The Gold Cup wasn't an opportunity for evaluation? Or the other friendlies played on international calendar dates? Seems like Arena had every opportunity to evaluate Lewis but instead insisted on using a friendly being played on a date not on the international schedule. Very remiss of him.
Lewis hadn't played first team football in 18 months. He hadn't even dressed for a game the entire season, and all of a sudden Tiggy needs him for the last game of the season? It was entirely reasonable for Bruce to expect Eddie would be available to come to camp. The whole thing started when Eddie wasn't allowed to come over for the start of camp, 2 weeks before Fulham's final game of the season. Reyna came over for that week, as did a couple other players and then returned for their final game. That is what got Bruce pissed in the first place. Tiggy responded by saying he need Eddie for the final game, so not to look like a complete ass, he played eddie in that meaningless encounter.
Very remiss of you to assume that Arena missed an opportunity. Let me use actual facts -- not so much for you, as you will probably find some other BS to throw out there against the uninformed, but for others who have an actual interest in what happened. Step 1. Arena did in fact evaluated Lewis at the Gold Cup. By giving Lewis five competitive matches in a short period of time, Arena discovered that Lewis could still play if he shook the rust off. This evaluation led to Lewis going from off the squad -- as he was for the final qualifiers to making the squad. This elementary evaluation was only necessary because Lewis never played for his club. Step 2. Because Lewis was so rusty, it was prudent of Arena to determine if Lewis could play at a high enough level to start or contribute off the bench. Which is why Arena was particularily interested in evaluating Lewis in these sets of friendlies. Ironically this need was a direct result from, rightly or wrongly, Tigana never playing Lewis. In summary, Arena evaluated Lewis the best he could given the handicap of Lewis never playing. He used Lewis at every available opportunity, but because this was the only playing time Lewis got he quite reasonably wanted to check his form before taking the radical step of committing significant playing time in the World Cup to a reserve team player.
A meaningless encounter where Fulham's Inter Toto cup place - now turned into a UEFA Cup place - was still on the line. Hmm, maybe not so meaningless after all...
Lewis featured in 14 games this year including the World Cup. I'm assuming that means he played in approx. 9 or 10 games prior to the World Cup despite the dastardly Tigana's best intentions. If Arena was unable to evaluate Lewis in that number of games, then he's a much poorer coach than I think he is.
I can't figure it out...is this a yes or a no? I'm just a dumb American, so please keep it simple. Yes or no
Not a good argument, M. Tigana really was being a, well, for lack of better words - "Absolute Jerk". Languished the guy in the reserves for the entire season... and then to hold him back like that, after already showing that the player was available on free transfer and had little value to his plans. No. Tigana's job as manager is for the success of the club. No-one can argue that. But the Lewis story is more under microscope here, on a US site. Albeit it happens to other players, but because the player was American (do not be offended by where I am going with this), Tigana's shrewdness was brought more to the forefront of this and yes, he was an absolute ass to this player. Having said that, no-one really knows the entire story. I remember Lewis fitting in quite well when Tigana first arrived however falling out of favor in World Cup qualifying, having left Fulham to join the US when Fulham were shorthanded.
http://www.pnefc.net/today/view/breaking_news_detail/0,,10362~266102,00.html To actually get back on topic, appeal is tomorrow. Brown and the club's lawyer/solicitor represent PNE.
So it's your position that Arena screwed up, so it's OK for Tigana to screw Lewis? It's always a sign of a weak argument when a person tries to distract you. Focus, son, focus. We're talking about Tigana and Lewis. At this point, it's obvious to me that M is just arguing for the sake of arguing. Here's a little secret, kid...those things that look like people on your TV screen, they're really people!!! They're not actually part of a video game!! And, just like you, and your friends and neighbors, they have feelings. And a manager who consistently treats his players like s*** is going to be as successful as a manager in business who consistently treats his employees like s***. It works fine so long as the team/company enjoys unmitigated success. But once the worm turns, it turns hard. M, you seem to be having a hard time with this concept. Your worldview is pretty one-dimensional, isn't it? Tigana's responsibilities are to FFC. Fair enough. Did his burning need to play Lewis for the first time in 18 months outweigh his reputation for caring about his players? No way. Ergo, Tigana didn't meet his responsibilities to FFC. Either he was wrong to not play Eddie for 18 months, or he was wrong not to accommodate the player and release him.
