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World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

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Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Another off the wall way to make the game more offensive is to simply make winning more valueable. Instead of 3 points, how about 5 (and keep 1 for draw)?

I doubt teams are going to sit back playing for a tie then. This won't work in knockout rounds of tournaments, but for all other games it might.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Anyone talking about drastic changes like eliminating backpasses might as well stop even thinking about it. Not gonna happen (nor should it). I agree, mild tweaks/changes in enforcement are what's gonna happen.

Honestly, the World Cup final often underwhelms, and the World Cup in general is put up on such a pedestal that it's hard to live up to the hype. We all wait for four years and get so excited that we expect a month full of constant, hair-raising ecstasy.

As the fresh memories from this tournament fade and we get into 2012 and 2013 and start building up toward Brazil 2014, we will remember the Suarez handball, Donovan's goal, Germany's brilliance, Maicon's crazy goal, van Brockhorst's bullet, and North Korea's weirdness, and forget all about the 0-0 draws, the cynical fouls, Torres's no-show, and the tight and defensive 1-0 games... and it's the things we remember fondly that we'll expect to see in '14.

In all honestly, 20% of soccer matches are dull. To me, this isn't really a bad thing, it's just part of the game - you deal with it, because the magic is (always) coming soon. In the World Cup it was probably closer to 1/3 of the matches being dull.

Overall it wasn't a terrible World Cup, or a great one. It was a poor final, and the early group matches were poor. But for the most part, it didn't lack in excitement. It DID lack in brilliant play - which you can blame on the ball, the elevation, tactics, or whatever you want... but it didn't lack in excitement. The drama of the late group stages (Italy-Slovakia, USA-Algeria) and many of the knockout games were great, even if it was often caused by bad plays and bad officiating.

My preliminary list of 10 most enjoyable games-

1. Uruguay 1-Ghana 1 (4-2 on PKs)
2. Germany 3-Uruguay 2 (3rd place)
3. Slovakia 3-Italy 2
4. Slovenia 2-USA 2
5. USA 1-Algeria 0
6. Netherlands 3-Uruguay 2 (Semi)
7. Germany 4-England 1 (Round of 16)
8. Netherlands 2-Brazil 1 (QF)
9. South Africa 1-Mexico 1
10. Brazil 2-North Korea 1

Honorable mention to Germany-Australia, Denmark-Cameroon, and Serbia-Germany.

Those were all fun games.
 
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Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Red Cloud said:
Actually, the only player that was on this squad who is pretty much guaranteed not to be around in 2014 is Marcus Hahnemann, and only because he's age prohibitive at 38 (although his USMNT history is fairly interesting - he was capped in 1994 and then not again until 2003 when he started pwning at Reading). Now, that's not to say that they'll all be back. I doubt we'll see more than a handful of the older guys on this team, but some of them, if they're still in good shape, could still be helpful through 2014.

(snip)
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A couple of comments on this...

G - I can't imagine Friedel is going to be around and playing at the top level for THAT much longer; 39 is starting to push it even for a goalkeeper. Guzan will get a chance to prove himself in the EPL before 2014 WCQ rolls around, I would guess. But Howard is awesome (let's not forget that he played most of the tournament with injured ribs) and he'll probably still be the top guy through the next cycle.

D - I think Goodson is going to work his way into the center back rotation soon, and hopefully Bornstein will build on some pretty good performances (which nobody really expected from him except Bradley).

M - Bradley is a rock, and at this point the rest are competing to see who gets to partner him in the midfield. Donovan and Dempsey will be at the tail end of their prime but will still be factors in 2014, I figure.

WeWantMore said:
The team selection for the Brazil friendly will be interesting. The EPL starts on the 14th, so I wonder if Bob ( or whoever replaces him) will want to call in Holden, Howard, and any other guys who earn EPL transfers over the summer (Bradley, Donovan, Altidore?). I'd honestly rather have them stay in England if it assures them of a starting role on the weekend, not sure that's fair to fans who buy tickets though. It's a tough one.
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I think this will probably end up being a "B" type match, with all of Brazil's top players presumably tied up with preseason training and not likely to come back for a friendly.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Badger Abroad said:
Obviously the point of the whole change would be to reduce the play at midfield and increase the time in the offensive/defensive zones. I certainly wouldn't like the play to be "switching frantically back and forth" either, but I don't know whether it would get as bad as lacrosse or basketball. I would think that because in soccer it is inherently harder for the offense to keep control of the ball the result might not be as drastic as you fear. I certainly could be wrong about this and most games are not as congested in the middle as what we saw in Spain-Holland.

Of course the other upside would be that the game would be easier to officiate, because one of the hardest calls to make would be removed, allowing the linesmen to actually pay attention to whether the ball went in the goal.
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My allusions to basketball and lacrosse were hyperbole just to help illustrate my point.

My fear isn't that the offense would keep control of the ball deep in the zone. That would be just fine - my fear is really exactly the opposite. As you say, it is more difficult to possess a soccer ball, so the offense will turn it over a bunch. The problem is that once the defenders get the ball, they won't be able to do anything with it except lob it upfield and hope that the lone attacker remaining upfield miraculously comes up with the ball. Most of the time, though, the offense would just get the ball back and quickly work it back upfield, so the game becomes a series of predictable passes upfield into a clogged defense followed by a desperate lob back out to the half line. Rinse and repeat.

It would wreck the transition flow from defense to midfield to offense, which is one of the things that I love about soccer - all of the play, all over the field can be just as beautiful and as intricate as the goal scoring.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

LynahFan said:
My allusions to basketball and lacrosse were hyperbole just to help illustrate my point.

