league, and is only 27.)
3) The third place game can be beneficial for the teams involved
Joachim Low gave a start to Dennis Aogo (?!) at right back, and Aogo should have been sent off in the game’s 5th minute with a horrific tackle. I also know that injury plays a factor in Cacau starting in place of Miroslav Klose and Low wanted to give a veteran like goalkeeper Hans-Jorg Butt an appearance at the World Cup. This gave him that chance in a game that he could afford to lose.
Meanwhile, Uruguay got one more chance to show off their skills and that they belonged with the world’s best, and Diego Forlan got to score another ridiculous goal (he should invest in Jabulani stock).
Win, win for everyone. Especially when no one gets hurt.
4) Luis Suarez and Mesut Ozil will soon have to deal with plenty of pressure
Both Suarez and Osil have been rumored to go to bigger clubs (Suarez is at Ajax, while Osil is at Werder Bremen) due to their performance at the World Cup. But Osil, especially, seemed to fade away as the games got bigger, and reports of him being extremely nervous is slightly worrying for a Champions League team that might want to pick up the 21-year-old.
Suarez, meanwhile, hasn’t really melted under the spotlight, but it remains to be seen how much the negative publicity he got from the Ghana handball incident will affect him in the next few months and years, and also where he ends up this summer.
5) Silly irony happens in third place games, too
When Sami Khedira got the winning goal off a corner kick (which seemed to be defended differently by Uruguay), who was the first one to pick the ball out of the net? Luis Suarez, of course.
Bonus) John Harkes needs to go
The third place game gave me a chance to fully listen to commentary like “the Germans will certainly want to get that goal back and tie the game” after Uruguay took a 2-1 lead, and how Marcell Jansen made an overlapping run on his equalizer even though he had been playing in the midfield for 60 minutes in the game previously. Oh, but he corrected himself, concluding, “Jansen usually does play in defense, though.”
By Ray Curren, on July 9th, 2010
You would think that winning a European championship and a World Cup would be enough to be hailed as one of the greatest teams of all time. But it would appear that for some people Spain still doesn’t do enough to excite the masses. In a word: hogwash. In two words: utter hogwash. Here are five things to look for in Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands:
1) Will Holland come out and play?
Germany did not, and eventually paid the price in a 1-0 loss. But it wasn’t just the loss, it was the manner in which Germany went down, with a whimper, really (see No. 2). They had very little of the ball and created very few scoring chances.
There are two reasons for that and both apply to the Dutch on Sunday, at least a little. First, Germany just wasn’t comfortable sitting back, and it was obvious in the way they defended, too worried about shape and people behind them than actually challenging for the ball when they had the opportunity. You can’t imagine that the Netherlands will be all that comfortable (or effective) sitting in, either.
Second, Spain is very patient against teams that sit back, content to bide their time rather than giving the ball away and starting counterattacks. And I think that’s where the boring part comes in. But, to me, Spain has to be patient against dangerous teams like they’re seeing in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
2) The Netherlands will have to be physical
And here is the “fair play” dilemma to soccer. Germany did not pick up a single card against Spain, which is admirable, but also was suicidal. Spain was never threatened, both literally and figuratively. I don’t expect the Netherlands to be nearly as kind, especially with Nigel De Jong and Mark van Bommel patrolling the center of the midfield. I think Paraguay showed that if you go after Spain, you might be able to force them into a few mistakes and get them rattled. And, yes, I’m advocating violence in small doses from the Dutch. I guess I wouldn’t make it on the “beautiful game” panel, however …
3) Howard Webb will not be afraid to go to his pocket
I have no trouble with Howard Webb being in the middle for this game, he’s earned it with his competence both in the English and international game. But he’s shown in big games before, he’s not afraid to make a call, and that may help the Spanish. If someone (I’m looking at you, De Jong and van Bommel) comes in with a bad tackle, Webb will not – as some other referees might – give in to the moment of a World Cup final and show leniency. Webb has been involved in some controversy in big games, but when you do big games, you’re going to have controversy. I’d say I hope for an issue-free final, but that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?
4) Can Holland craft a moment of brilliance from their front four?
