I thought most felt that Jurgens "broad" plan was good.. i thought the issue was Jurgen just wasnt the right person to implement it? What is the expectation of Arena then? Physical and disciplined counter attack? Maybe Arena goes for something similar (little less ambitious perhaps) to Jurgen but with the added advantage of clarity of intent and pragmatic use of available talent? Or do u see pragmatic super bunkers in road qualifiers where our talent is by many metrics considered superior?
Well, Arena is a known quantity. He's going to use what we have in the best possible way --except that what we have may not be enough to do better than before. Yes, JK's plan was sound on paper, but it was not progressing. If we had seen it at least with the youth teams, really seen it, then we'd have more hope. But it just wasn't clicking. Plus, the tactical naiveté hurt him more than even I expected in the end. Arena won't have that issue, but he'll have to be very careful in the coming months. Don't expect to see us play pretty, we'll play for the points.
No coach was ever going to determine our style, though; that's what makes the whole Klinsmann endeavor a farce (more on that, though*) Still, the "German Model" would've been ideal for where we are with the current pool: in the past few years we've had fairly athletic players with (for the most part) unremarkable technique, but a high level or professionalism, mental toughness and work-rate. A squad like that can over-achieve relative to the sum of its parts by remaining organized and doing the mundane with high proficiency. The problem is, Jurgen is not qualified to implement such a system. Seriously, we hired, probably, the least rational German ever; I don't think you'd find many others that'd consider not having a plan to be a viable strategy. *Our "national style" will be developed and continue to evolve organically over the course of years as regional ideologies battle it out in our domestic leagues. Regions/clubs will develop styles based on the raw materials at their disposal and pit them against those throughout the rest of the country; those that win out perennially will form the basis of some "national style". The NT is the culmination of this process, not the genesis.
And a) the USSF shouldn't have done so and b) if requested, the coach and captain should have told the suits to fxck off. I'm not commenting for or against the gesture, I'm saying our team's job that night was to get 3 points and IMO the little photo op made that job harder to do. Hell, if it'll get the Mexican players to commit stupid fouls and take stupid cards, come out of the tunnel wearing MAGA hats. You think guys like Wynalda and Lalas wouldn't have been up for that kind of head game when they were playing?
A national team coach can't really dictate a style of play though. Even when it's a case like Klinsmann, where he's given the additional duty of overhauling the country's youth development, it will take a number of years for his efforts to bear fruit even if everything goes smoothly. In the US we are in the unique position of being at a crossroads of many different soccer cultures, and the best case scenario is that we forge a new national style from the best qualities of our three major influences, combining German tactical IQ, Latin technical skill, and the English sense of fair play with our own American grit and raw athleticism. But no national team coach can force that change overnight.
I love how people are actually pretending that the pre-match photo had even a shred of influence on the match. Hell, maybe we should stop doing the post-anthem handshake lines too.
He announced a plan. Then he studiously avoided using anyone remotely capable of implementing it. Does that count?
Indeed, all that sounds great in theory. In practice, though, it's perhaps impossible making players from different styles work together as a team. Klinsmann found that out, and by the end of his tenure the "Latins" were there only to fill up the roster. Bedoya, for example, is a player that is closer to the English style than the Latin one: indefatigable worker with limited ideas. Same for Gonzo, a kick-it-out from the old school (and if you watch the MEX-CHI game, you'll agree that sometimes just kicking it away is a lot better than trying to get out playing). The guys who "failed" with the USA were the ones more into the Latin style, where you step on the ball and think the next set of moves. Guys like Herc, Morales, Corona, etc. just slowed us down, because the guys around don't understand the principle of "the pause" (stop and think), unless the person doing it can think through the possibilities in a fraction of a second (like LD did). You cannot have a team with five runners & pushers, and five technique & thinking types. The former make any plans by the latter impossible to realize, since when they try to combine they lose the ball, same when they try to dribble. The latter slow down the counters of the team, and frustrate the others who just want to run behind the rivals' defenders & slice through them using brawn and speed like a warm knife through butter. And, the kicker, is that such problem starts since childhood. So far the USA has chosen the opposite approach chosen in Latin America: they favor smarts, individual technique, fast short passing, dribbling, etc. We favor endurance, mental toughness, speed, size, strength, etc. Is very rare the player who has equal amounts of both, and even rarer the guy who, having the size, strength, and individual technique, cares enough about soccer. As a result, we have a team that can push the best to the limit, but that plays ugly soccer, with players that often make boneheaded decisions --decisions that are often not evident unless you know what you're looking at. The English have been trying to move forward and change their style for the last 20 years. They've also found out how hard it is.
