JamieZ

hasn't deterred neymar from stopping his run up a couple of times already this wc Seriously. I'm getting really sick of all these Ministry of Silly Walks-style penalty run-ups.

Okay, I'm up to six really good songs. Thanks for nothing!

By my count, there are five awesome songs on Roxette's greatest hits album. I recommend going back and revisiting "Fading Like A Flower (Everytime You Leave)". That is all.

That joke isn't funny anymore.

OH MY GOD!!!

Tim Howard. Tim Howard.

How is it Kevin de Bruyne couldn't get a look at Chelsea?

Looking very good, somebody commented earlier that he can be suspect defensively, like most modern fullbacks I guess Yeah, that was me. He can be exposed and his positional sensibilities haven't developed to the same level as his athleticism, but that's to be expected given his age. He's been playing out of his mind tonight.

I think this Origi chap has played his last match for Lille. He's been excellent.

He's been a liability tonight. It's time for him to be subbed out. I'd be happy to see Diskerud in his place.

The U.S. have been entirely on the back foot since the interval. Zusi has been positively dire. Jones also hasn't been present in this match the way he has been thus far.

He's a pacy kid and he's looked great so far—fearless—but I've seen a fair bit of him in MLS and his positioning and reading of the game is consistent with his age; he can definitely be exposed. But so far, we haven't seen any of that and I'll be happy for it to stay that way.

Johnson pulling up. We don't need this.

Eek.

Not great stuff from the U.S. thus far. I hope we grow into this.

I see it more as Cameron playing as a kind of third centre back, but allowing the kind of tactical fluidity in which he could move up into a defensive midfield role as necessary. Cameron can be a boss in defensive midfield, but Beckerman is no centre back.

Not so much to be honest. Yes Bradley has made a few errors, but he runs USA's midfield. Jurgen can't drop his conductor for someone new this far into the tournament. The USA playing style relies on Bradley. I tend to agree with you. We have no quid-pro-quo replacement for Bradley. He covers so much ground and puts in so much work at both ends, he's so essential to our shape, that even if he's playing below his level best (which I'll freely admit has been the case thus far this tournament), he's not somebody you can afford to drop from this lineup. Ghana and Portugal were not great matches for Bradley, but I thought he looked much sharper against Germany.

Starting lineups: USA — Howard, Gonzalez, Bradley, Besler, Beasley, Dempsey, Bedoya, Jones, Zusi, Cameron, Johnson Belgium — Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bruyne, Fellaini, Hazard, Mertens, Van Buyten, Origi I really like Cameron starting as a DM/third centre back for the U.S. I think it makes sense given Belgium’s attacking options and the way teams have been lining up at this World Cup. I’ve been thinking about that option a lot over the past few days, but I’m actually a bit surprised to see it reflected in Klinsmann’s lineup.

I can't help but envision pacy Belgian attackers pouncing on American defensive miscues. My head says Belgium take this, 3-1; heart says USA hold firm and nick it in extra time.

Magnificent.

I was just thinking that myself. I wish we'd* kept our Centennial kits instead of switching to the golf shirts. *"we" being the U.S.

The majority of your U.S. friends don't know what they're talking about. Bradley will be vital to the U.S. against Germany. To start anyone else ahead of him would be folly from the get-go. There's probably room for some middle ground in this disagreement. Bradley had a poor game vs. Ghana. My belief is that Klinsman is playing him out of position when he tries to push him further up the pitch starting the attacks. Bradley's best game is sitting deep, breaking up the opposition and maintaining possession (usually), and occasionally making those great surging runs from deep. He was much improved today sitting deeper, his passing was a lot better, and he looked threatening getting forward. He's very important to us defensively, and takes a lot of pressure off our defense. But he also made a very costly error in the dying moments of a game we were winning. If I were Klinsmann I don't know if I'd drop him for Germany or not. I think Bradley's got the mental toughness to learn from that and bounce back, and his positives outweigh his negatives. But he's made some high-profile errors and it wouldn't really surprise me to see him dropped to the bench. For who, though? Diskerud? Brad Davis? When I look at those options I'd rather stick with Bradley. I tend to agree with you. What I have a problem with is the kind of binary thinking that assumes that just because Bradley had a poor game against Ghana and some lapses last night, any alternative would have been a better choice. We're not Germany or Spain; we can't pull a starting midfielder and still field a Fabregas or Schweinsteiger. The simple fact of the matter is that Bradley, even when he's not firing on all cylinders, is still pretty critical to our team and should be the starter for lack of another clear cut option. Tweak his role, maybe, but if he's fit, he plays. And I think there's a time and a place for players like Diskerud (or for Bedoya or Zusi moving in to a central role if Bradley can't close out a match), but I don't think it's just "swap out Bradley, swap in Mix". That's reactionary thinking and the only reason people are calling for it is because it hasn't been done and therefore it can't be demonstrated how lousy an idea it is.

To anyone who has even a half notion of Michael Bradley's importance to this U.S. team, that statement is self-evidently ridiculous. The majority of my US friends agree with me and weren't happy with his inclusion from the start. It seems they, and I, were right. He lacked energy in a big way in the first game and that's about the biggest part of his game. Today he was no better and hurt the team even more. The majority of your U.S. friends don't know what they're talking about. Bradley will be vital to the U.S. against Germany. To start anyone else ahead of him would be folly from the get-go.