Sorry to say, but I don’t think this game will have too many goals in it, which means that a moment of brilliance – like a Giovanni van Bronckhorst moment – might be enough for Holland to spring the upset. And with Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, and Dirk Kuyt as your options, they have the ability.
But Spain’s defense with Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique leading the way has seen the best the world has to offer and not conceded anything. Between Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, Spain has conceded a total of zero goals in six knockout stage matches.
So it would take something special for Holland to get on the board. They’re capable of it, but I don’t see it happening.
5) Again, it’s that first goal
As much as I don’t think sitting in will work that well for the Netherlands, the first goal will dictate how the rest of the game will be played. If Holland can find a way to get a goal, everything changes, and Spain has not been great (as they weren’t against Switzerland or the United States last year) coming from behind. Then there will be space for the counterattack with guys like Robben running at exposed defenses, and that’s going to be trouble, even for a great defense like Spain.
I think that’s why Spain will be and have been so conservative and patient. They know that giving up a goal changes everything, and therefore they won’t, even at the expense of putting players with more attacking skill on the field.
Random bonus) Luckiest kid ever
With 16 players on my youth team, a random draw was done to give each kid two teams for the World Cup, and the same kid picked Spain and the Netherlands. The odds of picking the two finalists randomly out of the hat: 1 in 496.
Prediction: Spain 1, Netherlands 0
Although I’m slightly leery because everyone – and I mean everyone – is picking Spain. We shall see.
By Ray Curren, on July 8th, 2010
Germany and Uruguay will meet each other Saturday in the World Cup third place match, and the biggest question might be, ‘Does anyone care?’ And I can’t really give you a concrete answer on that one. Quick, who won the last two third place games? If you said Germany and Turkey, you’re a pretty good World Cup historian. Here are five things to look for in Saturday’s Germany-Uruguay clash:
1) Should this game even exist?
Because I like soccer, any soccer, and especially world-class soccer I can watch in HD on a Saturday afternoon, I was going to start to make a case for this game. But I really can’t. I mean, Uruguay and Germany did well to make the semifinals, can’t we just leave it at that? Do we really need to know who will finish third? Worse yet, it would be quite a shame if someone got hurt in this game and had to miss the beginning of the club season. So, no, this game really shouldn’t exist.
But I don’t get to make those decisions and because the game will be played Saturday afternoon, I’ll be watching. In HD.
2) A good encore for Diego Forlan and Thomas Muller
Forlan and Muller have been two of the best players in this tournament, and it will be nice to have them on the field once more in the World Cup. Muller, the brightest of Germany’s young stars, was basically jobbed out of not playing in the semifinals thanks to an asinine two yellow cards in five games suspension. At least sitting on the bench against Spain will not be the way he goes out.
Meanwhile, Forlan – for better or for worse – has a chance to win the Golden Boot, and he probably deserves it. At 31, this is most likely it for Forlan at the World Cup and his exploits in South Africa should be remembered for a long time to come, and not just by those in Uruguay.
3) It should be a wide open affair
The last four World Cup third place games have produced 16 goals. Four years ago, Germany beat Portugal 3-1, but the game probably should have had more goals than that (side note: Bastian Schweinsteiger scored twice in that game and may set himself up in scoring in back-to-back third place games, a unique, but truly meaningless honor). In 2002, Turkey actually shocked host South Korea 3-2 in a very entertaining and open game. The problem is I’m not sure Uruguay knows what the meaning of “open” soccer is, so ….
4) Will it be like 1998 or 1994?
We had Germany-Portugal and Turkey-South Korea in the last two World Cups, and – because they were fairly evenly matched teams – the games themselves were very even. In 1998, upstart Croatia upset Germany in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion France 2-1 in the semifinals. But Croatia regrouped to beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the Third Place game.
In 1994, it was Bulgaria who was the upstart, beating Mexico and Germany before being stopped by Italy in the semifinals. But they didn’t regroup in the Third Place game, getting pummeled by Sweden 4-0, finishing in fourth.
Which one will Uruguay be? I’m leaning toward Bulgaria, actually, but I’ve been wrong before.
