FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Jun 22, 2006 12:45:18 GMT -5
Speaking of changes, who is donzo before 2010 besides Reyna? Off the top of my head, Keller's definitely done (can you believe he ends his career w/o a World Cup victory?) so we're rushing headlong into the Tim Howard era in US Soccer. McBride's getting up there in age too, and I'm pretty sure his head is 80% bionic by now. Pope's seems like he's pretty up there in age too IIRC.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Jun 22, 2006 14:08:19 GMT -5
Most of you guys probably watch a lot more soccer than I do and generally know more about the sport than I do, but I don't fault the effort this morning. We just simply didn't convert. We had one very costly turnover resulting in Ghana's first goal and we were victimized by a terrible goal giving Ghana the freebie right before the half. But I thought the team came out with good effort in the second half, but just didn't quite get the job done. We barely missed on a couple of headers -- one off the post and one just high hitting the top of the net. We also had a relatively uncontested shot from well inside the box but it was airmailed over the net. I know that all of that is part of the game, but don't you think that we had a few "uncontrollables" go against us as well as missed a couple of key shots. That is pretty much the difference in most soccer matches.
I thought that both our games against Italy and Ghana were night and day different from that embarrassing and lackluster effort against Czech. It truly was a game of inches this morning.
Obviously we will never know, but I can't help but think that without the thievery by the ref giving Ghana the go ahead goal in extra time, we have a great shot to win. That killed our momentum. We finally had something to feel good about and were going into the locker room on a high note. I thought the PK was just devastating and we never were able to overcome it.
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Post by StPetersburgHoya (Inactive) on Jun 22, 2006 14:42:14 GMT -5
I guess its not so much an issue of not converting HiFi its an issue of the way we schemed the game. We waited to put some of our most creative players into the game in favor of people that Arena has relationships with/has favored over the years at the expense of younger, faster, more creative players. This is one of the reasons that I think that Arena needs to be sent packing and a non-MLS and non-US coach needs to be brought in - there will be a fresh start with an honest evaluation of talent. Its a shame that players like Howard, Johnson, O'Brien, Convey, and Olson didn't play at all or didn't get more than a supporting role.
Secondly there needs to be more of a push to get these players into Europe - the US is slow (fast for CONCACAF but unable to play its game in Europe) and unable to take advantage of its athleticism - playing in Europe will definitely benefit players like Dempsey. Words cannot describe my anger with Landon Prima-Donovan whose decision decided not to play in Europe.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Jun 22, 2006 15:19:41 GMT -5
Good points and there is no question that if you raise the level of your competition you will ultimately raise the level of your play. Overall, Europe offers the greatest competition. That is why the best players from Brazil for example tend to play in Europe. Good point.
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Post by washingtonhoya on Jun 22, 2006 20:03:46 GMT -5
Merk's PK call was definitely a blown call, but unless Arena is as bad at halftime speeches as he is at wearing a tie (Derek Waugh, anyone?), the US should have at least put up some offensive chances in the second half. To be down 2-1 with elimination 45 minutes away and not seriously threaten the goal, McBride's shot off the post notwithstanding, really speaks to the US' performance this Cup as a whole. A 4-5-1 lineup that was too conservative to make it through the group stage magnified by an impotent offense and a lackluster performance in game 1. The draw against Italy was a high point especially given the two red cards, but it wasn't going to be enough given an embarrassment against the Czechs.
I'm as big a Bruce Arena fan as the next guy, but in reality, it is time to make a change. He was the longest-serving NT coach this Cup, and I think his tactics were a little too obvious and he wasn't flexible enough in changes until it was too late, esp. given that our weak offense only saw two forwards on the field at the same time for about 40 minutes and the absence of Eddie Johnson (who, though I admittedly despised before the Cup, has been impressive). What I'd like to see is this:
1. Germany loses in the second round and an outraged German mob demands, and receives, the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann. 2. USSF convinces Klinsmann that Huntington Beach to anywhere in the US is a better commute than Huntington Beach to Germany 3. ??? 4. Profit!
