Arena Post Match Quote

steve a, im sorry , but we needed this win! Did you see how Italy played today? Awesome! Do you actually think we can beat Ghana, maybe?? I still think Arena didnt coach right? maybe im wrong, but thats how I think…. again, they played wrong… they needed to go straight for the goal, not go straight for the goal then go to the outside and then cross it?? What was that? they are all bigger and taller than us, play smart!! But I am hopeful, Lets go US!!!

Posted from  United States

“An embarrassing performance? Somewhat. Two more games, with 6 points potential? Damn straight.”

I share your enthusiasm for the next game; I really do. But I do not share your unwillingness to criticize the team’s poor play. There are those who are just content to cheer the side they support and don’t like to be critical and there are those who are critical, there is no right or wrong way to be a fan. Here in NY, people are very critical and yet they are some of the best fans on earth.

Posted from  United States

Guys, this is football. We lost today, and sounds like you were actually expecting a win against the czechs gimme a break will ya! If Portugal underestimated the us team in 2002, the rest of the world will not accept any surprises no more. Any one who knows the game knew from the day the draw was made what the oucome will be be. Lets not fool ourselves and expect the team to beat Italy or Ghana, because frankly I don’t see how this can happen. I am afraid the result of Italy or Ghana game might even be ebarrasing more than todays score. Why the boys did not perform the way they should, because we overrated them and pumped them with false expectation instead of letting them know their limitations. When you expect a lot from a team like ours against well establsished teams, we put pressure on the kids which is beyond their scope and the end trying too hard will seem like they are not trying at all. Some people even expected the team to reach the final!!! such expectations are unfair and does not do anyone good. We should know our limititaions, even the pporest countries in the world that we call second tier teams have a rich football tradition that dates way back. They might not have the wealth , but they have decent leagues and passion for the game. Arena or no Arena, this is our limitations and we have to acknowledge it. One thing that I don’t understand, why the us federation refused to participate in the copa America. Countries will pay money to be included in such a strong competition, it just beats me.
Eventhough I do not expect a win in the next games, but they should nort be put under any pressure so they can perform decently in a relaxed manner. Good luck…

Posted from  United States

A lot of times it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. I remember the Cameroons team of a couple cups ago, small dog… big fight. The USA team of 2006, not so much.
ttul
Balzar

Posted from  Canada

so…now you believe me and others when we say that 2002 WC was a FLUKE?
guys, the US is good compared to Costarica Canada and others from Northern America…not Europe and South America…are you kidding me?
what a good lesson the entire country, the big mouthed players, the MEDIA and the PRESS learned yesterday..
never send boys to do a mans job !!!

Posted from  United States

Boys,

There was nothing particularly wrong with the formation or the lineup selected. We saw a very scared group of players out there with little experience to cope with the pressure. We lacked heart and athleticism which have been the hallmarks of all past US teams.

We don’t need to fire Bruce, cut Donovan and Beasley and neuter Keller. Keller is a world class keeper in anyone’s book. Beasley cannot play on the right and everyone knows that. Donovan (like it or not) is the emotional leader on this team and he cracks under the pressure.

The only way to gain confidence when playing the best is to consistently play better opponents in friendlies. While we were playing Latvia and Morocco, Mexico was playing France and Holland.

No single player looked sharp yesterday, rather, collectively we looked scared of making a mistake…and we made plenty of them. In a 4-5-1 it is essential that your wingers push the ball and attack. Beasley went backwards and Convey only made one run at the defense. They did not execute Arena’s plan and do their job. However, Arena should have been able to motivate the boys better to get up for this game and they certainly should have come out for the second half hell bent for goals.

Johnson and O’Brian showed their class as substitutes. I personally think you have to start Dempsey on the right, Bocanegra at left back and choose between Convey, Beasley or Lewis on the left wing.

Although this was an embarrasing effort, the only way soccer dies in America is if the fans let it. Let’s all support the team, hope they get their heads on straight for the next two games, and learn from this important lesson.

Posted from  United States

LOUIE! argentina has few players in europe? are you smoking crack? almost all players on argentina’s squad play in europe.. there are only a few exceptions out of 23

two or three of the goalies selected
tevez in corinthians brazil
palacio in boca

thats its..everyone else plays in europe!

Posted from  United States

Bruce Arena proved to be a LA-Z-Boy coach.

