As good as the win vs Honduras feels, it is still just a game we should win easily. We won easily. There has been talk of how Arena outcoached Honduras' coach. We had the better team and were at home. I'm not saying this to be critical. We did what we had to do but in my mind it doesn't rank as one of our best wins ever; only as one our best wins recently. Arena was hired to do a job and so far he is doing it well. the next test is Panama. Considering it is away and we will be missing even more players to injury, this appears to be a greater test than Honduras. Hopefully we can get a win.
Last time we played them, in the Gold Cup, we had our full team and barely beat them 2-1. That day we also got out-possessed 51% to 49%, out-shot 16 to 6, and conceded 9 corner kicks. So, there's reason for moderate optimism.
“There’s no secret formulas to this stuff,” Arena explained. “Work together, take ownership in what you’re doing, treat them like responsible professional athletes. And you get on with your business. They want to play in a World Cup.” Or my favorite, on Villafaña: "He's a left back, which is one of the criteria I think you should have for selecting a left back."
Actually, we lost on PK's for the third place game and the match before that we drew 1-1 in the group stage.
Bradley AND Jones can't start at the WC. Arena's answer to this problem will define his short tenure.
I think Bruce is going to play different approaches for different games - attacking with one defensive midfielder in games he wants 3 points, and the empty bucket like last night in games where he thinks 1 point is a reasonable outcome. So when everyone is healthy we will probably still see Bradley-Jones on occasion, but especially in home games I expect Bradley will start alone behind a three of (probably)Zardes, Pulisic, and Johnson. I think people really underestimate how bad the injury situation was and how much that handcuffed Bruce. We were missing a starting striker (Wood), two potentially starting wingers in Zardes and Johnson, both starting centerbacks (Cameron, Brooks) and were playing our sixth best option at right back (Yedlin, Chandler, Lichaj, Cameron, Orozco, Zusi). And despite that Bruce said he needed 4 points and got them. It worked as it was supposed to.
I like the fact that when the camera goes to Arena, he has the exact same, disgusted look on is face I have sitting on the couch. When the camera panned to Jurgen, he was either smiling or getting advice from some assistant making a quarter of Jurgen's salary.
Keep in mind that last fall we were in panic mode. We needed someone quickly who knew the players, knew MLS and had a level of respect that the players would immediately respond to. And it needed to be someone who did not need time to get his feet set. For that reason, a foreign coach (and by foreign I do not mean a non-American but someone who has no experience coaching in the US) was not acceptable. You look at the list of then current and former MLS and national team coaches, and who else was there exactly? Maybe Sigi Schmid and maybe Oscar Pareja but that is about it. In a few years, we will have a long list of coaches with MLS and national team playing and coaching experience who could have jumped in, but for now, I think we had Arena and that was it.
There was occasional discussion and wondering if somehow Jurgen had a hand in the unusual color scheming and a bit weird apparel line that Nike regularly introduced for the United States. Regularly he would show up in a new polo shirt or jacket that really did not have the standard USA colors. Anyway, I am not sure if Bruce was shown on TV Tuesday night or not, but he was wearing a very tight (almost spandex) outfit, which I suspect was another Nike design. Not a good look at all for him. It reminded me a bit of the heavier ladies who like to wear yoga pants. I'm a bit surprised he even wore it.
A manager is only as good as the talent he has to work with. Since the talent is presumably much better now that it was the last time Arena was in charge I expect him to make more out of his approach to his tactics than he possible could have the last time around. On the subject of putting America first, being American, or generally using the noun "Americaness".... I sincerely hope there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of that in the context of US soccer. The World Cup is predicated on nationalism and players play for national pride. Hoping no US soccer fan falls victim to injecting politics, social issues, or popular civil opinion when it comes to "putting America first" for this program. What that simply means (read no further into it) is that we are after players that "want to be here and want to play in a world cup". Stated matter of factly by Bruce Arena. Don't make a bully out of him by manipulating his words and creating false pretenses.
As I have posted many time before, if you decide you are firing Klinsmann, than Bruce was the only choice that should have been considered - assuming he would take the job - which he was more than willing to do. Bruce was and remains the best American coach ever by a wide margin.
I think he was the only realistic choice that Sunil could have made. Bruce has the chance to coach perhaps the most top shelf attacking talent we have ever seen wear a US kit. Bruce might not be the greatest coach in the world, but he is a good coach that is capable of getting more out of a team than what the sum of it parts should add up to. I am good with that for now.
