The Ringer: Own Goal: The Inside Story Of How the Us Missed the World Cup

^^^ This

It is still an "old boys club", and no one dare to go up against them. JK tried, and he paid for it dearly.

I've yet to see a reporter/journalist comes out and completely blast Sunil, Arena, and the USSF for their failure to not only qualify for Russia but also the embarrassing under achievements of our youth teams over the past decades.

We don't have soccer journalists/reporters in this country, what we have is a bunch of 'ass kissers' that run around pretending to be journalists/reporters.

Sure, it was easy to throw JK under the bus, he's the 'foreigner'. He's the guy that dare to go up against the establishment. Did JK thinks he was going to get away, unscathed, after repeatedly blasting the MLS/SUM and it's power brokers? Did he honestly think he can bypass and over step the USSF and their cronies?

If JK had kept his mouth shut, and be a good old boy, he's probably still managing the USMNT this weekend against France.

 

Funny, but for the prior 1.5 seasons, Pirlo was beaten out by someone not named Mix to start for NYCFC. Pirlo was useless in MLS

Lampard was also quite a useless piece in MLS and he too often had to jockey against others for playing time.

and just because:


In both cases Mix wasn't one of those players taking playing time away from them.

 

I think this is a good idea, in and of itself, but the larger structural forces that resulted in our talent pool would not have changed early enough to have a meaningful effect on the product on the field. I'll take my more detailed thoughts to the more germane thread.

 

Regarding your want for an expose about the under achievements of our youth teams:

Who was the head coach and eventually, technical director during our last two Olympic failures? Who oversaw that program? It was JK.

I am not saying he is totally responsible for our youth failures, but he was a big component - and there you are absolving him of all blame?

Looks like you have an agenda...

 

I'm with you...word choice matters. "Failed miserably" is bad word choice.

That stretch had me somewhat hopeful going into Brazil. Some coaches learn slower than others; I think Bradley is a classic case of a man who is a good coach but is slow to get up to speed. (That's why I was so dubious about the move to Swansea...what Swansea needed wasn't what Bob has to offer.)

I was hopeful that Jurgen had figured it out and that we'd have a good WC. Like I've said before, to me, we shot par...the Ghana match was a good match, given that CRonaldo was injured, Portugal had to have a win, and their best defender was suspended, a draw was a meh result, the Germany game was OK, the score of the Belgium match was OK, but the way we played was dreadful.

Anyway, to me, at this point I didn't want him staying on just because I think it's bad policy to keep a coach for a 2nd cycle, but his performance at that point was somewhat promising.

Then when we sucked in the next GC, he should have been on warning. When we got beat by Mexico and looked poor doing it, that was when he should have been fired.

The timing of his firing meant that we had to have someone who would hit the ground running, and Bruce was probably the best choice given the specific circumstances. Then Bruce had a rollercoaster run, culminating in a great win in matchday 9 and then a disaster in matchday 10.

Of all the things JK did wrong IN Brazil, his reaction to Jozy's injury was the stupidest. We had AMs on the roster. His choice was to ask MB to be both the AM and a box to box midfielder.

It's not even about Bradley playing in his preferred role. He was literally asked to perform 2 roles.

I think the fairest thing to say is that in a 23 team league, he would (barely) be one of the top ~50 central mids. (Some teams play with 2 and some with 3.) But having watched him, that's about it. Because of his EU passport, his worth in MLS is less than his worth in Europe.

 

In the reality based world, he got a contract extension late in 2013, even before Brazil, and was fired either a year of a half year too late.

I'll say it again...if your argument is based on things that aren't true, get a new argument.

You don't think the article that's the subject of this thread blasts Sunil? I agree that Bruce's role over the last 8 matches is understated, but Sunil? (And I don't know how one would "blast" the USSF, given how decisions are made. People made the decisions, not the organization as a whole.)

You've crossed that line between "passionate and misinformed" to "batshit crazy."

Arguments based on bullshit are bullshit.

 

This is my takeaway from the article:
A few players were criticized mildly or in the case of Cameron a bit more extremely. Those criticisms do not answer any questions but extended some questions that had already existed.

In Bradley's case it is mainly a case of some players not liking him or resenting his financial success....are you serious?

In Chandler's case it is mentioned, that he advised Wood to sit out a game because his club/lively-hood was more important than the national team. It lacked any type of context relating to the conversation or Wood's injury. It leaves a great deal to the imagination and is based upon anonymous quote(s). How many reported this quote? How did he say it? Was it something like...."well you know your body, if you think it could be serious, I wouldn't play and jeopardize my career for this game....who pays your salary and supports you and your family?" Or was it something a bit more damning? Either way it leaves an awful lot to the imagination. I'm no Chandler fan due to my opinions on his play with the USMNT but I still feel that the article paints him in an unfair light. If the author made it a bit more clear what exactly was said or gave other substantiating information

In Cameron's case, the actual complaints against him seem to be more of a problem but assessing the validity is still difficult.

