World Cup Qualifiers

[Paintballr]

Embarrassing and sucks. Have to wait years again to see us be even somewhat competitive 

[Ja Rhule]

5 minutes ago, Still Brooklyn said:

I mean, obviously we'll watch the WC ... but not being able to pull for your own country makes the whole thing feel pointless.

I’m pulling for France.

[Shocker]

45 minutes ago, ARSEN said:

I’m pulling for France.

I totally will watch the World Cup and agree with France.  Amazing squad. The US wasnt going to do anything even if they did made it.  

[pantherphan96]

Swapping klinsmann with Arena is the soccer equivalent to replacing ron rivera with john fox.

[Borat]

Michael Bradley is the worst ball-playing midfielder I have seen in my life. 30 yard dribblers to unmoving (with their backs to the goal), well-guarded players when he’s the last MF back? Horrible.

USF kind of needed this wakeup call tbh — too much deadweight in the squad (McKennie starts at Schalke and can’t make the bench while Bradley starts?) and idiots like Gulati running the show. They all need to  

I feel for Pulisic, but that’s about it. We’d get murdered in the group stages, and we’re not even amongst the best 5 teams (and arguably the best 10) that missed out.

 

 

 

 

[Borat]

The only way that the MLS will really reach the requisite level is if they do away with the salary cap and institute relegation. Currently though, the league is run like a Ponzi scheme (leeching off new owners’ fees) and no extant clubs wants to risk going down when they can pay garbage wages and stay top flight. The USF b€n£fit$ from their MLS favoritism (NASL even sued them), so they don’t do anything to break the hierarchy, instead doing their best to protect it. So we have a bunch of guys squandering their potential as “DPs” in a broken MLS instead of honing their craft abroad, and everyone else making crap wages. 

The freakshow marriage of the two organizations needs to be ended post haste.

[Borat]

13 hours ago, ARSEN said:

It was coming...  US had a whole bunch of people playing there who shouldn’t be there.  When you start almost 35 year old striker as your main striker, it’s a major problem.  90% of those players are awful... Arenas should get the boot as well.  US soccer team just cost US billions in spendings and TV deals.

Almost entire US soccer team is in their 30s and you say “I don’t see the energy...”. You got to be fuging kidding me...

Team selection was the biggest joke of quals, and that’s a high bar. The 2010 WC crew should be retired, not trotted out again and again after poor results, out of some bizarre loyalty to a few players who weren’t particularly special even on their day. 

[pantherphan96]

Glad we got rid of the forward-thinking manager who took a bare talent pipeline and injected some young talent into this squad before he got fired and replaced by a guy whose teams used to grind out 1-0 wins over countries ranked in 150s-200s in the FIFA ranks

[AppHeel]

I've been just so sad over the past 48 hours. It's just embarrassing that our country won't be represented on one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles. Regardless of our country's skill level in the sport compared to other nations in Europe, South America, etc, there is still ZERO reason for the United States to not comfortably qualify every single time given what region we play in.

There are obviously serious issues beneath the surface and I hope that the Federation makes drastic changes to restructure the entire system, but it's not an overnight fix. There are some things that can happen short term though to begin getting this on the right track. Bruce Arena needs to be replaced and most of the players (basically everyone, but Pulisic) should be either reevaluated or phased out. You can certainly make arguments for guys like John Brooks, Deandre Yedlin, Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood to stick around, but Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, etc all can be moved on from. It's time for us to dedicate our time to truly developing the next generation to take the reigns and the only way to do that is to play younger guys and rebuild the culture. Need to replace Arena with a coach that wants to do that. That should be in effect starting with the January camp in 2018.

After that, Sunil Gulati and other upper level executives need to be replaced with new and fresh leadership. Guys willing to roll up their sleeves and truly make change. This is easier said than done, but the Gulati regime has gone on long enough without any substantial changes to progress the sport further from a worldwide perspective. 

It's going to be a process, but due to Tuesday night's travesty of a match, we have been given an extra year before the 2022 World Cup. Use it to your advantage so that we can really begin to make progress.

[pantherphan96]

Completely agree with Twellman here.

 

You can argue that the best athletes are playing other sports than soccer but there is no excuse considering the amount of money being pumped in the program.

Starting at the youth levels, coaches prefer physical attributes like size and speed over technical ability, which is why our players can run laps around other teams but can't string together multiple passes on a counterattack.

IMO, Gyasi Zardes is the prototypical USA player, athletic as hell but has no touch or technical ability.

[Raskle]

Belgium played on a cow pasture.... BAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!

 

No excuses! Love it!

[Finest-Panthers]

US is an embarrassment. We have all the resources in the world. We have major scouts, colleges, and coaches. And, as a country we suck. What the hell is the problem. 

Always feel like the national team was a joke. Almost political. Mark Bradley is a joke and been a starter on this team for too long bc his dad was the former HC. 

[Borat]

2 hours ago, Finest-Panthers said:

US is an embarrassment. We have all the resources in the world. We have major scouts, colleges, and coaches. And, as a country we suck. What the hell is the problem. 

Always feel like the national team was a joke. Almost political. Mark Bradley is a joke and been a starter on this team for too long bc his dad was the former HC. 

Youth soccer is too travel-happy (costly) and centered around getting college scholarships, not pro contracts. Not for nothing, few American parents would be willing to place their kid in a youth academy for a still-small chance of eventually making a living from the game, when such an investment may have detrimental effects on their kid's later life prospects (or even just his childhood enjoyment) -- for every Rashford making his way out of the academy (and into the money), there are many, many more who end up as plumbers, etc.

Totally agree about the over-politicization of the squad selection -- no clue why the old guard was brought out again -- Michael Bradley was the worst player on the field in T&T (Mark Bradley was a WR, I believe). 

[Still Brooklyn]

10 hours ago, Finest-Panthers said:

US is an embarrassment. We have all the resources in the world. We have major scouts, colleges, and coaches. And, as a country we suck. What the hell is the problem. 

Always feel like the national team was a joke. Almost political. Mark Bradley is a joke and been a starter on this team for too long bc his dad was the former HC. 

The problem is that soccer isn't THE sport here. NFL is the most popular, one part of the culture only respects the NBA, and MLB is the grand ol past time. Soccer will never get the attention it needs here and it's a damn shame.