"Carlos kicked the ball with the outside of his left foot to make it spin anticlockwise as he looked down onto it. Conditions were dry, so the amount of spin he gave the ball was high, perhaps over 10 revolutions per second. Kicking it with the outside of his foot allowed him to hit the ball hard, at probably over 30 ms-1 (70 mph). The flow of air over the surface of the ball was turbulent, which gave the ball a relatively low amount of drag. Some way into its path - perhaps around the 10 m mark (or at about the position of the wall of defenders) - the ball's velocity dropped such that it entered the laminar flow regime. This substantially increased the drag on the ball, which made it slow down even more. This enabled the sideways Magnus force, which was bending the ball towards the goal, to come even more into effect. Assuming that the amount of spin had not decayed too much, then the drag coefficient increased. This introduced an even larger sideways force and caused the ball to bend further. Finally, as the ball slowed, the bend became more exaggerated still (possibly due to the increase in the lift coefficient) until it hit the back of the net - much to the delight of the physicists in the crowd."
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Rain in Spain Falls...
We have learned a lot from our two dismal performances in Europe. And I say dismal despite the results on paper, a 2-0 loss to England in London and a 1-0 loss to Fifa ranked number four in the world Spain, because of badly we looked and how few scoring chances we created. Some have claimed that our defense looked strong against Spain, to which I counter that any defense will do reasonably well when you have all eleven players behind the ball. There is no doubt that the US bunkered in for the entire second half against the Spaniards.
So what did we learn about our players:
Freddy Adu: Without a doubt the best offensive player on the US against Spain. Adu seemed the only player capable of holding onto the ball and looking to play dangerous attacking balls forward. His turning chest trap into the box that led to a cross right across the face of goal was a great oppurtunity for the US, if only the US had a player positioned to take advantage of the play. He also played a fantastic leading ball to Eddie Johnson, the kind of pass beyond the skill level of perhaps all the US players in the entire US player pool. There is no longer any excuse to keep Adu out of the starting eleven, at least not now when he is quite obviously the best player on the field for the US.
Michael Bradley: Bradley is not ready for a starting spot on the USMNT. In all his time with the US team he has varied from playing reasonable well to completely awful. And in the last two games he's tended more towards the latter. Bradley's lack of speed prevents him from being any kind of decent ball winner, and often leads to reckless challenges. As one blogger on a recent comment page said "Bradley is a dumb foul waiting to happen." Multiple times in the game against Spain Bradley's poor handling of a pass led to a loss of possession for the US. Bradley has obviously had success at Herenveen but his performances with the USMNT should be the ultimate test of his place on the US team. Right now it seems like he is a good future prospect, not quite deserving of his consistent starting post in the US midfield. Although with the nepotism involved with having your father as the head coach, I would not be surprised to see Michael Bradely on the field in every future game for the US.
The Strikers: Clearly there is not much there for the US. Eddie Johnson has played much better than anyone expected in these last two friendlies. That being said his inability to score on an easy glaring header against Spain presents the reality of Eddie Johnson. We still have to hope the US has a player or two somewhere that can step up into this position. With Altidore headed to Villareal there is still real hope that he can be the striker we have always been looking for. Until then though it would be nice to see some other players get a chance at the role. Kenny Cooper is second in scoring in MLS this year and has always looked like a quality player. Chris Rolfe is a quick, agile, skillfull striker who plays on perhaps the best team in MLS. Young players like Jeremiah White and Johann Smith should also be considered, as both are said to possess impressive speed.
The Defense: The US still can claim a solid backline. Bocanegra and Onyewu always do well at disrupting attacks and clearing balls played into the box. Bocanegra is a lock but perhaps we should take a second look at Onyewu. On Xavi's goal Onyewu was out of position, seemingly trying to occupy the same space Bocanegra was already in, leaving a gap for Xavi to drive through. Cherendulo is still strong although it would be nice to see him in attacking positions more often. Pierce is a weak link for the the US side. Reasonable on his defensive responsibilities, it is hard to imagine any left back being worse at distrubution and passing in general. We have to hope for someone else to come along and fill this role.
In Total: Obviously I did not mention all the players who played in these two friendlies, instead focusing on the ones who stood out as being either poor or good. Most everyone else played typically or slightly underperformed. It is hard to know what the US would have looked like had Donovan been healthy and playing at the top of his game. No matter who the head coach or surrounding players, the US always looks best when Donovan is playing his best. We can only hope that his return, along with Adu, can propel the US forward into a quality international side.
So what did we learn about our players:
Freddy Adu: Without a doubt the best offensive player on the US against Spain. Adu seemed the only player capable of holding onto the ball and looking to play dangerous attacking balls forward. His turning chest trap into the box that led to a cross right across the face of goal was a great oppurtunity for the US, if only the US had a player positioned to take advantage of the play. He also played a fantastic leading ball to Eddie Johnson, the kind of pass beyond the skill level of perhaps all the US players in the entire US player pool. There is no longer any excuse to keep Adu out of the starting eleven, at least not now when he is quite obviously the best player on the field for the US.
Michael Bradley: Bradley is not ready for a starting spot on the USMNT. In all his time with the US team he has varied from playing reasonable well to completely awful. And in the last two games he's tended more towards the latter. Bradley's lack of speed prevents him from being any kind of decent ball winner, and often leads to reckless challenges. As one blogger on a recent comment page said "Bradley is a dumb foul waiting to happen." Multiple times in the game against Spain Bradley's poor handling of a pass led to a loss of possession for the US. Bradley has obviously had success at Herenveen but his performances with the USMNT should be the ultimate test of his place on the US team. Right now it seems like he is a good future prospect, not quite deserving of his consistent starting post in the US midfield. Although with the nepotism involved with having your father as the head coach, I would not be surprised to see Michael Bradely on the field in every future game for the US.
The Strikers: Clearly there is not much there for the US. Eddie Johnson has played much better than anyone expected in these last two friendlies. That being said his inability to score on an easy glaring header against Spain presents the reality of Eddie Johnson. We still have to hope the US has a player or two somewhere that can step up into this position. With Altidore headed to Villareal there is still real hope that he can be the striker we have always been looking for. Until then though it would be nice to see some other players get a chance at the role. Kenny Cooper is second in scoring in MLS this year and has always looked like a quality player. Chris Rolfe is a quick, agile, skillfull striker who plays on perhaps the best team in MLS. Young players like Jeremiah White and Johann Smith should also be considered, as both are said to possess impressive speed.
The Defense: The US still can claim a solid backline. Bocanegra and Onyewu always do well at disrupting attacks and clearing balls played into the box. Bocanegra is a lock but perhaps we should take a second look at Onyewu. On Xavi's goal Onyewu was out of position, seemingly trying to occupy the same space Bocanegra was already in, leaving a gap for Xavi to drive through. Cherendulo is still strong although it would be nice to see him in attacking positions more often. Pierce is a weak link for the the US side. Reasonable on his defensive responsibilities, it is hard to imagine any left back being worse at distrubution and passing in general. We have to hope for someone else to come along and fill this role.
In Total: Obviously I did not mention all the players who played in these two friendlies, instead focusing on the ones who stood out as being either poor or good. Most everyone else played typically or slightly underperformed. It is hard to know what the US would have looked like had Donovan been healthy and playing at the top of his game. No matter who the head coach or surrounding players, the US always looks best when Donovan is playing his best. We can only hope that his return, along with Adu, can propel the US forward into a quality international side.
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