Bear Down Wildcats

Strong start Jurgy..

We'll probably sweep Guatemala on our way to the Hex. I wonder if Haiti can get in as well. I still think we'll be better than CR in the Hex. 2nd place probably.

WTF, they suck.

It's bad. We are done if we lose on Tuesday

I say fire the coach if Tuesday goes bad.

shimdic wrote:I say fire the coach if Tuesday goes bad.

That's six years too late.

Setting aside that he never should have been hired in the first place, only fir g a guy after you've crashed out of World Cup qualifying in a region as easy as ours is absolutely beyond explanation.

I've missed qualifiers for one reason or another through the years.

But I don't think I've ever watched the first 20 minutes of a qualifier and then turned it off.

SCCats wrote:I've missed qualifiers for one reason or another through the years.

But I don't think I've ever watched the first 20 minutes of a qualifier and then turned it off.

Does anyone know what level of sports Gulati actually personally played? I only played team sports through middle school and individual sports through high school, but even I can fucking tell when a team is refusing to play for a coach.

Basically the moment of truth for the team. I'm assuming Dempsey gets some ricochet goal, Bradley blows out a knee and Klinnsman praises his tactics. Lineup isn't great for tonight, but still in the upper echelon of his lineup choices

MrBug708 wrote:Basically the moment of truth for the team. I'm assuming Dempsey gets some ricochet goal, Bradley blows out a knee and Klinnsman praises his tactics. Lineup isn't great for tonight, but still in the upper echelon of his lineup choices

Lolololololol you called the first goal.

Boom!

2-0 good

Now we'll probably be stuck with Zusi for the rest of the cycle even though he's basically a speedbump at best.

Kind of funny what happens when a team realizes they're about to miss the WC and decides to play on their own in spite of their hatred for their coach.

legallykenny wrote:Now we'll probably be stuck with Zusi for the rest of the cycle even though he's basically a speedbump at best.

Kind of funny what happens when a team realizes they're about to miss the WC and decides to play on their own in spite of their hatred for their coach.

Weird how when you put players in their natural positions, they succeed. Cameron needs to be in the center of the field, either as CB or CDM. Yedlin as RB, no Orozco, no Mix (who isn't a CDM in the first place), CD/Altidore up top, a dedicated CDM (Beckerman) who's good at his job, etc.

Twellmann, as annoying as he is, called it right when he asked why, when we're so much better than Guatemala, were we not playing like this down in Guatemala? Why is it every cycle we need to struggle through the semifinal round before the Hex (LY we needed a result vs. Guatemala at home to qualify on the last matchday)?

Why, when JK makes 6 changes from the previous game, does he insist that he's "not changing anything" or playing people out of position? He obviously was because he changed everything up after losing to Guatemala!

His schtick is so stupid. We have a chance to fire him before the Hex (2 easy games @ St. Vincent, and vs. T&T coming up), but I doubt Sunil has the balls.

#KlinsiRaus.

Apparently Pulisic's Donovan impression in Jacksonville was so good Landon is now coming out of retirement?

We have baaaaaad Bradley

MrBug708 wrote:We have baaaaaad Bradley

Bradley, Klinsi and Gulati need to be gone.

Soooooo Klinsmann's fired, right?

Chicat wrote:Soooooo Klinsmann's fired, right?

Not even clear he will be after we lose at Saprissa. Gulati can't admit he made a 10 million dollar mistake.

Sigh

You have to be shitting me...

This is like RR level bad

You what's super funny?

Lazy defending.

Times two.

Times three.

I think we need one more goal to drive the point home

MrBug708 wrote:I think we need one more goal to drive the point home

Do we, though?

Ok perhaps you're right. Might as well be a couple more just to be sure.

that was awful.

so...we're shooting for Qatar now at this point right?

I hope goal differential isn't a thing for qualifying, assuming we win.

Heckuva job Klinsi

This clown needs to be out of here. We have till March to acclimate a new coach (no WCQ till then, but there are friendlies and a January camp), so if there was a time to fire Jurgen, now would be ideal. Please Sunil, please grow a spine and fire this maniac before he costs us a place in Russia!!!!!!

All reports saying that Arena would be the likely successor, if Sunil sacks up and fires him.

