Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

[studbucket]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I was vehemently in the "Give Klinsmann a chance" camp, and somehow I still am. I think we can pull out this qualification still. Mexico aren't a bad side, and we should have won that game, and we've pretty much never beaten Costa Rica in Costa Rica. The performance was absolutely concerning, but we're not out of the woods yet for qualification. I don't buy that we're in danger of not qualifying.

That being said, if we have to play in the play-off, or if we slip against someone else that we absolutely shouldn't, get him out of here.

I may have agreed with you, until I read this. https://whatahowler.com/dos-a-sorrow...96b#.motkh4gdg

And then read Matthew Doyle's Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/MLSAnalyst

And then I read some more articles (that weren't just hot takes). Klinsmann's talents seem to lie in getting the right players into the pool, not in actually using them in a way that makes sense. I'm firmly in the "Klinsmann out" crowd now.

[Suntan Superman]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I will say, while I'm still in the Klinsmann camp, I'm also not going to be sad if he gets fired Friday.

Ultimately my concern lies with in who replaces him.

I heard Sam Allardyce is available...

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Bruce Arena seems the most likely at the moment

[jvalverde88]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Yeah according to Grant Wahl, Bruce Arena is the most likely to replace Klinsmann.

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Our best ever WC happened under Bruce, and he seems to need a change right now so it might not be the worst idea.

I still think we should try to get Bielsa but truthfully he could do better than us.

On the topic of Bradley, honestly I don't know what happened. It's like he fell off a cliff shortly after moving to the MLS. It's not as if he's super old, but he just doesn't even look like the same player.

Bradley was the best passer of the ball we've ever produced, hands down and inarguable, and now he can't even complete simple passes. He was a super high energy/high tempo player and now he just seems to slowly walk around everywhere. Maybe it's partly Jurgen's fault since we never play with a true DM.

Personally, I refuse to give up on him just yet. If we get a new coach and Bradley doesn't snap out of it then I'll concede defeat, but right now it mostly just looks like the players have all given up on Jurgen, and Bradley as the captain is sort of the focal point of everything.

I swear the old Michael Bradley is still in there somewhere.

[KG]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I may be wrong, but there's still a part of me that thinks there are 2 major Klinsmann problems for Bradley:
1) He won't put Bradley in a position to maximize his strengths
2) Pairing him with Jones has never worked well IMO. Both do better when the other isn't on the field, and I like Bradley a lot more

Am I wrong? My eyes and biases can certainly deceive me, but I still believe Bradley is part of our best roster. I am not convinced Jones should even be coming off of the bench.

I'm just not sure what position is Bradley's best anymore. I don't think he's creative enough to play behind the strikers as a #10. He doesn't have the legs to be box-a-to-box in a 4-3-3 and as a deep lying middie his passing leaves a lot to be desired for that kind of link-up/transition. Like Brahvo said, something happened to him physically when he moved back home because at Roma I thought he was pretty damn good and much more athletic considering he's only 29. IDK, maybe it's the milage more than the actual age.

I'm not trying to pin our recent failures on him, he's just one of many that has underperformed for quite some time now IMO.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I can't even remember the last time I said "wow, Bradley really played well in that game" in a game that meant something. Time to figure something else out in that position.

I don't care what his "natural position" is. He doesn't take care of the ball.

[Suntan Superman]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I think his mileage is definitely catching up with him. He seems to have hit that wall.

[OliDegu2008]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I think everyone needs to step back and just relax. Klinsmann will get it together.

I do believe he has an issue putting players in position to succeed I.E. Bradley, Altidore, Besler, ect. but at this point who would realistically replace him?

I can't think of a viable solution.

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I think everyone needs to step back and just relax. Klinsmann will get it together.

I do believe he has an issue putting players in position to succeed I.E. Bradley, Altidore, Besler, ect. but at this point who would realistically replace him?

I can't think of a viable solution.

Arena is a viable solution, though I do agree that there isn't a whole lot out there at the moment.

Jurgen will get it together because it's concacaf and would take a monumental effort to NOT qualify. If we actually want to do well at a world cup however, he will not be the one to take us forward in that regard.

Jurgen is very much like LVG, his specialty is setting the groundwork for success. He has changed the structure of US soccer in a very positive way, but soon will be the time to bring somebody in that can put all the pieces together. Germany went through literally the exact thing with Klinsmann, they had all the pieces but he couldn't put them together. It takes a pretty special manager to put Bayern in third place right after they won 3 straight league titles (LVG replaced him and won in his first season).

Anyway, I just think we plateaued a while ago, and the issue stretches beyond just putting players in weird positions.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

In response to saying "if we actually want to do well at a world cup..." Isn't getting to the knockout rounds and possibly winning one game exactly how we should be expected to do in the World Cup though?

I feel like somewhere along the line many US Soccer fans got tricked into believing we're worth a damn on the world stage.

I'm just wondering what else we should expect. I mean even if Wondo buries that chance, we just get utterly curb stomped in the next round.

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Isn't getting to the knockout rounds and possibly winning one game exactly how we should be expected to do in the World Cup though?

I feel like somewhere along the line many US Soccer fans got tricked into believing we're worth a damn on the world stage.

Higher expectations are a natural consequence of progress.

We should be able to make the quarterfinals of a world cup, something we've already done. It's not so much about US fans being deluded into thinking we are better than we are, it's more than modern soccer has shown us that a well set up team can accomplish a lot. The US used to be a team that was greater than the sum of our parts. We were always tough to beat, and the team always played for each other. Now, we aren't even EQUAL to the sum of our parts.

You can't sit there and say we shouldn't expect more from our team when Leicester is winning the prem, Wales/Iceland/Costa Rica are making it to the quarterfinals of major tournaments. Greece won a freaking Euro.

I think the main problem most people have is that the US team doesn't look like it has a soul anymore. It's not just that we don't look like we have a plan, but the things you could always count on from the team (max effort, structure, good defense, sacrifice) aren't even there anymore.

We really could be much more formidable with the right kind of application of our strengths, I don't think it's out of the question to want a bit more when we are clearly capable.

[studbucket]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I completely agree with everything Brahvocado said. This team regularly underwhelms me, even in victory, and it's not because of the players because I see them do well and do different things in their clubs.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

If they were going to do it in the middle of qualifying, this is the best time. Good luck to whoever comes in.

Also, who relieves Sunil Gulati of his duties? Time for someone new there too.

[rsnomar05]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

If they were going to do it in the middle of qualifying, this is the best time. Good luck to whoever comes in.

Also, who relieves Sunil Gulati of his duties? Time for someone new there too.

There are a lot of reports suggesting it is Bruce Arena.