5) Oh yeah, that Suarez guy is back
It will be somewhat interesting to see what the reaction to the African fans will be to Luis Suarez, whose handball is all that stood between Ghana (and Africa) and a berth in the World Cup semifinals. If it were someone else, I would expect play of boos, but the African people have been so pleasant and the vuvuzelas have been so loud that it’s hard for me to see too much negative reaction toward Suarez in this one. From a pure soccer perspective, having him on the field makes for a much more attractive game, he was one of the best players if the tournament, regardless of what you think about his antics against Ghana.
Bonus) It’s actually a rematch
Germany beat Uruguay 1-0 in the 1970 Third Place match. So the game’s got tradition, at least.
Prediction: Germany 4, Uruguay 1
By Ray Curren, on July 7th, 2010
Day 27 of the World Cup saw Spain, well they did what Spain does, at least in the last few years. They pass the ball around a lot, find a way to get a goal or two, and shut it down at the other end. I mean, really shut it down. In case, you haven’t noticed, Spain has lost exactly twice in their last 55 international matches. Ridiculous. Here’s what else we learned from the second semifinal:
1) Spain can be so fun to watch when they’re on their game
It was hard to tell for portions of the game, especially in the first half, whether Germany was just letting Spain have the ball in hopes for a counterattack, or whether they just couldn’t get it off the Spaniards. As someone who coaches young kids, I marvel at how quickly the ball is pinged around the field, and also the vision of everyone in a red uniform, but particularly a guy like a Xavi Hernandez, who just rarely makes a mistake and knows where the other 21 players on the field are at all times. Not too many players, at any level, can do that.
I understand some people’s frustrations with the players left on the bench and that Spain can really open things up if they wanted to, but you can’t knock the results. In their last six knockout games in big competitions, they have won all of them either 1-0 or 2-0, and are on the verge of a Euro- World Cup double. What else do you want?
2) There are no bad players on Spain. Anywhere.
When guys like Cesc Fabregas, Jesus Navas, and Fernando Llorente are on your bench, it’s going to raise eyebrows, but you can see what Vicente del Bosque and Spain are trying to do. Here’s the preview to this game where I spelled out a little more of Spain’s defensive excellence. Pedro Rodriguez will be remembered a little for not passing to Fernando Torres with a chance to seal the game late, but I thought he was excellent for the most part in the Spanish attack, and that’s a guy I wouldn’t have thought of playing ahead of a guy like Navas. It also means that del Bosque doesn’t have that tough of a job, does he? Just don’t screw up. Well, maybe that’s tougher than it looks. Just ask France.
3) Zonal marking is stupid
How many times do I have to watch a bunch of static defenders stand there and watch someone unmarked head in a winning goal on a set piece? I don’t have nearly the experience of any of these coaches, but I’ve watched enough games to see a guy like Carlos Puyol not be pressured from about 8 yards out spells a lot more trouble than a marked Puyol trying the same thing. I think it’s actually OK to leave a man in the front to take care of low crosses, but you have to mark as many players as you can, and obviously Puyol would one of those guys you want to mark.
Maybe I’m an idiot, it’s certainly possible.
It’s actually a shame that was the goal Spain won the game on, but they were clearly the better team and deserved to go through.
4) It was good to see an extremely clean game
There were very few bad tackles, no rolling around on the ground that I can remember, and not a single card. Astounding. If I had more time, I could probably look it up, but when was there a World Cup semifinal or final without a card?
Contrast that to yesterday’s game between the Netherlands and Uruguay.
Although some might argue that maybe Germany needed a guy like Mark van Bommel or Nigel De Jong to start going around whacking people to throw Spain’s rythym off. Which brings us to …
5) I actually like this final a lot
The Spain-Netherlands final seemed to be panned more than praised in the postgame, but I think it’s a very good final, and somewhat a battle of contrasting styles. It’s really Spain that plays a lot more “total football” than Holland does these days, and the question will be what does Holland do to disrupt the Spanish? I shudder to think about it, but it will be fascinating to watch (at least for me). I’ll have my things to watch on Friday.
Bonus) Toni Kroos < Thomas Muller
Does Thomas Muller finish the chance that Toni Kroos got midway through the second half (and while the game was still 0-0)? We’ll never know, will we? We do know that FIFA needs to take a look at their suspension policies, and hopefully they will before 2014, but that won’t help the Germans now.