TucsonClip wrote:All reports saying that Arena would be the likely successor, if Sunil sacks up and fires him.

Gone.

Thank you baby Jesus!

Arena blows. Good on firing Jurgen, but fuck that hire. Gulati should fire himself.

Who's up next? Everyone stateside is a glorified AYSO coach right?

The Goat wrote:Arena blows. Good on firing Jurgen, but fuck that hire. Gulati should fire himself.

Yup.

Won't get anyone good at this point, Arena is a stop gag until after the WC. It's better than Tab Ramos, which probably is who Sunil probably wanted

MrBug708 wrote:Won't get anyone good at this point, Arena is a stop gag until after the WC. It's better than Tab Ramos, which probably is who Sunil probably wanted

Real question: how is Bruce different than some other American coach like Peter Vermes?

Bruce has already had two cycles which historically is (and actually was, I was there) one two many. I would rather take a flyer on someone who is thought to be similar talent level of coach but who is, in fact, a person different than Bruce in the hopes this different person has some magical upside (which he probably doesn't, but it's worth the flyer...probably).

If that is, in fact, all our options.

thats sad SCC. and I agree being a complete novice to the inner workings of the USMNT

I don't disagree but they probably need someone with familiarity of what is going on this late in the game. Maybe had it been done over the summerange, Bruce wouldn't be this guy but we waited too long and we are stuck where we are. I think we will reset after the WCC unless a Bruce gets us qualified and we make the quarters again or something like that and Sunil makes him permanent again.

/shrug

Time is a flat circle?

SCCats wrote:

MrBug708 wrote:Won't get anyone good at this point, Arena is a stop gag until after the WC. It's better than Tab Ramos, which probably is who Sunil probably wanted

Real question: how is Bruce different than some other American coach like Peter Vermes?

Bruce has already had two cycles which historically is (and actually was, I was there) one two many. I would rather take a flyer on someone who is thought to be similar talent level of coach but who is, in fact, a person different than Bruce in the hopes this different person has some magical upside (which he probably doesn't, but it's worth the flyer...probably).

If that is, in fact, all our options.

Bruce is a really good hire right now, actually.

JK constantly tinkered with both his players and his lineups. His teams never got into a rhythm, even as he was relying on an ever-aging core of players, because he refused to put players in positions that they were comfortable with. Center backs got sent out as fullbacks, central midfielders got pushed wide and asked to play like wingers, fullbacks used to playing on one side got flipped over to the other, and he started a different backline every single game. Just absolutely insane levels of inconsistency.

Bruce Arena is about consistency and identity. "First tackle, first shot, first goal". 4-4-2 formation, fullbacks stay at home, defend well and look to counter. Lots of work on set-pieces and on set-piece defense. One defensive midfielder, one metronome CM to play it to the forwards or the outside mids. That's Bruce. He gets a group of players that he feels fits his style, and he sticks with them. He's almost the polar opposite of JK.

In terms of weaknesses, he's not very adaptable style-wise, and his teams struggle when they go down a goal.

In terms of strengths, he maximizes the talent available to play in his system, his teams are always defensively resilient and well-drilled, and he's a player's coach who will get his guys to run through walls for him.

Bruce Arena is a great guy for getting the US to the WC, and playing well. He's not a long-term hire to get us to the next level, but he'll get us back to where we were, and this time with a lot more quality depth in the player pool compared to 10 years ago.

Is expanding to 48 teams that big a deal?

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -from-2026" target="_blank

I've only been able to watch about 15 minutes of the Serbia first half due to the game being on the same time as the UW game. Early Arena field product looks pretty marginal.

Who's surprised Dempsey is on the squad?

azgreg wrote:Who's surprised Dempsey is on the squad?

There's only two other forwards in the program who can actually score and one of them spends half of his national team time getting injured. You simply can't count on Jozy playing two games.

Only thing that actually matters is whether Bruce will start Pulisic.

What do we expect tonight?

I'm here for the gangbang.

Hope it's the us doing the banging.

CalStateTempe wrote:I'm here for the gangbang.

Hope it's the us doing the banging.

Polling shows that 7 out of 8 people enjoy a good gang bang. The 8th guy.....not so much.