Purposely dense? Yes, under normal circumstances it would be enough. But the circumstances were NOT normal. Because Lewis NEVER played, his form varied radically from his first games in 2002 until the end of the Gold Cup. To put it another way in order to try and be clear, the first five or so games that Lewis played in 2002 had NOTHING to do with evalaution but were simply to knock the rust off Lewis. Therefore, in these specific circumstances, despite the fact that Lewis played in nine games, Arena did not have nine games for the purposes of evalaution. As a result, Arena quite reasonably wanted another game and was surprised when he was denied that opportunity from a coach who had never previously played Lewis. In other words, while it is possible that Tigana was acting from his selfish need to qualify for the UEFA Cup instead of malice, it is even more clear -- that in Lewis' unique circumstances -- that Arena had a need to look at Lewis again to evaluate whether Lewis could actually maintain his best form -- which was in doubt because of Lewis' lack of match sharpness.
Guys - aren't we nearing the agree to disagree zone? I actually agree with M. on this. He was absent a few players and needed Eddie for coverage. Tigana probably didn't think twice about the importance of pre-WC training -- why should he? It's too bad he didn't rate Eddie high enough to play him more often, but then again, how many of us did? P.S. M isn't a teen as far as I know.
No, I'm saying Arena had ample opportunity to evaluate Lewis - more games than almost any other player for any other national team aside from the hosts in the six months preceding the World Cup. If anybody screwed Lewis it was Arena in not being able to make his judgement despite Lewis featuring in so many games.
I agree with this - and I can understand the point with World Cup qualifying. Manager has to do what's best for the club - but the coincidence of playin him in that particular match after not playing him all season and most of the last... and with little intention of playing him in the next... The only thing with Tigana was that he knew the United States were requesting his services. This is why I think there was more to the story than meets the eye, and low and behold, Tigana comes out looking like a jerk which, well, in reality he is despite Lewis.
Wasn't Tigana missing a number of players for that particular match (I can't remember the details)? Isn't it possible he was playing him because he had been showing good form in reserve and wanted to showcase him for a possible transfer? Sure, maybe he was pissed about something, but in Tigana's soccer worldview, do you think he thought what he was doing really was screwing over Eddie? What are the damages?
It's a fair question. Unfortunately, I don't know how to find out the answer. However, regardless of what that would show, I don't think it proves that Arena didn't need to see Lewis at this match. Frist, Inamota did not go 2 years without first time action like Lewis basically did. Second, every player is different. Maybe the length of Lewis' layoff, maybe something about Inamota's game makes it less suceptible to rust, etc. But I saw Lewis play in the Gold Cup and there was a huge improvement from game 1 to Game 5 as Lewis shook the rust off. I don't know about Inamoto, but Lewis needed the Nats play to regain his match sharpness. Only then could Arena evaluate him in terms of his role, if any, in the World Cup.
Yes, Tigana was missing players. Yes, it is possible that Tigana had a legitimate reasons for using Lewis in that game. Yes, I really think he was screwing over Lewis. Could be wrong, but for me the coincidence is just too strong. And I rate Lewis quite highly, as did Arena, who never failed to start Lewis in a critical game before Lewis' move to Fullham.
I agree that it is not outside the realm of possibility that Tigana was trying to screw over Lewis, but wouldn't it have been more effective if he had kept him and then not played him? That seems like more of a screwover to me -- at least he got some first team action. I also don't think Tigana would have viewed keeping him out of camp for a week as particularly effective in terms of damaging a player. You make a case for why it could have been important, I just doubt that those things would have entered Tigana's mind.
I suspect that Tigana saw that Lewis was playing and, for some reason, didn't want Lewis to do well at the World Cup. Doesn't make much sense, I grant you, but nothing about what happened with this incident makes much sense if you ask me.
Given the number of games Lewis played for the US in the run up to the World Cup, there is no evidence to suggest that Tigana treated Lewis's World Cup ambitions with contempt. Consequently, your question is moot.
This was true. A number of players were missing due to injury and... this is the kicker... I believe outside commitments. The thing is, and why I can see the fans getting angry is: "Why now?" All very valid points - Lewis had been doing well in reserve matches. But you have to give Tigana more credit than that - he knew this all along. From his perspective, it wasn't that he thought he was screwing Eddie Lewis, he simply didn't care, really. All season long, it had been anyone but Lewis. Perhaps Fulham needed him, maybe not, but I have a feeling Lewis' inclusion to the first team in more than a year and change had a bit to do with the incident hitting the press among other things. As manager, he had to play who he thought provided the best opportunity to win. But even though I hardly followed Fulham, it was a shame that he wouldn't let the player go or open the options for him even it that would have been a courtesy. It does my mind in and makes me wonder what the whole story was. I guess it's a moot point now. He's off to a side that genuinely feels he's a valued addition. A shame it didn't work out at Fulham but perhaps this is the start of something better.