Double Bonus) The United States has played both the teams in the final in the last 12 months
Obviously, the U.S. beat Spain at last year’s Confederations Cup 2-0, and lost to Holland 2-1 in Amsterdam back in March.
Interestingly, the only change in the starting lineup for the Netherlands from that game in March is Robin van Persie is healthy and will start ahead of Eljero Elia.
Spain will likely have a couple of changes from the team the U.S. beat, but the back four and Iker Casillas will be the same, but Sergio Bousquets will likely be in (for Albert Riera), while Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres will probably be on the bench to start. Andres Iniesta missed the Confederations Cup with an injury, while Pedro Rodriguez also wasn’t on that squad.
By Ray Curren, on July 6th, 2010
Day 26 of the World Cup saw Uruguay fight the good fight, but in the end, the Netherlands just had a little too much for them. Well, that and a little luck on their side. But you don’t get to the World Cup finals by getting lucky. Or can you? Here’s what we learned from the first semifinal:
1) Uruguay’s bench actually outperformed Holland’s bench
Two of the players you noticed most on the field for Uruguay were defender Martin Cacares and midfielder Walter Gargano, both of whom were used sparingly in the tournament’s first five games. Both are decent players, Cacares is on the books at Barcelona while Gargano plays in Serie A at Napoli. But they helped to hold Uruguay together, at least for the first 60 minutes of the match. On the other side, Khalid Boulahrouz looked very nervous at right back, and nearly had a couple of suicidal backpasses, and Demy de Zeeuw was serviceable, but he’s no Nigel De Jong and was nowhere to be seen on Diego Forlan’s goal. Granted, he had been kicked in the head minutes earlier and the shot clearly should have been saved, but still. The best sub might have been Rafael van der Vaart coming in for de Zeeuw. Holland had a more attacking shape and van der Vaart wasn’t afraid to get forward, eventually being involved in the winning goal.
2) A tip of the cap to Diego Forlan
You can make a case for some others, but to me, Forlan is the MVP of this World Cup, leading tiny Uruguay to the semifinals (a nice performance in the third place game wouldn’t hurt here, either). But, although he got plenty of help from Luis Suarez, Forlan – omitted for various reasons when talking about the world’s greatest strikers – was the player that made Uruguay tick. Four of his five goals in the tournament were from outside the penalty box, Jabulani-aided sure, but it also showed that they were pretty much all his. He also, unlike some others in this tournament, played with class, rarely dived, never pouted, just tried to push his team forward. I tip my proverbial cap to you, Diego, and wish I would have made more of your talents earlier.
3) Unfortunately, neither team was truly likable here
I mean, I respect Forlan immensely, and the Uruguay run is admirable, but there’s not a heck of a lot else to root for there. They didn’t exactly play the most attractive style, they didn’t face extreme adversity, other than maybe being such a small country. Then, of course, there’s the whole Ghana-Luis Suarez thing that makes it a little harder to root for them. And the fact that Uruguay basically took out host South Africa with a 3-0 win in the second group game, too.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands has its own diving specialist in Arjen Robben, and it’s slightly frustrating to watch them play a much different style (and a somewhat less attractive one) than they’ve played in the past. There’s no doubting their skill, and there’s not much doubting they deserve to be in the finals with five consecutive one-goal victories. But compared to some others, there’s nothing that makes me want to jump on the Holland bandwagon. Other than maybe the orange uniforms.
4) The Jabulani must drive people that are writing scouting reports nuts
I think both the first two goals would have to go under the category of maybe as Jabulani goals, Forlan’s goal was probably more suspect. With or without the Jabulani, how do you defend against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s goal? Uruguay pretty much had all the danger areas covered, and then van Bronckhorst hit a missile from 40+ yards out that literally couldn’t be placed any better if he ran up there and put it there.
At the other end, Forlan did get behind both of Holland’s defensive midfielders, but there’s only so much you can defend and gameplan for. I guess the lesson is that there’s still some place in the game for quality somewhere, and that’s obviously a good thing.
