US World Cup Qualifying

[ZooCougar]

What about Oscar Pareja?

That's interesting, I'd take Bielsa over him though.

 

[UConnDan97]

The one I would love to get is Spalletti (Roma). I love his offensive attacking style with his "4-6-0" formation. we would win a bunch of games 4-2, and probably grow the fan base in the process.

But he would need a translator and money to pull him away from Roma...

 

[Waquoit]

Both play high press, coach to foul and basically play thugball.

Is that what guys like Lalas mean when they say stuff like, "We're the United States, we have to play United States soccer"?

 

[Excalibur]

Is that what guys like Lalas mean when they say stuff like, "We're the United States, we have to play United States soccer"?

It's kind of like "old time hockey"

 

[ZooCougar]

Is that what guys like Lalas mean when they say stuff like, "We're the United States, we have to play United States soccer"?

Anything other than 4-4-2, counter attacking, athletic, non-thinking reactive soccer is less than acceptable to Lalas and his ilk.

 

[ZooCougar]

The one I would love to get is Spalletti (Roma). I love his offensive attacking style with his "4-6-0" formation. we would win a bunch of games 4-2, and probably grow the fan base in the process.

But he would need a translator and money to pull him away from Roma...

If we have to go with an MLS guy, then I think Jesse Marsch would be an interesting pick. He's like a less risk averse version of Bob Bradley and he's done well the Red Bulls. He seems less volatile than Caleb Porter.

 

[businesslawyer]

Marsch is a fabulous coach. He took that job with no support from players whatsoever who couldn't fathom how Mike Petke could have been dismissed, and since getting there has made the team better without Henry and gotten the most out of a team that doesn't have the best talent in the league.

I would have no issue with that, but I'm surprised you are using the name Wisky because he is clearly a high press create turnovers and attack kind of coach, and not a possession kind of coach.

 

[ZooCougar]

Marsch is a fabulous coach. He took that job with no support from players whatsoever who couldn't fathom how Mike Petke could have been dismissed, and since getting there has made the team better without Henry and gotten the most out of a team that doesn't have the best talent in the league.

I would have no issue with that, but I'm surprised you are using the name Wisky because he is clearly a high press create turnovers and attack kind of coach, and not a possession kind of coach.

More high press than Kansas City? I've watched the Red Bulls and they play attractive soccer. They have a lot of similarities between the teams, but at least Marsch has more than one gear.

I could be wrong of course but they seem to be really consistent as well.

KC plays the same regardless of venue or tactical situation. They are always attacking, fouling etc. even when they are defending a lead. Never makes subs that help. It's super frustrating to watch. It's hard to keep a roster healthy when you are pressing constantly.

 

[ZooCougar]

Report: Arena, Vermes, Ramos being eyed as potential Klinsmann replacements

 

[Excalibur]

Report: Arena, Vermes, Ramos being eyed as potential Klinsmann replacements

Of those 3, I'd take Ramos. Particularly since I think Jurgen is a case of good idea, bad execution.

 

[ZooCougar]

Of those 3, I'd take Ramos. Particularly since I think Jurgen is a case of good idea, bad execution.

As an interim coach, I would take Ramos out of the three. Vermes only knows how to play one way, Arena is old and tired. He literally failed to get far in the playoffs despite having a loaded roster. He's still trading on the distant past.

 

[Pudge]

I fully agree with you that college soccer is not the best way to develop talent. Neither is college basketball. But it's for players to make that choice balancing a lot of different factors.

Basketball is a little different

READ the NY Times article on Border soccer where parents decide either Mexico or US. These kids are basically going in the wrong direction if they aren't forced into a good system by 12 or so. In basketball, there are a lot of BIGs that need college or prep2college to start filling out and gain fundamentals. Far different development ages. And ... yet ... the other trend I see is guys entering the NBA at 25-28 from a vagabond background whereby they did play some college and then PRO all over Europe (or elsewhere). Sure, this isn't the top 10 Lottery guys; but, it is a solid core for a lot of NBA teams now.

We are screwed in development for a number of reasons and all that has to change. The Youth Soccer is daycare like. The College system is for guys that aren't going to the World Stage; some may end up in the MSL or a decent pro career; but, that won't lead them to the echelon we want for the USMNT.

