firefly wrote:This is what it's all about. Extra credit to those who know who Sir Bobby was. The gentleman of football RIP.

WOW! Freaking brilliant.

In response to Sebby's post, some fantastic football ads.

jimimou wrote:

eViL wrote:i don't care who wins so long as england goes down in embarrassing fashion.

firefly gonna make a voodoo doll out of you

I don't think England has ever won the World Cup even with some of the dominant teams in the 80s-90s. Neither has Spain. Of course the English fans still whine about the "Hand of God incident" that allowed Argentina to beat them in the semi finals when Diego Maradona faked a header.

Only when we play Germany! But since that glorious night in Munich, we don't feel the need to trash talk that much Sorry Dodger, couldn't resist

dodger and firefly, thanks for the responses before. i certainly acknowledge my own gaps in knowledge, and that the u.s. does not have a world class squad, nor do we have a history that has demonstrated understanding of the game. i am glad to see that changing, and even how the u.s. is growing players has improved. there was a really interesting article on espn soccernet about how mls teams have done better at creating legit youth academies, which can't compare just yet to those in europe, but are good enough to create better alternative to the old amateur system that did not

about bradley...for the most part...yes, my perception of bradley is the u.s.'s best defensive midfielder with some offensive skills. not sure if folks know, but he's actually the son of the bob bradley, the head coach of the u.s. national team. however, he deserves to be on the team. he had a good season in germany from what i heard (i didn't get to see because we don't really get the german bundesliga on tv in the u.s.), but in u.s. matches we have seen it.

nice breakdown of england, firefly.

didn't see you mention crouch in your forward commentary. i suspect he might even start against the u.s. since a big weakness that has come up in the last few friendlies is vulnerability in the air. i am very scared of rooney, in particular.

i'm curious what kind of formation england will go with. will they play barry as an anchor man with rooney as the lone striker?

if i were capello i'd start with a 4-4-2 against the u.s. pairing crouch for his ability in the air, with rooney. at some point i suspect they will use a 4-5-1 with barry in the tournament. if barry is not well fit, i see (the obvious) gerrard + lampard up the middle (even with a poor track record together), then lennon + who knows? on the other wing.

if england has a lead against the u.s. midway through the second half do you go to a 4-5-1 and bring barry on to protect the lead or is that questioning the confidence of the team early on where goal difference is so vital? barry as anchor man could be key in the knockout phase, because maybe he's more fit, then with his defensive prowess and penalty taking skills in a close match he could be vital. i like barry, btw (followed man city pretty closely this year...too bad they didn't make the champions league...that was a great match against tottenham late in the year, btw, when they lost the spot). funny how walcott and cole have created question marks for the other winger. a year or two ago cole would normally be the choice, with walcott challenging, but niehter had the best year. i have no clue who will play, (i've seen some say carrick) but i'll guess cole for his experience. btw, funny you said wright-phillips may be faster than lennon, because i was going to say i wonder if that's the case too when you commented about lennon in an earlier post.

Munichs my place and Bayern my team!!!
But with Manu vs. Bayern... now seriously I think Manu played one great half against them... which was the first half in Manchester ... other than that I think Munich was at least on par with them and that card by Rafael... well I think it was okay... Ive seen worse cards and you players like Ribery and Robben due to their technic and speed of course initiate fouls and cards by their opponents.

Concerning Fulham... they played a great Euroleague season and they deserved to proceed against both German teams!!!! No doubt at all... I really like Davis and Zamorra... good players both!!!
Got to say though that Wolfsburg and Hamburg were both beat during really difficult times where they were simply not playing at their top level... ;-)
They deserved the loses though!!!
Whats your team in the Premier League?!? Manu?!?
By the way I really got to give it up to those great chants in english soccer stadiums its AMAZING!!!

jimimou wrote:i heard this morning that drogba broke his arm and is out for the WC. that's bad bad news for ivory

That sucks! http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5250486/ce/us/didier-drogba-broken-arm?cc=5901&ver=us