This story (seen here) is about a week old but I wanted to get some reaction from the news. FIFA president Sepp Blatter says there is discussion to eliminate ties in the World Cup group stage.

I guess my first reaction is, why? There does not seem to be a problem with the current set up and I do not think many fans are going to flock to soccer just because there are no more draws. The ones that watch just for the World Cup will continue to watch and the ones that do not watch will continue to not watch (as I believe their dislike of soccer goes beyond the fact that there are draws).

My second reaction is that this will be terrible for the World Cup. Take a look at the Fulham- Man U match from this weekend. I think Fulham definitely deserved a point and they got it on the late equalizer. Take that game to extra time and Fulham might come away empty, undeservedly. If you eliminate ties in the group stage, we will see many teams earn an unfair 0 points when they deserve 1 and some teams earn 3 when they deserve only 1. This could cause a huge swing in the outcomes of the group stages.

Third, the extra time played would be brutal later in the World Cup. If these teams are forced to play extra time in the group stage, there is a greater chance these teams could be gassed later on in the tournament, hurting the quality of play when it matters the most.

Finally, I think it would hurt the last day of group play. Currently, a team with 1 or 2 points could still be in contention on the last day, making for more exciting matches. However, if they lose both those games in extra time, they are sitting on zero points, with likley nothing to play for.

Also, why is Blatter concerned about fixing something that is not broken when instant replay is right in front of his face?

 Yeah it's really early but I feel like we have a good mix of young and old so I was just thinking of who will start and blah blah you don't care about my life story so heres the lineup.. But I am changing the formation from 2010, Im going to show us with a 3-4-3

via upload.wikimedia.org

Keeper: Tim Howard - Okay, this was really obvious. Moving on

Centre backs: Onyewu, Omar Gonzalez , Agbossoumonde - I think Gooch will be good to go in the next WC even though he is going to be in his early 30's. We will need someone tough and experienced sort of how Boco was for us in 2010, Omar was the 09' ROY and deserves a spot on the team. He and Agbo will be a very young and promising back line and given plenty of experience and no injuries I think in 4 years our back line will be much more secure

via www.soccerbyives.net

Mids: Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Michael Bradley - No change from 2010. Clint relies heavily on ball handling skills which may only get better over time and he won't lose much strength. LD will be fine as well although he won't be as quick he will still be as good if not a better passer in 4 years time. Bradley and Edu form a ncie defensive centre mid combo and both are still young.

via i.telegraph.co.uk

Forwards: Jozy, Mwanga, Buddle - It was a travesty Buddle didn't start in 2010 but he will get his shot. As a player who relies not on speed but skill he will not lse much and he has only gotten better with age. Jozy will be entering his prime and Mwanga will be blossoming into a star. He has said he wants to play for the US so it looks like we will have him (sorry congo). 

via www.cbc.ca

So that was me rambling away at our team 4 years from now. Some subs should be Charlie Davies and Felihaber especially. Luis Gil and Spector as well. As for backup GK maybe Seitz and bare with me... But I think Adu finally pulls it together. I dont know how but I think he becomes a nice role player for us

The chances of me ever being put in charge of a Major League Soccer team are, admittedly, very slim (relying on a string of events that would bear a passing resemblance to the Blockbuster movie "2012") but should such a situation occur, here a few measures that I would implement in the Whitecap's first year in the MLS (after the jump)

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The more I consider the alternatives, the more I feel like giving Bob Bradley a "Second Term" is the way to go - and it appears that US Soccer might be leaning that way as well.

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            This was not a particularly exciting or entertaining game to watch.  I was left wondering “how did these two teams actually make it this far?”  Surely this is not the best the world has to offer.

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After a very successful World Cup that proved to the majority of the world that South Africa can host the largest single sporting event in the world, many people have been pleased. However there are some people who may have some problems with some events that occurred.

I will keep this short since I’m pretty sure the last thing you all want to read is some 16-year-old ranting about "blown calls" and controversy.

The first main topic is the Frank Lampard no goal vs. Germany in the first round of the knockout stage. England had just scored their first goal and was down 2-1, he fired an excellent shot at the net which proceeded to hit the cross bar and land over the line. The ball then came out of the net and play continued. The refs didn’t know what happened, they just assumed that the ball didn’t cross the line. this is the prime example from the World Cup on why they need video replay. Should that have counted and made it 2-2, no intention of offending German’s or their team, that game could have had a way different outcome than 4-1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1cFIxMmv78&feature=related (Here is the video)

The next semi-controversial topic is when Uruguay’s Suarez blocked a sure goal in the 120th minute with his hand. This gave Ghana a penalty kick. However the Ghana player kicked the ball right off the crossbar, sending the game to penalty kicks. However Ghana lost in penalties after a cheeky chip shot by Uruguay. Many people felt that Ghana should have moved on because of the sure to be goal that got stopped with a handball. to bad fans can’t vote on who moves on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUWZuioV_DY&feature=fvw

The final one, you may have missed during the finals. Netherlands had a free kick close to the Spanish net around the 117th minute. The ball ricocheted off a Spanish player and went out of bounds which should have resulted in a corner kick for the Dutch. Unfortunately for them the ref felt as though the ball went off a Dutch player so he gave a goal kick to Spain. No more than 90 seconds later Spain score the winning goal. The Dutch players were irate with this call and one of them even received a yellow card for arguing and the things he said.

