Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

[jb12780]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Out of all the choices US Soccer had, they picked a fat guy from Brooklyn.

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[KG]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I'm a fan of Acosta and I've always liked Morris, I was more referring to guys like Zusi, Jones, Mcarty, Wondo, Beasley (even if I love him), etc.

Also, Chandler is an option even though I've not been a fan in the past. He's doing very well in the Buli apparently and from what I've heard Arena doesn't call him up purely for personal reasons.

The entire Arena situation just seems like cronieism to me. I'm just disappointed that we aren't taking immediate advantage of the foundations Jurgen laid for us. Arena was a step backwards.

Yeah o really like Acosta. Good with both feet, can hold possession, pick a pass, and is athletic. He just needs more game time to iron out some deficiencies in his game.

Plus he's a danger on free kicks.


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[redsrule]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Klinsmann had to go. Too bad they picked someone who will do even more damage as the replacement.

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[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Jurgen didn't necessarily HAVE to go, it was just his time. He's like LVG, you hire him to rearrange and set up a new system, then bring in a new manager to elevate your status.

We failed the second part of that plan.

[Thrash13]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Jurgen didn't necessarily HAVE to go, it was just his time. He's like LVG, you hire him to rearrange and set up a new system, then bring in a new manager to elevate your status.

We failed the second part of that plan.

For us to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, it seems Jurgen had to go when he did. The team was just flat and dead in the water for whatever reason. Arena infused some life and energy into the team, and that was evident by the 14-game unbeaten streak. But like you said, he didn't do it with the future of United States soccer in mind, and we're starting to see the effects of that. I'll be surprised if we don't take care of business in our next two games and qualify for Russia but at what cost? The USMNT looks to be ready to go down a rough path unless someone comes in and performs a minor overhaul.

There's no way we can go into Russia 2018 with Howard or Guzan as GK can we? Does anyone really see Arena bringing Horvath, Hamid, etc. in at this point in the cycle? Does he even know who Ethan Horvath is? I'm all for the young solid MLS guys getting a shot because some of them really deserve it. But as much as Jurgen seemed a bit anti-MLS, Arena is the opposite. Haha

Is there any chance we'll see McKinnie, CCV, Gooch, Rubin or even Josh Sargent as crazy as that sounds in Russia next year? It seems crazy, but it's about time to start looking past 2018.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

"For us to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, it seems Jurgen had to go when he did."

Disagree. JK was fired after two of the three toughest matches in the Hex. I don't believe that the results would have been much different if JK stayed. He could have easily won that watered down Gold Cup. Since Arena has taken over, things haven't gone that much different than in years past other than losing at home to Costa Rica.

And to Brav's point, US Soccer failed at both points regarding JK. Did anything really change at the foundation? I dunno, we'll see. As of right now I personally think we failed at both allowing JK to make any meaningful changes at the youth level AND bringing someone in after him to make sure it worked. It was half-assed and this is the result. There needs to be a complete overhaul of USSF, leadership, and a substantial change to the way the youth system works for anything to change.

And seriously - how freaking long does it take to find a competent fullback? Are we really playing DMB and Zusi in important games? How long has it been?

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

We have competent fullbacks, they are just either injured or Arena doesn't like them. We've also got like 3 really good U21 fullbacks but only 1 of them plays in the MLS so Arena probably wouldn't even consider the other two.

I kind of agree with Tim a bit, I think we probably didn't do enough to let Jurgen make the changes he needed. Ultimately we will have to wait and see, because we wouldn't see the effects of the changes for a few years anyway. We do seem to have a crop of higher-than-usual quality youngsters coming up right now, not sure how much of that is thanks to Jurgen though so I guess we will just have to wait. I do think that Jurgen tried to challenge the pay-to-play system at one point, which almost certainly would have fallen on deaf ears.

With the cronyism that has led to Arena getting hired, the more I think about it the more I am starting to suspect Jurgen wasn't allowed to change that much.

With Germany, they pretty much gave him the reigns. They knew they needed a full overhaul and they allowed him to do whatever. Obviously he was a pretty bad coach for them, but again, that's not the reason you hire someone like Jurgen.

