USMNT October Qualifiers
- Thread starter TU_BLA
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Damn... I started reading this thread and realized it was about soccer and not Mutant Ninja Turtles...
I’m so disappointed...
I was really hoping to find out that they had caught Shredder.
I’m so disappointed...
I was really hoping to find out that they had caught Shredder.
Europe is a bear to qualify in though. When you have teams like Italy, Greece, Sweden, and Croatia having to fight through a playoff it's tough. The US' road through qualifying isn't nearly as difficult. The USMNT problem isn't that it doesn't have the talent to compete or win, it's that the US holds on to losing ideals that start when players are kids. Coaches at youth levels pick their favorites...not necessarily the best and hold onto them even though that might mean a kid who has more talent or works harder is kept at a lower competition level stifling growth and development. The USMNT holds onto poor performing players like Zusi for the long haul rather than try a new promising player. They save using the new players for games like tonight against Portugal...a meaningless friendly in which neither nation will be using their top players...so again, the young players don't get the full benefit of playing against the toughest competition to know what it takes to compete at the highest level.I guess the USMNT doesn't have to feel so bad now that 4-time champ Italy failed to qualify for the first time in six decades.
And no, it doesn't make me feel better knowing Italy, the Netherlands, and Cameroon haven't qualified either. All I know is the US finished 5th in its qualifying group of 6 and at least 2 of the nations they finished behind have inferior programs and 1.1% (Panama) and 2.5% (Honduras) of the population of the US. It means the US has a good ol boys network running USSF and it's broken.
No doubt...no comparison between qualifying out of CONCACAF versus Europe. Italy is just one of those you always expect to be at the WC...it's shocking to see a 4-time champ not qualify for the first time in 60 years. So I was making light of the USMNT situation.
I absolutely hate that the US didn't qualify...at this point, with the progress that has been made since 1990...they should qualify every time out of CONCACAF.
IIRC, Wynalda was banging Harkes' wife/girlfriend. Or maybe it was Harkes doing the dirty. Either way, it's one of the reasons we sucked bad in '98. That's almost always good for team unity.
Harkes was named Captain for Life. Shortly thereafter several players who knew that he was diddling Wynalda's wife went to Sampson and told him that cuckolding isnt good for team morale. So he was dropped from the squad. It left a huge gap in our defense, gutted the distribution, and divided the team. And would have been like cutting Donovan right before the 2010 World Cup. He was rumored to have screwed several other teammates WAGs over the years, both club and country. Wynalda later remarried and is the proud father of six kids, he has TV and radio gigs. He is a serious contender to run the whole show. Harkes is out of work and out of favor at ESPN, MLS, and now USL. Harkesy will always be my favorite player (close tie with Clint Mathis) but character counts and character shows. If he could coach or work well with people off the pitch, he would be our national team coach right now. As it stands, all we can hope for is that his son goes on to impact the USA like he did, without the baggage.
Despite our systemic problems there is no excuse for failing to qualify. No way that a wise manager could not find 11 eligible players with a winning system on the field - one at least good enough to land in the top 4 of that group.
I had forgotten about all of that! I saw Harkes was fired at FC Cincinnati earlier this year.
I was thinking the other day about Carlos Bocanegra...is he coaching or anything? I always enjoyed watching him get after it on the back line.
He's the Rasputin of Atlanta United and the reason they are winning. Tata is helping, but the man who built that team is Captain America. I liked Boca as a player as much as the next guy. The Rangers fans still rave about him.
But he is part of that winning clique at the Confed Cup: Howard, Bradley, Boca, Jozy, and Feilhaber, who never really got over themselves after beating Spain. Howard already sounds like Uncle Rico talking about that summer and he hasnt even retired yet. Feilhaber ran his mouth to SI and missed not only millions in salary but a chance at the 2014 WC where he was sorely needed as a super sub. Bradley will be the USMNT coach someday, just not in the next ten years. The farther Jozy stays away from the program, the better.
As far as I am concerned those 5 guys are locker room poison.
