wtf.... this doesn't sound like the bruce we've come to know and love who the hell got to the bruce?????
This is off (USMNT) -topic, but since I can't seem to find any indication of this elsewhere: So, uh, did the league just forget to announce this?
See, this is the example to what can happen when a coach that too few people to answer to.....Posters here have always said how Confederations Cup and Copa America performances did not matter, and that the only true thing to answer for was WC qualifications...I agree to a point, but plenty other people also add (in a "this is our turf" manner) : "Besides, we have our own regional championship, Copa Oro (Gold Cup)" It appears that now there are only.....doing the math .....even FEWER games that matter: -2 games it took us to beat grenada -5 games it took us to go to the Hex -Let's be optimistic and say that given the schedule it takes us 8 Hex games to get (hopefully) to the WC in Germany -Optimistically 4-5 actual WC games in Germany '06 That's 2+5+8+5=20 games we took VERY seriously in a FOUR YEAR cycle....That's an average of 5 games a year, and that's not even taking into account the VERY dubious quality of many of these opponents in the 20 games(many of them "repeat" opponents) You know what, why doesn't he send a U-23 crowd there?...Might as well.... If indeed a mixed crowd of players will take the Gold Cup (held by that "friend" of ours Mexico BTW) as seriously as Arena does, then maybe it'd be more benefitial to send in youngsters who will be possess complete hunger and desire to get the cup....Would we win it with the U-23's? Possibly not, but the apparent half assed approach from the Bruce is not very compelling either....
Gold Cup is retarded. I wish we could send our U17 team. It basically gets in the way of everything and mucks everything up. And yes, the only matches that matter are the World Cup and the matches the GET you to the world cup. Make the Gold Cup once evry 4 years and then you can start caring about that tournament
Strange I love reading Wahl's articles. They're informative and provide info most other writers can't write for us except for maybe Goff and Connolly.
I can see where you are coming from, but if there is so little to look forward to every 4 years, why even bother as a fan watching these games and many friendlies: could always catch the highlights instead, if i weren't frigging hooked.....But Arena might little by little start taking care of that, at least when it comes to these "non-important" sort of games, as he just might as well label them.......And didn't SUM just get into the equation?....Boy, they must love how their investment in the Gold Cup is paying off already....Even worse, those not yet full-fledged fans but who could become just that....oh, well it's not like we need them........Anyway, it's just silly IMO....A tourney is supposed to be more serious than this....Heck, i even forgot to mention those who were keeping track of the points needed to get to be head of the WC groups....looneys i call them
first time I've seen our schedule---looks bad to me, esp. the trip to Mexico to be followed up 3/4 days later hosting Guetemala not a fan of hosting Costa Rica and then turning around 3/4 days later to go to Panama
Exactly. It's not that the Gold Cup is bad, it's that the Gold Cup squeezed into the middle of World Cup qualifying is bad.
I disagree. The gold cup is the only opportunity to get all the euro based players together for an extended period of time in 2005 and a great chance to look at some of the fringe guys like Spector, Simek, Karb, Russell, ... If Arena uses this correctly he can gain a lot from the GC. I'd say it's more important than in the past because of all the players abroad. The euro based players aren't going to be able to come in for the January camp. There's 4 weeks open before the gold cup and 3 1/2 after. There's enough time to fit this in. Arena doesn't have to win it but use it for what it is. Training wise what's the difference between the January camp and friendlies before the first Hex match and this July camp and gold cup before the 6th Hex match.
