it sounds reasonable looking to tie panama? For god's sake have some pride, we should be aiming to beat them. They are not Germany or Italy.
Any idea what game had this starting lineup? Brad FRIEDEL C. J. BROWN Jeff AGOOS Marcelo BALBOA Frankie HEJDUK Eddie LEWIS Paul BRAVO Matt McKEON Richie WILLIAMS Ben OLSEN Joe Max MOORE
I actually think he will which is a great point - what is the ceiling of this team? Would the best coach on the planet get us to the semis or the finals?
Yeah, I was a bit harsh. I thought based on the earlier post that he admitted to playing for a tie. That's not a good mentality. But, in the article he doesn't admit to that. My bad. Should've done some research first.
Relatively stochastic sport. I think we're at a really weird time developmentally as a national team. I bet with lots of simulations our floor (really bad coach) would be 10-15 pts from WC qualifying and not making it. Our ceiling (greatest coach ever) would be winning the WC. The question is, what are the odds for each? We have a lot more control over qualifying for the WC, which actually makes not qualifying more likely (waaay easier to screw something up then trend towards perfection in any task). I'd say 5% chance of not qualifying. The odds of winning the WC with the world's best coach would be in the 0.1 to 0.5% chance range right now. The problem with the ceiling is that really, really good national teams will have a say in the outcome. This is an interesting problem and I've only thought about it for maybe 5 minutes. I might refine things more, but I have to get back to work.
The thing is - Pep screwed up the CL final arguably (because it failed) - the coach is just one of many factors in our success at any given time. So add to your list of things to consider - what percent does the greatest coach in the history of the universe impact our success?
Fair enough - even if I think you are dead wrong. One of if not our best central defender ever was an MLS lifer. The best coach on the planet doesn’t make choices based on geography.
Had to look it up, it's the starting lineup against Germany in '99 Confederations Cup. 2-0 win. and . . .? I'd accept a cagey bunker tightly played game against a top 10 team, especially on the road. Unacceptable against some mediocre squad that we're probably more talented than. You feel the same?
You're correct that there are good players in MLS and in Europe. What I wouldn't give for Eddie Pope, or MLS predominant Donovan, etc. Issue is GGG can't seem to identify who the correct MLS players to select are.
I don't have a problem with calling up young and/or dominant players, in MLS. We're calling up older, non-creative midfielders, who don't contribute to the team. Berhalter takes to long, to call up new players and integrate them into the team. There are other players in MLS, that are younger and in better form, than the players he's calling up.
Right. Interesting example you pulled out. The CL final is a ceiling game. A coach has the bigger impact on the team's floor, IMO. The talent available has the bigger impact on the team's ceiling. I think that cuts across all sports. Note I said "bigger" in each case. Not the only impact. Obviously, it could be argued that Pep could have managed that particular game differently. However, it seems unlikely that across the course of an entire season, MC wouldn't finish top 4.
I was thinking of looking up games Paul Bravo appeared in because I believe the correct answer is "a handful". Thus, it would've narrowed the search.
No worries... but your point is in the right place. What we have is a lot of fans in an attempt to gain some form of moral authority claim that this is what we should expect. But it reeks of low expectations. To me, it’s like the dude who only asks out ugly chicks so that he won’t ever be turned down. If you can’t look at this team, and determine that we should be beating these teams, then, you’re setting the bar too low. And people play down to the low expectations. Now, I have never said that we can just adopt a nonchalant attitude. But what separates elite teams from talented-but-never-was teams is that elite teams win the games that they’re supposed to win.
This is part of the reason we struggle. We (mainly the coaches and players) have bought into this stupid mantra. It is a loser mentality that needs to change. Most away fans arent "rabid", the refs don't give us home field advantage at home so that is pretty moot. Yeah, the pitches aren't great. The other teams need to play on the same one. We make excuses that are self-limiting, and it needs to change. Obviously the Azteca is a different animal, but every other location is nothing like this. Hell last night the fans were sitting in their seats the entire time. Far from intimidating.
The point is that if a team with Richie Williams and Matt freaking McKEON can beat Germany in an International tournament - arguments like a good coach wouldn’t pick MLS lifers are way too simplistic. All the pet reasons for blaming Berhalter are mostly just fan noise. Berhalter has strengths and weaknesses and does deserve blame for taking a gamble in this game - which I think was reasonable to do - but if he had started Hoppe and left Musah on or all the other angry explanations for why he’s terrible and we still lost, there would be other different reasons. That’s just blind hatred. It’s possible to be a fan, and also appreciate that there isn’t a coaching savior out there. Qualifying is messy and difficult and Berhalter, like our players, is still figuring it out. As the post above says, we are in a transitional phase which makes things more difficult. We have a lot of young guys that don’t have enough experience - we could use some more grizzled Jermaine Jones veterans to set the tone. I don’t think it’s a good idea to play Adams in every game. A balanced view doesn’t assume we should be beating teams like Panama on the road as the only possible conclusion and from which all judgements about coaching flow.
Richards > mckenzie, zimmerman Busio > Lletget, Acosta Hoppe > arriola, Zardes LDLT > Lletget, Arriola These are just the initial screwups in the lineup. I get rotation, (hence i'm not calling for adams, BA, Dest, Robinson, Pepi to start) but this rotation was nonsense. Player selection was poor to begin with. The more i look at this lineup/game the more gobsmacked I am by Gregg and his decisions. It's inept and pathetic. Honestly, the fact we're even calling in Acosta, Lletget, Zardes, Roldan is ridiculous at this point. Arriola i can sort of understand but the rest offer nothing. Yes, I do think MLS is, for the most part, crap. But i'm fully onboard with Pepi and Robinson being included. And I don't mind Turner as a backup. (his distribution is frightening though and will be punished against better sides) But out of MLS, i wouldn't even put the 4 listed above as best options from MLS right now. I truly don't get how someone (GB) can be so bad at all the elements of their job so consistently.
All of our coaches have always called up players fans don’t like or understand - I suspect that’s always going to be the case. Berhalter has been a little hit or miss at times - but just as an example - Acosta was very good in the final against Mexico so it was reasonable to assume he would be decent filling in for Adams against Panama. He wasn’t. Is his selection a bad coaching decision or a player that didn’t show up?