Arena Interview on "Los Tecnicos"

[Autogolazo]

I DVR'd it last night and haven't watched it yet, but it's a whole hour, so maybe he said something interesting. Anybody else see it?

This is the same show, based in Argentina, where every World Cup coach is sooner or later going to be interviewed for the full hour. Other coaches have said some pretty revealing things.

This one was done that day Bruce went down to Bolivia.

[Golazo]

I DVR'd it last night and haven't watched it yet, but it's a whole hour, so maybe he said something interesting. Anybody else see it?

This is the same show, based in Argentina, where every World Cup coach is sooner or later going to be interviewed for the full hour. Other coaches have said some pretty revealing things.

This one was done that day Bruce went down to Bolivia.


WTF was Bruce doing in Bolivia?

[Davids26]

WTF was Bruce doing in Bolivia?

Etcheverry's Testimonial game...

[wcharriscpa]

I DVR'd it last night and haven't watched it yet, but it's a whole hour, so maybe he said something interesting. Anybody else see it?

This is the same show, based in Argentina, where every World Cup coach is sooner or later going to be interviewed for the full hour. Other coaches have said some pretty revealing things.

This one was done that day Bruce went down to Bolivia.

I caught it about halfway through. I thought it was a really good interview.

My DVR is now set to record this show.

[Bruce S]

key question: is Bruce as much of a smart-ass there as he is here?

[nobody]

I don't get this show, so anyone who wants to provide a detailed account of it would have my undying gratitude...which for that and a couple bucks you can get a cup of coffee...

[bwach]

WTF was Bruce doing in Bolivia?


He and Sundance needed to get away for a while.:)

[Sachsen]

He and Sundance needed to get away for a while.:)

Rep for the Butch Cassidy reference. Absolutely one of the best movies ever.

[The Big Ticket]

Did Arena rip on Guimaraes and Costa Rica? ;)

[Autogolazo]

Just as a hint, I've watched the first 5 minutes and here's what Bruce says to the Argentine (whose English is TERRIBLE).

These are all direct statements by Bruce, if not exact quotations:

----The Czech Republic is more unpredictable and dangerous than Italy in attack. "We already know everything about Italy."

----Sorry, Gibbs fans (me), Bruce is going to stick with Pope, if healthy.

He says his back four is Cherundolo, Gooch, Pope, Lewis

He says McBride in attack, with Donovan and Beasley behind him. (giving credence to some sort of 4-5-1), and Reyna and Mastro in the midfield, possibly JOB.

I'll post more after I watch the whole thing....

[Ronaldo's Idol]

Just as a hint, I've watched the first 5 minutes and here's what Bruce says to the Argentine (whose English is TERRIBLE).

These are all direct statements by Bruce, if not exact quotations:

----The Czech Republic is more unpredictable and dangerous than Italy in attack. "We already know everything about Italy."

----Sorry, Gibbs fans (me), Bruce is going to stick with Pope, if healthy.

He says his back four is Cherundolo, Gooch, Pope, Lewis

He says McBride in attack, with Donovan and Beasley behind him. (giving credence to some sort of 4-5-1), and Reyna and Mastro in the midfield, possibly JOB.

I'll post more after I watch the whole thing....

Well that's some interesting info there. I wonder if we can truly believe it...but if so that means we might be looking at something like:

----------------Keller
Dolo----Gooch-----Pope-----Lewis
----------Mastroeni
-----Reyna---------JOB
----Donovan--------Beasley
---------McBride

meaning that our boy Convey is the odd man out, as are Dempsey, EJ, and Wolff.

And I have to say, this is a decent lineup really. I don't think anyone has posted this yet. It is quite defensive, with only 3 attacking players really (4 if you include JOB).

It would help us clog to middle defensively, and possibly keep the ball a bit. Out flanks would be patrolled by Dolo and Lewis, and they'd probably be the primary sources for crossing the ball.

If this is what Bruce is thinking, I like it. It is a bit conservative, but it is hard to argue that any of those players won't be effective in these positions.

[Autogolazo]

Wow, this is a frickin' goldmine, but that's why I watch this show (Los Tecnicos) religiously. You get this kind of detail from every World Cup coach. I've never seen Arena open up like this, tactically speaking.

He's drawing all of this on a piece of paper that the camera focuses on.

He and the Argentine interviewer are sitting poolside in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

I'm now at about 10 minutes and I had to post again, so much stuff:

1. Ghana is "not the most disciplined" team and has a "lack of WC experience" but are "very fast".

--Bruce makes the point that he only prepares heavily for games 1 and 2, that Ghana will show everything it has to show in their first two matches which he can see and besides, he'll have separate tactics for the Ghana match based on group positioning.

2. On Italy, a classic quote following his first statement about Italy compared to the Czechs--"Italy is easy to know, not easy to play against."

--He does NOT think Totti will be ready, at least not to start. He pencils in Del Piero as the attacking mid based on the left side (much like Nedved), but says Del Piero's position makes Italy either a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2.

--The Argentine asks him about Camoranesi, "one of ours", the guy says, meaning he was born in Argentina. Bruce says he knows all about him, that he played in Mexico with Cruz Azul. The guy says, "He's fast". Bruce demurs...."He's QUICK" The Argentine's English doesn't allow him to understand the difference, but we do.

--Then Bruce says, to clarify, IN SPANISH, "Delanteros" and he points out Toni and Gilardino. He says Toni might be the fastest guy on the team. I found this hard to believe, at 6-5, but whatever....

--Bruce says the two central backs are a strength for Italy.

--Bruce says the outside backs for Italy (Grosso and Zambrotta) are NOT a strength, and seems to emphasize this.

