World Cup Fantasy League (Spoilers Ahoy!)

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:55 am

The Koller goal was piss poor defending. Rosicky's was a rocket - I can't really blame anyone for that. Reyna unfortunate to strike the inside of the post.

I don't really think we've looked that bad so far. A little shaky at the back maybe and Beasley's been completely anonymous, but we've had the lion's share of possession and created some opportunities. At least we're having a go. Another entertaining game.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 11:57 am

from some dude on Big Soccer -

WE'RE TEAM USA DAMMNIT. just turn your tv upside down and it looks like we're up 7-0.

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:56 pm

You haven't looked bad at all, it's just that the Czechs played incredibly well.
Eddie Johnson was a great replacement in the second half.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 12:58 pm

IP wrote

You haven't looked bad at all, it's just that the Czechs played incredibly well.

I think you are incredibly kind.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:03 pm

invisible Pole wrote:You haven't looked bad at all, it's just that the Czechs played incredibly well.
Eddie Johnson was a great replacement in the second half.

Thought we were awful in the second half, though you're right that Johnson wasn't bad. No urgency at all. Did Donovain even play? Nice to see Arena getting up and getting them motivated - he looked like a bored spectator at a pee wee football game.

Well done to the Czechs - nicely taken goals. There's no way we are going to get anything from either of the next two matches if we play like that.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:46 pm

Ugh. We had a few nice moments, but generally I though there was just a total lack of hustle on our part. It wouldn't be so bad-- CR's rated #2, after all-- but as usual the American press in their chauvinism have done nothing but gush and promise. I was hardly expecting we'd win but this was awful.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:51 pm

Drives me nuts. I don't want the kind of relentlessly negative media coverage they get, say, in England, but when it comes to our national team the media are such a soft touch. Arena, Donovain and Beasley should be ripped a new one for the heartless performance they put in today. Instead Wynalda, Balboa and company will make excuses.

OK, enough wallowing in misery - Luca Toni earn me some points!

PS - I was happy to see that at least Lalas ripping into them and not buying into this "lack of experience" nonsense.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:28 pm

Donovan always seems to disappear when Reyna's on the field. FWIW, I like him best playing right behind 2 forwards.

Also, FWIW, I suppose with Gooch's yellow, I'm back down to zero or worse. Don't tell me. I'm not looking for a long, long time.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 3:40 pm

From ESPN.com:

"They even got a pregame pep talk from President Bush, who called from Camp David before the game and wished them well."

Ah yes, the eloquence of our finest living orator. No wonder we lost - they probably spent the first 15 minutes of the match trying to figure out what the hell he said.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:00 pm

mood swung wrote: I suppose with Gooch's yellow, I'm back down to zero or worse. Don't tell me. I'm not looking for a long, long time.

Hey, it's not as bad as all that!

I can't wait to see what happens with France-- I accidentally made Henry a sub, and didn't understand what I'd done until it was too late. D'oh! Hello, learning curve...

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:04 pm

Not to worry - since Messi didn't play Henry will automatically be substituted for him - or you can go in there and do it now.

From the Help section:

"If any of your outfield players play no part in the game round, your inactive player will be replaced by your substitute at the end of the game round, if your substitute played.

Automatic substitutions are applied at the end of the game round, when all matches have been played.

Frequently asked questions

Do substitutes score points?

Only starting or automatically substituted players will earn points for your team. These automatic substitutions provide cover for unforeseen events like last minute injuries and players being dropped. Having a strong substitutes bench also helps conserve your transfers during the Group phase."

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:15 pm

Well that's a relief... see, I had really misunderstood the auto-substitution as well!

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:22 pm

So Lacks assessment so far.

Germany v Costa Rica
Costa Rica looked full of nerves and never really settled. Not sure how Germany will fair against better sides, but will impove for the return of Ballack.

Poland v Ecuador
Only saw about last half hour, Poland look like one of the weaker European sides as expected. They seemed to have run out of ideas.

England v Parguay
Thought England did okay. I enjoyed the match I don't know what all the yankee moaning is about. The first half they looked pretty good and when they sat deeper in the 2nd half they looked pretty solid, I couldn't see Paraguay scoring. Yes they need to get better but Paraguay seem a decent organised side and could finish in the top two in the group.

Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden
Sweden looked good in patches, but amazed they couldn't put one away. Fancy England to beat both of these.

Argentina v Ivory Coast
Both teams looked good, Ivory Coast will wory Holland. Argentina looked very organised and efficient until they leaked the goal, expect them to go far.

S&M v Holland
Didn't see any of this.

Mexico v Iran
An interesting game, Iran better than I expected and Mexico struggled at times. Don't expect to see either of these get to QF.

Angola v Portugal
Only got in for last 15 mins, but listened t much of it on car radio, hope Portugal get better as one fivers has them to win.