But he is part of that winning clique at the Confed Cup: Howard, Bradley, Boca, Jozy, and Feilhaber, who never really got over themselves after beating Spain. Howard already sounds like Uncle Rico talking about that summer and he hasnt even retired yet. Feilhaber ran his mouth to SI and missed not only millions in salary but a chance at the 2014 WC where he was sorely needed as a super sub. Bradley will be the USMNT coach someday, just not in the next ten years. The farther Jozy stays away from the program, the better.
As far as I am concerned those 5 guys are locker room poison.
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Halleluljah! The top of the US Soccer swamp has been drained with Sunil the Gulati announcing he won't run for re-election. Now that he & Bruce"frog face"Arena are out of the pix, maybe the Federation can get some people in to start repairing the train wreck that is the USMNT.
Kathy Carter is the replacement establishment candidate and is worse than Gulati -- beholding to the same US Soccer interest groups, but without the international experience.
Be careful what you wish for. You may just get a doubling down on all the things holding US Soccer men's programs back from being competitive at a Top 10 level. Pay to play, gender equity siphoning off equal funds so that both teams are underfunded, diversion of TV money to special interests, Mexican games on US soil, I could go on and on.
You have to decide if you love America and American soccer or just want to win. For me, I am an American and have American values and that means the women's team gets equal, not greater or less, exposure, regardless of strength of play on the field. However, I am also aware of business realities that require the men's team to take center stage at certain points to generate revenue for both programs.
People spend too much time on analysis of the men's deficiencies in a vacuum. They complain about players not being evaluated properly compared to other countries and how there are only 8 paid scouts for the entire huge country, while countries like Germany have dozens. Germany does not have 31 women players on salary with benefits. That's a simplistic statement, but it proves an overall point I could make with hard evidence in another forum.
No matter how many games the women win, and no matter how many games people watch, the women's team is a net loser with the exception of the ratings for about five or six games every four years, but America is about equality, so I am OK with the political statement the team makes each time it takes the field. For the time being, I am OK with losing. Hard to bite into, but that is the future.
If you aren't OK with that, you will be disappointed in USSoccer for the next ten years, I suspect. The sport simply doesnt yet generate enough money to fund the women's team equally AND provide the men's team with the funds to build an infrastructure to compete with the Germanys of the world.
Be careful what you wish for. You may just get a doubling down on all the things holding US Soccer men's programs back from being competitive at a Top 10 level. Pay to play, gender equity siphoning off equal funds so that both teams are underfunded, diversion of TV money to special interests, Mexican games on US soil, I could go on and on.
You have to decide if you love America and American soccer or just want to win. For me, I am an American and have American values and that means the women's team gets equal, not greater or less, exposure, regardless of strength of play on the field. However, I am also aware of business realities that require the men's team to take center stage at certain points to generate revenue for both programs.
People spend too much time on analysis of the men's deficiencies in a vacuum. They complain about players not being evaluated properly compared to other countries and how there are only 8 paid scouts for the entire huge country, while countries like Germany have dozens. Germany does not have 31 women players on salary with benefits. That's a simplistic statement, but it proves an overall point I could make with hard evidence in another forum.
No matter how many games the women win, and no matter how many games people watch, the women's team is a net loser with the exception of the ratings for about five or six games every four years, but America is about equality, so I am OK with the political statement the team makes each time it takes the field. For the time being, I am OK with losing. Hard to bite into, but that is the future.
If you aren't OK with that, you will be disappointed in USSoccer for the next ten years, I suspect. The sport simply doesnt yet generate enough money to fund the women's team equally AND provide the men's team with the funds to build an infrastructure to compete with the Germanys of the world.
I for one am NOT OK with losing. Especially by a coach who selected mostly has-been MLS guys with attitude who figured they could just show up & qualify. What does that have to say about playing for flag & country? BTW, Huffy, try not to insult people who wants our team to win by calling them un-American. This international embarassment, this epic fail, has me really pi$$ed and disappointed, & I lay it all at the webbed feet of frog face.
As far as the women's team, they are hard to watch. There, I said it. Yes, the women's team can be an inspiration to young girls. But how inspiring is it when they threaten to refuse to practice or play(again for their flag & their country) unless they are paid the same as the men? Sounds more like political correctness run amok than "American Values".