5) Eventually Uruguay just ran out of gas
They had played a lot of soccer, including an emotional extra time contest on Friday (late Friday at that), and you could see the Uruguayan legs just start to go midway through the second half. Up to that point, the game was fairly level, and it even looked as if Uruguay might be able to steal a berth in the finals. But their pressure started the fade, the Netherlands started to have more and more of the ball, and a goal was coming when Wesley Sneijder scored the winner (onside, by the way, even if Robin van Persie was involved with the play, he looked level to me, level enough to give the benefit of the doubt to the attacker, anyway).
Uruguay – to their credit – got their second wind right at the death and made the game 3-2, but it was too little, too late.
Bonus) Good game, no?
I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a classic, but it was a contest certainly worthy of a World Cup semifinal. Even bereft of controversy for once, which was a refreshing change.
By Ray Curren, on July 5th, 2010
Germany has looked, well, what’s a word that’s more than fantastic? Stupendous, sublime, majestic. You get the point. Eight goals in knockout games against Argentina and England will do that for you. Spain, meanwhile, has looked plodding, but here they are in the semifinals. But has Germany looked too good, and Spain too mediocre? Here are five things to look for in Wednesday’s Spain-Germany clash:
1) Is Germany due for a bad performance?
Perhaps the question should be rephrased: Is Germany due to give up the first goal? Their last two performances have worth all the plaudits, but statistically, both England and Argentina have outpossessed and outshot Germany. Now those numbers mean virtually nothing both then and now, but consider for a second that Spain breaks through early. The whole game would change and put the Germans in a situation they haven’t been in since they couldn’t figure out a way to beat Serbia. Spain must score first because also remember …
2) Thomas Muller’s loss is bigger than most
Obviously, losing arguably your most productive player due to suspension is always tough, but the bigger problem might be who Joachim Low tries to replace him with. Muller has played wide in Germany’s 4-2-3-1, which leaves a little bit of a conundrum for Low. Does he got with a more attacking player, like Cacau? Or does he put a midfielder like Toni Kroos or Piotr Trochowski in there? The problem is that Kroos or Trochowski don’t have the experience or the talent, really, to do the things that Muller does. Which will make it harder for the Germans to counterattack. And harder to get the first goal.
3) Vicente del Bosque has a plan. An unpopular one, but a plan
Let’s face it, Cesc Fabregas – arguably the best player in the Premiership over the last two seasons – should probably be on the field somewhere. But here’s why del Bosque is reluctant. Here is the Spanish record in black and white in the last two major tournaments. (I’m leaving the Confederations Cup loss last summer to United States out for this. Also keep in mind also that Spain rolled through the group stage of the 2006 World Cup with 9 points before getting exposed at the back by France, conceding 3 times in a 3-1 loss.)
Euro 2008
QF – Spain 0, Italy 0 (Spain advances 4-2 on PK)
SF – Spain 3, Russia 0
Final – Spain 1, Germany 0
2010 World Cup
2nd R – Spain 1, Portugal 0
QF – Spain 1, Paraguay 0
So I think you can see why del Bosque plays Sergio Bousquets and Xavi Alonso the way he does. It’s worked and he’s afraid he’s going to get exposed if he doesn’t.
Spain only allowed 5 goals in qualifying, by the way, 3 of which came after they had already qualified. The other 2 came early (at Turkey and at Belgium) and Spain struggled to come back to win, 2-1 both times. But if they score first they haven’t lost since that fateful day against France four years ago, and the lesson they took out of it is that you’d better sure up the back.
(The lesson was driven home when they lost 2 of their first 3 qualifiers for Euro 2008: 2-0 to Sweden, and 3-2 to mighty Northern Ireland when David Healy scored a hat trick after Spain grabbed an early lead and blew it again).
He may get completely exposed by Germany in the semifinal, but if Spain can get the first goal, their recent record shows that may be extremely tough to beat.
4) Fernando Torres really can’t play in this game
Heck, even Torres himself says he’s hurt, yet he keeps getting run out there for a start, gets pulled, and then Spain scores. I think even del Bosque will change gears and start Fabregas, leaving Spain without a true striker, but a lot more freedom both on the counterattack and in the final third, but still leave six players back to defend.
5) Spain’s defense is pretty darn good
I’d venture to say horribly underrated (No. 3). Sergio Ramos is among the best right backs in the world and Gerard Pique and Carlos Puyol have proven with Barcelona that they can play at the highest level. They’ve conceded two goals in this tournament, one to Switzerland on the counter and the other a deflection against Chile. Joan Capedevila seems like the weak link (and he probably is), but he’s yet to be exposed. And without Muller, it’s hard to see who is going to do it for the Germans.