Sergio,
you forgot Mascherano he plays for Corinthians too.

Gregg,
Nothing is wrong with playing playing Latvia and Morocco, they are as good as any team in the world. But, make sure when they play them to ask them to bring their strongest squads.

As long as espn and abc are covering the world cup, the future will look bleak. We need people with good football knowledge to comment on the games, because it is also a chance to educate viewers who are new to the game. Frankly comparing every play with a basketball play is not doing the game any justice.

Posted from  United States

The US should not blame anyone, they are simply not good enough. No one can name me a single US Player except the Goalie that is ranked in the to 20 in his position in the world today. The Cech republic has at least four (Baros, Neved, Koller and Rosicky). Italy has 11. You guys listen too much to ESPN and they lead you down the wrong path. American football players need to start moving to Europe to compete on the big stage.

Posted from  Canada

Raybron,

I’m not suggesting the team’s performance was beyond criticism, nor do I have any problems with most of the criticism here. The team needs a fire lit under their collective ass. It’s the irrational, tear down the house, throw the baby out with the bathwater criticism that irks me. That stuff only attempts, in the most shallow way, to flaunt the in-depth knowledge (hah!) of the critic. So the formation was to blame for the first goal? Uh, no. First goal, poor marking in the box. Koller was the only one around! Somebody should have had him in a headlock. Second goal, poor clearance into the center of the field, NOBODY around, Rosicky hits a friggin rocket. Are these formation problems? Is this Gooch’s inexperience? I agree we need to be more creative on the attack, and some slight personnel tweaks may be in order. Would Bruce Arena jumping up and down like a madman on the touchline make any difference? Of course not. Nobody could hear him anyway.

Donald Trump, above, personifies this ignorance and bluster. He’s got players he just knows are better than those on the current squad. I’m sure he’s been scouting them like a hawk, and knows the situation of each player. Guiseppe Rossi? He’s a great player (check out the clips on YouTube), but he wants to play for Italy, not the U.S. Also, check the record and see how willing Alex Ferguson has been to release him for international friendlies. Jonathan Spector? Good young player. Bright future. He’s been hurt since April, of course.

I was as frustrated as anyone else watching that game. Since I couldn’t get off work, I watched the replay last night. I was expecting much, much worse based on what I had read here and other places. We played below par, and they played well. The Poland game in ’02 was a much bigger letdown than this game, yet we managed to sneak through and played well after. It ain’t the end of the world, but Saturday looms…

Posted from  United States

Beyond the lackluster play - onyewu and convey’s names have been noticeably absent in this discussion despite their poor performances - my biggest frustration was the terrible game plan. There is NO excuse for that when the team has had this much time to prepare. Arena has to fault himself. His tactical mistakes have been noted all over this comment chain. I have only been following soccer closely for 2 years and they were obvious to me. I do believe this team still has a chance, but based on that performance, it’s hard to be optimistic.

Posted from  United States

As a DC United supporter (we do exist) I gotta defend Adu here. The assessment that he was soft and overrated held true till this season. For the 15 of us who watch every week, he is a completly differenet player.

Posted from  United States

What a shocker! I’m Aussie and been living in the States for about 1.5 years and so after a great start to the day (Go Socceroos!) I taped the US game hoping to come home to a good soccer match. Blimey, what a bad game for the US. And you know, Czech Republic is one of the top teams in the world and the US had to play on top of their game to win.

I don’t know much about Arena (maybe someone could fill me in with his background) but watching his interview the night before the game, I knew the US were in trouble. He and Reyna sounded as excited as an old man in a brothel without viagra. They had no personality and their answers we as vague, short and seemed to lack knowledge. The US needs to get a higher profile coach. Just look at what Guus Hiddink did for my team….from nowhere to their first ever win in the WC. Amazing. Watching Guus during the Aussie game you could see he was into the game and had a great understanding of the game as it unfolded. Watching Arena, it was like watching a still…he seemed the same each moment of the match.

The US played with no fluidity and they had trouble stringing together series of passes. If Arena wants his job, he has to knuckle down and come up with a better game plan against Italy. You know, Italy won against Ghana but Ghana were unlucky to get a point atleast. Saying that, if USA regroup and give the next game everything, they can get a result against Italy. A more attacking formation is needed with 2 strikers (McBride and Johnson - the only one who wanted to shoot) and I would give Howard the nod in goal.

