The Official US Soccer thread

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
I think he was put in a no win situation in 2018. That team was just toast for some reason, they lacked the grit of previous US teams, JK had a huge role in that to be honest.
I strongly believe that the team qualifies for 2018 if they left Klinsmann in. US Soccer panicked after the losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.
 

Zeno

Ancient
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Posts
15,589
Reaction score
5,435
Location
Fort Myers
I strongly believe that the team qualifies for 2018 if they left Klinsmann in. US Soccer panicked after the losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.

I dunno as Stout said that team was a mess on the player side too and that had been building for a while with Klinsmann in charge. The effort and toughness just wasn't there. That game we lost against T&T the only player that seemed to be playing 100% was Pulisic and he was the youngest guy on the field.
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
I dunno as Stout said that team was a mess on the player side too and that had been building for a while with Klinsmann in charge. The effort and toughness just wasn't there. That game we lost against T&T the only player that seemed to be playing 100% was Pulisic and he was the youngest guy on the field.
It is impossible to know for sure, but I don't believe that a JK led team loses to T&T.
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
Hard disagree. The team was a mess and he wasn't righting that ship.
Hard disagree. Other than the 2 losses to start the cycle, and the 3rd place finish in the Gold cup in 2015 there weren't a lot of major problems.
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
If you want to spend your time in 2023 defending Klinsmann, be my guest.
I think he gets most of the blame for the 2018 cycle when he only coached 2 of the 10 games.

Besides, we are talking about Bruce Arena in 2023, why not Klinsmann?
 

Zeno

Ancient
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Posts
15,589
Reaction score
5,435
Location
Fort Myers
Set us up for failure big time and was the manager that fostered the culture of entitlement that killed the cycle.
His preference for dual national Germans also killed that cycle, those guys had zero chemistry with the rest of the team. Tim Chandler was a regular starter under him and the lack of effort from him was astounding. Julian Green over Landon Donovan in 2014 alone was an indicator of where things were going under him. I have no problem with dual nationals but with him they got preferential treatment.
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
Well, you can disagree, but what's your argument? Awful start to the cycle and it's well established that there was an environment of entitlement with the players. Unless you're suggesting that this environment was established after JK was fired?
Two out of 10 games. Losing to Mexico at home by the 80+ minute winner and losing at Costa Rica were always two of the 3 hardest games of the 10. We shouldn't have panicked yet. It clearly didn't work changing coaches right?

Furthermore, you are asking me to prove the opinion of entitlement with the players. Kinda hard to prove right? I will counter with this though. This is the same coach that left Landon at home instead of taking him to the 2014WC. If there was an entitlement issue, wouldn't Landon been on that team?
 

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
39,809
Reaction score
24,018
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
Two out of 10 games. Losing to Mexico at home by the 80+ minute winner and losing at Costa Rica were always two of the 3 hardest games of the 10. We shouldn't have panicked yet. It clearly didn't work changing coaches right?

Furthermore, you are asking me to prove the opinion of entitlement with the players. Kinda hard to prove right? I will counter with this though. This is the same coach that left Landon at home instead of taking him to the 2014WC. If there was an entitlement issue, wouldn't Landon been on that team?
Not my opinion--it was all over the media. Also, you're talking a 4-year difference. Plenty of time for JK to pick favorites. We didn't play like a team early, middle, or late in that qualifying cycle. They never came together. However you want to place blame, that is undeniable.
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
Not my opinion--it was all over the media. Also, you're talking a 4-year difference. Plenty of time for JK to pick favorites. We didn't play like a team early, middle, or late in that qualifying cycle. They never came together. However you want to place blame, that is undeniable.
Are you talking about the 10 game hex, or the actual beginning of the cycle?
 

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
Sorry, the 10-game hex. I honestly can't recall how we did getting through the rest of the cycle. That's my bad on the lack of clarity.
After going 0-2 the first 2 games with Klinsmann against our toughest two opponents, we went a total of 3 wins 3 draws and 2 losses to flame out.

Bold = Home game
6-0 Win against Honduras
1-1 at Panama
2-0 Win against T&T
1-1 at Mexico
2-0 LOSS against Costa Rica
1-1 at Honduras (rescue job scoring at the 85')
4-0 Win against Panama
2-1 loss at T&T

Arena took the effort to win the Gold Cup in the middle of this debacle so it isn't like the players didn't play for him.

0 total wins on the road, and losing to T&T on the final game to qualify. That just isn't good enough for Arena or this USMNT.
 

Lorenzo

Registered User
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Posts
10,373
Reaction score
5,277
Location
Vegas
I think he was put in a no win situation in 2018. That team was just toast for some reason, they lacked the grit of previous US teams, JK had a huge role in that to be honest.
and that's one of those situations that I point to with both JK and BA who did well in their first 4 years as manager, but failed beyond that. BA failed twice if you count his result in 2006 that was one of our worst WC showings. that's exactly my argument for moving away from berhalter. Berhalter did a good job getting the team out of the group, but you don't really feel he maximized their potential the way Arena did in 2002. Berhalter like Klinsmann in 2014, also had some strange selections that probably didn't help the team's results either.
 