Prediction (you can probably see where I’m going here): Spain 2, Germany 0
By Ray Curren, on July 4th, 2010
Uruguay is dreaming the impossible dream as they take on the giant killer Netherlands Tuesday in the semifinals of the World Cup. And although they are only two games away from the world title, exactly zero people have Uruguay hoisting the World Cup on Sunday. Well, maybe a couple of people in Montevideo. If Uruguay has 3 million people, how many were left in their homes (or in the rest of the country) here. Anyway, here’s five things to look for in Uruguay-Netherlands:
1) Luis Suarez is very good, but …
Sebastian Abreu’s career is heading the opposite way of rising Suarez (at 33, he’s getting to the end of a journeyman career), but he’s fresh, having seen limited action in the tournament, he won’t be scared (you saw his game-winning penalty kick, right? He’s also known as Loco if that helps), and he has some talent, although he’s never played in a “big” league before. But doesn’t this just set up for Abreu to be the hero? Aging veteran, one last shot at glory, comes in only when something happens to the starter? Cue the dramatic music. Forgot, as Uruguay certainly proved in the last round, the scripts aren’t written by Hollywood, otherwise Ghana would be in this game.
2) Uruguay could take a page from Paraguay’s book
Paraguay, facing Spain on short rest, decided that instead of sitting back and defending they would throw some new bodies on the field and say, “Screw it, we’re attacking”. And it really caught Spain off guard, leading Paraguay to have the better of the play for the opening 30 minutes of the match. Alas, they didn’t score, but they got a lot closer than they probably should have. Just look at the list of players Uruguay will be without: Suarez, Nicolas Lodeiro, Jorge Fucile, and probably Diego Godin and Diego Lugano (there are four Diegos on the Uruguay roster, how about that?). That’s a lot of forced changes, but they should be fresh, at least.
3) But Oscar Tabarez might not have the depth that Gerardo Martino did
When you look at the Paraguay roster, you see a lot of interchangeable parts that allowed Martino to do what he did. You don’t get the same feeling about Uruguay, Andres Scotti – likely to start at center back – looked shaky against Ghana, and at 34, played in the Chilean league last season. Mauricio Victorino, the other likely center back, will only be getting his ninth cap at age 27, and was also in the Chilean league last year (yeah, Chilean league).
Also, from a tactical standpoint, it doesn’t make make sense to press for Uruguay starting Diego Forlan, Abreu, and Edinson Cavani up top. Forlan, especially, may be tired from a ton of soccer, while Abreu will be lucky to go 90 minutes anyway, without trying to chase Holland all over the field. Which means Tabarez is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place, because ….
4) The Netherlands’ weakness is certainly in the back
It looks like Joris Mathijsen will play, which will be a boost to Holland, but Brazil had their way with the back line in the first half, only to see it all go to pieces in the second. The real place Uruguay will look to take advantage is in the holding midfield role. Nigel De Jong is suspended for the game, Demy de Zeeuw will likely take his place, but he’s no De Jong. On the other side, somehow a tiring Mark van Bommel avoided getting a yellow card (and amazingly has none in the tournament) against Brazil despite five (and it seemed like more) fouls. It stands to reason that an aging van Bommel will be a little leggy, and the beneficiary on both these counts should be one Mr. Forlan, who likes to come into the middle, get the ball, and go to work. That could be trouble for Holland, if Uruguay can get that far.
5) The Netherlands haven’t really been all that impressive thus far, have they?
They won all three group games in a relatively soft group, saw off Slovakia, and took advantage of an implosion by Brazil. Obviously having a front four of Dirk Kuyt, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, and Arjen Robben helps the cause, but those two goals against Brazil weren’t exactly things of beauty (even though the winning goal was a tremendously worked set piece that showed off some great coaching and execution).
One thing they have been very good at is getting the other team upset. It’s up to Uruguay, who will surely foul Holland at some point to: a) not let Robben’s antics get them as frustrated as Brazil did; and b) keep 11 players on the field. Both are much easier said than done.
