News: Bruce Arena says MNT players should be 'Americans'

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by TheHoustonHoyaFan, Mar 21, 2013.

  1. Bruce S

    Bruce S Member+

    Sep 10, 1999
    in the case of Arena, his pie-hole really is a pie-hole.
     
  2. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    There's a difference between club football and international football. If two things are different, he can't be a hypocrite for playing Keane!!!

    I get that aLOT of bigsoccer posters hate Arena and look for ways to criticize him. How bad is Arena? Apparently, not bad enough that people can criticize him without being foolish themselves.
     
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  3. Lloyd Heilbrunn

    Lloyd Heilbrunn Member+

    Feb 11, 2002
    Jupiter, Fl.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sure, he can. Because he is bitching that the Amerigermans are limiting opportunities.

    So is playing Keane ahead of Villareal and McBean.

    But wanting the better player is good enough for him, but not Klinsi.
     
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  4. Etienne_72772

    Etienne_72772 Member+

    Oct 14, 1999
    I don't have anything substantive to add.

    I just thought this thread needed a better Bruce Face.

    [​IMG]
     
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  5. dark knight

    dark knight Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 15, 1999
    Club:
    Leicester City FC
    Did he say limiting opportunities?
     
  6. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't tell if you're being serious or not.
     
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  7. sidefootsitter

    sidefootsitter Member+

    Oct 14, 2004
    The idea has been rehashed in the Yura Movsisyan threads (the summary of which goes like this : it took him three years to be wanted by Spartak after his departure from MLS and that he kept improving on each level after his departure from MLS. This doesn't mean he hadn't improved in his four years in MLS but that the level which was graded at upon his departure from MLS was only good enough to land him at a relegation threatened Danish club for barely MLS DP money ... in other words, had you set up a 0-10 scale from where Yura was as a rookie with KC to where he is now, you'd probably give him a 3 as a rookie; a 5 as a 4th year MLS vet/Randers newbie; 6 as a Krasnodar newbie where he was a rotation/squad member; 7 as a Krasnodar 2nd year player where he was mostly a starter; and 8 as a new Spartak transfer, now that he is leading the RPL in goals ... his MLS resume alone was nowhere close enough to land him at Spartak as evident by the fact that he went for free to a small Danish club, then was transferred to Krasnodar for $2.5M and this season to Spartak for $10M)

    http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/yura-movsisyan/transfers/spieler_39280.html
     
  8. Lloyd Heilbrunn

    Lloyd Heilbrunn Member+

    Feb 11, 2002
    Jupiter, Fl.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's the non bigoted paraphrase of what he said.

    The actual quotes, where I emphasize what leads to me paraphrase that way...

    How closely do you follow the national team?
    Not as closely as I used to. I don't even know some of the players, which is odd as the former coach. Players on the national team should be -- and this is my own feeling -- they should be Americans. If they're all born in other countries, I don't think we can say we are making progress.


    The players on the national team are now mostly European-based. When you coached the U.S. in 2002, more than half of your starters came from MLS.
    It should still be the case, in my opinion.


    Why isn't it?
    I can't answer that. That's the job of the coach. But from what I've seen over the past couple of years, plenty of MLS players can play an important role on the national team.


    Are they getting enough opportunities?
    You can do the math and figure out if they are or not.


    By agreeing with the "more than half" statement and stating it "should still" be so, and then "saying you do the Math", he is quite clearly saying the Amerigermans are limiting opportunties for homebased/born guys, IMO.
     
  9. deuteronomy

    deuteronomy Member+

    Angkor Siem Reap FC
    United States
    Aug 12, 2008
    at the pitch
    Club:
    Siem Reap Angkor FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Having seen Bruce in action through the years and reading the comments in their entirety, he is mostly just poking a stick at Jurgen. For the most part, that is the mission of this piece.

    And I'm not criticizing or condoning it, either way . . .
     
  10. butters59

    butters59 Member+

    Feb 22, 2013
    Long live the Bruce!
     
  11. Bruce S

    Bruce S Member+

    Sep 10, 1999
    He is channeling his inner Maradona. At least with his stupid comments and his waist line.
     
  12. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mexico?
     
  13. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bruce Face just picked the perfect time to troll US Soccer. Well done Bruce.
     
  14. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    Perhaps he would have some point if he said the players were raised/groomed by another country's setup like perhaps some of the German-American players, but even then they are American. They have citizenship and their fathers are US servicemen. But his statement about being born in the USA is quite restrictive and idiotic. This isn't the 1840's "Know Nothing Party"
     
  15. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I seriously doubt that most of these guys don't feel American. They give it their all for the team and they have my support.
     
