Some National Team Thoughts

While I'm hanging around…<br />
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I'm not a Bradley fan, but I agree that the commentariat expects too much from the talent on hand. I think they are ignoring the generational problem – the 2002 team was the peak for guys who were kids when the NASL was operational. Now we're in the middle of the trough, with players in their prime who chose to pursue youth soccer back in the days when we had no domestic league of consequence. The MLS-inspired players are all 22 or under yet. So I don't think we'll see a real upswing in USMNT performance until after WC2014, Bradley or no Bradley.

if you think that italy is as good as brazil youre kidding yourself. if you think that today was brazil's best than youre insane. that was brazil's B team out there. imagine if pato were given a chance to run today, or if alex was taking those free kicks from just outside our area, or if gilberto wasnt 62 years old… the honeymoon never started, i know, but the marriage between bob and the nats is very definitely over. i cant wait for egypt to drive that final nail home. 3- nil again im guessing. time to go bobby, make way for ze german.

Honestly, I was never thrilled with the decision to hire Bob Bradley, but he started out fine and putting together decent lineups initially. Lately, however, has been a whole other story.<br />
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However, if Bob Bradley is too be fired, I think Mr. Sunil Gulati needs to go as well. I think it needs to start at the top. Let's face it our US program has never been stellar. Honestly, we got lucky in 2002. The US Natl. team played one good match in group play against Portugal and then found themselves begging for South Korea to help them out to even advance to the 2nd round. Then we came up against Mexico – a country within our region. The team put together there best game of their lives and came out on top only to lose once again to premier football nation – Germany.<br />
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The US Natl. team always plays well within the CONCACAF region – i.e. WC qualifiers and Gold Cup competitions. But beyond outside the CONCACAF, the US Natl teams fall flat on their face.<br />
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The talent is there. It is the personnel decisions and tactics that are lacking. The concept of even playing Beasley as a left or right back is ridiculous to say the least, even to have him on the team. Ever since his injury, he has never been the same player and does not deserve to be on the Natl. team. Conor Casey? Please. Ricardo Clark? Cmon'. That punk should have seen his ass on a plane back home to the States. That was a dumbass player on his part that hurt the team in that match. Must we be reminded about his little incident with Carlos Ruiz during those FC Dallas / Houston Dynamo days?<br />
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Seriously, it is time to man up Gulati and either resign or get a coach that understands how to properly prepare a team for the World Cup against the likes of most European and South American countries. I still want to know why Klinsmann was never hired in the first place – he knew about the American game and its players and already gained immense experience in the 06 WC. If it came down to money, well it is time to properly pay a coach what he is due. If not Klinsmann, than someone else along those lines – Erickson maybe? His brand of soccer fits well with the US players – we are not Mexico folks.<br />
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Bradley is not the answer and neither is Gulati. Both go now while we still have time before 2010. If we even qualify. Hell, the signs are already out there – we are starting to fail within our own region now.

No, Bradley isn’t the only thing wrong and removing him won’t fix the team, but his decisions have made our problems that much more apparent, especially against big opponents. Against Costa Rica, a 4-3-3 (?), leaving the back four completely isolated and expecting Gouch and Bocanegra to cover the ground that Wynn and Beasley left open. Against Italy, waiting until the 85th minute to bring in another midfielder, after the damage has been done. If Kljestan had come in, in say the 50th minute, we might be talking about a US win and not complaining about the space that was left open for Rossi to score that goal. Lippi saw it and made the right correction; why didn’t Bradley? Where’s Torres? Why is Beasley even on the bench? Why is Dempsey on the field when he certainly doesn’t play like he cares?

Fire Bob Bradley and we become Mexico, it's as simple as that. I'll defend Bob until the cows come home. He's a proven winner wherever he's been (except maybe the MetroStars but then who has done well with that club?) and sure he has made mistakes, but so did Sir Alex Ferguson against Barcelona and nobody's getting on his case.

Honestly, I was never thrilled with the decision to hire Bob Bradley, but he started out fine and putting together decent lineups initially. Lately, however, has been a whole other story.

However, if Bob Bradley is too be fired, I think Mr. Sunil Gulati needs to go as well. I think it needs to start at the top. Let’s face it our US program has never been stellar. Honestly, we got lucky in 2002. The US Natl. team played one good match in group play against Portugal and then found themselves begging for South Korea to help them out to even advance to the 2nd round. Then we came up against Mexico – a country within our region. The team put together there best game of their lives and came out on top only to lose once again to premier football nation – Germany.

The US Natl. team always plays well within the CONCACAF region – i.e. WC qualifiers and Gold Cup competitions. But beyond outside the CONCACAF, the US Natl teams fall flat on their face.

The talent is there. It is the personnel decisions and tactics that are lacking. The concept of even playing Beasley as a left or right back is ridiculous to say the least, even to have him on the team. Ever since his injury, he has never been the same player and does not deserve to be on the Natl. team. Conor Casey? Please. Ricardo Clark? Cmon’. That punk should have seen his ass on a plane back home to the States. That was a dumbass player on his part that hurt the team in that match. Must we be reminded about his little incident with Carlos Ruiz during those FC Dallas / Houston Dynamo days?

Seriously, it is time to man up Gulati and either resign or get a coach that understands how to properly prepare a team for the World Cup against the likes of most European and South American countries. I still want to know why Klinsmann was never hired in the first place – he knew about the American game and its players and already gained immense experience in the 06 WC. If it came down to money, well it is time to properly pay a coach what he is due. If not Klinsmann, than someone else along those lines – Erickson maybe? His brand of soccer fits well with the US players – we are not Mexico folks.

Bradley is not the answer and neither is Gulati. Both go now while we still have time before 2010. If we even qualify. Hell, the signs are already out there – we are starting to fail within our own region now.

I wouldn't fire Bob Bradley right now, who's a better available coach right now? The issue is our players get blown off the ball by more physical players, remember when we had Lalas, Balboa and Pope in the back? They weren't the most talented, but they didn't want to lose the ball when they played, our defense doesn't have that killer instinct.

I wouldn’t fire Bob Bradley right now, who’s a better available coach right now? The issue is our players get blown off the ball by more physical players, remember when we had Lalas, Balboa and Pope in the back? They weren’t the most talented, but they didn’t want to lose the ball when they played, our defense doesn’t have that killer instinct.