Fair enough if you don't want to watch. Imagine if your brother and nephew were involved? Watching the team try to fight back after giving up a goal on a poorly-cleared free kick and a penalty that occurred on a non-threatening play in the first half was gut-wrenching. Watching Michael's shot slide just wide in the 90th minute...brutal. I know he'd love to have that chance back. Still trying to see where Panama -- a decent team -- "unlocked" the US (certainly not on their goals), and where the U.S. central midfielders weren't getting forward. Again, I'm 100 percent biased here. I'm probably seeing things that don't exist.
Two good explanatory posts. If I may add, I think the heyday of the "empty bucket" was 2008. That was the year that Feilhaber's professional career nearly imploded. Between a minor injury and horrid form (failed to even make the Olympic team!), and that mess at Derby, Feilhaber was a wreck in all of 2008. That cost the US its only semi-creative central mid, and the guy who lead all CMs in caps and minutes in 2007. As a result, in 2008 Mastro and Clark and newbie Edu saw more time at CM, in addition to MB staking his claim as the top US CM. The use of more defensive-minded CMs, and some matches against top sides like England, Argentina, and Spain, saw the US CMs drop back defensively more than in 2007, and more than afterward in 2009. By the time the Confed Cup came around, with Feilhaber getting matches again, the pinched-in Donovan and Dempsey style established, and Mastro done, the infamous empty bucket was no more -- except in the minds of some posters who still imagined they were seeing it.
Benny was actually on the Olympic team, he just didn't play much and didn't play well when he did. I also remember rumors of some team infighting involving him. But yeah, he was most definitely NOT an option for the USMNT during that time.
That's twice in the last few weeks I've seen you praise BB. I'm concerned about your health. Or maybe you are an imposter! I suspect you are correct that BB may have lined up his 4-2-2-2 with those players as the front 4. Gomez may be the closest player so far to provide what Charlie Davies did for a while as Jozy's partner. Wouldn't mind seeing this tried.
Ah, yes. Correct about Benny as an Olympic sub in 2008. He couldn't win a starting spot, and saw about 65 minutes as a sub over the 3 games.
Let's not forget when Bob first started Peter Nowak was #2. We were pretty sharp I thought while he was working with the team. I wish Bob would open up a bit about what Peter brought and what they lost when he left. To my mind, they lost defensive shape and passing. We began to 'slip' in our assignment centrally which put too much pressure on the CB's.
Yes, Mr. Iverson. If you are coaching a team and, in your dribbling drills, a player shows that he can't dribble; if in shooting drills, he shows he can't shoot; if in penalty kicking drills, he shows he can't convert - you don't put the "failures" into the positions in real matches where they are unlikely to succeed. It's all fine and dandy to say, "Well, I told Donovan to take the defender off the dribble. I have no idea why he chose not to". A clear follow-up to that is, "What in the world made you think that Donovan would take anyone off the dribble?" To reply, "I played Schweinsteiger there and he always dribbled" is not good enough of an answer.
In the last year of his tenure, USA only lost to Brazil, Paraguay and Spain. Three teams stronger than the USA, and anyone who's not a spazzo would have told you they were expected to win. The loss in the final of the Gold Cup to a very strong Mexico was tough, but not lethal. I agree that the loss to Panama in the group stage is what cost him the job. That, plus the need to renew, natural for any federation after a cycle is completed.
Ah, no. A single game doesn't costs anyone a job. It's only the final straw. (Unless, it's a 2-3 loss to Croatia ... but even that was a culmination on top of previous failures). PS. Bob wins the Gold Cup and he is still the coach.
Actually Paraguay at home is a match we should reasonably be at least even in. Coming into the match ELO had the two sides as pretty close to even.
National team coaches are one cycle wonders. Even all the talent in the world doesnt buy you a second bite of the apple. Poor Holland. Bob's time was up. I am not a proponent of Bob's interpretation of the empty bucket, but it worked more than it did not. Best to learn what you can and move on.
I guess. I'm proud of the work he did. I know you think he sucks, and Michael sucks, whoever you are. I can live with that. The only failure in my family is me. Ink-stained newspaperman that I am. Hard for me to go toe-to-toe in this land of make believe.
I think Paraguay was a bad result, but a pretty good performance. It was one of my brother's worst A Team results in five years.
Well, this is kind of interesting. I quickly counted (could be off) 14 losses with his A team (or in a game of consquence...a game that mattered in a competition) in 5 years. Please feel free to make corrections as I rushed. In my admittedly biased opinion, Panama stands out as a bit of an anomaly. I know folks will fire back with, "yeah, but the style we played..." and I get that. This is just in response to the dozen losses that cost my brother his job. Here's the list of losses I'd count as significant in Bob's tenure. I still think his W-L record with his A team is something I can be proud of, as his brother. The A Team Losses. 1. England 2. spain 3. costa Rica 4. Italy @confed cup 5. Brazil @confed cup 6. Brazil @confed cup final 7. Mexico 8. @Slovakia 9. denmark 10. Czech Repubic 11. Ghana world cup 12. Paraguay 13. Panama 14. Mexico