Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

[Suntan Superman]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Wow. I’m at a loss for words. I have never not seen Team USA not qualify for the World Cup. This is almost surreal. Maybe the Jurgen years weren’t so bad. I can’t believe it.

The Jurgen years weren't bad. This year under Arena is bad.

[tonybologna]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

This is just pathetic! 1st time since 1986 that we haven't qualified for the World Cup? Are you serious Arenas? Seems like we played the correct guys but we just have no heart & that is to blame on the coach. Lack of continued effort seems to be a problem under Arenas as well.

This is shameful & embarrassing! I'm just disgusted as can be right now. I knew before that we just might be in trouble but to lose to T&T is ridiculous with a World Cup spot on the line!

[NYJets]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

This is just pathetic! 1st time since 1986 that we haven't qualified for the World Cup? Are you serious Arenas? Seems like we played the correct guys but we just have no heart & that is to blame on the coach. Lack of continued effort seems to be a problem under Arenas as well.

This is shameful & embarrassing! I'm just disgusted as can be right now. I knew before that we just might be in trouble but to lose to T&T is ridiculous with a World Cup spot on the line!

Not saying Arenas doesn't deserve blame and doesn't need to go, he does, but how is no heart on the coach?

Plenty of blame to go around.

[Bahnzo]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Are you serious Arenas? Seems like we played the correct guys but we just have no heart & that is to blame on the coach. Lack of continued effort seems to be a problem under Arenas as well.

If under two coaches we've had a "lack of heart" then maybe it's not the coaches?

People loved Arena when we won like 12 in a row, right? And let's not forget he's our best WC coach ever (2002). There's blame to go all around.

[Suntan Superman]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

The blame very clearly starts at the top, and works its way to the bottom.

First, we have no plan as an organization, it's very clear we're just throwing darts at board and hoping we hit a bullseye tactically, and identity-wise.

Second, we still have a pay-to-play academy that limits the amount of people that can participate, we should be actively encouraging people to play soccer at the youth level, not forcing their parents to pay exorbitant fees to get them into the academies.

Third, the organizational structure to get to the top flight is an absolute mess, between academies, u-age teams, colleges, USL, NASL, PSL, we need to have a full structure. It doesn't need to be a promotion/relegation structure either, but a very clear hierarchy that doesn't have weird limitations on it.

There's a lot more, but I'm going to try and not ramble.

[gopher_guy]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Well said, Rog.

[Thrash13]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

This is easily the most "sports sad" I've been in many many years. I don't take sports as seriously as I once did, but I'm a bit gutted by this one. Damn...

Say what you want about Jurgen and/or Arena, but this is on the players who put that uniform on. Other than Pulisic, Wood, Yedlin, and maybe Acosta, I really don't care to see any of the others selected this round in a U.S. jersey again. That won't be the case, but it's how I feel.

We have so many good young players on the way, but what will this failure cost us moving forward? We just needed to get into this World Cup and let the older guys ride off into the sunset while keeping fan interest high for the next crop of talent. I'm a die-hard fan and will stick with the USMNT regardless, and I can only hope this doesn't set American soccer back a decade or more.

Ugh..

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[jasontoddwhitt]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

“If we had qualified for the World Cup, there needed to be a number of changes for the World Cup roster.”

Well geez Bruce, maybe you should've made those changes for these two qualifiers.....

[Thrash13]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Well said, Rog.

I still feel gutted, but reading that actually did help a little. It just sucks for the United States because we've come so far with soccer support in this country, whereas soccer in Chile, Netherlands, England, etc. will always be top billing.

We'll survive though and hopefully come back better than ever from this setback.

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[Zac]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I mean, if everyone isn't fired tomorrow I'll be mad for 5 years. This is pathetic.

[ggsimmonds]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Its embarrassing that a nation with the population of the US cannot qualify for the World Cup.

I'm not a big soccer fan by any stretch, I watch the world cup and catch some of the MLS playoffs, but this still has me pretty down. Soccer was suppose to be growing in this country, what the hell happened?

#whatdidBeckhamcomeherefor?

[Other Guy]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Its embarrassing that a nation with the population of the US cannot qualify for the World Cup.

I'm not a big soccer fan by any stretch, I watch the world cup and catch some of the MLS playoffs, but this still has me pretty down. Soccer was suppose to be growing in this country, what the hell happened?

#whatdidBeckhamcomeherefor?

Not only given the population of our country, but also the fact that we play in CONCACAF. I know the road games can get nasty, but it's till CONCACAF. Sure, I'm trying to take solace in Holland and Chile missing out as well, but they're in the two strongest qualifying groups. Could you imaging what either one of them would do in this region? Could you even fathom the Netherlands losing to T&T?

I'm just totally stunned right now.

[dickey1331]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

Does anyone think real change will actually happen? With the World Cup expanding (confirmed?) in the next couple of ones which makes it easier to qualify where does the incentive to actually make real changes come from?


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[pietasterp]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

If under two coaches we've had a "lack of heart" then maybe it's not the coaches?

People loved Arena when we won like 12 in a row, right? And let's not forget he's our best WC coach ever (2002). There's blame to go all around.

I dunno....I think Bora Milutinović has a credible argument there.

I mean, if everyone isn't fired tomorrow I'll be mad for 5 years. This is pathetic.

Everyone. Including secretaries and janitors. The stink of this will be in the walls of all the buildings for decades.

I think Jurgen Klinsmann would have been better as president of USA soccer than national team coach, because the changes he was talking about were more global. He had a large hand in re-thinking the German system after their epic failure in the Euros 2004, and that re-boot (nicely detailed in Raphael Honigstein's "Das Reboot") subsequently produced the 'golden generation' that won the world cup 10 years later. We need those kinds of changes in the US, from the top down.

[Bahnzo]

re: Official USMNT/USWNT Thread

I dunno....I think Bora Milutinović has a credible argument there.

I don't know what his argument was, but it's always easiest to make the coach the scapegoat. Everyone did it with Klinnsman and now Arena. As soon as Arena's winning streak was snapped, I saw it...like a snowball rolling downhill, the Arena hate started and gathered momentum.

Sometimes you just have a bad pool of players and there's nothing you can do about it. That's us.