yet if either of them were to face us tomorrow in the first round of a world cup match, they would be favored... try again? because we have a keeper that could be on a G14 club and they have star players on G14 clubs... gotcha...
We have improve our (MFO )mediocre fliying object detection In order to get out of this ditch we need to get rid of Sunil Gulati....
posts like this are why US fans can't accept criticism... "Oh but we're ranked in the top 20 by FIFA, we have to be better." Im sure you thought Ghana was going to be an easy win for us last year as well, lol
What was the result the last time the US played Japan? With full squads that game is a toss-up. It isn't that the US fans can't handle criticism, it's that a lot of the critisism on Big Soccer is baseless, ignorant, nonsense.
This is EXACTLY the Ignorance that comes across on this forum. I know it comes both ways but here's a perfect example of how the perception of the US soccer status is ALWAYS inflated. When US played Sweden I think a majority of the USMNT fans thought it was for lack of a better term "A TOSS UP", when we brought a week squad to copa (aside from the Argentina match) "Toss up", Japan is currently coached by a man who took a War-torn nation to the Euros. We have a guy that is concerned about his son playing a full 90. Japan has won the Asian cup 3 times in the last 18 years and recently came in 4th. (I assume we can all agree the asian cup dwarfs the gold cup in caliber of play). Japan had Wenger as a head coach prior to coaching Arsenal, we had Steve Sampson. One fact ALWAYS overlooked is that we play an overwhelming majority of our friendleys (and of course the Gold Cup) on home soil. And yes the USA beat Japan 3-2 on Home Soil. But it's matches like these when the other team has to fly across the pacific ocean and our guys can take a cab, where we get false confidence. I truely feel is a poor justification of how good our AVERAGE national team is.
well Wenger coached in Japan but not for Japan but you get exactly what Im saying... many on here have a delusion of grandeur about the national team and I don't believe for one second about this crap about, "I root for our national team because Im an American but I won't criticise them"... in every other sport where we are dominant in, if we struggle we immediately want answers... its the American competitive drive... maybe its the fact that many of the fans in America are not really hardcore fans or hardcore fans of US Soccer in general... its just absurd how people do not want to criticise when its warranted
My bad. for some reason I was under the impression that he coached the national team, but my point is basically this. Japan is doing things the right way. And I have a firm belief that coaching is the most important thing in International Soccer. So when I say Right Way, I mean they were able to get a solid international coach. I know you got these perpetual flag waivers saying "we can only play with what we have" but damn it what we have is alot f*ckin better with Jurgen Klinsman then Bob Bradley. I truely believe the reason we didn't get Klinsman is beacuse he wanted Gulatti's job. Gullati represents the devolution of USsoccer.
the J League is actually a pretty dope league too... and the play is represented in their national team... a lot of classy players play for Japan, and that all comes to coaching... from guys like Zico and Wenger going there and teaching them how to play... what shocks me is that we still have no idea why Klinsman did not get the job... shyt, do we know why Cruijff didn't get the job in '98? etc...
No, posts like that are why BigSoccer is a ********ing joke. Don't put quotation marks around something I didn't say. You're trying to pretend I hold a position that's easier for you to argue with. It doesn't make you right or wrong, it just makes you someone not worth talking to.
did I attribute that quote to you? did I introduce that quote with your screen name or close it with your screen name or even make any reference to you... the answer is no... yet u dropping the gem "Japan and Ivory Coast suck" is the only rational answer you have come up with in this entire thread when I raised up those two nations show that you are someone that people should not take serious on this board... u see there... I introduced the quote by pointing YOU out... that is how a quotation works friend
and the US would kick both they're asses (so long as it's a friendly played in the middle of the MLS season, in California, we're the players for both visiting teams are able to incorporate the game into their vacation itinerary.)
No, I don't realize this. CIV has qualified for one World Cup ever and didn't make it out of group play. Their win at the last World Cup was in a throwaway "for pride" match between two teams that were already eliminated. They have one confederation title (1992) in 42 years entering continental tournaments. Japan made the second round of the World Cup once, winning one of the most shockingly weak groups in Cup history. They beat Russia, mighty Tunisia, and drew Belgium. This of course was at home. No host nation has ever failed to get out of group play. In the Round of 16 they were beaten by the Turks. This was the same Round of 16 in which the USA won 2-0 over Mexico, a team that always makes the knockout stages. Japan has three confederation titles. The USA has been to the knockout stages in 2 of the last 4 World Cups, making the quarterfinals once. It has four confederation titles since the competition began in 1991. Also - has any Japan or Ivory Coast team ever come close to play as well as USA did vs. Germany at the 2002 World Cup? I'm not saying the USA has a huge pedigree on the global stage, but to say that Japan and CIV have more achievements? Come on.
