Welcome To Limbo

July 15th, 2006 | by: Daryl |

So, Bruce Arena’s contract expires on December 31st 2006, Jurgen Klinsmann is planning a six month vacation, and Sunil Gulati has all but confirmed the worst kept secret in international soccer. In the meantime, welcome to limbo.

If the plan is to hire Klinsmann on January 1st 2007, does this mean no international fixtures for the remainder of 2006? Or does it mean Arena coaching the team in a meaningless friendly? It might be nice for Bruce to have a farewell party, but wouldn’t it be better to start building a new team as soon as possible?

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Two Country Fan

hhhm, Daryl… I do not know what all the little details mean. However, I predicted before the cup that JK will be the US soccer coach after the cup and my next prediction is that in in 2010 the USA will be champions or at least 2nd, nothing less. So, I leave the little details as to how they get there to the people who get paid for it…
Razzle

does this mean no international fixtures for the remainder of 2006

I think Gulati said there will be fixtures and Arena is welcome to be on the sidelines until or unless the next coach has been found.
kasets

If you US can snag Klinsmann that would be great for them. As far as the US winning or coming in second 2010…..dude walk before you run.
Two Country Fan

Kasets, I am not a dude. Think before you write.. We shall blog again in 2010..
Cesar

Two COuntry Fan if I think we all Know your not a Dude as the matter of fact You are an alien if you think the US will win or second in 2010, I would be happy if they qualify, so, think before you write is correct, THINK THINK THINK….. o and by the way THINK, in earth that helps a lot.
http://none The Shepherd

Arena should have the decency to resign NOW!!
He is the guilty party US Soccer has descended 11 places in the FIFA ranking.
Arena selected dopes for the world cup team.
ETucker

In 2010, on non-European soil, the US will have a good chance of advancing out of their group.

How far we make it, though, will depend on who we have lined up in the outrounds.

I think a semifinal berth could be possible (it almost happened in 2002), but I would just be happy if we got out of our group.
Two Country Fan

Cesar, you are defininately clueless.
ETucker

Lets stay away from the ad hominems (I know I know, I can sometimes get caught up to) and not turn into trolls or feed them.
Adam

I’ve read that we will play a couple friendlies in the fall, and Arena will coach if he doesn’t get a new job by then.

Predicting going to the final is a bit bold, but on the other hand we excelled the most when the tournament was out of europe in 2002. We will definitely get a better draw as well (imagine if France or England got the draw we had, I bet they pack their bags as soon as us) so I think making it to the quarterfinals would be a huge success and something to be proud of. Many great teams fail to make it to the top 8, so that is quite an accomplishment if we should make it.

I think it’s hard to predict how far we’ll go because a lot of old talent will be gone (and with it valuable experience) and a lot of new talent will arrive which leaves a question mark. No one knows how good Adu or that Asian chap at PSV is going to be. Or how far (if at all) will Dempsey and Convery have come and mature. And will LD and Beaz return to good attacking form? Will Johny O be healthy again and provide the steadiness and technical proficiency Reyna used to? I guess time will tell which is what makes the WC so exciting.
Cesar

YOU HAVE TO QUALIFY FIRST. LOOSERS.
nicko

The USA really has to get into the Copa America (which according to wiki they still can for 2007, though it would piss off Costa Rica:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_América_2007 )
until the US plays high callibre opposition more often and with more diversity (ie. other than just Mexico), it will struggle to win anything.
ETucker

Cesar- good point. We do need to qualify first. The US should not take anything for granted.

Nicko- the US should try to enter the Copa America. While it may piss of Costa Rica, we did win the Gold Cup fair and square, and with it the right to play in the Copa America.

We could also schedule friendlies against better teams.
Adam

Ceasar, if you hate US soccer so much, why waste your time? When they qualify will you magically depart from troll land due to the recognition of your folly? Yeah right.
Huh

The friendlies serve to qualify the players, or at least some of them. I am sure we will see a lot of new players… as Germany proved, the no name players can perform as well. I loved David Odonkor and had never heard of him before… as far as Cesar is concerned, he should be a dressing. That’s what he is best in.
Boyd Lalo

Lets hope and pray we snag Jurgen Klingsman!

I agree with the other posters that US needs to walk before it can run.

Jurgen is the only man out there who can teach the team to walk and maybe get them jogging!

Here’s hoping my neighbor (I live in Orange County, California) will agree to coach US!

Maybe his family and kids(who I here are US born will twist his arms!)
Ventura California

boyd, i believe JK will coach the USA… I believed that before the world cup even started. I told my son, he will finish up, do his duty in Germany and say good-bye. this was before there were any media rumors started.