Klinsmann: much of what was written about Klinsmann has been written and discussed before but I felt the destruction of team morale aspect was most significant because it led to one of the author's hypothesis (in my opinion) that Klinsmann left the team in such disarray that Arena's job was hugely difficult.

Arena: I felt that he was let off the hook more than he should have been. I feel that he had a very difficult job but the bottom line is that the US dropped points they should not have dropped. Home points to CR. If we can criticize Klinsmann for losing to Mexico (I do) we can criticize Arena for losing to CR. T&T....I don't need to comment on that. If we had gotten 1 point from those 6, we wouldn't have to talk about the hole Klinsmann dug at the end.

Gulati: To me, the criticism of Gulati was most damning and he still got off easily. I won't say more than that.

Overall I enjoyed the article but don't really think it answered too many questions.

The greatest accomplishment is that it has given BS another Donovan like thread for people to argue their agendas regarding Bradley, Klinsmann, Arena et al.

 

lol. nah I just love messing with you guys. I know some are you are close friends/ relatives of the old-guard crew (one of you might even be a Bradley or arena himself)....... good times.

 

getting testy?

More importantly implies Bradley is the more important piece to the puzzle to emphasize for better overall outcome.

More important than Dempsey?

More important than water and the sun?

 

No you f#cking tool, because the closer you get to your goal you want steadiness. That aside, Bradley should never be an attacking midfielder. Plus, Dempsey was pretty much free to move where he wanted,so the only thing wrong with that is was Dempsey was now solo near goal.

 

You can tell there are already so much chemistry going with this group of young guns. We need to keep the poison away from the well (Bradley, Howard, Jozy, etc.).

http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/uni...eady-for-next-challenge-with-club-and-country

 

"The Red Bulls have been everything for me since I was a kid, so they know where I stand with having big ambitions to go overseas and ultimately reach big goals, playing in Champions League," Adams said at the U.S. team's hotel. "Hopefully one day I'll play at a stage where Christian [Pulisic] is playing and Weston [McKennie] and guys like that.

Wonder where that goal came from? Will Don Garber now go after Adams?

 

Aww man! You got me good! I should have known someone named #1 Fielhaber and Adu would be busting chops. Especially with a Timmy Chandler avatar!

In all seriousness, I believe no one in the pool 30 and up should be considered for any U.S. match going forward, out with the old guard. So please stop advocating for MB.

 

Jurgen Klinsmann invented the idea that playing in the Chanpions League = good. Nobody had ever thought about it before him. I honestly, fully believe that this is his most significant contribution to American soccer, nothing else he has done has come close.

 

lol. you guys are too funny.

 

Yes! please more MB!

 

lol. Testy............

 

I'm glad that Mix has found his niche in the #22 league in Europe, but I remember clearly how ineffective he was with NYC. If 37/38 year old Lampard can retreat faster than you to cover the defenders, you got serious issues.

 

I think it's a bit funny when people fawn all over the younger guys because of their European ambitions when not that long ago Dempsey, Bradley, Altidore and others were saying the same stuff. It's like some are forgetting how youthful exuberance and priorities can change over time. I suspect at least a couple of fan favorites right now will not be well received in 5-7 years.

 

Respectfully disagree.

I was there in person for the game NYC vs Orlando in Orlando and he looked better than Klestjan looks now. In my opinion he didnt get a fair shot and the MLS journalist seemed to have it out for him for some reason. I have my conspiracies but ill keep them to myself.

 

You honestly think they were going to play Mix over Lampard?

 

Not even playing a real defensive midfielder as...defensive midfielder?

 

The tin hat argument was funny before we failed to make the world cup.

 

Our identity was based on necessity and needed to change if we are going to compete in the world game. We didnt qualify because of what happened in 2017.

Something to be proud of.

They are all just players.

The team didnt fail under Klinsmann. They maintained a similar standard while doing things differently.

You continue to incorrectly assume it is support for Klinsmann when it is much more broad than that. It is support for anyone who is willing identify the major problems with soccer in the US and try to change them. It is pretty simple and it is amazing it is controversial, but we know it is mostly people like you with blind support of MLS who dont understand the game or sports in general.

You are fixated on Klinsmann and just about everything you write about him isnt correct and hugely exaggerated. The most egregious is the claim he never accomplished anything. He obviously didnt succeed in places like Bayern and Toronto and was mixed but generally made progress and got results when it mattered most for the US, but his time with Germany was an incredible success. According to the many Germans I spoke to all over the country in 2006 went on and on about the impact he had on the country.

I realize you wont chang a thing and continue to type nonsense while fawning over all things MLS. Enjoy the phenomenal coaching of the Sigi!