Any list of the greatest US players is going to include guys like Ramos, Reyna, Balboa, Bocanegra, and other Latin Americans. Why is it suddenly impossible to play them together?. Look across youth, high school and college teams across California and you see that some mix of Latins and Euro ethnicities. I think the answer is that Klinsmann didn't understand or appreciate the Latin style and made little attempt to integrate it. (It's worth noting that he also rejected non-Latins who played possession oriented soccer, like Bennie, Sasha and Nagbe in favor of athletic players.) Like so much of the problems of US soccer, demographic trends and not grand schemes are overcoming them
DC United had to integrate playmaker Luciano Acosta from Argentina this year. He had some trouble at first - couldn't keep up with the running, constantly caught in the dribble. In the end, he adapted (and we adapted to him), and it's wondrous. But... it took time to get there, and he tends to make the simple play more often. The creativity is still there in spades, but it's more focused, and now, ironically, he's much more unpredictable. He takes ground, and he digs in to do the hard work. He commented that in MLS, you don't have nearly as much time on the ball. The team's style is both direct and latin in pockets. It's...fun to watch. This is all to say, the style of MLS and the influence of it, not only on our national team, but in concacaf regionally, might be both a factor in what now works against concacaf teams (and who we call in to make that work), and a road map to a national style.
I'm not talking about combining individuals each of whom plays one of those three styles, I'm talking about forging our own identity that combines them and bringing up our young players in that new style. Obviously can't be done overnight
Sort of what I tried to say on occasion but had difficulty expressing. Seattle's style with Lodeiro, Valdez, Oz and Roldan is a good measure of what can be done and they tend to rely on Morris as their money player and Schmeltzer is coaching - so it can be done. You see the teamwork that was missing with Klinsmann.
Here's a long feature on Arena's hire - looking at his past and seeing how it could shape the future of the U.S. team
I don't think you've seen much South American soccer and are generalizing about Mexico (and even then too broadly). Yes, Brazilians are technical, but the Brazilian league is often a mix of attacking soccer and MMA (I exaggerate, but not as might as I might). I mean, would you call Dunga technically brilliant? Argentina has produced Messi, but also plenty of Mascherano types. Look at Simeone and Bielsa and tell me that they are only about technical players. This comment is way off the mark. Frankly, the right South American manager might be able to do a lot to meld grit and athleticism and work-rate with technical ability. Now, as far as Etcheverry, I'm of two minds. He was a ridiculously brilliant player, probably the best Bolivian ever, and has some US roots from his tenure at DC. But on the other hand, he also made Jermaine Jones look like a paragon of fair play and calm stability. Remember his ridiculous kick on Matthäus (I think) at the World Cup that got him sent off and a two game ban. I'm not sure that's what the US needs. But then again Simeone was pretty nasty as a player, too...
I watch the CONMEBOL qualifiers, and occasionally a match in the Argentine or Brazilian leagues, so I don't think I am making ignorant comments. I also watch LigaMX. You take a NT like Chile, I think they have one CB over 5'10. Mexico is always worried about height. Osorio was talking about before the game against us that they needed 5 good headers of the ball in the lineup. What kind of comment is that? To us, we just play the best players and assume that among CB's, CM's, strikers and maybe a full-back here or there we'll have more than enough good headers of the ball. In some countries, they are playing with for the most part a team where everyone's under 5'10 besides the odd player here or there. I'd hope that whatever coach we bring in isn't playing Ventura Alvarado instead of Brooks, Cameron, Gonzalez, etc. at CB because he fits more of the type of CB that a latin american coach looks at. I'd hope Yarbrough isn't preferred to Hamid or Howard because he grew up in a culture where he learned to use his feet better, and is better playing the ball. I also don't want to make it seem like I have something against latin american players either. There are probably players of other ethnicities who play this style of football who would be picked over better players who are more athletic, taller, faster, etc. I just want the best players picked, regardless of style of play. We have one of the most diverse player pools in the world. We shouldn't be preferring any style of play, which is something Arena said today. We should be preferring the most talented players, the best players. And you are right, I could be generalizing about latin coaches. I don't know what a coach like Etcheverry would think. I have nothing against players of any specific ethnicity. The players I prefer range in all different types of ethnicities, so I hope it doesn't seem like I have anything against latin players or managers. It is just my opinion that I believe latin coaches and even fans of latin american teams are more rigid in trying to force a style of play and preferring a certain style of player. I don't think that would be good for our NT. Some latin coaches aren't that way, but does anyone know what type of coach Etcheverry is? Its all guesses until he actually starts working as a coach. I didn't say I wouldn't want him to be an assistant coach, I said I would like them to make sure he would prefer the best players in the player pool, instead of just the players who play a certain style of play. That seems to be Arena's opinion, so I don't think I am saying anything too disagreeable.
Whatever you think of style, the CONMEBOL qualifiers are the most fun to watch. UEFA with its group format has too many Portugal-Latvia kind of games.
The average height of a Chilean man is 5'7". They have had to develop a style to play to their strengths. The legit worry is when a coach for our national team is not flexible in their style because they have to adapt to the limits of our pool. I'm sure that Simeone or Peckerman would be fine.