 

[ZooCougar]

Basketball is a little different

READ the NY Times article on Border soccer where parents decide either Mexico or US. These kids are basically going in the wrong direction if they aren't forced into a good system by 12 or so. In basketball, there are a lot of BIGs that need college or prep2college to start filling out and gain fundamentals. Far different development ages. And ... yet ... the other trend I see is guys entering the NBA at 25-28 from a vagabond background whereby they did play some college and then PRO all over Europe (or elsewhere). Sure, this isn't the top 10 Lottery guys; but, it is a solid core for a lot of NBA teams now.

We are screwed in development for a number of reasons and all that has to change. The Youth Soccer is daycare like. The College system is for guys that aren't going to the World Stage; some may end up in the MSL or a decent pro career; but, that won't lead them to the echelon we want for the USMNT.

"Day Care Like" I couldn't say it any better. It's amazing how gullible people are with "Academies". In every other country an "Academy" is actually connected to a pro club, in this country it's connected to your checkbook.

 

[businesslawyer]

The next guy may very well be worse but what else can they do?

Again, doesn't matter who is worse when a team has quit on a coach. But having said that, Bruce Arena is not a worse coach.

 

[ZooCougar]

Again, doesn't matter who is worse when a team has quit on a coach. But having said that, Bruce Arena is not a worse coach.

I think there are signs that he has lost his touch though.

 

[ZooCougar]

This is why Arena shouldn't be in charge.

 

[djct1999]

Bringing Arena back would like taking 3 huge steps backwards.

 

[BlueMAB]

If they wear our jersey, they are Americans. Period.

I don't know enough about soccer in the US to know who should be coaching. But I know enough about soccer to know Jurgen shouldn't be coaching this team anymore.

Jones and Chandler were terrible, so he leaves them in and takes out Pulisic for Gooch.

People may have hated our style before, that's understandable. But at least we had a style. The players knew what we were trying to accomplish and what their roles were. Not pretty futbol, but we played hard, we were a tough out, and we pulled off some upsets here and there. Now it seems like we have no idea what we're trying to do.

It doesn't matter what sport you're talking about, the coaches job is to figure out what type of talent he/she has, and put them in a position that gives them the best chance to win. Jurgen seems to want to prove to everyone that he can take marginal talent, put them in any position in any formation, and still get results, because he's just that smart.

What are we good at, and how can we use that to our advantage? It's hard to figure that out with Jurgen coaching this team.

 

[ZooCougar]

Bringing Arena back would like taking 3 huge steps backwards.

You don't get excited about 4-4-2 missionary position soccer?

 

[ZooCougar]

If they wear our jersey, they are Americans. Period.

I don't know enough about soccer in the US to know who should be coaching. But I know enough about soccer to know Jurgen shouldn't be coaching this team anymore.

Jones and Chandler were terrible, so he leaves them in and takes out Pulisic for Gooch.

People may have hated our style before, that's understandable. But at least we had a style. The players knew what we were trying to accomplish and what their roles were. Not pretty futbol, but we played hard, we were a tough out, and we pulled off some upsets here and there. Now it seems like we have no idea what we're trying to do.

It doesn't matter what sport you're talking about, the coaches job is to figure out what type of talent he/she has, and put them in a position that gives them the best chance to win. Jurgen seems to want to prove to everyone that he can take marginal talent, put them in any position in any formation, and still get results, because he's just that smart.

What are we good at, and how can we use that to our advantage? It's hard to figure that out with Jurgen coaching this team.

I thought we had a good style this past summer, but it's like he doesn't write good ideas down or something.

 

[BlueMAB]

I thought we had a good style this past summer, but it's like he doesn't write good ideas down or something.

I agree. But I wouldn't say we had a good style, I'd say we had a few good games. If you're constantly changing styles and formations, then you don't really have one.

 

[ZooCougar]

I agree. But I wouldn't say we had a good style, I'd say we had a few good games. If you're constantly changing styles and formations, then you don't really have one.

This summer, Brooks, Jones and Johnson were fantastic for us. Now after two games, people want to revoke their citizenship.

We had a good style, we flat out crushed everybody that wasn't measurably better than us. Costa Rica played well in the Copa against us and we still blew them out of the water. Either Costa Rica figured out how to beat us, or we lost the plot. It's probably both.

And Michael Bradley! This guy played for Roma? What happened to that guy? Even if you watch him in MLS he's not particularly remarkable now. But he's always on the field and he's supposed to be the organizer. But all we get are useless side passes and bad corner kicks.