I'd much rather those European players get off-seasons away from soccer and heal their bodies. Even if they aren't playing 1st team matches they still train and play reserve matches, the wear and tear of that catches up to you. Then you consider that the MLS season is barely 2 months old? the whole tournament is a lose-lose situation for Arena. My idea for CONCACAF is this. Schedule the Gold Cup 2 years after the World Cup. So it would look something like this: Year 0 - World Cup/Begining of Gold Cup Qualifying Year 1 - Qualifying for Gold Cup Year 2 - Gold Cup/Beginning of World Cup Qualifying Year 3 - Qualifying for World Cup Year 4 - World Cup/Beginning of Gold Cup Qualifying and make EVERYONE go through qualifying. there are enough countries in CONCACAF to make a tournament of 4 groups of 4. For Example Group A USA Guatemala El Salvador St. Kitts Group B Mexico Hodurus Panama Grenada Group C Costa Rica Cuba Canada Surinam Group D Jamaica Haiti Trinidad & Tobago Dominican Republic
The euro players that play in the June qualifiers will have a couple weeks off before their camp and then another 3 weeks off before the Gold Cup camp. The ones that don't go to the June camp will have plenty of time off. It will be hard for some who have been playing regularly but it shouldn't be too tough for the others. That's just the way it goes. If a couple players like Bocanegra and Beasley need time off then that's okay, it gives other players an opportunity to try an make the team. The thing is, next summer is the last chance at a big camp for the YA's before the World Cup. If you don't do it then, then you just don't do it.
You know, I'm starting to fall into this logic. Why not use this tournament to look at "fringe" players and see who's up for the task? Guys like Wade Barrett, Jovan Kirovski, Joe Cannon, Taylor Twellman and Richard Mulrooney could prove they have what it takes for the "A" team. Throw in some up and coming euros like Cooper, Casey, Spector, Simak, ect and you could have some interesting games. There are guys who "blossom" at just the right moment. Maybe someone could tear it up and become this hex's version of Mathis....
Which is why it's disappointing to read at the end that his piece will only appear once a month for a while due to his college basketball obligations. Don't diminish soccer coverage! Perhaps we could email SI en masse - asking that they continue soccer coverage with another writer while Wahl is busy. Jimmy Conrad writes for them at times - and he's not too busy right now - I mean vacation is important and all, but we need our fix of soccer info!
I don't even think Arena would need to call in more than 3 or 4 MLS players or to be that experimental. Bring in Howard, Keller(if not in the MLS), maybe even Friedel and Hahnemann Russell, Simek and Dolo at RB Gooch, Bocanegra, Berhalter and Whitbread for CB Spector and Karb at LB Probably an MLS guy or 2 at Dmid unless Reyna and JOB are reincarnated Beasley, Lewis, and Convey at LM West and Philipakos at RM Donovan at AM McBride and Casey with a couple MLS forwards(GAM and ?) This is just off the top of my head, I'm sure I missed some players in Europe who deserve a look. This is a solid roster even if Beasley and Bocanegra want the time off. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with a roster like this. I think it would be competative and probably better than some of the rosters in the semis. The Gold cup can be very productive if Arena wants it to be. It's not a waste and it's certainly not retarted. I'd especially like to see if some of these guys at RB, LB and RM can show something. This is a great chance for guys to show Arena they deserve to be called up for the rest of the Hex and into 2006.
Ah, but what if Arena brings in all those Euros and they end up crushing everything and everyone on their way to the title? Think of the downside.
Having the Gold Cup squeezed into WCQualifying is dumb, inane. The qualifiers are, in essence, the championship of the region. Even though coming in first in the hex isn't important (you just have to be in the top three), it's still a regional tournament. So you have 2 simulatenous regional tourneys. It's the same thing that's undermining the Copa America. Who cares about the Copa America, when it takes place in the middle of the REAL tournament, the everyone-against-everyone WC qualifying tourney of S.America, a tourney so big, it takes three years to play all the games. This year, only the host Peru and maybe Argentina sent their best squad. If they had the Gold Cup and the Copa America every FOUR years (like the Euro Nations Championship), this wouldn't be a problem. What they need to do, and will do eventually, is to merge the two tourneys into a 16 team, once every four years Western Hemphisphere, Americas Nations Cup. That would be a big money event for all involved: but the people at CONMEBOL and CONCACAF are so immersed in their internal politics, no one can see that less can be more.
QUOTE=appooOnU] Make the Gold Cup once evry 4 years and then you can start caring about that tournament[/QUOTE] I agree with this statement. Yes Yes, its conforming to European Euro Cup standards, but is that really so bad. I'd personally rather see good friendlies and qualifiers mixed in with the MLS season then to lump on Gold Cup as well. Having a consistent Gold Cup (every 4 years) will prevent the dillution of its importance and provide a good warm up before the next round of WC qualifiers.