Mmmmm . . . let's see- when was the last time Spain lost before today? Oh, yeah-- last year to the USA. ANY coach worth his paycheck is going to go back and study that tape carefullly. I certainly appreciate that the Swiss coach is gracious enough to give credit to Bob for the things he saw in that 2009 match. It isn't like Bob invented the strategy, but he gets credit for getting the team to implement it well.
No need going and getting explicit here. We don't need to drag this thread down in to the gutter. Hitzfeld saying he learned from the US victory over Spain doesn't actually mean he learned from the US victory over Spain. It merely means he applied a "well-established" tactic to a game against Spain in the same manner as the US happened to apply effectively against Spain in their only loss in the last 48 or so matches. No need to read anything in to this. Hitzfeld is an idiot and should be fired!
Plan to return and eat some crow, bltleo? You don't have to do it right this second -- I know it's 3 in the morning over there. But you could have some with your morning coffee. I'm sure we'd all appreciate it...
Really, it only makes sense that a good coach would go back and study the one game Spain has lost over the last few years when preparing to face them.
It is her favorite dish around World Cup time. I remember making a bet with her four years ago since she was so "sure Germany will win."
Oops, my Droid's 1000 Spanish Verbs apps doesn't seem to have the word "choke" in it. I am going to write the developer to see if they can make it a 1001 Spanish Verbs app. Switzerland and the US used smart tactics to set Spain up for a loss, but it was the Spaniards that choked. They had a ridiculous amount of time to get that goal back, but couldn't.
I think the point is, that Bradley's deployment and use of this overall strategy, within its minutae as applied specifically to Spain and the specific players was brilliant. Not that he invented a new defense, but that he figured out how to beat Spain. You don't really think Bob just said, "Ok pack in the middle and counter attack, ok guys?!!?" There was a lot more to the plan and a lot more strategy than just that. Bob's a good coach, after this tournament he might be considered a great coach.
Try a different strategy or personnel. If you're intent on crossing, put Llorente in at center-forward. However, the better strategy is to spread the field out by introducing wide players. Spain had a lot of guys who liked operating in the middle of the field and thus kept getting in each other's way. With the Swiss mixed it, the result was a ever-moving scrum in a tiny part of the field. Put in some wingers, switch the ball from side to side, and it's going to be harder for the Swiss to maintain their shape, allowing openings for Spain's creative players to exploit.
Spain also seemed scared of shooting. It was like they were all waiting for the perfect shot. They were being to cutesy. If they had taken more shots maybe one would have gone in. Its like they only want to shoot from 5 feet out on an open net.
Some people really just don't want to give Bob Bradley credit. After the opening two games of the Confed Cup last summer I thought he was awful too. But the big results he's managed to get against really good teams in important games speak for themselves. Spain is the most obvious example of this. It doesn't mean he's a coaching genius, but I think anyone who's honest has to admit he is very good at what he does, and certainly in the running for being the best American soccer coach ever (I know there's not a lot of competition for that, probably just Bruce Arena, but still)...
One of the most respected European head coaches in the world learned from Bob Bradley. I just heard sidefootsitter's head explode.
He's secretly actually Bob Bradley, and just comes on here with that ridiculous persona to ******** with people. He's been a little busy recently.
Yeah, I've been wondering when it's going to happen. I'd even take her off my ignore list to read it.
Certainly the tactic is not a new one. Equally certain Hitzfeld gleaned many, many things from Bradley's tactics against Spain. Specifically: the minutia of how a team with very similar qualities to his own shocked the best team in the world 2-0. What kind of match ups were dangerous? What kind of Spanish attacks resulted in the best opportunities to counter? How did Spain respond as a team and as individuals? What competent couch wouldn't glean buckets from that kind of pre-tournament analysis of the most dangerous team in your group? (Other than Vicente del Bosque apparently)
Couldn't be more true. Although personally, this kind of European snobbery is half the fun of being an American soccer fan. I love having an entire continent (minus Holland of course) to root against. I've already had the pleasure of watching my English friend try to explain while he always insisted that any one of England's three keepers were much better than Howard. And I have high hopes of rubbing it the face of every Frenchman I know after Mexico beats them (oh, please oh please!) ... speaking of which ... time to find a TV.
I like the picture of Bob and Mikey sitting at their separate computers talking on the phone while Bob types: "Hey, Mikey, should I go with a German WWII military reference or praise of a second-division Latvian coach from 1964?" "Duh--both. And make sure to add gratuitously that I have a limited ceiling as a player." "On it."
I completely agree. I wasn't suggesting there was nothing to be gained from Bradley/USA - I was simply being diplomatic given the polar responses. Any coach would be a fool to not study how another team had recently beaten a common opponent. It happens all of the time - and Bradley does it, as well. It should come as no surprise to anyone that every team in Spain's group has probably viewed the US/Spain tape at least once. It's amazing how divided people are over Bradley - though I can understand the arguments of both sides. There are definitely people on this thread making more of this situation than is really there. Bradley is not a coaching phenom. He was fantastic in his preparation for Spain and it worked out perfectly. Then again, his preparation a few days after the Spain matched failed pretty miserably in the second half - so I can understand why people are quick to bash him. Unfortunately, people want to use this as evidence that he's a great coach and some people see this as an opportunity to highlight all of his flaws. It was a single game - I think people need to appreciate that. Just take pride in knowing that people took notice of the USA's performance last summer. Bob's overall quality as a coach is rather irrelevant considering you could never validate an argument either way over a single match.
I'm sorry, but how exactly does preparation, fail after half of a game? Preparation is, you know, all that stuff before the game. Which clearly worked, as we scored 2 goals in the first half. The wheels did come off in the second, and that is fair to talk about, but that is certainly not an issue of lack of preparation. To the original premise - if was just the application of a well-worn strategy, why has it only worked twice? We did some things differently from the typical bunker, it worked, the Swiss cribbed -we know this explicitly - and did some of the same things, and it worked again. Sounds pretty causal.
Actually the correct response is both USA and the Swiss were a not just a "little" lucky but extremely lucky. Only "inferior" teams" will use this tactic, like Greece did in their remarkable EuroCup run. This is a tactic that is totally dependent on luck to win. The US and the Swiss were both very lucky, actually the Swiss did a much better job defending and Spain had fewer real goal scoring opportunities. That's why he says the strategy isn't perfect and I think the Swiss improved on it by not ceding the flanks completely, like the US did.