Grant Wahl (SI soccer writer) speculated earlier that the shortlist for managers if Arena is fired would include Jürgen Klinsmann and Steve Nicol - "non-American coaches who know the U.S. system." Nicol's New England Revolution have, I think, usually gone for broke offensively during his tenure, which might be nice to see. I think if you took those two names and added Bob Bradley to the list, you might have a pretty good handle on who could be your next USA coach.
I think Arena has lost it, too conservative. Wylana made a great point about McBride (whom I have been critical of), he was all alone up front and having a 2nd striker, especially a speed guy to compliment his air attack would help create space for him. 4-5-1 is not a winning formation, it is a counter attack and settle for a draw formation. 4-3-3, 3-4-3...at least a 4-4-2..... DD
No. That would be someone who wants to bash soccer by saying that spelling bees and hot dog eating contests are more important than the greatest sporting event in the world.
The US needs to get a Dutch coach. Too bad Hiddkink has already committed to Russia following his run with the Socceroos.
I say send a message to the team and the country. We don't want to be a 2nd class soccer team anymore. Don't let Bruce Arena quit. Fire him. Make it public that it is for the absolute failure of this team in the World Cup. It was an embarassment to go out like that. Other than the Italy game, this team played with no direction, no passion, and no hope. Fire Bruce Arena today. He has done a lot for American soccer. He has done all he can for this team. It's time to go to a new level. Klinsmann would be a great choice. Any coach from Holland would apparently do something. Hell, bring back Bora (just kidding). This was a terrible Cup for the US. Let Reyna, Pope, and Keller retire. Better yet, ask them to. The plan since 1994 has been targeted at 2010 (Project 2010). Let's see it in action. On the positive side of things, I think Clint Dempsey might get some offers to move overseas. He played very well.
Agree (unless you're bombing midfielders forward, in which case 4-5-1 can turn into a fairly potent offensive formation with the right players). To be honest, three good defenders and a hard-working midfield should be sufficient defense for any team. 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 are my preferred formations. Yes, you will concede some goals. And, occasionally, lose games because of it. You'll also score goals and win games. A loss and a win is, after all, worth more than two draws.
I'm almost certain that Arena's contract runs through the World Cup, therefore he's now out of contract and can't be fired.
Where is Cuban when we need him. He should be shouting to Fifa president your league is rigged. Man, where was the foul on the PK. There is a little push, but you dont call touch foul in such important match that affect 3 teams. Beasly is a wuss, I am sorry. Too much Dutch influence. He is the lone guy on the team playing for poession and afraid of contact. Where was Donovan? He didnt bother to show up. So disappointing. We was robbed, but at the end of day, the better teams of this group advanced to the next round. Formation aside, our players are just not as good. I thought the criticism on the coach is not fair.
Hope springs eternally from the Mexican people, but make no mistake this is a body bag game. More along the lines of UT-Austin vs Rice in football. Better yet think Cortez when he arrived at Tenochtitlán. ...Now that I think about it Mexicans have always "rolled over and played dead" for anyone of fair and lighter skin. ciao, ciao besos.
They didnt beat Gahna, they dont deserve to advance. The bulk of this Czech squad has been together how long? They need a major overhaul. I love Nedved and Polposki(sp?), but old guns have to go. This squad was built for 2004 Euro Cup and they did well, now it's time to dissemble them. They sorely miss Jan Koller in the last 2 games.
granted i only watched the italy game and the 2nd half of this game (i snooze alarmed the first half so i could check in every 9 minutes) so i missed the czech game and the first half, but the US actually seems really good at getting the ball up the field. we're not the best with the ball, but we win quite a few one on ones and steal the ball quite often and don't let it get stolen back near as much and then we get it up the field. however, once we get within about 20 yards of the goal, we turn into absolute crap. how many shots did we go to take and mi**** it and just dribble it along the ground? or miss below and softly pop it up way over the goal. or how many shots did we have that we actually hit well and didn't even put them on the goal. and how many times can we get it right outside the box and then just dribble and pass it around until it gets stolen. eventually you just gotta hammer it at the goal. it probably won't go in, but maybe you'll get a corner out of it or something. i mean donovan passing it off towards the end there was horrible. and my goodness, that free kick. i played soccer for one year in 1st grade and i think i could've had a better free kick. hell, i probably could've done better back when i was in 1st grade. so while i don't watch soccer ever unless it's the world cup and my analysis may be crap, it seems we can at least compete with the rest of the world in terms of getting chances. now we just need people who have some sort of clue in making the most of those chances. as far as the PK, man people talk about basketball referees having a big outcome on a game, but soccer refs can make a much bigger impact. like i said, i really don't watch soccer, so maybe that's a PK, maybe it isn't. but when a questionable call 50 feet from the goal with a guy's back to the goal (meaning he had no chance to score and didn't even have the ball) can basically lead to a free score in a sport where there might be one or two combined scores in the whole game, that's pretty stupid. i would think soccer refs would always err on the side of not giving the free goal, given how prone to error humans are when trying to see split second things like a foul or not. or err on the side of not dishing out back to back red cards, when they take a whole player out of a game and then suspend them for the next one. too much power for the refs. but it didn't really cost us as we can't score anyway.
... you're absolutely right... except for the last part... I kid, I kid... DANG, leroy420... you make too much sense on accepting you were wrong and the coaching changes... that can't be right...
