Good afternoon folks. I'm coming to you from Pretoria, where Spain and Chile will clash tonight in a great match-up of skilled teams.
It's time for the latest SBI Live Q&A, where you send your World Cup and soccer-related questions my way, and I answer as many of them as I can.
Let's get started. The Q&A is after the jump:
Amazing the condescension you get away with towards your own readers. I’m not hating, more in awe really, of how innocent questions can be responded with “how can you be so stupid?!” and no one bats an eye. Good chat nevertheless.
I think there’s support for this point:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/29/arsene-wenger-arsenal-transfer-signings
All this Arsenal talk is pure craziness. Arsene Wenger has stated publicly that Arsenal does not sign players (1) based on their national team performance or (2) after World Cups because they’re overpriced based on having a good tournament. It’s one of the reasons Arsenal have such a good track record at finding young, undervalued players and then selling them at a premium (see, e.g., Nicholas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Alexander Hleb, and potentially Cesc Fabregas). Yes, Bradley has had a good club record but he’s going to be way too expensive after this Cup for it to fit the Arsenal business model. For that reason alone, Michael Bradley will not be going to there.
You’re right. People forget what its like not having a forward who can take on and beat defenders at will, who has the confidence to demand the ball. He may not be scoring but he’s dangerous and he has set up a lot of our best chances.
I was at the game and he was a handful. We need to have someone else with speed up top. A few times Jozy got a breakaway and there was no one else to help me. A CD9 type would certainly have provided an outlet.
and i believe the US is benefitting from the Confed cup run a year ago. That experience is paying off.
For the record, Messi is 23, NOT 21.
Wow, people really don’t understand what Jozy brings to this team.
To emphasize Ives’ point about MB being in the young player Best XI:
-Alvin Martin on TalkSport’s world cup coverage just gave Bradley a shoutout as one of the best midfielders in the group stage. Not young player of the group stage- midfielder of the group stage. He pointed out “he may not be pretty on the eye but he’s had 3 great games” and that there “must be a hell of a lot of pressure on him [being the coach’s son] being selected week in week out”
This view is plain delusion.. Something rampant amongst US fans.
Ives – I’m still disgusted with the amount of diving and fake injuries at the World Cup. The Italy – Slovakia game is a perfect example, especially the second half. Why aren’t the officials at this Cup harsher about dishing out cards for this? They seem to be giving enough dubious cards for other perceived infractions (e.g., phantom hand balls).
p.s. – I have to admit it was fun to see Slovakian players outdo the Italians with the theatrics — falling down and covering the face, even though there was no contact.
wow the BB haters have turned into BB doubters… “do the player genuinely like BB?” .. “is BB motivating”..
P.S. I really hope we see none of Findley, Bornstein, or Buddle. They’re jut not World-Cup quality players, and they weaken the team. God, I wish CD9!
The eternal question: Who starts? Does Gooch get back in the lineup, who’s up top, and do we use the fresh legs of Holden and Torres?