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  16. Winoman

    Winoman Drinkin' Wine Spo-De-O-De!

    Jul 26, 2000
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    After seeing that display tonight, I think all MNT players should be Inuit. :D
     
  17. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    2013?
     
  18. mbar

    mbar Member+

    Apr 30, 1999
    Los Angeles, CA
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sure we could bump threads from 2013 or we could pay attention to more recent news like this from Tuesday:

    On comments he made in 2013 regarding foreign-born U.S. National Team players:
    BA: “I don’t know how that came about, I guess we did that interview together three years ago from what I’m told. If I made those comments, I certainly don’t believe that’s my attitude. As a starting point, one of my favorite players in my eight years as National Team coach was Ernie Stewart. I believe that anyone that has a United States passport is certainly eligible to play for our National Team. I embrace all players that are eligible to play and I just want to make sure their heart’s in the right place and when they put the U.S. jersey on they’re playing for that crest on that shirt. It’s important to me; I have a great passion for this National Team and I expect the same out of all players. I am all for any players that are eligible to play for us and I really look forward to working with our foreign-nationals as well as our domestic players."

    SG: “I’ve talked about that, not only in the last 24 hours but quite often, and I want to reiterate what Bruce’s views have been and what mine certainly are. If you’re eligible to play for the U.S. National Team, you are available for selection. After that, the coach makes those decisions, but we’re open to anyone, whether they were born abroad or born here. Some of the discussion that Bruce and I have had in the past is if we have players primarily developed abroad, then while they’re still absolutely eligible in every possible way to play for the National Team, they don’t reflect in the same way on the development programs that we’re going through in the U.S. We are trying to evaluate our own development programs, and pretty clearly, a player like Jermaine Jones and Fabian Johnson, is different than some younger players that have grown up in the U.S. They’re both eligible to play for us, there’s no thought pattern that one has an advantage over the other, as long as they’re committed to the U.S. National Team, which Bruce has reemphasized before and again just now.”
     
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  19. chad

    chad Member+

    Jun 24, 1999
    Manhattan Beach
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No! We must take the quote out of context and create hysteria!
     
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  20. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You can argue that Jurgen the German limited American born players' opportunities by choosing mediocre German born players over equally or more talented American players. But Brooks and Johnson are shoe-ins for Bruce's squad (Green was born here).

    There doesn't seem to be much talk about young American players who played in English or Mexican youth set-ups or about the Anglerican Carter-Vickers.
     
  21. bostonsoccermdl

    bostonsoccermdl Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 3, 2002
    Denver, CO
    [​IMG]

    Oh, trust me, he is just getting started.......
     
  22. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    I agree that your interpretation is reasonable. I feel however that the quotes were sufficiently ambiguous to allow for different interpretations:

    "If they're all born in other countries, I don't think we can say we are making progress.?" seems to be related more toward the domestic development system. He seems to be saying that it is a negative reflection of our system/infrastructure etc.

    The players on the national team are now mostly European-based. When you coached the U.S. in 2002, more than half of your starters came from MLS.
    "It should still be the case, in my opinion."

    The problem with this quote is that he does not say Why there should be more than half from MLS. If he feels there should be more than half because he feels that MLS players have been left off the team due to a bias against MLS and not due to quality of the player than that is much different than simply saying there should be some sort of quota on foreign born players because they aren't American enough....

    Why isn't it?

    "I can't answer that. That's the job of the coach. But from what I've seen over the past couple of years, plenty of MLS players can play an important role on the national team."

    to me that is just Arena avoiding the question. He may feel that Klinsmann was biased in favor of German Americans. Or not.


    Are they getting enough opportunities?
    "You can do the math and figure out if they are or not."

    Just a confirmation of what he said about to few players from MLS playing with the USMNT. The key is why he feels they should be playing? Euro bias has been real under Klinsy, or because real Mericans were born and raised here.




     
  23. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    I always read Bruce's quotes as normative. The majority of the squad should be from MLS because MLS should be a top league developing lots of quality, young American players.
     
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  24. ImaPuppy

    ImaPuppy Member+

    Aug 10, 2009
    Using too many parentheses
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    I don't think the player selection will be a big departure from what Jurgen was calling. In fact, Jurgen's recent rosters have been quite good I think. The issue has been the tactics, the subs, and the players simply not playing with heart.

    If he can change those 3 things, we'll be in great shape.
     

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