Prediction: Uruguay 2, Netherlands 2 (Uruguay advances 4-3 on PKs)
Why not? Forlan and Abreu get a goal each, they hold on for dear life in extra time and go through to the finals from the spot.
By Ray Curren, on July 3rd, 2010
Day 23 of the World Cup saw Europe regain its dominance on top of the soccer world. And all it took was getting rid of dead weights like Italy and England. What went wrong for Argentina? Was the Guatemalan official in the Spain-Paraguay game great or poor or somewhere in between? Here’s what we learned:
1) Form in the group stage means very little as long as you get through
Germany lost to Serbia, didn’t look very good against Ghana (and took apart 10-man Australia), but is rolling for sure now. If you look at the history of the World Cup (or really any tournament), the teams that win don’t often roll through the entire tourney, but get stronger as time goes on. Kind of like Germany. Although you have to think Spain will be a stiffer test in the semifinals.
On the flip side, Argentina was rolling, Maradona is a genius, and then – boom – see you later. Even in a short tournament, it’s not a sprint, it’s who is standing at the end.
2) The Ballack theory?
Could the fact that Michael Ballack, an aging veteran not in his best form last season, got injured be the blessing that has pushed Germany forward. Well, it’s really not that simple, is it?
The direct replacement for Ballack has been Sami Khedira, and he’s done a great job. But it’s amazing to think that in qualifying for the World Cup, Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil combined for zero goals, which makes some sense, two years ago they were 18 and 19 years old, respectively. With Miroslav Klose still scoring goals, Joachim Low seems to have the perfect mix of youth and experience as Germany rolls through the knockout rounds. It is worth noting, though, that there was a little luck involved in him making those decisions.
3) History is worth looking at sometimes
Germany’s World Cup record is ridiculous. They have been to the semifinals in the last three World Cups and six of the last eight. That record is not only unmatched, no one else is close. Obviously, a lot of the players on the field today were different than 2002 and 2006, but there’s something to be said (just like in other sports) for the program. These guys expect to win big games, therefore they do.
Argentina, by the way, has not been to a semifinal since Diego Maradona himself was leading them in 1990. From the first minute on, they never did look comfortable, did they?
4) Diego Maradona may not be the tactical genius I made him out to be
Maradona put Jonas Gutierrez at right back for the first few games, and then decided when it came down for the knockout stage to go with Nicolas Otamendi, allegedly for a better defensive configuration. But he didn’t get much defense from Otamendi today, especially on the second goal when Otamendi started too wide and then went chasing the ball.
The rest of the Argentine frailties on defense may have been forced on Maradona. He doesn’t have many options after Martin Dimechelis, and Nicolas Burdisso – who was also undressed today – was a forced change with Walter Samuel being out.
Maradona also left Javier Mascherano alone as a holding midfielder, and although Angel di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez were decent going forward, Mascherano – despite being one of the world’s best – couldn’t do the job by himself.
In the end, like everything else, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Maradona is neither an idiot not a genius, although it seemed like he handled the crushing defeat better than I thought he would, gracefully and with class.
5) Wherefore art thou, width?
I talked earlier in the tournament about the pressure that the Argentine front three of Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain, and Lionel Messi put on opposing defenses, which cause mistakes. But the problem today was the trio really seemed to have no idea where the other two were, meaning a cluster in the middle of the field every time Argentina attacked. There was no room for Messi, especially, to operate. I thought Messi had a decent tournament, but he was invisible today. As Maradona himself said after the game, “Today, the player wants to do everything with their team. In the past, we put teams on our back.”
Argentina needed Messi to do that today.
6) Two yellow cards for a suspension in five game is asinine
Luis Suarez will miss the semifinals, and I’m fine with that (I wouldn’t be fine in FIFA extended the ban to the finals, but thankfully they didn’t). Thomas Muller will miss the semifinals because he picked up his second yellow card of the tournament on a handball in today’s match. Putting aside for a moment the fact that the yellow today wasn’t deserved, you can’t have a player miss a semifinal match because he gets two yellows in five games. Just a stupid system.
You want a solution? How about your third yellow of the tournament gets a one-game ban no matter when it happens (if you get a yellow in the first two games, you have to sit out the final group game, fine). If you get three yellows in a tournament, it seems like a suspension might be more deserved. But you want the best players on the field for the biggest games, don’t you?