Only Canada has won the Gold Cup outside of US/Mexico right... African as a Federation>>Concacaf... it may just be a little more difficult to win the ACN... and lol @ the "for pride" thing you have made up... what does that mean? when the US was playing to advance against Ghana and was lost... what does that say about the US? Ghana also ran through the Czechs while we were laughed out of the building against them... and again, Ivorian players>US players... they have stars for big clubs... we have guys that coulda been on big clubs or guys considered flops for big clubs they have... but the quality of players they have are higher than the US... and I would argue the league has more quality... also u act like the US wasn't a missed penalty and Korea playing to win against Portugal from not making the 2nd round in 2002... and you also act like the Ivory Coast is some poor squad... they were the best squad to not qualify last year and scared the crap out of Argentina and Holland... again... u act like we have breezed to make it to the knockout stage... Ivory Coast did against Holland and Argentina last year... and I never said achievement... what I said is that they have a more favorable standing in the world than we do... if we played these two nations in friendlies on neutral fields with our A squads, those other nations would be favored... we are not as good as many like to think... we are rising but we are not near the quality of these other squads
I'm with you on the Ivory Coast, DaPrince. Japan, I'm not there with you. That's OK. I think there are only 3 Japanese players who'd walk into the US squad right now. Nakamura of Celtic, Takahara of Eintracht Frankfurt, and maybe Daisuke Matsui of LeMans. The rest of the players are no better and in a lot of cases not as good as the US players. Their Goalkeepers and defenders are not in the same class as Howard, Hahnemann, Cherundolo, Gooch, Bocanegra, Demerit, etc. Maybe Koji Nakata of FC Basel you can put in that class. We can agree to disagree on this one I guess. Part of the problem here is that none of these arguments are proveable. In the year 2007 was the US better than Mexico in a game played in the United States. Well, the US won. But Mexico probably played better that game. So the arguments and criticisms go around and ariound in circles, and very rarely can anybody ever be proven right.
Between North America and Africa, which confederation gets more teams in the World Cup Finals? Which confederation has had more group winners, won more knockout matches, and advanced more often to the knockout stage? The answer to the first question is Africa, but the answer to the last 3 questions is North America, North America, and North America.
what other nation in CONCACAF has won a WC group outside of Mexico? zero... u can argue that Mexico is better than those nations but it ends there... the US and Mexico have won two total knockout round matches... ok... and Korea has won 2... so by this logic Korea>Concacaf... Africa>Concacaf.... Africa is much more deeper... can't even believe this is an argument Japan is not supremely better than us... but Im not gonna sit here and say they suck either... nor will I say the US would walk over them... but their attacking play is better.... they are technically a lot better... I do agree that it is hard to prove but Im not gonna hype our team up to no bounds and say we are better than each of these squads like some on BS say
This is a great thread because im finally seeing some Americans analyze their squad without the patriotic goggles. I have to agree with other posters who say Japan and Ivory coast have advanced more in less time. The J league IMO is better than MLS and i also believe Japan has better technical skills than the US. The J league attracts better foreign players and Ithink the AFC has better teams than Concacaf. Japan Australia Korea Iran Mexico USA Costa Rica T&T The AFC four are clearly better than every country other than Mexico and USA. I think the US is pretty even with all four It could go either way I think, maybe not against Australia.
Actually, you did. You said "u realize nations like Japan, Ivory Coast, etc have done much more in less time..." And that's what I took issue with. They haven't accomplished more than us. Do I think CIV had a better squad than USA at WC06? Probably. Did they achieve anything? Not really. And, yes, winning a meaningless 0 point vs. 0 point matchup on matchday three is just a "for pride" game. Serbia was coming off a 6-0 loss, too. Bet they were up for that one.
If anyone had seen the way the Japanese team played at this years Asia Cup they would not use them for comparison.
Has Cote D'ivoire really advanced in a permanent, systemic way, like the US and Japan clearly have, or do they just have a couple of random superstars? Are they the new Bulgaria? We'll see.