Yeah, but Torres had a deer in the headlights choke of a half at the World Cup, hasn;t been seen around USMNT since. Personally I would like him to have many more chances, and wanted him on Gold Cup team too.
I'd always wonder.. Does Bob Bradley have a computer? Because this forum may be the only study guide for the sake of the USMNT. Oh wait! I guess he does! Good god.. Wait wut?
I love people who talk about how "prepared" Bob has his team and the "mentality" which he instills in them beforehand like they are in the locker room listening to it. You people have no clue what you're talking about to be speaking such definitive statements. We have NO IDEA if it is the players or the coach, what percentage of each or ANY of that. Good God, this forum would be perfect for someone studying the "mob" phenomenon in sociology.
I think tonight's loss is on everyone. The coach doesn't tell them to make poor passes and turn the ball over; players like Landon & others- whatever the coach told them today- should have played MUCH better. That said, the team has a history of coming out flat at times, giving up early goals, and playing to the level of it's competition. When it was Spain at the Confed cup, that was a hell of a level. Tonight, we played below Panama, and, that's clearly not good enough. So, leading Brazil's A team 2-0 at the half in a major cup final, Bob was a fking genius. Tonight, he's a complete moron. The truth lies somewhere in the middle, but, whoever you want to blame tonight, you can't avoid giving the coach a bit of stick, it's his job to make us play better and we did not do that today. I blame the players for being terrible, but, also the coach for being in charge of the result we all saw, and slapped our foreheads at. It's a true double face palm.
No no no. None of this "in the middle" psycho babble. Even if "the middle" was the truth it's not good enough. There is a distinct pattern that has developed and it's completely unacceptable. Bob on a consistent basis fails to get the best out of our guys. This is evident in our first half performances. It is his job to get the best out of our talent. He does not do this as evidenced by our "ability" to come from behind. How about not starting from behind to begin with for once? Bob must go before qualifiers start. End of story.
you definitely have a point and the players do have some blame here. But as a whole, the players are like a set of tools. If they're not in the right hands, they won't reach their potential use. If you saw this past world cup, Argentina is a perfect example of this. They have some of the best players in the world and they still didn't do very well and all because their coach didn't really know what he was doing. And don't get me wrong, Bod's done OK. But the team clearly needs to be refreshed with a new point of view.
I blame Ream for effin' up that PK on Blaz Perez. I blame Bob for having Ream in there to begin with. I suggest not calling up Ream until he markedly improves. I suggest not calling up Bob. Ever.
What if they were the best players we had available? Okay, Rogers, Adu, and even Onyewu might disprove that... but in theory.
And I bet they are all just chomping at the bit to take a significant pay-cut and coach the USMNT. Also, please just like 20 of the 100 candidates who would be interested and affordable.
-The coach and the players both have problems, but we cannot fire the players. -The players are selected by the coach -Our players are better than Panama's, and with more depth. So, We can see who should be blamed more.
Goalposts are NOT moving. There's only one situation in which there even needs to be a discussion regarding Bradley. US out before the Gold Cup final: Bradley should be fired, no discussion. US wins the Gold Cup: Bradley should keep his job for the rest of the cycle. US loses in the Gold Cup final: Gulati and company need to do a full review of Bradley's tenure, see who else is available and at what price, do a cost-benefit analysis, and make a decision. In NONE of those three outcomes is one group stage game against Panama relevant. If we win the Gold Cup, no one will care about it (see early stages of the Confederations Cup).
The "only one situation" is that the guy is a shitty coach and the US would do better with someone competent.