7) Paraguay had a very good gameplan today, just needed a goal to go with it
Everyone expected Gerardo Martino to sit back and try to hold Spain off, and maybe get a break at the other end and steal a goal. But he looked his team and he had some players that hadn’t played much, but weren’t that much behind the players he was using most of the tournament and now might have had some heavy legs after four games and a quick turnaround for the fifth.
Martino pressed with a high tempo and caught Spain completely off guard, rattling them for the good part of the first 30 minutes of the game. What he needed to get in the first half was a goal, and Paraguay came so close. By the second half, Spain adjusted and had more and more of the ball, and eventually the (much) more talented side was going to break through. In the end, Spain won 1-0, but Martino almost pulled off the shocker when they shouldn’t have been that close.
Meanwhile, Spain is winning in spite of themselves
Sometimes, an overwhelmingly talented club can win in spite of its tactics and its coaching. David Villa, Andres Iniesta, and a very good back four are through to the semifinals despite some puzzling moves by Vicente del Bosque, the most prominent of which is leaving Fernando Torres in the starting lineup despite him not being 100 percent healthy or in form, and leaving Cesc Fabregas – arguably the best player in the Premier League the last two seasons – on the bench. While Germany has moved on from the 2008 Euros (where Spain beat Germany in the finals), del Bosque seems intent on letting Torres try to recapture the glory of the winning goal he scored two years ago.
Ironically, del Bosque put Fabregas on the field today for Torres and Spain won the game, meaning that he may smarten up and put Fabregas in the starting lineup for the semifinals. As I said earlier, it’s not about how you start the tournament, it’s how you finish.
9) Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres wasn’t great or horrible
First, you have to credit him for guts. He officiated the group stage match between Italy and New Zealand. He pointed to the penalty spot in that game when Daniele De Rossi was judged to have been pulled down by Tommy Smith on a corner kick.
Today, it was Gerard Pique tackling Oscar Cardozo on – of course – a corner kick. Don’t think you can have any argument with either call, and it’s a call that needs to be made more often to clean up a lot of the muggings that go on in the penalty box.
So far, so good.
His problems started on Cardozo’s ensuing penalty kick. It was saved by Iker Casillas, but before it was kicked, at least three Spanish players were in the box. No big deal, encroachment is never called anyway.
Except it becomes a big deal when there was a penalty kick at the other end. Xabi Alonso’s goal was disallowed for encroachment, but it was not half of what it was at the other end minutes earlier. Didn’t like that inconsistency.
(Mixed in there were calls for Paraguay’s Antolin Alcarez to be sent off for being the last defender and pulled down David Villa. It could have went either way, but I like Batros just giving yellow rather than the double jeopardy of a penalty and a red card.)
Now Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar saved the second penalty, it rolled to Fabregas, who was apparently pulled down by Villar. Everyone thought that should have been a penalty again, but I have a slight gripe with that. What if Batres played advantage, because right after Sergio Ramos had his shot saved off the line by Paulo da Silva? What if Batres had blown the whistle before Ramos shot and he scored, he would have looked incredibly silly (and wrong).
(Batres probably should have gone back after the fact, though, and gave Villar a yellow card for his challenge.)
Needless to say, it was a crazy few minutes for any official, which leads me to….
Bonus) It doesn’t matter where an official is from
To say Batres is not qualified because he is from Guatemala and doesn’t referee the “big games” is ridiculous. In fact, I would argue that working Central American qualifiers is much tougher (on many levels) than officiating in “big” European leagues. So if he’s able to come out of that environment, he certainly deserves his chance to work at the World Cup. Arguing otherwise shows ignorance.
10) In the end, the best team usually wins
It would have been nice for Paraguay to pull the upset, but – most of the time – the best team wins, and despite great preparation and their best effort, Spain is better and they’ll go on to the semifinals. As much as we like to analyze, usually that’s the way it turns out, folks.
I’ll be back with the semifinal previews and more useless previews (although I did get 3 of 4 quarterfinals right, missing only the Netherlands over Brazil) on Monday.
Until then, thanks for reading.
|
Featured Authors
|
Recent Comments