Bruce Arena admits he was stupid to leave Twellman off US squad

AreliusIV · 06-14-2006, 09:58 AM

In a somber press conference following Americas 3-0 drubbing, Team USA coach Bruce Arena admitted, “I am a fool, a blackguard, a drunk, and I have single-handedly ruined this team’s chance of survival by failing to put our leading and perhaps only scorer Taylor Twellman on the team. I accept all blame. I have let down my family, my country, and my god. Furthermore I should not have played Beasley on the left.”

Jose Luis Luviano · 06-14-2006, 10:05 AM

Details, details.

Did he admit that he made a mistake by letting the US play in those ugly uniforms?

edaw33 · 06-14-2006, 03:06 PM

that is funny but in way its real.

rslfutbolfan · 06-14-2006, 06:21 PM

He should have just ended it with ..."I am a fool..." what more do we need to hear? And we already knew that. And I want to see Dempsey this weekend!

prk166 · 06-14-2006, 07:55 PM

lies, all lies

SoccerPrime · 06-15-2006, 08:00 AM

You guys are pretty harsh on the man who has been a Golden Boy up until this week.

I think Arena is a genius but will make mistakes like any man. It would help if his players played with a little more heart though.

Lets hope they all turn it around by Saturday.
GO USA!

Aerick · 06-15-2006, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

You guys are pretty harsh on the man who has been a Golden Boy up until this week.

I think Arena is a genius but will make mistakes like any man. It would help if his players played with a little more heart though.

Lets hope they all turn it around by Saturday.
GO USA!

Well said Prime!

AreliusIV · 06-15-2006, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

You guys are pretty harsh on the man who has been a Golden Boy up until this week.

I think Arena is a genius but will make mistakes like any man. It would help if his players played with a little more heart though.

Lets hope they all turn it around by Saturday.
GO USA!

The Bruce has done well in CONCACAF but his record in Europe in dismal.

This World Cup has revealed the gap that still remains between U.S. and the world's soccer super powers.

The question a lot of fans are asking is why can't the U.S. compete with soccer's super powers?

Despite the U.S. men's national team's high FIFA ranking (5th), the quality of players just doesn't match up to the Czech Republic or England and company.

Just for fun, ponder this ...

Question: How many of the U.S. starters would play for England?

Answer: Uh, none.

Here's why with the breakdown by position (assuming a traditional 4-4-2 formation):

GOALIE
• England: Paul Robinson.
• U.S.: Kasey Keller is probably the closest of any U.S. position to making this standard. The U.S. has a wealth of talent and depth at goalie with Tim Howard and Brad Freidel (retired from international competition).

LEFT BACK
• England: Ashley Cole.
• U.S.: Eddie Lewis. Cole plays for Premier League Arsenal. Lewis plays for Leeds in a division lower.

CENTRAL DEFENSE
• England: Rio Ferdinand, John Terry.
• U.S.: Eddie Pope, Ogouchi Onyewu. Gouch may eventually develop into a world class player.

RIGHT BACK
• England: Gary Neville.
• U.S.: Steve Cherundolo. Neville's got this one locked up.

MIDFIELD
• England: David Beckham, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard.
• U.S.: Landon Donovan, Bobby Convey, DeMarcus Beasley, Claudio Reyna. Reyna is the best of the bunch here, but still falls short of the England standard.

FORWARDS
• England: Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen.
• U.S.: Brian McBride, Eddie Johnson. Johnson could still develop into a world class player but earning a place over Rooney or Owen is a tough call.

Of the current U.S. players over the course of their careers, three might have been capped by England: Kasey Keller, Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride.

AreliusIV · 06-15-2006, 10:23 AM

One thing people tend to forget is that in spite of all the hype of having reached the quarters in 2002, the US did so having only won two matches (Portugal and Mexico). We drew against S. Korea and lost to Poland and backed into the next round after having only garnered 4 pts.

The Portugal match was a bonafide upset but the 2002 second round win was against perennial CONCACAF rivals Mexico.

The US still hasn't proved anything of substance vs. the world's soccer powers...

SoccerPrime · 06-15-2006, 10:29 AM

Thats all great Arelius, but how does this all translate into Arena sucking?
I mean, how have the previous US managers (ie Sampson for one) done compared to what Arena has done?

Are you actually saying that all the difficulties of the US squad are squarely the fault of the coach?

Sure US might struggle against Euro teams (so do most nations on Earth) but US can proudly say they dominate North America now, where as they couldn't just 4 years ago.

When MLS pays the money that the NFL does, then we will see the USMNT have the quality players that Brazil, England and France does.