Arena Solves Swervy Ball Debate

Wow. Arena actually said something that doesn’t remind me of how much I hate him.

Posted from  United States

Arena tells it like it is.

Posted from  United States

Vin-”Wow. Arena actually said something that doesn’t remind me of how much I hate him.”

WOW,what a wierd statement. Arena is one of the most respected Manager’s in the world, even in traditional “FOOTBALLING” countries. The man is brilliant. Though the statemnet about the ball was said tongue-in-cheek. It really is funny.

Posted from  United States

Vin,

Just out of curiosity, are you a fan of the USMNT?

Dave,

I saw an article somewhere asserting that it’s only because of anti-US bias that Arena isn’t already in the Premiership, Serie A or the Spanish Liga. It’ll be interesting to see if this WC raises or lowers his stock.

Posted from  United States

@ Philip
I’m not sure of what you actually mean with “anti-US” bias, I would probably generalize it to “foreign coach” bias.
England, Italy and Spain have and produce a lot of coaches in their own leagues so the competition is quite though and if we look carefully there aren’t many foreign coaches in this 3 countries.
To be foreign coach in one of these countries it’s an hard experience (especially in Italy); since the common opinion is that the way to play soccer is quite different in every league so even thought a coach may have a good reputation, when he begins to work in a foreign country media and people don’t trust him and think things like: “he’s not supposed to know our league, our players and the way we play here”
(and even different languages is considered a big problem)
So foreign coaches begin always in a negative enviroment and if they doesn’t provide results as soon as possible their GM will fire them before the end of the season.

The few foreign coaches that still works in Italy began to work here in the ‘80-’90 so they are considered like italian coaches.
Instead England is probably the most open to foreign coach because they actually managed to win something (Mourinho, Wenger, Benitez etc)

About Bruce Arena, I don’t know much about him and his skills since there aren’t many occasion to see his work (we’ll see it in the next days ), but I think he will probably have some chances to work in Europe after the WC even though it I wouldn’t bet a cent on him coaching in Spain ora Italy; the best offers he’ll get should come from England for sure (where at least he will not be butchered by media after his first 3 months) and onestly I don’t think that those offers will be from top teams even if he manage to win this WC, so he will have to build up his reputation like every newbie coach and aside his skils, he’ll need a good amount of luck in his beginning seasons.

And by the way I’m European and onestly I’m quite curious to see him working here

Good point Zero, it would be a miracle for Bruce to get a job in Serie A or the EPL. He just might get a job one division down in England and that could be a very good place for him to start. It will depend, of course, on how well the US plays in this WC. I don’t think Bruce has to win or even advance necessarily but he does have to show how much he can do with the talent available to him. He did that remarkably well in 2002 and all of us American fans hope that he finds that ability again this time.

Posted from  United States

i 4 one will never get to terms as to why nike didnt make the damn thing

Posted from  United States

u guyz hove-got- 2 b kidding me me,no foreigner coaches soccer in europe course thy lk it tht way,u expect to c arena in europe any time soon.dream on.those guys a european thy want european coaches,not african or asian and wat hove u

Posted from  United States

I saw an article somewhere asserting that it’s only because of anti-US bias that Arena isn’t already in the Premiership, Serie A or the Spanish Liga.

Why would Arena leave his job? Any national manager in Europe would drool at his position: no Fergies or Mourinhos at home to fight club-vs-country battles with.

Posted from  United States

No, Dave, I am not a fan of the men’s national team.

Posted from  United States

Philip,
You need to stop fantasizing. The US national team is just not as good as all the others. That includes the coach. A team is as good as the coach. And Arena will never coach anywhere in Europe. The results of the US team shows that. It is just that simple.
Not everything that comes from the US is fantastic you know….WAKE UP CALL REQUIRED!

Posted from  United States

Although I often disagree with Arena conceptually, the difficulty is not primarily with coaching. The problem is with player development. US soccer is far too cliqueish (is that a word). Players are weeded out too young by coaches who do not develop athletic players. Instead, we develop players based on early signs of “skills”. The problem is many of these players have relatively low ceilings for international standards.

it’s clear that the u.s. are ranked too high by fifa…

in addition to this, today against the czechs, arena made some questionable tactical decisions (beasley, lewis, no dempsey)…

why is evrybody riding this guys dick for anyways…

he’d get sacked after a week at yeovil town or the like

Posted from  Canada

Rick,
That I do agree with. Youth development is key for future success. And that is massively underestimated in the US. Every major team in Europe has youth programs. And lots of time and money are invested in that.
Maybe that would be a idea???
Arena really needs to take a good look in the mirror and maybe start finding employment somewhere else….

Posted from  United States

Goalies’ Technological Fear

The first game sent out a red alert warning to all goalies that a one month nightmare is in sight when Germany’s Torsten Frings fired a cannon ball like shot from 40 meters to score a goal. The match ended 4-2 with a total of 6 goals; which br…

Posted from  United States