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Jun 22, 2006 20:19:44 GMT -5
What I'd like to see is this: 1. Germany loses in the second round and an outraged German mob demands, and receives, the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann. 2. USSF convinces Klinsmann that Huntington Beach to anywhere in the US is a better commute than Huntington Beach to Germany 3. ??? 4. Profit! You beat me to posting this conspiracy-minded thought, but I can't be mad at anyone who drops a Derek Waugh reference. GIMME THE F#%$ING BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a lot of interesting threads at play in the Arena job status thing. On one hand, you cannot ignore the dreadful performance of the team at the World Cup. From unmotivated players and sloppy playing to questionable formations and substitutions, it was a pretty bad week and a half for Bruce. And the World Cup is one of those unique things in sports where one three-plus game "test" every four years pretty much makes or breaks your job...and in some cases the standard is soooooooo ridiculously high one wonders why even bother. I think it's fair to say in most seriously soccer-obsessed nations, Bruce would be gone. Not that the USSF doesn't have incredibly high standards for its team's performance...and the bar should have been set high after 2002. Is Project 2010* or whatever still in operation, where the US was gonna build its soccer foundation to the point where we oughta be contending for WC Titles by 2010? (*It was some year in the ballpark of this). The interesting thing about Bruce Arena though is...I mean, if there was ever gonna be a tenure system for soccer coaches in the US, wouldn't Bruce have earned it? You could probably make a reasonable argument that Bruce Arena is the best coach in American soccer history at three different levels of the sport (NCAA, MLS, MNT...I'm sure at some point in his life he was probably a brutal U-13 pee wee team coach). There's probably not another American coaching candidate out there who's gonna come close to the same resume as Arena. I don't know why, but for some reason if the US were to go in another direction with their coach, the prospect of a foreign-born coach would be rather unusual, wouldn't it?* Which is why Klinsmann is popping into at least two soccer-following HB types heads...he's essentially American at this point. (*Bora Milutinovich or however you spelled his name was the last US coach of the BEC era--before everyone cared. I tend to evaluate post-1994 US soccer by a different set of standards.) And on the other, I get the feeling with some of the player and coach talk and a few of the commentators after the game (**) that Bruce may have juuuuuuuuuuuuuust enough of an alibi floating around to skate by and get another chance. The group was too hard. We were screwed by refs. The players seem to think they played hard but just weren't clicking. Little stuff. (**Eric Wynalda excluded.) It's veeeeeeeeerrrrrryyyyy interesting, cause I think US soccer had its flaws exposed at this World Cup, and it seems clear that several philosophical and tactical changes are in order over the next four years. Seems to be a matter of whether Bruce Arena is capable of "changing" his game up to meet these challenges. Will the USSF "forgive" him and give prob. the greatest US coach ever a chance to do this? Is there another American coach out there who can do it better? Finally, is the USSF willing to go to a foreign coach to make it happen? GIMME THE F#%$ING BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (still funny after almost 7 months)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2006 22:34:07 GMT -5
You're all wrong. They don't need to fire Arena. They don't need to send players to play in Europe. There's only one way to bring the Cup to American soil:
Orange slices.[/b]
Think about it.
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Post by washingtonhoya on Jun 22, 2006 22:52:46 GMT -5
Yeah, Project 2010 is apparently still going on, but it looks like the two major parts have been taken care of: Generation adidas, to get young players into MLS early without going to college, and the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, FL (no, hifi, this does not mean UF has the world's best soccer team). The stated mission of Project 2010 is to get the US to host and win the 2010 WC. I don't think that's so much a realistic goal 8 years from the project's outset. As for Arena, I've heard a couple of completely baseless rumors that he might be attracting some European interest, nothing major, but maybe a mid-level Premiership/SPL/etc. club. While the USSF would likely offer Arena a contract extension if he wanted it, I have to wonder if he might have some interest in going abroad. There has to be some question in his mind of if the team can develop into a serious title contender in South Africa, and if not, well, 11 years of an NT coach must be some sort of record if he were to stay. Andrea Canales wrote an interesting piece on Arena's future back in March that's probably worth a re-read now that there's no more complaining over the 4-5-1 to do. soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=362906&root=us&cc=5901PS: FL- One asterisk, one asterisk, two asterisks? Come on, you and the Chief need to work on the fundamentals, methinks. That's why I stick to parentheses.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Jun 22, 2006 23:22:28 GMT -5
You're all wrong. They don't need to fire Arena. They don't need to send players to play in Europe. There's only one way to bring the Cup to American soil: Orange slices.[/b] Think about it. [/quote] Thus spoke the Captain from "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge"
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Post by SoCal Hoya85 on Jun 22, 2006 23:58:40 GMT -5
In regards to the title and Landon Prima-Donavin are those St. Peteisms or did you steal them? I thought they were both brillant. So you stole them, right?
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Jun 24, 2006 10:27:29 GMT -5
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Jun 24, 2006 12:59:32 GMT -5
At least in that regard, Arena knows his "sh!t."
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Jun 24, 2006 14:15:57 GMT -5
Swear to God, I think Markus Merk's arguably the best ref in the world, pretty sure he did the Euro 2004 final. But he blew that call soooooooo badly I don't know what's going on. From Wikipedia: "During his youth and teens, Merk suffered ridicule because of his high-pitched, squeaky voice, which resulted from him not having any balls. After undergoing extensive surgery, he now talks in a normal baritone, though can't father children of his own." What did we ever do before Al Gore invented the Internet?
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PhillyHoya
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Post by PhillyHoya on Jun 29, 2006 7:45:30 GMT -5
You're all wrong. They don't need to fire Arena. They don't need to send players to play in Europe. There's only one way to bring the Cup to American soil: Orange slices.[/b] Think about it. [/quote] Don't forget the CapriSun.
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