Well, despite a Ms. Carter if it happens, my take on the future of the USMNT is much less sanguine than yours, Huffy. We have too many good young players coming up & a solid core of veterans. Unless the new coach is Bruce Arena reincarnated, we should be in good shape for future WC's & regional play. Yes I know, Huffy, a lack of funds for US soccer is a national embarassment also. But to get to play for your country, you should want to play for free.
As far as the women's team, they are hard to watch. There, I said it. Yes, the women's team can be an inspiration to young girls. But how inspiring is it when they threaten to refuse to practice or play(again for their flag & their country) unless they are paid the same as the men? Sounds more like political correctness run amok than "American Values".
Well, despite a Ms. Carter if it happens, my take on the future of the USMNT is much less sanguine than yours, Huffy. We have too many good young players coming up & a solid core of veterans. Unless the new coach is Bruce Arena reincarnated, we should be in good shape for future WC's & regional play. Yes I know, Huffy, a lack of funds for US soccer is a national embarassment also. But to get to play for your country, you should want to play for free.
The fix starts with youth soccer and the development programs for U13 and above and hopefully ID'ing players worthy of moving to an academy program to develop at a higher level.
BTW, it would be ironic that Jurgen Klinsmann's son Jonathan is probably the goalkeeper of the future for the US. He was the keeper for the U17 team in the WC this last summer/fall. He started last week for his German club's top team in their UEFA Europa League game and he stopped a PK (the top 2 keepers for the team were hurt/unavailable). I was impressed with him during the U17s. He's long and he's agile and has a great instinct for the ball. He's probably in the Kasey Keller/Brad Friedel model more than the Tim Howard model as he appears very technically sound with great feet.
True. The US should not be losing games (or even drawing) with Trinidad or Panama or Honduras. I can see losing to Costa Rica and Mexico on the road...but never 4-0 like they did. Of course the player it hurt the most was Pulisic and he was the only one who wrote about how distraught he was.
Truly believe the kids who were part of the U17 team this past year will be our "Golden Generation" for soccer...at least up to now. There are some really good players in that group.
It is a dang shame about Pulisic. At least he's just starting his career & will (hopefully) have many opportunities to show his stuff on the world stage. But I feel for arguably the greatest American footballer of all time, Clint Dempsey. Whose career has been better? New England, Fulham(he will never be forgotten there), USMNT, Seattle. And this was the last chance for a true pro to strut his stuff. You know he wanted it bad. Just a shame for both of them & guess who I blame for this travesty?
You do know that Fulham named a portion of their stadium after an American and its not Dempsey, right? If you have a chance to go to Craven Cottage, stop in McBride's Pub inside the stadium. Its named for Columbus Crew legend and USMNT captain, Brian McBride. They aren't likely to forget him anytime soon either. I am sorry, but Dempsey was a good player and a fighter and I get why people want to believe that he was "the greatest of all time" but I barely put him in the Top 5 and he isnt even the greatest USA player ever at Fulham. He did save them from relegation, so he does have that going for him, but he had trouble breaking the starting lineup consistently while he was there and one of the players starting in front of him was .... Brian McBride.
I remember when McBride scored on Dodder in St. Louis, fall of '91. We were outclassed that night. That was a roadie I wished I hadn't made. There's a photo of the goal being scored that made the Billikens' program the next season.
Kevin King went to dig the ball out of the net and told Dodder, "Thanks for letting the team down." lol
Kevin King went to dig the ball out of the net and told Dodder, "Thanks for letting the team down." lol
Dodder. <SMH> Sort of reminds me of the soccer equivalent of Bryant Reeves, minus the top level talent.
In Fall of '93 Dodder was playing intramural football with the Kappa Sig's and their goal line play was run Dodder to the back of the end zone and lob the ball up high. In a playoff game against the Signa Chi's, they ran this play 4-5 times successfully and finally the Sigma Chi covering Dodder picked him up and body slammed him after he caught the ball. I had to toss that player from the game but on the inside I was laughing a little
Dodder could've been a top-10 NCAA keeper if he'd just put in the effort. But he liked tootin' around campus on his yellow moped and having a good time. He was a lot better than his predecessor Dick Mottl.