Australia v Japan
Australia looked stronger throughout, and did well to keep going to the end. I doubt they'll go beyond the 2nd round but could beat Croatia.

USA v Czech Republic
My other fiver is on the Czechs so pleased to see them start well, although USA looked the poorest side so far. Also please to see Rosicky getting a couple, glad Arsenal have already signed him as his price has probably just gone up.

Italy v Ghana
Ghana better than expected, although their heads dropped after the first goal. Italy could do well here, they're not the greatest team but look organised and solid at the back.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:54 pm

I could easily see Paraguay scoring. They came pretty close a couple of times. If England started with all guns blazing, you'd know it was all going to go downhill. A bit of a wobbly start is about right. Damn Wenger, he don't half spot 'em. Much as the concept of Arsenal winning the Prem revolts me (basically cos you can't separate them from their generally repugnant fans), I admire Henry and his players too much to not say if MU don't win again, please let it be Arse or Liv or someone else on top, not Abankovich. Talking of whom, Essien didn't look the boy most likely to today. Endless desperate non-threatening shots from miles out. Ghana showing lots of first-timers weakness, but were no pushover.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:15 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Damn Wenger, he don't half spot 'em.

Can we hold off on praising Wenger for another master signing until we see what Rosicky does at Arsenal? Today USA were the equivalent of a lower-tier Nationwide side. Truly awful.

then Otis Westinghouse wrote:Talking of whom, Essien didn't look the boy most likely to today. Endless desperate non-threatening shots from miles out.

Didn't see the Ghana-Italy match, but I heard generally positive things about Essien, so it surprises me to hear you say that.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Jun 12, 2006 8:17 pm

I'll be rooting for Togo tomorrow

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:39 am

Togo! Togo! Togo! (cue plenty of Togo party jokes!).

USA was either struggling with the heat or struggling against a much better side. I can't believe how many times I saw USA players waiting for the ball to come to them and being intercepted by Czech players.

The Czech Republic was simply a better side.

I thought the Italy v Ghana game was a cracker, purely for the entertainment value of the Italian players being hit by the invisible sniper! I thought Essien was superb - he was everywhere.

And MG - lucky you with the Fantasy Football substitution (which I predict wil happen

).

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:08 am

Who Shot Sam? wrote:
Otis Westinghouse wrote:Damn Wenger, he don't half spot 'em.
Can we hold off on praising Wenger for another master signing until we see what Rosicky does at Arsenal? Today USA were the equivalent of a lower-tier Nationwide side. Truly awful.

then Otis Westinghouse wrote:Talking of whom, Essien didn't look the boy most likely to today. Endless desperate non-threatening shots from miles out.
Didn't see the Ghana-Italy match, but I heard generally positive things about Essien, so it surprises me to hear you say that.

I agree with all this - sorry Otis.

Essien played well I thought and was struggling to carry a fair few lesser lights. He looked like a man amongst boys. No wonder he took a few shots from outside the area. Only way Ghana were gonna score.

As for Rosicky, he was hardly a well-kept secret that Wenger 'spotted'. For some time he had contractual obligations that made it hard for him to move on. Hoddle came close to signing him for Spurs a few years back, but his wages were a problem. He's always been talented, but as WSS says, lets see what he does in the Prem, before we all start crawling up Wenger's arse...........as a few are want to do on this board.

As for the USA, I can have no sympathy with any country who selects a 'roster' as opposed to a 'squad', refers to the beautiful game as 'Soccer' and includes the 'U.S. Menâ€™s National Team Game Report' on the offical website.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:27 am

Yes, but our uniforms looked really snappy, didn't they?

VG, it wasn't the heat. I've only actually seen the first half, and from what I saw there was only about 30 seconds (Claudio's almost) where we looked like we belonged on that field.

I'm glad Koller's injury isn't so serious.

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:03 am

You're too harsh on them, mood.
They were definitely better than the Poles.

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:07 am

I thought Bruce Arena was a great name for a football coach but
has there ever been a manager with a better name than Otto Pfister?

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:25 am

Mike Boom wrote:I thought Bruce Arena was a great name for a football coach but
has there ever been a manager with a better name than Otto Pfister?

Good porn name!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:30 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:USA was either struggling with the heat or struggling against a much better side. I can't believe how many times I saw USA players waiting for the ball to come to them and being intercepted by Czech players.

That's a big part of the problem. We have some competent players, but nobody with the creativity of a Pavel Nedved or even Joe Cole. I would like to see Donovan and Beasley running at defenders and trying to cause them problems, but they didn't seem to have the stomach for it yesterday. Lots of players out there expecting the other guys on the team to make something happen.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:37 am

1-0 TOGO!!!

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:40 am

Love it!