We lost tonight to an inferior team that played a better game than we did. This has happened to this same team a lot more frequently than we'd like to admit. For what it's worth, I see this type of loss as a different problem than the Spain match. Basically, what it comes down to IMO is that the national team as currently constituted is capable of playing exactly one style of play well: defending first, then looking to counter. Against a team like Spain or Brazil, we lose because the quality of our defending is inferior to the quality of their attacking. Apart from bunkering to try and get a result, which might be the right call against such a team in a World Cup, we're going to leak goals unless our world-class keeper bails us out. Against a weaker team like Panama, which coming in would be content with a draw, this style is incapable of creating enough quality chances against a physical team that doesn't want to take many chances going forward. And when that team gets up a goal or two, this system provides no way back. In other words, the biggest problem with the USMNT in CONCACAF play is the same as it's been for the past decade -- we aren't strong enough going forward against a team that gives us time on the ball. When is the last time we've truly had a world-class forward on our roster? I'll go one step further: who is the last forward we've had that you'd want to fire the coach on the spot if he didn't start an important match? Maybe McBride? Moreover, is there any player who will be under the age of 30 at the next World Cup who looks like they would be that sort of automatic choice? This one is on the players and the development system. We're making the right long-term investment, I think. But one thing we have to realize is that thusfar, MLS has been much better at improving the level of weaker CONCACAF nations than it has been at improving the level of the USMNT. At the same time, the tactical system we play isn't good enough to deal with weaker teams that bunker. Given the amount of time and space on the ball that, say, Canada allowed us, we should have created a lot more chances -- if not for the pair of keepers, that was a 1-1 draw despite the run of play. Our best attacking players are midfielders. It is the job of the coach to find a system that uses these players to break down a team that's prepared and physically fit enough to defend for 90 minutes. Bradley still has not been able to do this in his time as coach. I have little hope that he's going to solve this problem given how long he has already had to attack it. In short, this cycle of players is weaker than our previous pool, and likely weaker than our 2018 pool. And, this coach has been unable to solve the tactical problems posed by playing weaker but improved CONCACAF foes. To be, this spells trouble in our qualification campaign, even if I expect us to ultimately qualify regardless. It also tells me that any coach we bring in is unlikely to survive past 2014, so I'd rather let somebody like Kreis develop further and hire him after this cycle. Is there realistically somebody we can bring in who would want the job, has the right tactical ideas, and is willing to work with the combination of a diminished talent pool and increased expectations?
Then perhaps we as a nation need to review our priorities and realize we will never get a world class manager on beans and rice. Review our expenditures, cut the fat and get a real manager. The money is there...
I fully agree and have for a long time now. Coaches motivate the players and get them to come out on fire from the first whistle ... BB is not capable of this.
There is always fat to be cut. Perhaps you would like to enlighten us as to why there is no fat or that we don't have any money for a better manager. This I would love to see, honestly!
Here's the budget. Suggest what the fat is. http://resources.ussoccer.com/n7v8b8j3/cds/downloads/2011AGMBook.pdf The vast majority of the Feds money is spent on development and on the MNT and WNT programs. I expect (based on past threads) that a lot of people on here will say the solution is to quit spending money on the girls and women. To those people I offer a hearty ******** you. I'm sure that the fed could find more money if the right coach were interested, but I don't think we have the money to make someone big an offer they can't refuse and it would be foolish to pay more for the sake of paying more if it's not the right coach.
It was clear after two friendlies that the team has no intensity. The team needs new energy. It is not anything against Bob, one coach, one cycle anything more is a diminished product. I am surprised Bob even took the job. He clearly wanted out as well. Sunil is lazy, plain and simple.
Oh look another crony. Perhaps you could summarize for us why there is no fat to cut? This game can be played both ways you know. The answer is no, I'm not diving into these scattered records and playing COO for the next few weeks. I rather like seeing you people come out to defend our mediocrity.
It's something we'll probably never find out, but I wonder how much confidence our guys have in BB. I'm sure some have more than others, but I can't believe any of the guys feel that confident with him at the healm. The constant lack of tactical adjustments/changes has to be discouraging when looking at a 4 year cycle. I don't think the confidence was that high when BB's contract was renewed, and it's gone downhill since then.
Where did I suggest that there is no fat to cut? Did I not say that I'm sure the fed could come up with money if they found the right coach? You don't have to dive through anything it's the FY2012 budget. It has estimates for how much we will make off sponsorships, gate revenue, etc. and says where we spend it. Start on page 68. The short answer to why we don't have a lot to spend on a coach is that US soccer is not particularly popular in this country. We don't make as much in TV rights and sponsorships as other federations. We don't sell as many tickets as other federations. We also have expenses that other federations do not have in the same way. The USSF will spend about $17million, or 28% of its annual revenue, on player development. We have to do this because our clubs don't do it.