Article containing said snubbing "I think he's going to be a pretty good player. We got just about what we expected from him in Korea." Pretty good? How many other careers in Bruce going to derail? Just about!?! Well maybe if he had played more than half the games we would've gotten more. Four more years of this crap? What has Bruce done? All he did was help establish a winning mentality and lead the team to the 1/4s in Koran. I mean shouldn't we get a big name foreign coach or something?
I don't see the snubbing that you see. Could you explain yourself better? Are you upset that Arena didn't start Mathis in every WC game? Are you upset that Arena isn't calling Mathis to the next friendly? Is Arena responsible for what happened to Mathis with the metros? Would it be better if Arena said that Mathis is the best player on the US team? Did Arena say that Mathis didn't help get the team to the quarters?
First, thanks for the link.... I don't really get upset anymore about what Arena says publically about his players, even when it is about a player (like Mathis) who I admire. Very few players have ever gotten much better praise from Arena than "he's a pretty good player". Has he ever said anything better about Reyna? He once said that Donovan is a great athlete - not that he is a great soccer player. The only time I remember him using superlatives was about Keller and Friedel. But that was just to keep the peace between the two.
And if Arena said something like "Clint didn't show us everything he is capable of, and I expected better," you'd rail against Arena on that. I like Mathis, but its hard dealing with people who think he's really the second coming of Christ.
I have a real dichotomy in following and being a fan of the US Men's National Team. On one hand I love the team and always want to see them succeed and play well. On the other hand I can't stand Arena and desperately want the arrogant lucky son of a gun to fail!
I think Mathis is in Arena's plans and I don't see Arena saying anything bad about Mathis in that article. I think some people are over-analyzing and turning it against Arena a little bit.
"Clint never fell out of favor with me," That's how the quote starts,BTW. What a snub.... :roll eyes:
Arena has done well and will continue to do well. He doesn't slam Clint at all. I think the comment clearly indicates Arena didn't plan on starting him and got what he had hoped for in the tournament. Clint wasn't fit during the world cup. Clint knew it, Arena knew it, and when he came back to MLS we all knew it too. Mathis even made the comment a few weeks ago that he needs to get his act together. Long live Arena. Why would fans care if he's arrogant? If the team does well, that's money in my pocket. Besides, I can't see anyone not liking Arena.....he sat Regis on the bench the entire World Cup. The guy is brilliant. I recall seeing Clint's name on the call up list for the November match against El Salvador.
At least he made the team. Without Mathis, there would have been no WC 2002 for the US... but I would have to agree that based on his fitness, we did get pretty much everything we could out of him in Korea. Clint needs to get a personal trainer, or a better one if he already has. I don't think there is any indication that he is on the outs with Arena, he only needs to be back in form.
Yes Clint said he suffered a let down and wasn't trying as hard as he should IN THE MLS. In the same article he said he WAS fit for the WC. As for the World Cup, Clint did play half the games, and started two in a row, hardly a sign that he wasn't fit or that Arena thought he wasn't fit. He just didn't figure (I almost said 'fit') into Arena's plans. That's all. I am so sick of the party line here "Mathis wasn't fit in the WC, blah, blah." Do you guys think that if you say it enough it will start to be true. [/B][/QUOTE]
[/B][/QUOTE] Mathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WCMathis wasn't fit in the WC There, now maybe you'll accept that it was true.
You mean like some of those guys who coached teams were so much more successfull in the '02 World Cup than the USA? How about Marcelo Bielsa (ARG), or Hernan Dario Gomez (ECU), or Aimé Jacquet (FRA), or Victor Pua (URU), or Antonio Oliveira (POR), or Winfried Schäfer (CMR), or Giovanni Trapattoni (ITA) or even Javier Aguirre (MEX)? Jesus Christ, the Bruce-Bashers on Big Soccer NEVER stop, do they?
Re: Re: Arena snubs Mathis, again! Aimé quit after '98...It was Roger Lemerre, so maybe he's available? He would certainly qualify.
Re: Re: Re: Arena snubs Mathis, again! Whoops. BTW, I also completely missed the sarcasm of your original.
Why can't Bruce just shut the ************ up when it comes to talking about his players? It is that easy. He is such an arrogant *********************. Hey Bruce, shut up. Win games. It will speak for itself.
Nobody here is claiming to have known about Clint's fitness during the Cup. However, Bruce knew and that's why he got what he expected out of him during the Cup. We saw him after he didn't see major minutes and we knew then he was lacking the fitness, especially after all the quotes from Korea verifying his fitness level. But for the love of Mike, there wasn't anything bad in the original link. Long live the arrogant Bruce Arena!!! He doesn't give a rats arse about you Bill, haven't you figured that out yet? It's so easy to shut up talking about players, yet we don't see you leading by example when it comes to comments about Arena or anything else dealing with the US National Team. Why is that? Then again, you can start by not responding to this, thanks.
I went back because I knew that someone had "claimed" to know about Clint's fitness during the cup. Who was that again? Listen crackhead, Arena did not run some guy out for 90 minutes in the middle of the day against Korea, the MOST fit team, in Korea in 95 degree temperatures and THEN run him out for another 90 minutes 3 days later if he wasn't 100% fit.