Bruce Just Lost You 3 Points

[dvandyke]

Apparently Bruce Arena stated on a show called The Drive To Germany’ on ABC this afternoon that the Ghana game is a guaranteed 3 points for the US and they are not a team that he is going to waste much time on. Please tell me this is not true. What an arrogant American fool, there is no way that you will get away with this extraordinary over confidence. Ghana will crush you with this attitude.

[Hamburgler03]

Bruce didn't say that. He said that he wasn't currently spending a lot of time scouting Ghana. He said that he would be doing most of his scouting of Ghana based on how they played in their first two games.

On playing Ghana, he said his hope was to have at least one point after Czech and Italian game with the chance to play for a win against Ghana in order to advance.

[metrofan89]

You say apparently...so you didn't actually hear this first hand I presume?

[Jabinho]

What's the quote? I seriously doubt he said anything like "it's a guaranteed 3 points for the USA." as he has never ever said anything close to that about any team we've played in his 8 years...
Perhaps you are taking something out of context...;)

[Clinton AFC]

Apparently Bruce Arena stated on a show called The Drive To Germany’ on ABC this afternoon that the Ghana game is a guaranteed 3 points for the US and they are not a team that he is going to waste much time on. Please tell me this is not true. What an arrogant American fool, there is no way that you will get away with this extraordinary over confidence. Ghana will crush you with this attitude.

What Bruce actually said was that he would watch Ghana's matches against Italy and the Czech Republic for scouting purposes but that he is focused on opponents in the order we must play them.

Therefore, he would not waste time on the third opponent until the first two have been faced. Very sound coaching, IMO.

[dvandyke]

I might well be wrong, this is the talk of the Ghanaian football forums. I did not hear it myself so I am asking if anyone here watched it.

[monster]

I might well be wrong

I didn't see it either, but I say you go with this feeling.

[Onionsack]

I guarentee you Bruce never said the 3 points were in the bag. I would stake my mother's life on it and i didnt hear the interview.

[Clinton AFC]

I might well be wrong, this is the talk of the Ghanaian football forums. I did not hear it myself so I am asking if anyone here watched it.

I have no doubt that Ghana is approaching the group in the same manner. 1.) Italy 2.) Czech Republic THEN 3.) USA.

[AndSomeAreAngels]

I might well be wrong
Yup. You are.

Arena may be confident, but he's not stupid enough to ever say anything close to "It's a guaranteed 3 points". The notion that he would is absurd.

[Jabinho]

Therefore, he would not waste time on the third opponent until the first two have been faced. Very sound coaching, IMO.
Someone in sports saying 'we're gonna take em one game at a time' ???
OMG, I've never heard that before.. He may start a revolution in coaching! ;)

[dvandyke]

The guys on Ghanaweb based in the US say that they watched the show and heard him state that the Ghana match was a guaranteed 3 points for the US. This does seem out of character for Arena but I hove spoken to the guys thier hundreds of times before and they never lied to me in the past. It must be true.

[George H]

What Bruce actually said was that he would watch Ghana's matches against Italy and the Czech Republic for scouting purposes but that he is focused on opponents in the order we must play them.

Therefore, he would not waste time on the third opponent until the first two have been faced. Very sound coaching, IMO.

I've seen other interviews with Bruce and he has said this exact thing. He also added that it didn't make much sense to scout Ghana before the WC because they had so much turnover on their squad and they are going to show him a lot in their first two WC games. He felt that by scouting them for their games vs. Italy & Czech Rep, he would have a good idea of what to expect.

It's a very smart way to prioritize his and his staff's time.

[Hamburgler03]

I watched the show and he did NOT say anything about a guarantee 3 points.

[appoo]

The guys on Ghanaweb based in the US say that they watched the show and heard him state that the Ghana match was a guaranteed 3 points for the US. This does seem out of character for Arena but I hove spoken to the guys thier hundreds of times before and they never lied to me in the past. It must be true.

they are mistaken. Arena said he'd like to face Ghana with a chance to get to 4 points and then advance from the group.

[Jabinho]

The guys on Ghanaweb based in the US say that they watched the show and heard him state that the Ghana match was a guaranteed 3 points for the US. This does seem out of character for Arena but I hove spoken to the guys thier hundreds of times before and they never lied to me in the past. It must be true.
It's BS.. I will be watching and recording it here on the west coast in a while (unless this racing goes over and it isn't shown or the Ghana part is missed) and I will post his exact words... Unless someone in the east can do it now..

Edit: and if he said, "with a chance to get 3 points", as a previous poster said he said, CHANCE does not mean guarenteed..

[natsalways]

The guys above have it exactly correct. He said that what he wanted was to have points coming out of the first two games so they could play for the second round against Ghana, and that he would be scouting Ghana in the first two games.

It wouldn't suprise me if someone were to take his remarks and twist them to their desired understanding, however, as people are always looking for motivation. If Ghana needs that motivation to play the US in the final group game to advance to the knockout rounds, they are in trouble against the Chezks and Italy.

[Soccernethost]

Bad teams always look for something to jack them up.

Arena has said several times he doesn't spend a lot of pre-tourny time scouting the 3rd game b/c you have two games in the tournament to watch.

[Nutmeg]

they are mistaken. Arena said he'd like to face Ghana with a chance to get to 4 points and then advance from the group.

Hopefully that's an "at the very least" statement and we play with some more balls than that.

[Winoman]

Hopefully that's an "at the very least" statement and we play with some more balls than that.

In any tournament, whether it's one and out or round-robin, you don't give your opponents "Bulletin Board" material. That's rule #1. As someone above posted, you get the typical jock-speak: "We're playing it one game at a time" and the classic "Anyone can win on any given day."

Arena is not stupid. He would not say anything like that to rile up any opponent. Whoever claimed Arena guaranteed 3 points against Ghana is talking through their hat.