24 comments on “How Upset is Bruce Arena? US down by 3!”

  1. Best I can say about this match is that it’s over. The better team won today.
    Christian, you hit it right on the head, an absolutely flat, heartless performance by the US. You’d have thought we just stepped off the plane 30 minutes before game time. Gooch, our supposed defensive wonderkid, played very poorly. McBride, Donovan and Beasley were ghosts on the pitch. Now we face a must win against Italy…an imposing proposition. Hopefully God will be kind and Italy will draw with Ghana.

  2. As one of the leading US newspapers said earlier: “The US will have a hard time making it through to the next round.”
    Finally, Americans that realise they play football like shit. Or should I say soccer? 😉
    -Mayk
    The Netherlands

  4. To say the US played like crap does a disservice to crap.
    Even the “bright spots” were merely average, but wonderful in comparison to the overall effort. Someone should keep on reminding the US that they were wearing BLUE.
    When I played a dead givaway about the confidence of the opposing player was the length of his strides. The longer the stride, the more confident they were. Small strides and we knew lunch was served. When you watch the game on replay, look at the baby steps the US players took with the ball.
    There is no sugar coating this. It was a disaster.

  5. Mayk,
    We certainly played like shit today, no question. But last I checked we made the quarters of the last world cup while your countrymen were at home watching OUR BOYS play.
    Regardless, though, we certainly performed poorly today. This is group play, though, and we still have 2 matches left with which we can salvage our tournament.

  6. and PLEASE TAKE REYNA OUT!!
    he’s old, tired, and well, useless. the only thing he did the second half was get a yellow card…

  7. Guys- this was the reality check the US needed.
    Perhaps we’ve spent too much time in our own hype-bubble, so it was just a matter of time before someone popped it. Same story w/ the US government!

  8. Politics and silliness aside, the US needs to pick up the pace for the next game. We looked like we had lead weights tied to our feet.
    Let’s see Italy come out against Ghana.
    I doubt the Italians will be so lackadaisical- they’ve got a nice soccer scandal to get over, so I expect them to come out strong.

  9. Sure, we were at home. There’s no argueing there. But that was just one tournament. The dutch have a rich history in soccer and you cannot even begin to compare it to the US. We’ve always been one of the best in the world, and we’ve never ever failed to present the European Leagues with the best of players. Although I have not always been proud of my country and its results, I simply cannot compare it to the US 😛
    I have to disagree with some of you critizing the US team in your post. The American fight lust was admirable, and they make up for their lack in expertise with the will and vigor of winners.
    That they lost to Czech Republic today is no surprise. (My prognosis for that game was 4-0.) The Czech team outclassed them in every way, like they would have almost any team that’d have faced them today. It’s no shame to lose against a Czech team like the one we saw today.
    And on Beasley: he did a lot more than just waste time as a ghost. As I saw it, at times, he was the best US ‘defender’ in the field, running back and forth, working like a horse!
    I enjoyed seeing O’Brien and Beasly (both former-dutch league players) play.
    Once again, the American Fight Lust is admirable to say the least, though perhaps better spent on baseball ^_^

  10. Twellman’s not on the pitch today because he rejected a scholarship offer from Arena to Virginia. That’s criminal. I’m sick of petty politics infecting our National efforts in the beautiful game. Because of that, we’ll continue to produce outstanding juniors who can play with any country in the world and crappy National teams.

  11. It is time for Gulati and rest BOD at USSoccer to resign. Arena is their guy, and they should bear responsibility for the pathetic play of the US side. Their play lacked heart and skill. Reyna has no business being at CM, whereas Donovan should be. Beasley’s play was horrific. This is what you get when chronyism and politics drives coach and team selection. USSoccer is at a similar place that was faced by USHockey until they brought in Herb Brooks

  12. I have to agree with Doug and lay a big portion of the blame at Arena’s feet.
    I usually don’t do this as soccer is too fluid a sport and the players that have to make it happen. Normally, the coach is like teets on a boar.
    But it was Arena’s decision to go with the odd 5-4-1 configuration. (Have we ever played that?) He put the starting line-up on the pitch. This was not the time to experiment and the players looked lost.
    Maybe Bruce will be evn bolder and pull a 6-4-0 against the Azzurri.

  13. I have to agree with Doug and lay a big portion of the blame at Arena’s feet.
    I usually don’t do this as soccer is too fluid a sport and the players that have to make it happen. Normally, the coach is like teets on a boar.
    But it was Arena’s decision to go with the odd 5-4-1 configuration. (Have we ever played that?) He put the starting line-up on the pitch. This was not the time to experiment and the players looked lost.
    Maybe Bruce will be even bolder and pull a 6-4-0 against the Azzurri.

  15. In Italy/Ghana news, the Brazilian ref just had two no calls on what could hvae been penalty kicks. USA needs a draw in the match.

  16. In Italy/Ghana news, the Brazilian ref just had two no calls on what could have been penalty kicks. USA needs a draw in the match.

  17. In Italy/Ghana news, the Brazilian ref just had two no calls on what could have been penalty kicks. USA needs a draw in the match.
    US is going to have their hands full with Ghana, who are showing well against Italy.

  18. In Italy/Ghana news, the Brazilian ref just had two no calls on what could have been penalty kicks. USA needs a draw in the match.
    US is going to have their hands full with Ghana, who are showing well against Italy.

  19. What a mess! Arena needs to go! The US announcers need to go! We need some foreign influence in our team and our announcers. Heck the Spanish Channel has more emotion than the US channels. At least I can feel the passion, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

  20. FIFA Strikes! FIFA is sending a letter to the Mexican coach about smoking on the sidelines! Wow, now that is important, disregard the fouls, PK’s, etc., let us worry about smoking! FIFA is letting the game get out of hand, the goons are allowed to punish the real players without receiving their due. Also, the FIFA officials have no guts, they are afraid to enforce a rule that could cause a PK. FIFA speaks with a forked tongue. Do not wave your hand in front of an official, yellow card, but grab, pull the shirt, around the box and that is OK.

  21. Let’s not forget to give full marks to the Czechs for a game well played. And let’s not forget that the Czech side is arguably one of the strongest in the tournament, one that would be a strong contender against any other team. We found ourselves in a tough group, so we really can’t say that this result was unexpected.
    We didn’t get any help in the Italy-Ghana game. Let’s see if Arena can conjure up a miracle and get us results in the next two games.

  22. Susan, yes, the Czechs are great, and while they played well, after the first goal they were just “playing footsie” as my old coach liked to say.
    They will be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament.
    Other than that, yes, this loss is 90% Arena’s fault. Poor choices for players and positions. Not having Gooch man-mark Koller was a mistake. Playing Beasley on the wrong side was a mistake. Putting McBride in and having us play air balls against a taller stronger team was a mistake (keep the ball on the ground, its “foot”ball for a reason).

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