Didn't know that, but happy to hear it. Loved B. Mcbride throughout his career. Hope he's making some $ off that pub at Craven Cottage. Well, Huffy, I said Dempsey was "arguably" the best ever & you've argued for McBride. He was great but I'm not convinced. Deuce had more goals, led Fulham to final of Europa League championship & I believe saved them from relegation twice(will never forget that sweet goal against Juventus floated in from right flank to reach final), Will soon have USMNT goals record unless he retires or new coach refuses to call him up for friendlies.
BTW, if Dempsey isn't in your top 5 of greatest yank footballers, who in the world are the other 3 or more that , in your opinion, were better. I'd be interested to know.
BTW, if Dempsey isn't in your top 5 of greatest yank footballers, who in the world are the other 3 or more that , in your opinion, were better. I'd be interested to know.
The year Dodder destroyed his ankle playing pick up basketball or something like that, a good friend of mine was a walk-on back-up keeper...who went on to be MVC Keeper of the Year. He asked Randy for a partial scholarship after that season and Randy told him no...so he walked away and the EE dept. paid for his schooling.
1. Landon Donovan (broke the scoring record despite dozens of caps where we was a withdrawn 10 or 7. Dempsey equaled his scoring but playing as a forward almost exclusively. His quality at Everton provoked the crowd to chant USA USA as he walked off the pitch for the final time. For my money, the third biggest moment in US Soccer history. No player was more successful in MLS.
2. Claudio Reyna
3. Brad Friedel
4. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96 has named part of their stadium, not just a bar after him, 2 WC, team captain in Bundesliga, best pure passer out of the back in USA history, best man marker ever to wear USMNT kit).
5. Eric Wynalda. (I hate to admit it, but the achievements in the Bundesliga and USMNT over the course of several seasons and despite injuries, puts him over Dempsey.)
6. Dempsey (He does get credit for being the all time leading scorer for a EPL team, but his inconsistent appearances on the game day roster while at Fulham, some boneheaded penalties, and ball hogging late in his career drop him down. He had a tendency to disappear from games as well).
2. Claudio Reyna
3. Brad Friedel
4. Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96 has named part of their stadium, not just a bar after him, 2 WC, team captain in Bundesliga, best pure passer out of the back in USA history, best man marker ever to wear USMNT kit).
5. Eric Wynalda. (I hate to admit it, but the achievements in the Bundesliga and USMNT over the course of several seasons and despite injuries, puts him over Dempsey.)
6. Dempsey (He does get credit for being the all time leading scorer for a EPL team, but his inconsistent appearances on the game day roster while at Fulham, some boneheaded penalties, and ball hogging late in his career drop him down. He had a tendency to disappear from games as well).
I'll be honest, I just don't get the love for Reyna who time and again seemed to falter or struggle on the largest stage, notably the WC. I remember hearing about him being a wunderkind starting around 1992ish. And he was always hurt.
I agree with Landon Donovan. To me Friedel and Kasey Keller were almost identical in their impacts on US soccer. I will be very interested to see how Friedel does as the head man for New England. I wonder if it will open more opportunities for GKs to become managers. They see the game differently and perhaps in a big picture sort of way because GKs are the only ones who can see every other player on the field.It will be interesting.
He and his wife are good friends of mine...he is coaching in the Dallas area right now. I've picked his brain some on what my son can be doing to improve as a keeper. His wife also played a couple of years on the women's team before blowing out her knee. She was in the top 10 career scorers at TU for a really really long time until just recently.
Kevin played for the reincarnated Roughnecks for a bit in the mid 90s as a keeper on their indoor team. I can't even remember what league it was but they played squads from Wichita and St. Louis.
True, no love for the Pope! Definitely would be in the top 10 from a talent perspective. Probably wouldn't make my "favorite" top 10, which I think I'll put together soon.
Lots of reminiscing about former US players but I haven’t seen any comments on the WC draw. It looks to me like E and F are the toughest groups and most likely to have an unexpected team to emerge into the knockout round.