My fear isn't that the offense would keep control of the ball deep in the zone. That would be just fine - my fear is really exactly the opposite. As you say, it is more difficult to possess a soccer ball, so the offense will turn it over a bunch. The problem is that once the defenders get the ball, they won't be able to do anything with it except lob it upfield and hope that the lone attacker remaining upfield miraculously comes up with the ball. Most of the time, though, the offense would just get the ball back and quickly work it back upfield, so the game becomes a series of predictable passes upfield into a clogged defense followed by a desperate lob back out to the half line. Rinse and repeat.

It would wreck the transition flow from defense to midfield to offense, which is one of the things that I love about soccer - all of the play, all over the field can be just as beautiful and as intricate as the goal scoring.
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Yes. It would not be a good outcome.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

WeWantMore said:
Holy crap, I like de Jong...
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Why on earth would you like a player like de Jong?

The guy's a thug. He commits horrific challenges on a regular basis. Also see the tackle that broke Stuart Holden's leg.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

3W said:
As was brought to my attention on another board, congratulations to the only team to complete this year's World Cup undefeated:

NEW ZEALAND?!
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The U.S. was undefeated in regulation.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Badger Abroad said:
Just an idea, and I haven't thought through the ramifications, but why shouldn't the offsides rule go the way of the two line pass. Offsides compresses the field, leaving less room to operate and it also has proven to be way too hard to officiate. The beginning of the final showed how crowded midfield became when both defensive lines moved forward.

I'm sure the rule will never be removed, but what besides tradition are the reasons for the rule?
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Anecdotal evidence (and I stress, anecdotal) says that the game is actually better with the offsides rule. Without it, the game turns into a camp-fest with no midfields and the ball ping-ponging between crowded penalty areas.

The one offsides rule modification that might be work considering is eliminating the line in the penalty area—if there's another defender besides the goaltender in the penalty area, no offsides.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

I don't think the cards were Howard Webb's fault. Like one of the posters said, only 2 were unwarranted. The game was dictated by the players and not the ref.

I am getting the World Cup video game and I am going to play as Ireland. :D (Call it an early birthday present for next Monday.)
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

MountieBoyOz said:
I don't think the cards were Howard Webb's fault. Like one of the posters said, only 2 were unwarranted. The game was dictated by the players and not the ref.

I am getting the World Cup video game and I am going to play as Ireland. :D (Call it an early birthday present for next Monday.)
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Ive already won it all in "Captain Your Country" mode as USA and Scotland...working through things as South Africa now...
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

ExileOnDaytonStreet said:
How long after watching that did you stop and think "oh crap, I'm going to have to defend this guy on USCHO..."?
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Heh. Not long after. I was on the Man City message boards as well though. They took a rather more positive view of the challenge for some odd reason.:D

Craig P. said:
Why on earth would you like a player like de Jong?

The guy's a thug. He commits horrific challenges on a regular basis. Also see the tackle that broke Stuart Holden's leg.
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He gives his absolute all every time out there. And he performs his role admirably well most times. See his shutdown of Michael Essien in the City-Chelsea fixture this year. Or his performance in a losing effort against Man United the 2nd time around. Even yesterday, Spain's passing percentage completed was lower than it had been for the rest of the tournament. He does a very good job of clogging things up.

I would never defend his tackle on Holden or his challenge on Xabi Alonso yesterday. Both were red card offenses, and he should have earned himself an early shower for both of them. And believe me, I was cussing him out with the rest of you when they played against the US in March ( he also had a despicable dive in that game that got glossed over). But the things that make him an absolute ***** to play against make him an absolutely invaluable asset to have your own team.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

Shirtless Guy said:
Ive already won it all in "Captain Your Country" mode as USA and Scotland...working through things as South Africa now...
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I won it in CYC with the US, and in the regular mode with the US (after like 10 tries), the Netherlands, Argentina, and Uganda (a really fun team to play with). Quarterfinals with DPRK and China, knocked out in the groups with Northern Ireland and failed to qualify with New Caledonia. Really fun game.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

WeWantMore said:
I won it in CYC with the US, and in the regular mode with the US (after like 10 tries), the Netherlands, Argentina, and Uganda (a really fun team to play with). Quarterfinals with DPRK and China, knocked out in the groups with Northern Ireland and failed to qualify with New Caledonia. Really fun game.
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Are the groups the same ones from the WCQ or are they re-drawn?
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

MountieBoyOz said:
I don't think the cards were Howard Webb's fault. Like one of the posters said, only 2 were unwarranted. The game was dictated by the players and not the ref.
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And when this happens, it's a lot harder to officiate because things get chippy yet no ref wants to give a red card in a World Cup Final.

In the end, the right team won.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

J.D. said:
And when this happens, it's a lot harder to officiate because things get chippy yet no ref wants to give a red card in a World Cup Final.

In the end, the right team won.
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In that case, Webb's liberal use of Yellows works well - you get enough players with cards, they either have to clean up or risk getting sent off for a more minor infraction.

No, it wasn't pretty, but I don't see what other option Webb had.
 
Re: World Cup Soccer XVII: There can only be ONE!!!11!!!

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/wo...s-with-teary-smooch-on-his-rep?urn=sow,255232

If the network gets upset about this it's their own fault for sending his girlfriend anyway.

I remember this tournament started with a lot of people p/oed at Casillas and her because they thought it was a distraction having them both there when Spain lost to the Swiss 1-0 in their first match.
 
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