 

[BlueMAB]

This summer, Brooks, Jones and Johnson were fantastic for us. Now after two games, people want to revoke their citizenship.

We had a good style, we flat out crushed everybody that wasn't measurably better than us. Costa Rica played well in the Copa against us and we still blew them out of the water. Either Costa Rica figured out how to beat us, or we lost the plot. It's probably both.

And Michael Bradley! This guy played for Roma? What happened to that guy? Even if you watch him in MLS he's not particularly remarkable now. But he's always on the field and he's supposed to be the organizer. But all we get are useless side passes and bad corner kicks.

Totally agree. And I'm not saying Brooks and Jones should be kicked off the team, but you have to admit, they were terrible. Brooks was nutmegged twice, and was lucky the first didn't end up in the net. Jones turned the ball over time and time again, and his terrible pass to Brooks set up the first goal. Bradley hasn't been particularly good for us for a long time now. His first touch is almost always away from goal, and you're right, he's out there for service, and he no longer does that well.

I don't want to take anything away from Costa Rica they're improving. But we made them look really good by playing really poorly. I don't think there's a team in CONCACAF that couldn't beat the US at home the way we played the other night.

Even if we survive this and make the WC for 2018, are Jones and Bradley going to be the best we can put on the field? If not, it's time to start moving on. If these are our best options for the next 2-4 years, we're screwed.

 

[ZooCougar]

Totally agree. And I'm not saying Brooks and Jones should be kicked off the team, but you have to admit, they were terrible. Brooks was nutmegged twice, and was lucky the first didn't end up in the net. Jones turned the ball over time and time again, and his terrible pass to Brooks set up the first goal. Bradley hasn't been particularly good for us for a long time now. His first touch is almost always away from goal, and you're right, he's out there for service, and he no longer does that well.

I don't want to take anything away from Costa Rica they're improving. But we made them look really good by playing really poorly. I don't think there's a team in CONCACAF that couldn't beat the US at home the way we played the other night.

Even if we survive this and make the WC for 2018, are Jones and Bradley going to be the best we can put on the field? If not, it's time to start moving on. If these are our best options for the next 2-4 years, we're screwed.

I don't think Brooks travels well on these international breaks. It's probably the long flights and his height. In the Copa he had plenty of time to get settled in.

When you watch him play for Hertha Berlin, he's a total star. He runs things on defense and even gets forward on offense. They are pretty high up the table.

Fabian Johnson is one of Borrussia Monchengladbach's best attackers and we have almost no choice but to use him as a fullback. I agree that Jones and Brooks were bad, Jones was not sharp and I think Brooks lost his confidence after a bad start.

I'm certain we'll survive and qualify. We just played 2 of our 3 toughest games of the Hex.

Also, consider the following. Out of the US, Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico, who looked the best in the last World Cup? The US looked like the class of CONCACAF during the Hex. Mexico only won two games in the Hex.

I would say that the Ticos and Mexico looked the best, the US had moments and was clearly better than Honduras. But, performance in the Hex is not a good indicator of performance in the World Cup.

 

[BlueMAB]

I don't think Brooks travels well on these international breaks. It's probably the long flights and his height. In the Copa he had plenty of time to get settled in.

When you watch him play for Hertha Berlin, he's a total star. He runs things on defense and even gets forward on offense. They are pretty high up the table.

Fabian Johnson is one of Borrussia Monchengladbach's best attackers and we have almost no choice but to use him as a fullback. I agree that Jones and Brooks were bad, Jones was not sharp and I think Brooks lost his confidence after a bad start.

I'm certain we'll survive and qualify. We just played 2 of our 3 toughest games of the Hex.

Also, consider the following. Out of the US, Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico, who looked the best in the last World Cup? The US looked like the class of CONCACAF during the Hex. Mexico only won two games in the Hex.

I would say that the Ticos and Mexico looked the best, the US had moments and was clearly better than Honduras. But, performance in the Hex is not a good indicator of performance in the World Cup.

You aren't wrong on any of that. I'm not quite as confident about qualifying, even though you're right we played 2 of our 3 toughest games. It wasn't that we lost the 2, it was how poorly we looked (except for about 30 minutes of the 2nd half vs Mexico). Which team shows up in March? If we don't get back to form, it won't matter that the games get easier, because we'll make them tougher by virtue of our play. And the pressure is only going to mount for us to come away with 3 points every time we take the field. I don't see a team that is mentally strong out there.