i personally think Sunil Gulati, the head of American soccer, is ruining the national team. His indecision and inability to appoint a permanent men's national team coach has stalled future progress. He simply is not getting the job done.
I agree welsh, I still don't understand why the US did not give Klinsmen any resources he wanted for the job. We should have been throwing the kitchen sink out for that guy. Once he said he was interested we should have done everything in our power to make him the main guy. Even now though with Bradley. I think he's doing a good job of developing players out of the MLS and getting a lot of different people into camps. It's ridiculous that a starting back in the EPL (Jay Demerit) just got his first call up to a national team camp. At this point I'll take anything that isn't Bruce Arena but Gulati needs to be more decisive.
Give Bob Bradley the job for an 18-month contract prior to qualification for World Cup 2010. If the US MNT are not on the right track, then dismiss him, but at least he is an American coach and understands the dynamics of the American game. I've been impressed with him thus far and hope he succeeds!
The other day I was listening to the English get all over McClaren. I wonder if Gulati is affected by this? Making a no-decision and seeing if the press or losses eat him alive first. This way he made the right call by not making the call. Gutless in my opinion but thats politics.
I agree I think Klinsmen was the man to get. Bradley is doing a great job preparing for a split squad event this summer.
I don't really understand what Gulati has to do with Demerit, but I will say this: while Demerit's story is crazy and almost unbelievable, too many people keep talking about how he starts in the EPL. Let us not forget that Watford is in last place by what, 9 points. There are times Jay has looked ok and times he has looked horrible. Do I hope he finds a place on the USMNT? Yes! Got to love the underdog story. But it's just that. No one was looking at Demerit. He went to England and started to play on a pub team if I recall correctly. Add to that, even though many think the EPL is the greatest league in the whole world, it is still known as a very physical league and the skill sets may be a bit different.
If any player should have a real complaint, I think it would be Spector. Just my opinions. I take everything said with a grain of salt because you are never really sure of how much soccer people on these boards actually watch.
The thing I was saying about Demerit was that Arena didn't even give our National Team the best chance of winning by not even looking at players like Demerit. You're right about Spector as well. I believe both those players are way better than a Chris Albright, someone Arena thought deserved a spot on the World Cup roster. I agree with Kevin as well, Bob Bradley has proved himself for the time being and I hope he succeeds as well so that the USMNT are back to competing against the best in the world.
The only time the USMNT was "competing against the best in the world" was under the watch of Arena. When did the MNT get big? Under Arena. He has the most international wins, longest home shut-out, best World Cup showing since 1930, reaching the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, and all-time best international FIFA Ranking.
Arena didn't suddenly get stupid after Korea, nor would Demerit have changed our results in Germany. Bob's aim should be to reach Bruce's level of success. Very few world cup coaches get the shot at two in a row with the same team. Tank once, you're out. Make it big and you can go out on a float and parade, or hang around and try to beat the odds. Bruce didn't beat 'em, and he deserved better than what he got in the end. What were we before we had him? Anybody want to talk about France?
Arenas may not have gotten stupid, but when the expectations are high and you end up as one of the worst teams in the '06 world cup, then of course you gotta let then man go. He brought the US program to new heights but like you said Mash, when it comes to the World cup and these international teams, either you win, do good or something, but guess what, you still boubd to get replaced or move on. That's the part of the world cup coaching carousel, unfortunately for some coaches
mash arena was coach of the team for almost a decade
hes goign to get a lot of wins when you coach that long and we never compete against the ebst in the world because CONCACAF is a lowsy region plus we never play good European, South American, or even African teams
plus when we do play quality teams Ecuador, England, Denmark
its in the US we need to start playing top notch teams away from our boundaries
Yes Arena did manage to compile all of those listed statistics, but stats can be decieving. Of course he is going to have the most international wins, he's was there for the longest period of time allowing him the most chances to get those wins. Our highest ever FIFA ranking was also skewed; who did we beat in order to enter the World Cup ranked as high as fifth in the World. We had a good showing in Korea with a little bit of luck (Portugual was down, and Korea had many chances to beat us) and in Germany we had an absolutely awful showing. Not only did we have an awful showing but his actual game tactic coaching and adjusting was terrible. Defend him if you want but I was never a Bruce Arena fan.
same im not a fan but klinsmen would have done better but i applaud gulati because klinsmen wanted to much but this 24 episode needs to stop where he likes bradley one minutes but wants a new coach the next we arent gonna improve unless you install a permanent coach who can work more in depth with the players and their styles
Jaguar, you're right. That is the price of international coaching.
