Oso planning to go pro
Boy, does that ever feel familiar. It was just eight years ago that a USA team on the heels of a surprising World Cup run tuned out their manager, and despite coming into the next (2006) Cup with great promise and hype, fell flat on their faces. It's starting to feel like despite our talent level being higher than ever, we're going to crap the bed again in 2014.This is why NT managers aren't worth keeping around for a second cycle. It didn't have to be a landmark hire, but I'd have rather seen even a Dominic Kinnear or Steve Nicol take over the NT than bringing Bradley back. The biggest problem an international manager has is that time passes them by quickly. You only get 12-16 matches a year, so by the end of a cycle, it's as though you've played one season. But the players age much faster than that. Bradley will stick by guys like Donovan, Dempsey, Onyewu, Bocanegra, and Howard despite them aging. I'm not saying there are better options yet, but Bradley probably won't recognize the better options until it's too late. That's a mistake a new set of eyes at the top wouldn't make, even if they weren't as good tactically as Bradley. And while he may not always be a great tactician, that 2-0 win over Spain in 2009 was probably the greatest tactical maneuvering ever by a USMNT manager.Sunil Gulati has to go. And Bradley should go with him.
The 3 defensive players didn't work yesterday because Bradley only played one up top, keeping 5 midfielders and dominating the midfield. See Zonal Marking. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2011/06/19/united-states-2-0-jamaica-gold-cup/
Yup...and ESPN was way off to compare this Jamaican side to the Dutch house D of the 70s, as the Dutch were totally disciplined to area coverages, and shifting...a few Jamaicans simply lacked field and position awareness. USA looked nice.
Yeah, I agree, Adu shouldn't be on the team, and the choice of Robbie Rogers is a leap. I would like to see Timmy Chandler on the roster but I think he had issues with his German club wanting him to have some time off this summer.
Any crow you wanna eat groove?? Nice win for the Yanks tonight, onto the Rose Bowl
Reinko...might we retitle this as the "soccer thread", and leave it up there like the beer and NL central threads....we have a good core of soccer fans, who'll post regularly...many thanks for starting this one...
Yeah, gladly. Tonight he looked like a different player than he has the last few years. Maybe he has actually started to work hard and not live off of his hype. Maybe he got a wakeup call getting bounced around from club to club. Let's hope it wasn't just a 20 minute flash and he can built on it. We can use all the offense we can get.
eh... he had a few good moments. his ball to donovan was brilliant. but i saw much of the same adu dancing around the ball, getting himself in bad field location and losing possession when he had options.
Done and done Esq. You go to the game tonight?
USA vs. Mexico on Saturday... giddy up.
USA looks like they've redeemed the Panama loss...we win 1nil, . Donovan shouldve been in entire game. Bradley needs to coach his first halves as well as second halves.BTW, I've been to Reliant Stadium for some intl friendlies before. It was built with both soccer and NFL football in mind....and favorably compares to any World cup venue worldwide...a great soccer stadium.
So what is the truth about in stadium interaction between Mexican and USA fans over the years? I've heard different stories from many different people. Some saying the mexican fans are abusive and obnoxious to the American fans and others have said they had good experiences with the Mexican fans even in Mexico City. Guess it's like any other rivalry.
I imagine no American is planning on throwing balloons filled with urine and crap in them...http://www.examiner.com/fitness-in-cleveland/usa-vs-mexico-soccer-the-biggest-rivalry-you-don-t-know-much-about
Watch the video of Donovan being pelted with God knows what when taking a corner a year or two ago at Azteca stadium and then ask if that would ever happen in the US. I'm not talking about a snowball or an occasional battery in a marshmallow in Philly, I'm talking about police in riot shields protecting him as he lined up.