Is our player pool good enough?

[tehGEO]

Now it's hard to find a great coach, but when you know you have found one that's not, shouldn't you keep looking?

Probably, unless he's satisfying all the requirements of his job. Which is kind of why I thought they took the interim tag off him in the first place.

[mette72]

And what manager that is available right now would?

Hell, even the best managers like Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho, and Hiddink don't even get "good" results they want on a regular basis. Look at all the winnable games that they drew or lost this year! Time to find a better manager!

The truth is that no manager is consistently good. The US muddles through WC qualifiers because many of the matches take place in the middle of the European season, players are tired, and we know that we can get away with it. And in case you didn't notice, we were outplaying Italy until Clark got wrongfully sent off.

We've played six halves in the Confederations Cup so far....three good ones, two average ones, and one bad one. Considering the opposition we were up against and the talent we have, that's pretty good in my book.

Your book of average or below average, whatever. To say that those above coaches don't get good results on a regular basis shines the light on you and says, in a very loud voice, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, YET I AM STILL TALKING!!!"

[flyerhawk]

I'm glad you agree - we have players doing great with their clubs but nothing for our national team (Dempsey, Casey, Clark) those that are great for both club and country (Donovan) and those that don't play on their club team but seem to get the nod on the national team (Beasley).[/quote[



National team coaches must rely on a player's club performances to gauge their ability to contribute to the national team. They simply don't have enough time with the players to gauge each player based on their time with the NT.

We have a player pool that includes people like Torres (plays for his club team) and can't get on the field. Our player pool has a good amount of skilled players that can't crack our team because our coach likes role players above skill and creativity.

I don't know why Torres isn't getting playing time. Maybe because he's a midget who doesn't score goals? Only the coaching staff knows. But it seems that the Kill Bob Brigade are hanging their hat on the believe that Torres would magically change the team, along with Adu.

To get to the next level we need a tactician with a mind that can grasp the high level game and adjust if necessary. Bob is not that guy.


This is one of those comments that means absolutely nothing to me. I'll ask again, assuming that the big guys like Hiddink and Mourinho are not available, who are the great tactical minds you think would come to coach the US team?

[flyerhawk]

Your book of average or below average, whatever. To say that those above coaches don't get good results on a regular basis shines the light on you and says, in a very loud voice, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, YET I AM STILL TALKING!!!"

There is a reason why Wenger and Ferguson have repeatedly said they would never coach a national team.

And let's forget that those coaches work with the greatest talent in the world. And not a single American can even make those club's rosters much less get playing time.

[appoo]

Both Spector and Howard made Man Utd, and got playing time.

[SeaOtter]

This is the stupdiest thing I've ever read on BS. All four get good results on a consistent basis; you don't win trophies without getting good results on a consistent basis.

It may have been a poor example, but only because we're talking apples and oranges when comparing Bradley's situation with theirs.

Those four are only limited by their budgets in their quest to build a consistent team. They can also ensure that the players they want to compete with get consistent minutes on their club team ;) .

[morrissey]

This is one of those comments that means absolutely nothing to me. I'll ask again, assuming that the big guys like Hiddink and Mourinho are not available, who are the great tactical minds you think would come to coach the US team?

I don't know who would be that guy - I know from observation that Bob is not a person who has shown that he can make tactical adjustments on the fly that change the game. I don't think he wants to. We have some coaches here (Sigi) that do this very well. Bob seems less willing to tinker than Bruce Arena did. I don't think we need a Superstar coach just someone who can take over our program from scouting and recruiting to training and tactics.

Bob is a coach that is satisfied when the best overall athlete gives their all win or lose and would rather have a guy run all over the place like an idiot for ninety minutes then take the time to think the game and play through. This philosophy is not going to change and until it does we will remain a regional power.

James

[flyerhawk]

Both Spector and Howard made Man Utd, and got playing time.

Fair enough although Spector had a cup of coffee with ManU.

[TulkasTheStrong]

Is your point we should never lose or tie a road game in CONCACAF?

My point is that when you look terrible in 5 out of 6 games in a row, do you think the 5 games or the one game is a better reflection of the coach?

[Curva Nord]

I think some of you guys have watched Hoosiers one too many times.

When was the last time a team not named ManU, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool finished in the top 4 of clubs in England?

The gap in talent between the USA and Italy, much less Brazil, is vast. Coaching can help overcome that a little but in the end talent is the largest factor in determining success.

The 2002/2003 season. The team was Newcastle.

Money keeps those clubs in the top four much more than coaching. Coaching helps decides where in the top 4 they end up.

National teams are much different, of course.

[mfw13]

The point I've been trying to make is that the reason we generally don't do well against the best teams in the world is because they have much more talented players than we do, not because of anything Bob Bradley does or does not do.

Put is this way....how many players do we have that would make the starting eleven of Italy, Brazil, or Spain. NONE. That's a pretty big talent gap!

[Albirrojo]

Guus, doing with Chelsea and doing with S. Korea, Australia, Russia is the true miracle worker. Beenhaaker has done some of this with Poland and T and T. Dick Advocaat is another name. I think somehow, the Dutch have a good understanding at the game. That seems proven.

Somewhere I lost the exact post but someone talked of helping a 4th rated power become a 2nd. Something like this and that we don't see a 2nd rate power going to 1st. Well, I don't think the 2nd rate powers are firing their coaches as much. It's a bit of an abstract concept.

[Craig P]

Off the top of my head, BB's record against Top-10 teams is poor 0W-1T-6L:

Against teams below the top 10, but within the top 40, BB's record is very good, something like this 9W-1T-2L:


That's actually fairly promising for our prospects in 2010. Figure that our group will most likely contain one top 10 side and two sides in the 10 to 40 range (probably one higher and one lower) (the potential deviation down is a weak group headed by South Africa, the potential deviation up is a Group of Death with the Netherlands as the unseeded Euro team). Losing to the top 10 and getting four or six points from the 10 to 40 should have us competitive or advancing out of our group.

[ty webb]

My point is that when you look terrible in 5 out of 6 games in a row, do you think the 5 games or the one game is a better reflection of the coach?

I am going to go with the five games.