Any thoughts?

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AoI9gMoqygpgNreLJ.yrlx0mw7YF?slug=ap-wcup-us-gibbs&prov=ap&type=lgns

Should have been a frowny face.

Did you not see the Poland-Morocco games? Gibbs is THE BOMB! Losing him is like giving up at least one goal during the cup! Berhalter was the weakest part of the D every game he was in! Maybe losing Gibbs is equal to giving up 3 goals during the cup. Well, maybe not three, but at least two, Berhalter is/has been the worst defender that the US has played in a World Cup.

PS- F you Agoos haters, Berhalter is 10X worse!

PPS- Gibbs still has a better change of playing in a World Cup game than Berhalter does!

That hurts, even though I wasn't convinced he was a starter. I didn't really notice him limping around Morocco though.

I did think Berhalter should have made the original team. Then at least been Hejduk's replacement. His experience will be valuable.

At what point is roster set in stone? I know we can't replace injured players during WC, but when is cutoff for final roster?

****! ****ITY ****ITY **** ****! (That'll put the censors to work)

Seriously, this SUCKS. Gibbs was great cover at CB and was reliable at LB...probably our best defender at LB truth be told. Not having him means that Eddie Lewis and Carlos Bocanegra (he of the "I've been hurt for the last 3 months, haven't seen any significant PT with Fulham, and I'm about as match fit as Dre00" fame) are our only options at LB now. Both of which have their flaws.

For the love of God, no more ****ing injuries!

We'd better hope Lewis stays healthy. If he's not, then moving a midfielder back might be our best option. Berhalter is simply not good enough to play in the World Cup. I actually like Bocanegra a lot more than other people seem to, but he isn't great at LB anyway, and if he's not completely fit, he shouldn't be put in the position of trying to do the extra running that our outside backs do.

Crazy thought: didn't O'Brien play some left back at Ajax? What about Convey? He's a little short to be a defender, but is he capable of playing back there in a pinch?

I used to think we had plenty of good defenders, but I'm just not comfortable with players like Berhalter, Conrad, and Albright against Czech and Italy.

quote:

---

Did you not see the Poland-Morocco games? Gibbs is THE BOMB! Losing him is like giving up at least one goal during the cup! Berhalter was the weakest part of the D every game he was in! Maybe losing Gibbs is equal to giving up 3 goals during the cup. Well, maybe not three, but at least two, Berhalter is/has been the worst defender that the US has played in a World Cup.

---

And did you not see the second post? I am fully aware that Berhalter sucks.

O'Brien did play at LB for Ajax but that was many moons ago. Don't think it's fair to ask him to play a position he hasn't played in at least 3 or 4 years. Besides, if he's fit, he needs to be in the midfield creating chances with his vision and creativity.

The "All Access" on SportsCenter last night was rough. It showed footage of Arena getting the news of Gibbs' MRI and then him going over to try and talk to him and console him. They didn't show what he said but you could tell Gibbs was crying like a baby. Feel really bad for the guy.

--------------------------------------------------
"The rest of the world will be rooting for the U.S. to fall flat on its face. Tell your soccer-hating friends that if they couldn't care less about how the U.S. does in these games, they are right in line with the French."

Page 2 writer Michael Davies

The WC is the pinnacle of almost any player's career. To be stopped short by an injury has got to be devastating. Lucky for Gibbs he is young and will get another chance in 2010.