Good article.. Thanks.. Well if Bruce wanted to coach in Europe someday, this was a very good point.. Side note.. You should have heard Aguirre the other day on "Super Stadium" talking about Mexican players saying they were "unprofessional" compared to others he has worked with..
i like it (the article). mexico has gotten a lot of good results. we have their number outside of azteca, but they're legit. i think we can get out of our group, but if we don't i won't consider it a failure (unless we play terribly). two teams have to go home from our group. all four are good teams.
Great job, Mr. Mahoney. The USA fans need to start wanting this world stage, because that's where all the respect is earned.
Yeah playing against T and T and El Salvador does not get you as much respect as knocking out the CZechs and the Italians , like what is going to happen next summer
I wonder if, given the so-called ranking "scandal" with Mexico (i think Mexico earned the seed for the reasons stated in the article), if US soccer will make a more concerted effort to enter tournaments outside of CONCACAF.
Makes me wonder as well.... Mahoney put into words the reasons why, despite not liking Mexico's NT, much less ever rooting for them.... I could not find myself be mad at them for getting seeded "instead of us" as some fans here wanted to see.... Rather than point the blame at Steve Sampson... let's try better showings, or simply showing up at Confed Cups, participate in "Copas" America, do well in WC obviously, etc.....
I would rather the team plays the likes of El Salv, Pan, Jam, gua so that we can win them and stay in the top 10fifa rank.
It's an interesting contrast, b/c they're the 'best' country we play often, dislike the most, and we can draw parallels. If we're able to beat them outside of Mexico, why are they better against common opponents ? AFAIK, only 2 of their players are in Europe, but teams fear them more than us.
In the recent past mexican teams made it to at least semi-finals or finals in copa libertadores and copa sur americana, not Mickey Mouse from my point of view. Also, Fox sports requested mexican teams to be included in CONMEBOL tournaments as a requisite for granting TV rights for the mentioned competitions.
because Mexico and the US play so often that they know each team's players and strategies to perfection, they know who to mark, their strenght and weaknesses...so there's no surprises between the 2 teams...you could say both team are used to playing each other..and it's just a matter of waiting for the other team to make a mistake to open the score... and u can see that everytime the US plays Mexico anywhere outside of Mexico city...all they gotta do it's fall back and wait for Mexico cuz they know they will always come out attacking the american team...then it's just wait for that right moment(be it a mistake or a good counter) to score and seal the game... It's when u play with an unknown team that u gotta change strategies in-game and show your team has what it takes to face an adversity against a stronger opponent..so far it has worked better for Mexico against important teams than for the US... Could the US pull the same strategy in the WC?, maybe but it may not work so flawlessly like it does with the very familiar Mexico team.....
It's not "everytime"... In the last match in Columbus, for example, the USA was the attacking side for the most part.. Both goals were from set pieces and not counter attacks.. First from a free kick and the second from a corner.. Often the USA's goals against Mexico are other than counter attack goals and often goals that aren't counter attacks goals are called that by some..The first goal in Korea against Mexico was an example.. It was from a quick restart in midfield and not a counter. It just happened so fast they wanted to call it a "quick counter" and said the USA scored on two counters. Anyway.. It's not always the way many Mexican fans want to paint it.. And BTW.. What the hell is wrong with counter attack goals anyway? The way some talk about it sometimes they make it sound like it's cheating or something.. (not refering to you CheveLoco) As to mistakes.. Well almost any goal can be traced to some "mistake"...
i agree... and in my mind... I see MLS overall quality (style issues aside) as being about where the MFL was in 95..... and i say this in all honesty as an MLS follower/supporter ONce we get over the hump, look out...... both at club and NT level.... We'll have more players and versatility of play, the latter of which in my view needs the more work -especially at club level-.... and on which Mexico does get lots of practice, as their participation in quite a few tourneys/vs different opponents indicate....
ok not exactly everytime but most of the time it's the US strategy, fall back and counter...it works for them and i believe the team that needs to come out with something different in those games is Mexico... the last game was a game played horribly by both teams, hard fought yeah but horribly played...the goals took place the only way possible in those close hard fought games...the set pieces I guess some people don't complain about the counter goals themselves but the strategy.... wether they like it or not, it's valid and against certain teams very effective...
And has his team in 2nd place in La Liga despite not spending a penny on transfers. Oh, and El Vasco also played in Spain (for the same Osasuna club) and he also happens to speak both Spanish and Mexican. Ya, the watered down Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano, Ze Roberto, Robinho, Dida, Cicinho, et al ... they watered down themselves all the way to the Cup title.
Oh, and El Vasco also played in Spain (for the same Osasuna club) and he also happens to speak both Spanish and Mexican. HEY BRO WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING READ THAT LAST SENTENCE AGAIN, YOUR JOKING RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!
I respectfully disagree with you on this point. The United States has always had an "attacking mentality" under Bruce Arena. Sometimes that means breaking teams down methodically. And sometimes that means a very quick counter attack. But it's completely different than having a bunker mentality. Which is what I think many Mexico supporters are really implying. Watch any Central American team away from home and you will see a true bunker mentality.
That'd be too subtle for many ... so I just went for sarcasm. BTW, Aguirre is considered a very hot candidate these days for a lot of bigger clubs. Osasuna may not be destitute but it's not a very big club nor does it have a wealthy owner.