Warning. Since the USMNT is out of the World Cup, we will shut the site down for 24 hours.

Fire Sunil Gulati.....Immediately. Like don't even let him get on the plane back.

rojo wrote:

My god.

How the ...

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I posted another thread on this but am reposting.

Unbelievable. US lost to Trinidad (the worst team in the region). Costa Rica and Panama both won despite both trailing early and playing the 2 best teams in the region. That was the only scenario to keep the US out of at least a playoff game to get into the 2018 World Cup.

Couldn't Mexico help us out a bit like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFREXbDG_Qc

Wonder what Jurgen Klinsmann is thinking right now.

Glad to see that US Soccer is boycotting the 2018 World Cup in Russia...Oh...wait...

Grant Wahl said it best. The most embarrassing night in the history of US Soccer.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Fire Sunil Gulati.....Immediately. Like don't even let him get on the plane back.

Why?

It wasn't Klinsmen's fault. It wasn't Arena's fault. IT was largely bad luck. Look at our goal differential. I mean look at today's game. We had a million chances. They got a fluke own goal that and then a 1 in 10,000 shot.

I hate how people think we always have to blame someone.

If I have Aces, and you have a pair of 2s, you still win 20% of the time.

Wejo,

Stick to running. I know you are a passionate soccer fan but the reality is the US is just NOT a good enough. This is a failure of EVERY level of soccer in the US. Not just at the highest level. There is a belief that just because we are the US we should be good at soccer. Well, congrats, that failed. Countries 1/20th the size of the U.S. and with 1/20th the budget and investment of US Soccer just qualified for the World Cup and the US didn't.

Mark my words, but good will come of this. New ideas, tactics and a better vision for the program will come of this.

Gulati is in charge of US Soccer. He has replaced the manager numerous times for not getting good enough results on the field. Eventually you have to look in the mirror and realize it might not be the coaches or the players but a systemic issue. He is in charge of the system

Clearly we're not good enough, but it shouldn't be that hard. We have MLS players and Pulisic and can't beat Trinidad. You only have to finish 4 out of 6 teams in the region to make the playoff. Got to be the easiest qualifying region in the world.

I love Pulisic but think the rest of the guys just sit back and watch him. He created nearly all our chances.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Gulati is in charge of US Soccer. He has replaced the manager numerous times for not getting good enough results on the field. Eventually you have to look in the mirror and realize it might not be the coaches or the players but a systemic issue. He is in charge of the system

I completely agree with this. The USA is absolutely the worst at developing talent. Gulati has created an environment where USA soccer is not a meritocracy; it is a failed system from the playground, to parks & rec, to club. What we need are more scholarships at the club level. These paid youth coaches will play the kids whose parents have invested the most into the clubs/coaches salaries over the years rather than finding and developing talent. It's no coincidence that our best player was developed in Germany.

This is a turning point for us, we can either restructure the entire system (get Gulati out) or stick with the status quo and drift off into mediocrity until the next WC cycle where we'll be met with better than even odds we'll fail again.

Jefe in the CO wrote:

I completely agree with this. The USA is absolutely the worst at developing talent. Gulati has created an environment where USA soccer is not a meritocracy; it is a failed system from the playground, to parks & rec, to club. What we need are more scholarships at the club level. These paid youth coaches will play the kids whose parents have invested the most into the clubs/coaches salaries over the years rather than finding and developing talent. It's no coincidence that our best player was developed in Germany.

This is a turning point for us, we can either restructure the entire system (get Gulati out) or stick with the status quo and drift off into mediocrity until the next WC cycle where we'll be met with better than even odds we'll fail again.

You have to listen to Taylor Twellman's rant. He bring these same points up. I watched it about 5 minutes after I posted. The good teams and programs learn from things like this. You go back to the drawing board. Analyze everything. Blow it up and start fresh.

wejo wrote:You only have to finish 4 out of 6 teams in the region to make the playoff. Got to be the easiest qualifying region in the world.

.

I agree it's an easy region, but there are 41 members. Most were just already eliminated.

[quote]wejo wrote:

I posted another thread on this but am reposting.

Unbelievable. US lost to Trinidad (the worst team in the region). Costa Rica and Panama both won despite both trailing early and playing the 2 best teams in the region. That was the only scenario to keep the US out of at least a playoff game to get into the 2018 World Cup.

Sorry brothers Johnson...I feel your pain, really I do...because in 1989 the US did exactly the same thing to TnT, where I was born...TnT was on the verge of their first WC, would have been only the 2nd Caribbean nation to qualify (after Haiti for the 1974 WC) if they could draw in Trinidad with the US...this was even before the playoff with the Asian best loser...

US won 1-0 and it took TnT almost 20yrs to build up to another chance 2006, Jamaica (de Reggae Boyz) became the first English-speaking Caribbean country to qualify (and win a WC game) in 1998...

Sunil will be voted out soon in election.

Pulisic is a good international. As good as he is, what he really reveals is that when you put a good international on the US team he is the best player - the rest of the team is okay but not good.

