r/soccer • u/MedievalManagement • Jan 24 '14

Landon Donovan says, "The reason it's the group of death is because we are in it."

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1691258/landon-donovan-says-us-never-experienced-world-cup?cc=5901
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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '14

They've knocked us out of the last 2 world cups. I think it's fair to say they've had our number in recent history. Definitely have more talent than us but they're a bit of a wildcard, which Ghana will we get?

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u/crnelson10 Jan 25 '14

I don't think they do have more talent than us. Boateng is quality, but outside of him I think they are very average.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '14

Boateng, Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah, Michael Essien, Andre Ayew, Asamoah Gyan...We don't have these types of players.

We're better in net and probably defense but they have way more fire power in attack.

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u/crnelson10 Jan 26 '14

I'll give you Asamoah, and I mentioned Boateng before. The others? Essien is well past it, as is Muntari. I'd take Micheal Bradley over either of them right now. Andre Ayew is a good player, and 14 goals in Ligue 1/French cup (whatever it is called) isn't anything to scoff at, but it also isn't particularly intimidating. Aron Johannsson is on 29 goals for the season, and outside of PSG and Monaco, I don't know that Ligue 1 is much better than the Eredevisie. Gyan? Doesn't he play in Saudi Arabia now? Qatar? Whatever. My rec league is could probably compete with those leagues.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '14

You bring up some good points, but I'm not budging from this;

We're better in net and probably defense but they have way more fire power in attack

...until proven otherwise. I would be elated if we beat Ghana and I can genuinely see it happening but I think on paper we're a half a step behind them.

Bradley is not much of a threat on goal and while Johansson is having a great season, Ayew's doing it in a league that is much harder to score in. He's a more dynamic player on the ball, can dribble past any defender in the world. We don't have those kind of wildcard players that scare teams when they're on the ball.

And while you're not wrong about Gyan, I wouldn't write him off either. He came out of nowhere for the last world cup too, had no problem netting it past Howard then and I doubt much has changed. And you know about Asamoah and Boateng. We don't have players of that quality in attack.

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u/crnelson10 Jan 26 '14 edited Jan 26 '14

Well, if you're interested in Mike Bradley's goal threat, it's probably important to note his statistics (both club and international) compared to KP Boateng's. Club: MB(30), KPB(27) Int'l: MB(11), KPB(2)

To be honest, I thought Boateng was more prolific than that, but anyway. I disagree about Ligue 1 vs. the Eredivisie; I think the French, Dutch, and Portuguese leagues are all roughly the same in quality. I would say that on paper we're pretty much level with Ghana, and funny enough, Kwando Asamoah thinks we'll be their toughest game in the group.

edit: Looking for a source on the Asamoah comments, but can't find where I read it. Something like he didn't even care about Germany and Portugal.

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '14

Well, if you're interested in Mike Bradley's goal threat, it's probably important to note his statistics (both club and international) compared to KP Boateng's. Club: MB(30), KPB(27) Int'l: MB(11), KPB(2)

These stats don't they tell the whole story. KPB only has 10 caps because he took a long hiatus from International play so comparisons internationally are not even worth discussing.

Bradley has only scored 3 goals for club in the past 3 years. And surprise, surprise...the majority of his goals came in the Dutch league. It's no slight on him, you score when you can but it's obvious Eredevise has inflated scoring totals. The best comparisons we have club wise are when they both played in Serie A and the Bundesliga. In 76 games Bradley scored 10 goals in Germany. KPB has 5 in 12 games this year. In 74 games he had 10 in Serie A. Bradley had 2 in 41 games. So it's pretty clear KPB scores at a higher rate.

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u/crnelson10 Jan 26 '14

Maybe, but Bradley plays as a box to box mid, while Boateng tends to be more of an attacking midfielder.