England at France-(Enter stage left, Franck Ribery) Ladies and gentlemen, the future of French futbol. Ribery surprised me in the World Cup, surprised me when he was signed by Bayern and will surprise me no more. The man is legit.
He was everywhere on Wednesday. No part of the attacking half of midfield was off-limits for Franck and if his positioning had not slipped him behind defenders, he went ahead and burned them anyway. Even with his is stellar play, France threatened very little and its because of
Anelka/Trezeguet
- Treze was typically uninvolved (more on this later) and Anelka was way too involved. It's true that Nicolas and Ribery worked well together for most of the game but Anelka's diagonal runs were to the corner flag rather than the box. That wouldn't be a problem for a team like Germany or England that rely on crosses to their bigger players but who is gonna finish these crosses for France? Treze - unlikely and certainly not for Domenech in a friendly. Malouda - boooooo, more on him later as well. Ribery - he's 5 feet tall. With their current middies and strikers the Francais cannot/should not become a cross-heavy team.
Malouda
-Booooooooo. Boooooooo. Deep breath, BOOOOOOOOO. England backed off of him several times daring him to shoot and he obliged with a shank or a non threatening Mr. Softie. He was open behind Treze (who usually drew 2 defenders) and he dribbled out of his free space only to clog up the area just outside the box. He played no through-balls, and struggled so much, that Anelka had to change his runs to give him an out. I was frustrated by the way Malouda bludgeoned to death so many breakouts and forward opportunities. I wonder if he has the same problems when he goes out. I can see Treze or Anelka at a bar closing out a French tomcat and then Malouda joins mid conversation with a loud laugh and lack of introduction. EEeeeeeeee
Quicker notes now because this is getting long.
Capello - one up top (Rooney) is not gonna do it. Wayne really needs to be in the right formation to be effective. Recall 5 feet tall.
Gallas - Wenger's quote about how Gallas is, "quick to blame" made me feel bad because I was laying on him hard. I'll give him more time before I give him the official sucks-on-it stamp of disapproval. Fine. Good thing he got to see some Rooney too before we meet ManUtd.
Owen/Crouch - blowjob city. They suck. It's getting to the point where I'm remembering Owen suck more than I can remember him being good. That's scary. Also, I was dead wrong about Crouchey - I thought he'd be more effective with more minutes. You can't spell Crouch without "ouch."
USA at Poland
-Will Poland ever stop singing... ever. What a fan base. Down 2-nil, loud singing. Down 3-nil, even louder. It was actually annoying. I wanted to break their spirits (as a fan vicariously living through the US of course) and we couldn't do it. They still come out with a win for that one.
- I loved, loved the lineup. I should specify a touch more, the formation. Donovan and Dempsey as outside midfielders is perfect for them. 2 strikers is the way to go up top and no sweeper has the US defenders assuming responsibility much better (as opposed to the usual not at all).
- Ching was a little lost, Iguchi wears this cologne, and Eddie Johnson is absolutely, without reserve, terrible. Bradley had his boys driving Porche's on offense and Eddie was the equivalent of the airbag deploying at 3rd gear. It was that bad. He halted every attack and I can't remember a time when he received the ball on his foot and went forward instead of backwards. I provide photographic proof that the man can run forwards. Explain to me what the deuce happened to him. The commentators mentioned briefly that Bradley had asked Eddie to "wait for his teammates" on offense but my goodness.
-Despite Eddie's best efforts, I have in my notes, "man we had a lot of chances!" It's true. Dono missed two gimmes - the type you forget about in a 3-nil blowout and I think this has something to do with how the US was passing out of the backfield instead of bypassing the midfield with a long-ball.Other notes that I find humorous
-Hello Eddie Lewis
-At least we won in Europe... although I kind of wish I knew one Polish player. I don't recognize anyone.
Argentina vs Egypt
- To no one's surprise here at TLOCA headquarters, Aguero had a monster game. Yowza he's good. The only worrying feature I've noticed about him is that he doesn't finish quite well. He creates so many chances, but anytime he scores one, he probably should have had three.
- Egypt keeps its real. I did not expect them to win the African Nations Cup but I can see why now. They have some legitimately frisky forwards and experienced middies that play good defense. Still, they should have lost 5-2 instead of 2-0.
- Still wondering when Lucho Gonzalez (currently campaigning for minutes) is gonna go buckwild and play like he's not over-thinking. He was a bit cautious on Wednesday for my taste.
- Add Cruz to the list of, "players Juan thought were good but actually turn out to not... be good"
Brasil vs. SwedenThe 50th anniversary of the World Cup 5-2 victory for Joga Bonito. Pele was 17 folks... and scored 2 goals.
-The match was extremely entertaining. Brasilian futbol is always a joy to watch and for this particular match, quite terrifying as well. Why? After Dunga put on Pato and some other infant, the average age of the current Brasilian side was, gulp, under 21.
- The Swedes came out nicely. They actually threatened numerous times and although Brasil would not have played the same had Sweden converted, they could have easily won this game 2-1. Very handsome players I might add.
Is this girl Swedish Brasilian? Have I stumbled upon a genetically perfect individual?
5 comments:
I don't have much time, but that girl is genetically perfect.
Frank Ribery has been unbelievable for Bayern. He creates so much.
I only remember Owen having so much promise in 96, and now, well, I can't remember ever seeing him deliver.
Egypt is good, should qualify for the World Cup.
Messi Jr. will score more as he ages, but he is damn exciting.
And US plays so much better when donovan and dempsey can make runs, and are not counted on as creating, they don't do that. They get open and keep the play moving. They don't beat someone one-on-one, then keep streaking, make people around them better, and score.
Oh well, at least we're playing Argentina on June 8th in NYC.
MY god, i have never seen anything more glorious, why is that not the first thing i see every time i open this blog.
i've actually now forgotten everything i was going to mention about soccer,
that picture is sixes and sevens.
I assume everyone is talking about the picture of Scarface Ribery wearing traditional Munich garb? Yeah?
Clearly, that is what I have plastered on my wall.
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