We have so much potential but it seems as though we are getting in our own way.

[jb12780]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I think Gulati should go personally.

He set up the Costa Rica game in NY/NJ, which has the largest population of Costa Rican-American in the entire country. From people I know that went to the match, it was an away game basically.

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[Suntan Superman]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I think it was time for JK to go, I don't think it was correct, but it was clear that he was not going to be given the opportunity to do what he needed to do.

Arena has done nothing to help the US. He needs to go ASAP, and quite frankly I don't care what happens to the 2018 WC, whatever it takes to remove Arena.

Gulati has to leave as well. It's clear that he doesn't have a concrete vision for US Soccer.

Kroenke al.... whoops wrong thread.

[fugazi]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Time to start the #GulatiMustGo

I'm not joking. This is embarrassing.

[Bruins]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

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[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Not often Alexi says things I agree with, but he's not wrong on a lot of those things.

Only part I disagree with is the part about Pulisic and Cameron.

Pulisic isn't really lacking anything major, he just gets the crap kicked out of him from start to finish and he doesn't have anyone to really relieve him of that pressure.

Cameron is usually one of our best players, he's just a bit out of form, and his partners are trash.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Don't see many lies there.

To add to Brav's post, I'd also say he's pretty harsh on Dempsey. Him and Pulisic carried the team for a while there since Arena took over. And Cameron simply has to do better, but he knows that.

Only thing I don't like is the dumb personal attacks - "soft, underperforming, tattooed millionaires" is really uncalled for. But that's just Alexi being Alexi - couldn't just leave it at ruffling some feathers, he had to take it to the next level of pot stirring.

[Brahvocado]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Don't see many lies there.

To add to Brav's post, I'd also say he's pretty harsh on Dempsey. Him and Pulisic carried the team for a while there since Arena took over. And Cameron simply has to do better, but he knows that.

Only thing I don't like is the dumb personal attacks - "soft, underperforming, tattooed millionaires" is really uncalled for. But that's just Alexi being Alexi - couldn't just leave it at ruffling some feathers, he had to take it to the next level of pot stirring.

Yeah Dempsey just doesn't have the legs for 90 minutes every game, but he's still one of our best players and is useful as long as we don't run him into the ground.

The tattooed millionaires comment almost certainly comes from Alexi being a bit bitter. He's from a period of time when the NT was mostly garbage, and American players could barely make a living off soccer since the MLS didn't have much money in it's beginnings and most American players weren't good enough to play overseas. There are a lot of older pundits I feel that make comments about money largely because they are, deep down, a little jealous that this current massive flux of money didn't happen when they were playing.

[Thrash13]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Cameron really just had the one "bad" game against Costa Rica. He's been at least fairly good in most and really good in others. He was pretty solid coming on as a sub against Honduras. He's definitely the best we have in the middle, and Brooks is either really good or really bad. I guess we won't have him back the next two matches regardless.

We just need to pick two guys and keep them together for awhile. We switch too much. I'd love to see Zimmerman and Hedges pair up because they play together every week for FC Dallas, but they've been fairly poor as of late. I don't even think they deserve a call up this next round. Zimmerman hasn't been the same since his injury, and Hedges looked fatigued with all the National Team duty mixed in. That being said, Acosta has played pretty poorly for FC Dallas lately too and still shined against Honduras. So who knows..

I think Pulisic needs to toughen up a little, but that's not really something that can be done magically and overnight. He's only 18 years old (will be 19 in a week), and most 18-year olds aren't physically ready for what he's going through. He's literally the main target of opponents now, and it's been apparent the last handful of matches. He'll be fine though, no reason to call him out. He's been great for us, and if Arena can find a guy to step up and take some of that heat, Pulisic will go off.

I don't mind Alexi Lalas honestly. He says some dumb stuff sometimes, but he's also on the mark some. And through it all, he has a love for the USMNT first and foremost. He's as frustrated as all of us are, he just gets a bigger audience to speak his mind to.