Drogba and Alex...you make me laugh. Yes, throw out all the stats that say great things about him and only focus on a three game stretch - and yes - he does suck. Lets just throw out all the wins he has and only look at the losses. We could then say he has the worst coaching percentage of any U.S. coach ever! Lets pretend the quarter final round of 02 never happened, the Gold Cup victories, success in regional matches, domination over hated rival Mexico, and high rankings (who are Brazil and Italy anyway?).
Yeah...if you do it that, I guess he does suck
p.s. United States FA schedules the matches, not Arena
I never liked Bruce, and in Germany he was one of the worst coaches of all 32 teams. As for Bradley, he seems to be doing good so far, especially since he's scheduled a lot of tough matches, like the Gold Cup and Copa America, and if Bradley does a great job in these tournaments, he should get the interim tag taken off of him
***CLICHE ALERT***
Ignorance is bliss.
Jaguar, how did you evaluate coaches? What criteria did you use? How do you account for good coaches with poor teams? May I see your list?
Um..
How about Angola, Iran, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia? D & H were arguably the easiest groups, yet they had the greatest disparity from 1&2 to 3&4.
Then you've still got Togo, S&M, Costa Rica, T&T, and Japan..
Oh..and the Czechs?!
If you don't know what you're talking about concerning Arena..you've no business in a thread ABOUT GULATI!
Well, when you're on a do or die situation and you insist on playing defensively and not put your best players where they can be strong, then that's some bad coaching. What i meant by that statement is that he made some very bad decisions.
ok here's the deal, given: Arena did a lot for the development of soccer in the US. However, did he not have the largest talent pool ever for a US coach? Sure he has brought unprecedented success to US soccer, but to say he is a great coach is way overrating a coach gifted with great talent. He overachieved in 2002 and underachieved in 2006. He seemed to be lackluster and did not send out a team designed to win matches. Although it should be said that injuries to Hejduk and Gibbs were major blows before the tournament. Whiskey and Easy, Rozier, you two seem to think the man is a great coach. I personally disagree and call it as you see it but that is my own opinion. But back to Gulati: the man is extremely indecisive. I know he is trying to be diplomatic and politically correct, but that is not what we need. We need a strong face for US soccer and he does not give us that. His inability to bring in Klinsmann is a huge blow to the future of US soccer. Bob Bradley is a good coach and now should have the job. He is a smart coach and is using all of his resources. Gulati's inability to make a strong decision may have halted progress of the US for the next 10 years. The ripple effect may already be taking place.
Actually, I'm part of the Wynalda for USMNT Coach campaign.. [warning: this is a joke]
I'm not for or against Arena..however I'm very against mindless babble (unless it's my own)
Jack, I almost punched my computer screen when I read the Wynalda comment! He is a pompous...well...we know.
I love how welsh judges Gulati and calls him "extremely indecisive" based on one move. Nothing like having a career spanning years summed up by one decision. What irks me a little more is how you blast him for not getting Klinsmann, then say that Bradley deserves the job. Which is it? Klinsmann or Bradley. Do you not applaud the safety valve he installed so that in case Bradley failed, he could have shot #2 at Jurgen? Hypocritical is what that's called.
My favorite is the impact his decision has on soccer. The ripple effect was halarious, personally. I specifically remember hearing 8 and 9 year olds all across America quitting because "If Sunil can't bring in a high named international coach, what is the point of even playing soccer?" As well, I'm told, all U.S. internationals immediately quit training until a coach was hired becuase "If we don't have a coach, what's the point in playing? All hope is lost..."
Can you feel the ripple?
Seriously, I actually like Eric Wynalda.. kind of like how people can't help looking at wreckage.
My thoughts on the situation are:
..yeah..it's kind of embarrassing, I guess. I would rather us have a guy in there asap, but more so I'd rather us get the right guy.
That being said, I agree with Papa Young..this isn't killing the development of US soccer by any means.
Lastly, news flash: People still don't take us seriously..they may know we won't roll over now, but I doubt anyone is shaking in the panties at the thought of Landon Donovan or Pablo.
Whoever the coach is..he better develop players like Kenny Cooper and Gooch and get us more like them!
I don't really know a whole lot about this..so this is about as much as you'll get me to say. From here..I'm back to criticizing others. Cheers!