Lorenzo

Registered User
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Posts
10,373
Reaction score
5,277
Location
Vegas
After going 0-2 the first 2 games with Klinsmann against our toughest two opponents, we went a total of 3 wins 3 draws and 2 losses to flame out.

Bold = Home game
6-0 Win against Honduras
1-1 at Panama
2-0 Win against T&T
1-1 at Mexico
2-0 LOSS against Costa Rica
1-1 at Honduras (rescue job scoring at the 85')
4-0 Win against Panama
2-1 loss at T&T

Arena had took the effort to win the Gold Cup in the middle of this debacle so it isn't like the players didn't play for him.

0 total wins on the road, and losing to T&T on the final game to qualify. That just isn't good enough for Arena or this USMNT.
Good points, if you look at the results it looks like the players responded well to JK's dismissal originally which leads us to believe JK lost the room. You can blame the Mexico and CR losses on JK, but the 2-1 loss to T&T cannot be blamed on JK. Arena and the players have to eat that one. that should never have happened and the USA should have qualified.
 

Lorenzo

Registered User
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Posts
10,373
Reaction score
5,277
Location
Vegas
His preference for dual national Germans also killed that cycle, those guys had zero chemistry with the rest of the team. Tim Chandler was a regular starter under him and the lack of effort from him was astounding. Julian Green over Landon Donovan in 2014 alone was an indicator of where things were going under him. I have no problem with dual nationals but with him they got preferential treatment.
I understand team chemistry, but I never had a problem with JK's international recruiting because that is what every country was and should be doing and USA do it now more than ever. it is a great resource for our country's national team and many of those players are USA military dependents which for me is a patriotic thing that hits home. I feel like those players getting questioned for their American patriotism is ridiculous. the domestic based USA players not embracing the international players, maybe that was a player entitlement issue as well, not only a JK problem. but for me I honestly think Pulisic was more of a chemistry problem for that team. JK basically drooled over Pulisic straight away and inserted him into the number 10 slot perhaps before the rest of the team was ready, and it looked like there were chemistry issues there in those Mexico/CR matches.

Where I will criticize JK...he made negative statements about player entitlement and MLS based players that were true, yet he chose MLS based players like Dempsey and Wondo later in their careers. then he makes a point to stand up against LD's sabbatical decision, but really didn't do what was best for the USMNT considering LD would have been an obvious decision over Wondo or Green.

Honestly I'm with Dreamcast on this one. I think JK was better than he gets credit for and he certainly helped break down some barriers IMO, but I also think it highlights the difficulty of the USA job and I'm not a fan of bringing back a manager beyond a 4 year period.
 
Last edited:

dreamcastrocks

Chopped Liver Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Posts
46,247
Reaction score
11,852
Good points, if you look at the results it looks like the players responded well to JK's dismissal originally which leads us to believe JK lost the room. You can blame the Mexico and CR losses on JK, but the 2-1 loss to T&T cannot be blamed on JK. Arena and the players have to eat that one. that should never have happened and the USA should have qualified.
Not only the 2-1 loss to T&T against a 99th ranked team in the world, but I believe it is the first time ever that USA did not win a road game during a qualification tournament.
 

Zeno

Ancient
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Posts
15,589
Reaction score
5,435
Location
Fort Myers
January Camp Roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Sean Johnson (Unattached), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea FC)

DEFENDERS (8): Jonathan Gómez (Real Sociedad), Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps), DeJuan Jones (New England Revolution), Aaron Long (LAFC), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy), Sam Rogers (Rosenborg), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Paxten Aaronson (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Alan Soñora (Unattached), Eryk Williamson (Portland Timbers)

FORWARDS (7): Paul Arriola (FC Dallas), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Matthew Hoppe (Middlesbrough), Emmanuel Sabbi (Odense), Brandon Vazquez (FC Cincinnati), Alejandro Zendejas (Club America)

 

Lorenzo

Registered User
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Posts
10,373
Reaction score
5,277
Location
Vegas
Not only the 2-1 loss to T&T against a 99th ranked team in the world, but I believe it is the first time ever that USA did not win a road game during a qualification tournament.
And the loss to Costa Rica in New Jersey late in that qualifying round hurt too. That was not JK’s fault.
 

Zeno

Ancient
Joined
Sep 24, 2002
Posts
15,589
Reaction score
5,435
Location
Fort Myers
1-1 at half, very young US team with not much experience outside of Zimmerman. Some of these guys have a chance to become contributors IMO, some others will be no more than January camp regulars in the coming years at best.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
553,936
Posts
5,412,716
Members
6,319
Latest member
route66
Top