1. Had we made the quarterfinal, Bob Bradley stays the coach for another 4 years. 2. If Bradley stays the coach, not only would team be unable to take the next step , but his son would regress under his coaching. As it stands, Bradley Jr. will have now to compete in the middle vs. Edu and Jermaine Jones (and others) for his spot, which is good for him. He could fulfill his potential with competiton. 3. We are not a top 8 team in the world (yet)- so we finished about where we should. Had we made the semi's..there would be 4 years of talk about how we could make a Cup final in 2014. (despite the fact Brazil is a virtual lock to win it). However, we simply aren't ready for that kind of pressure yet- and we would set up another 2006 debacle. 4. INCENTIVE: As it is, we now have a number of players coming back for 2014 who should be extremely hungry to do even better than the 16. Today's game could be the career 'kick in the pants, stuck in your craw' moment that Altidore needs. Jozy is an absolute key for US Men's team's for 2014 AND 2018 (we don't have anyone in the pipeline with Jozy's potential). 5. We still did very respectable and reached our goals overall. We did not crash out at the group stage, which would have been disasterous. We won our final game in the group, and finished top of group basically for the first time (I don't count 1930, different era). BTW- here is the most brilliant analysis of the US-Ghana match you'll ever see. Spot on! http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/06/26/ghana-2-1-united-states-tactics/#more-3704
It's never good to lose, but those are solid silver linings. I do agree that Captain Bob basically achieved what he set out to do a year ago - tie England and get out of the group.
Yeah i is time to get a new manager and take a new approach to the game. I think Bob Bradley has run his course with the U.S. National Team. And what is the status with Jermaine Jones? is he still injured or what is it with him? Havn't heard much about him
Yes, Brazil is a lock to win it on home soil, just ask Uruguay. But seriously, your analysis is spot on.
No, but we are a better team than Ghana and Uruguay. Especially if Bob started the game the way he started the second half which I know he is upset at this very moment about right now.
This loss will spur more development. At the end of the day, I don't want the US to go to the semis and think they can continue down the same path. Teams get complacent if they go too far. Our program still has serious work to do.
You are what you are as a team. The defense was simply hanging on by a nail so it's no surprise that's what brought about our demise. But this team was still better than Ghana and this hurts, add to the fact that Uruguay looks very beatable and it's salt in the wound. It's going to be a while before it's any easier than this. As far as calling losing to Ghana a silver lining, I don't think that makes any sense.
I guess I was of the mind that getting to the semis [and at minimum the 3rd place game, given the path was as easy as were likely to see for some time] would be a good thing in terms of development because of the sustained media attention and the impact it might have on the minds of young kids. As a kid in love with soccer, my first world cup in 82 was hardly televised. The notion of the US even among the teams was unfathomable. But for ten year old kids in love with soccer in 2010, I cant help but believe that knowing that the US could be in that final grouping could only have been a good thing for their collective consciousness. Much as the Germans seem to have a strong collective national consciousness that expects to win and England seems to collectively worry about losing on penalty kicks, I feel like, again, it wouldve been a good thing.
We need to turn August 10 against Brazil into a Hero's welcome home. Give the boys a home field advantage, continue with this momentum.
I watched some ESPN show today where some clueless guy said that the reason we can't do better is because the best athletes don't play soccer. The panel was mostly in agreement that Americans will go away and forget soccer until 2014. One panelist, writer from the Boston Globe made the point that, at the least, Americans began to ask questions of the coach, which was progress.
Losing sucks rancid fetid hairy mooseballs. However, from loss can come new growth and new learning. Or we can be like England and crawl further up our own a**hole and dream of lost glory and continue to believe we are far better than we never were.
Ghana yes, Uruguay I am not sure! shoot even South Korea had a pretty good team. well most Americans will forget until 2014 if they even payed attention at all. and yes, the best athletes have many choices of sports to play other than soccer.
That show is called the Sports Reporters; it is a table of people who strongly dislike soccer. As for a reworking of the system; now would be an opportune time to throw some new life blood into the USSF. I'm happy that Reyna was brought in but maybe a few more new faces to shake things up a bit. I do believe the customers (supporters) deserve to at least state their cases with what's wrong in American soccer. I think we gained more fans who realize that this team is something to stand behind. If USSF markets to them they'll turn out to games.
Those guys are missing the point. By every measurement, soccer has grown tremendously in this country since 1990. MLS has better attendance and better ratings, the World Cup keeps receiving better ratings, and Americans even watched Euro 2008. What they're saying simply isn't true. Yes, a lot of people will forget about the sport until 2014, or some other major tournament, but more people than ever (especially younger people) will remember it. More ten year olds, heartbroken by this loss, will want to continue playing it so that they can win the World Cup one day and fulfill the dream. ESPN is full of a bunch of Baby Boomers that have a fundamental disconnect from people in my generation (I'm 25). Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that many of my friends follow the national team, and even MLS, regularly. In a country of 300 million, all you need is 20% of the population paying decent attention to soccer and you've got a soccering community as large as Germany.
What we need a President in USSF worries for male USNT, worries less for mexico, because this preparation for the World Cup was terrible, especially with so many players being unactive, but mexico gets way more friendlies in the USA.
I want to hunt down this meme, grab it by the hair, slap it across the face, hold its head underwater for 10 minutes, then boot it from atop the Grand Canyon to go crashing to a fiery death. It's so inaccurate on so many levels, and the people who go around pushing it are idiots who know nothing about the game of soccer.
I strongly agree on the disconnect. I have been having that debate in recent weeks with older colleagues.