To some this may have been just minor things but these reasons just reinforce the fact that FIFA is in need of instant replay.

I'm American and a soccer fan. Unfortunately, I'm already feeling withdrawals from the thought of four years of semi-hibernation sans-soccer about to commence.

Like many soccer fans I watched most of this year's World Cup, read a ton of internet articles, and listened to this year's flavors of talking head, who all weighed in on "the beautiful game" and America's ambivilent attitude toward it..

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After a rather slow start to the World Cup, this has shaped up to be a very entertaining World Cup, and has had it’s share of controversy. (I.e. England no goal vs. Germany, and Suarez hand ball saves game for Uruguay) After Spain suffered a disappointing opening game loss to Switzerland, they have pulled it together and with the help of goal leader David Villa, made it to the finals for the first time ever.

The Dutch had a pretty smooth ride to get to the finals, their biggest test was against Uruguay which they won fairly easily. So far they are unbeaten in the World Cup going 6-0-0. Spain’s road to the finals has been a little bumpy, as I stated before their opening game loss came as a shock to most. And they had to go through Portugal and the youthful German team to make it to the finals.

I must admit being an England fan I was disappointed to see them get kicked out but I enjoyed watching a great rivalry be renewed. I think if someone translates the Dutch anthem for the speedy Spaniards, then that will be a big enough spark to make this an even more exciting game. The beginning of the anthem goes like this "The King of Spain/I have always honoured/but then he executed a couple of counts, unfairly taxed us and persecuted Calvinists." All those actions led to the Dutch Revolution. If I was Spain I would settle this once and for all on the pitch Sunday.

Food for Thought:

-        This game will mark the first time a European team wins when the World Cup isn’t being held in Europe.

-        If Spain wins they will be the first team to win after losing their first game.

-        It will be the first time either of these teams wins the World Cup

-        This is the first time Spain has made it to the Semi’s and Finals.

Heh, only slightly kidding there. I can't remember one team in this WC that won wearing that navy blue color. Why couldn't Brazil have won their trademark yellow jerseys? Yellow and Orange are different enough they should be able to tell each other apart. Unless color blindness comes into play between those two?

Brazil probably spent too much time kicking themselves instead of kicking the ball. Understandable given the "own goal" but my first thought when I saw the recap -- "they were dressed like France! No wonder they lost"

Oh well, best of luck to the Dutch they deserved to win if they could psyche the Brazilians out like that.

Despite the recent Success of Bob Bradley, Sunil Gulati, President of the U.S. Soccer Federation, believes we are capable of more than just a loss in the Round of 16. In a recent interview Gulati stated:

"The team is capable of more. I think the players know it. I think [Coach] Bob [Bradley] knows it. At that level, we are disappointed we didn't get to play another 90 minutes, at least."

via Steven Goff of The Washington Post

Now those are not really the words you want to hear if you are the current coach and team manager of the United States Men's National Soccer Team. Again the statement Gulati Made is ambivalent, but it seems as though he is already looking ahead to 2014. So if you are Gulati, What are your options for team manager?

Well, let's have a look.

Bob Bradley

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

I know, I know, you are probably thinking "but his line-up is the reason we lost to Ghana, Why would we keep him?" Well Under coach Bob Bradley the United States Men Soccer team has enjoyed a record of  38-20-8, which is pretty successful. Bob Bradley also enforced the idea that you have to constantly inject youth into your team in order to succeed.

• Coach Bob Bradley led the team on a successful run in the Confederations Cup being crowned Runners-Up.
  
• We defeated and upset a powerful Spanish team on that same Confederations Cup run.
• The Yanks were also crowned the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions under Bradley's tenure.
• Won Group C over the favored England in this year's World Cup. 

Despite losing in the Round of 16, Bob Bradley understands how to cater to American players and understands how to develop them. Although he has had moments of success, Bob Bradley seems to have trouble keeping up with some tactical aspects of the game, he failed to use the same strong line-up and instead chose to start Clark and Findley over Edu and Feilhaber. He also stuck to a very rigid 4-4-2 formation rather than using a 4-3-3 which opened up the offense for the U.S. in the Algeria game.

So what are the chances he stays? Slim

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