On a limited talent team coaching and desire and defined roles become critical. Klinsmann tinkered and players struggled in roles, and Klinsmann expected national team players to be self-motivated. Many were not, including crybaby Landon who was upset that he took a sabbatical and had to earn a spot back. Klinsmann was not getting results so it is understandable that he was terminated but not the right thing to do mid-campaign.

Arena is a motivator but couldn't resist the urge to redefine the team so as to look smart as well. the US tinkered with formations and players and Arena's statement that the MLS guys are in better shape than the internationals makes no sense whatsoever - is Pulisic out of shape? Klinsmann is a good coach but couldn't or wouldn't motivate the team. Arena is a good coach but had to show everyone that the euros and not better than the MLSers.

So the USMNT got used by Klinsmann who I think sincerely wanted to improve the level of team going to the World Cup not just get there. And the team got used by Arena who wanted to show everyone that he could get to the Cup on his terms and doing it his way.

As a result the USMNT was half-in and half-out all along and now is out.

Against Panama the US needed a win and went 4-4-2 aggressively. It worked and they won 4-0.

Against Trinidad tonite, all the US needed was a tie against a team that it had outscored 10-1 over the last 5 matches. Arena went the same lineup and 4-4-2 which was open defensively. It didn't work.

These matches are about advancing, the US should have been 5-4-1 and played for the tie until they had to do otherwise. Sure the own goal changed that but the US was playing so that in the own goal situation Trinidad had 5 on 3. Simply unacceptable when the US only needed a tie. You are essentially trying to preserve the tie if you have common sense. But arena wanted to prove something to somebody and now the US are going nowhere.

Bas as losing is, Arena's prior comments about fire me I don't care, Ive been out coached maybe maybe not, and other teams are fired up because of US politics - all that stuff is excuses and winners don't make excuses they make plays.

This is a hard sucker punch to the chin, but US should have seen it coming.

Goodbye Arena. Pray that Pulisic's relatively small body like Messi's survives until 2022 and that the US can get some things right. Michael bradley and Tim Howard were not who they once were and that combined with Klinsmann's overeager aspirational tinkering and Arena's arrogance are why the US did not advance.

Soccer … I hardly know her wrote:

Against Panama the US needed a win and went 4-4-2 aggressively. It worked and they won 4-0.

Against Trinidad tonite, all the US needed was a tie against a team that it had outscored 10-1 over the last 5 matches. Arena went the same lineup and 4-4-2 which was open defensively. It didn't work.

These matches are about advancing, the US should have been 5-4-1 and played for the tie until they had to do otherwise. Sure the own goal changed that but the US was playing so that in the own goal situation Trinidad had 5 on 3. Simply unacceptable when the US only needed a tie. You are essentially trying to preserve the tie if you have common sense. But arena wanted to prove something to somebody and now the US are going nowhere.

exactly, like running all out in the qualifying heats at track. You need to advance. If you are in a slow heat you just need to advance not win.

arena needed to respect panama and Honduras and their teams heart if not just their play. Instead he played to win when he needed a tie.

MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:

Wejo,

Stick to running. I know you are a passionate soccer fan but the reality is the US is just NOT a good enough. This is a failure of EVERY level of soccer in the US. Not just at the highest level. There is a belief that just because we are the US we should be good at soccer. Well, congrats, that failed. Countries 1/20th the size of the U.S. and with 1/20th the budget and investment of US Soccer just qualified for the World Cup and the US didn't.

Mark my words, but good will come of this. New ideas, tactics and a better vision for the program will come of this.

Probably not. Anyone who is athletic plays one of the big 3 sports (baseball, football, basketball) growing up. Anyone who is really fast runs track. U.S. soccer is left with the guys who aren't athletic enough for the big 3 sports but not fast enough for a track scholarship.

The rest of the world soccer is the first choice.

rojo wrote:

If I have Aces, and you have a pair of 2s, you still win 20% of the time.

Wait... what?

What kind of poker you playing where 2s beat aces...ever. Let alone 20% of the time.

Cheater cheater pumpkin eater wrote:

rojo wrote:

If I have Aces, and you have a pair of 2s, you still win 20% of the time.

Wait... what?

What kind of poker you playing where 2s beat aces...ever. Let alone 20% of the time.

Texas Hold'em

rojo wrote:

Why?

It wasn't Klinsmen's fault. It wasn't Arena's fault. IT was largely bad luck. Look at our goal differential. I mean look at today's game. We had a million chances. They got a fluke own goal that and then a 1 in 10,000 shot.

I hate how people think we always have to blame someone.

If I have Aces, and you have a pair of 2s, you still win 20% of the time.

Sure, much of it was their fault. The USA best players are Pulisic, then some order of Johnson, Brooks, Cameron, Wood and Yedlin. The coach tonight left out two of those players who were healthy, and their replacements own goaled and were right in the mix on the second goal. Beyond this one game, these coaches have stuck with also rans who settled for mls and long ago peaked like Altidore and Bradley. It's been that way for years. There was ample time post 2014 to replace these guys with younger talent with much higher ceilings. We should've kept about 4 guys over the age of 23 on the roster after 2014, and yet here we are with WONDO in the damn final 23 tonight.