At the end of the section on Italy, the Argentine interviewer asks:

"Do you study?"

Bruce smiles and says, "Yes."

[ill quixote]

Keep it coming man. Thanks.

[Autogolazo]

The guy asks about the Germany loss.

Bruce responds that we had a good 45, that we made a horrible mistake on the second half kickoff, that it was mostly our second team.

Then he says that playing the Poland friendly and the German friendly were about getting acclimatized to Germany itself and the stadia: "we felt it was good to be in Germany to understand the stadiums, to understand the lay of the land."

As opposed to his saying playing Germany was a mistake, in this interview he says all of both trips was "a positive experience."

The guy wonders why we're going to play Jamaica. Bruce responds "just as a friendly" to see some local players for the final 23 man roster.

The U.S. arrives in Germany June 2nd (did we know this?), plays Angola June 5th behind closed doors.

"Why?" the guy asks, "Because they're like Ghana?"

Bruce says definitively NOT, but that they're just a team to get some practice against, they could be Asian, etc., it wouldn't matter.

[Haole]

I caught it about halfway through. I thought it was a really good interview.

My DVR is now set to record this show.


Where's this coming from? I can't find this on GolTV.

Thanks.

[Sachsen]

This is great stuff. I don't remember ever hearing Arena be so open about tactics and his opinions on opponents.

[Autogolazo]

This is great stuff. I don't remember ever hearing Arena be so open about tactics and his opinions on opponents.

That's "Los Tecnicos" for you. The Paraguayan coach was so open I kept hoping he'd shut up and no one in England or Sweden was recording it.

OK, to continue...


The guy keeps asking about Howard, and Bruce keeps reassuring him that Keller is the starter. More experience, he's currently playing, Tim hasn't played recently for ManU. I don't know where they get their talking points...

OK, so then the guy asks about Donovan--"Will he be the star?"

Bruce says "We hope so." Then corrects himself, "We hope he'll be one of eleven stars." Calls Donovan "Flexible" (position-wise), good speed, great passer of the ball.

McBride?

"VERY, VERY important" Can hold the ball, score goals, key to the attack.

Is Leh-vis the key to your formation?

Bruce is stupefied.

LEH-VIS? He play on de lef.

Still stupefied.

De lef. De lef.

"Oh, Eddie Lewis. The left back. Yes, we like him to get into the attack. We also have Beasley on the left. He plays for PSV."

(I'm assuming the guy went back and looked at 2nd goal vs. Mex in 2002 again)

Po?

Pope. And I quote, "IF INJURY FREE, HE SHOULD PLAY." I'll leave my own personal worries about this for another thread.

Claudio Reyna?

"Our captain." Good two-way player, passer, etc.

More to come...

[ursula]

I agree this is great stuff Autogolazo. Keep it coming if there are any more tidbits.



----------------Keller
Dolo----Gooch-----Pope-----Lewis
----------Mastroeni
-----Reyna---------JOB
----Donovan--------Beasley
---------McBride

meaning that our boy Convey is the odd man out, as are Dempsey, EJ, and Wolff.

And I have to say, this is a decent lineup really. I don't think anyone has posted this yet. It is quite defensive, with only 3 attacking players really (4 if you include JOB).

It would help us clog to middle defensively, and possibly keep the ball a bit. Out flanks would be patrolled by Dolo and Lewis, and they'd probably be the primary sources for crossing the ball.

If this is what Bruce is thinking, I like it. It is a bit conservative, but it is hard to argue that any of those players won't be effective in these positions.

Makes me think that indeed we'll only see three forwards going to Germany. It will also be very hard to break us down. Also even though they wouldn't be starting, both Convey and Dempsey could plug into this failry seemlessly. Olsen or Zavagnin could fit in too without too much responsibility for them if it came to using them.

But it does put a lot of responsibility on JOB annd Reyna to provide thru balls for LD and DMB to run onto. Lewis and Cher might be providing crosses but there sure isn't a lot of height on offense past McBride. In fact outside of corners or set pieces we won't be scoring by sending in high balls except on a fast counter.



Now I wonder... what if McBride gets hurt? I'm thinking from reading this post that Arena is not thjinking of either TT or Ching as a suitable sub. Which means that we'd be doing something different tactically even if EJ plays the forward spot.

[ursula]

Po?



Teletubby can man mark ANYONE clear out of the game even with her small size. She's a beast.

[Autogolazo]

Holy sh*t, he's bringing out the paper for the U.S., now.

And this is it, no sh*tting.

"Keller."

Defense?

Direct quote, "Always play with four backs." Said as if speaking to a child, which linguistically (in English) his interviewer is..


"Cherundolo......Pope (MLS)....Gooch......Lewis (Leeds)"

MIdfield?


"Definitely Reyna"

Uh..

"Up here (draws up top) definitely McBride"

"Definitely Donovan" (to start)

OK, OK--sh*t.

He DRAWS (I'm not saying this is what he'll play) a CLEAR 4-5-1.

Reyna is paired up with another d-mid with a "?" and Bruce says, "Maybe Mastroeni, maybe John O'Brien"

"Beasley, for PSV, can play either left or centrally" (he draws him on the left)

Donovan is drawn in a withdrawn position to McBride.

Then Bruce puts another question mark out on the right-hand side and says, "Maybe Clint Dempsey", but he doesn't suggest another name!

The guy had also specifically asked about Dempsey, but Bruce's response wasn't really direct, more in the form of the diagram.

Then he pointed at Landon and said, "Maybe Donovan up here, with McBride."

This last means that the first and only drawn diagram, as I clearly read it, had Landon playing an A-mid role and McBride up top by himself. Donovan as 2nd striker was offered as the "maybe" alternative.