Yep, and the players were even making more than that, and they gave him coaching advice during the Mexico qualifier.
Along with the central defender decision, this is another one. It is good for the coach to have choices, these days . . . http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/featu...rce=facebook&utm_m_medium=t&utm_medium=social The attacking puzzle pieces seem almost entirely in place. Clint Dempsey scored four goals in two games and Christian Pulisic is emerging as a viable No. 10 for the United States. In a 4-4-2, Arena could go with a midfield that features Fabian Johnson, Darlington Nagbe and Pulisic, a daunting task to defend. That also means Arena has just two spots for Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Bobby Wood. Dempsey, 34, showed he remains one of the most dangerous strikers in the U.S. pool. It could mean Arena will have to bench one of either Altidore or Wood, two younger options who both bring top qualities to the U.S. national team. At the same time, Dempsey’s age could prompt Arena to send the veteran to the bench in order to continue developing the partnership between Wood and Altidore. There’s no easy choice here. (And we aren’t even introducing other forward options, including newly-minted citizen Dom Dwyer and Seattle’s Jordan Morris.)
A write up on how Bruce Arena has adapted in his coaching career: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/featu...ce-usmnt-future-analysis-united-states-soccer So part of what has made the past week interesting has not just been the emergence of younger players, but Arena’s willingness to trust them in clutch situations. Most pertinent of all, perhaps, was bringing Paul Arriola into the game late on Tuesday night, at a time when a poised game could still have gone either way. This wasn’t a speculative act designed to give an inexperienced player minutes; Arriola was expected to offer at least as much notional value as Jozy Altidore, the player he replaced. Arriola is something of a lightning rod as a figure in Southern California — the youth player developed by the Galaxy, who left for Liga MX when there appeared to be no path to the Galaxy first team under Arena, ended up being an inadvertent catalyst for LA to start a USL reserve team to prevent similar defections. Now, here he was being thrown into a tight international game by the same coach, on the assumption he’d succeed.
It was just the team warmups. I'd recommend Bruce sticks with pleated pants and if he is going to go with that outfit, go one or two sizes larger
Bruce is retirement age already, cut him a break. Also, this may be our "best generation ever," but don't forget this is not a steady-state world and everybody else improves. We used to be #2 in CONCACAF and #7 in the Americans with fewer guys in Europe. Now we're #3 & #10. And I wholeheartedly agree: if a player doesn't want to come, and has a "nag" when he gets called to the team, it's better to stop calling him, no matter how good he looks for his club. Forcing someone to play means not only that they'll be sub-par on the field, but that they'll hurt morale for the whole team.
This sure seems like the same old Bruce. He's more than good enough to get us qualified, but still worry he hasn't changed enough since 2006. His ability to transition sooner than later to our younger, more talented players instead of relying on veterans will be key to getting out of the group. He's gotten a couple of things right but a few that are not good signs. The Good: Villafana, Acosta, and playing the kid centrally vs Honduras The questionable: Chandler The Bad: Gonzalez, Zusi, and playing the kid wide vs Panama The Horrible: Hyndman, Roldan I'm not completely convinced Villafana will be enough at a higher level, but looked like belonged in these two games (besides falling asleep on the Panama goal). Acosta looked confident in his minutes and will give us different options in the midfield. There is no reason to not call a player because he's only available for one game. I know he hasn't historically played well in Central America but if he is going to be with the team going forward, he should have been in camp. If he isn't in his plans then perhaps he should have just said it, but I have no issue with it. Not a fan of Gonzalez and would have played any of the other defenders ahead of him. Zusi doesn't cut it at right back and makes chandlers exclusion seem that much more confusing. Pulisic is your best player. There is no reason to not give him freedom to roam where he wants to get on the ball. The problem is compounded by putting Jones next to Bradley which has rarely worked. Roldan should have been in camp in January... minutes were wasted on 30 yo like Feilhaber, McCarty, and Pontius while a talented 20 yo sits at home. Hyndman should have been called in, even if he didn't play. I question whether Lletget, Acosta and/or Nagbe are better than him and he is playing well enough to want to take a look at him up close and against the other competition. It is bad enough he wasn't called in but has yet to hear from Arena. It makes no sense to not let him know they are tracking him and what they are thinking. Hyndman's comments about Arena at 46:10... https://soundcloud.com/sbipodcast