If LD wants to be the man he thinks he is (cut the crap, if he couldn’t make it in Germany twice he either is not good enough to play in the big European leagues or he lacks the desire to try and make it) then he has to step up and lead the US team.

Good luck against Italy. I expect to see a different US team.

Posted from  United States

Steve A:

If taking cheap shots at posters makes you feel better about yourself, go on with your bad self tough guy.

Do us all a favor, quit living in your fantasy world and check the standings, the USA lost 3-0, therefore is in last place out of 32 teams.

Now as a lifelong contributor to US Soccer, I have views, many memories–and millions-of long-hours driving to far off tourneys in driving rainstorms in 35 degree weather under my belt; all the while when nobody in society could give a sheist about it…. why, only because I love the game pal and cared about my brothers that play it with me; cared about us getting better.

but the issue is some of our families have putting it down for the US for decades. investing our time, for love but also for the good of the game too.

So in essence, deal with it, it is a free country pal and therefore I can express my opinion that Arena is an arrogant clown that got burned yesterday at the expense of the development of US Soccer because our boys played like scissies. Yes, let’s hope they turn it around, but because they represent all of us, I feel like they let US Soccer down.

Now there is a difference, I don’t feel entitled to think my opinions are the only ones that are correct but I can give a rats, because people who know, know, and you can’t pull the rug over a lot of people’s eyes. That is the problem with US Soccer, it is a bunch of pompous clowns that think they know everything but are not willing to listen to criticism. Their offspring is prime example #1, Landon Donovan.

The US relied on their elitist ODP and IMG and so forth and look, still got embarrased. Now they need to hear it.

Posted from  United States

Of course Landon Donovan did not play aggressively. The only country where he is considered a superstar is here in the United States since we are desperate for a star. He didn’t get any playing time in the Bundesliga, and it is an embarassment to American football to prop him up as anything more than a overhyped little boy playing a man’s game.

Posted from  United States

guyz one loss, 3 games to go……anything can happen! on the night the US was beaten by a better team, that doesnt mean that they are crap, check it, group F australia, brasil, croatia and japan, australia is ranked 42, u guys in the top 10…..come on give ur boys some credit for getting there again, and hopefully pull off a few wins!! go get em US and Australia

Posted from  Australia

I was shocked by the little energy the players showed. The media has been saying that the US Team is prepared, eager, and wanting to prove themselves to the world.

Mabey they got too scared to go for it, let’s just hope they get it together by Saturday. I still think they have a good chance of making it out of the group, they have the talent, it’s just a matter of using them!

Posted from  United States

CZE is ranked 2nd in the world, I’m not sure how they came up with that figure, but honestly we can’t be surprised we lost 3 - 0.

Posted from  United States

arena suicks big time

Posted from  Australia

the usa coash is why the usa lost
3 zip and it could be again in the next game

Posted from  Australia

Can we send Landon and Demarcus to the women’s team for the next World Cup? No wonder LD didn’t play for Bayern, he’s got no sack. Nice free kick in the 80th minute Landon. Take away any chance to equalize. Is Steve Sampson back on the bench witht he US?

Thoroughly disgusted with the effort. I don’t mind losing if they try hard. But this was embarassing.

Demarcus should have run circles around the Italians, and he was nonexistent today except for the one minute where he got his assist. Stop reading the newspapers. LD and Demarcus need to go. I’ll take less skill and speed for passion and hunger.

I think the entire U.S. team needs to be revamped, starting with strategy. After watching the Ghana match and the changes after the Czech loss, it was obvious that the U.S. was letting itself lose with Arena’s 4-4-1 formation. We allowed the other teams to just move the ball to our half of the field and leisurely take shots on us. We had the weapons in Mcbride, Donovon, and the entirely underused Eddie Johnson. Yet, we continued to sit back and play way too conservatively. Arena should have taken Pope out in the second game before the referee eventually did for him. I believe that with a few additions to the team and a change-up in the coaching staff, or its style, the United States can be taken seriously again in soccer, we’ll just have to take in the world’s heckling for another four years, Arena is not coaching smart when the U.S. seems always so close to slip back into a dark era.

Posted from  United States

Fire Bruce Arena!

Posted from  United States

Dave

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