Re: General Soccer Thread
Posted: October 11 17, 7:18 am
You're right, and that's why it's so hard to sift through. EVERYONE is right. The euro snobs who blame MLS for mediocrity are right. The MLS snobs who point to the increased talent and depth around the region that correlates directly with the league's growth are right. People who hated Jurgen are right. People who hated Bruce's appointment are right. People who see the level of talent and professionalism and expected way more are right. People who disagreed and think our talent was overrated outside of Pulisic are right.
This is sort of just what happens in sports when your organization is stale but ultimately still too successful to do more than paper over the cracks in the foundation. Eventually, your team will fail because paper over cracks isn't any kind of foundation and past success isn't a guarantor of future achievement. Success isn't an entitlement. Constant accountability and innovation are necessary but it's impossible to pick the right innovations every time.
This is the same process that is currently happening to every sports team that I love. Institutional decay being revealed after long stretches of comfort and relative success.
You can't blame MLS for other countries success and our failure; it's an obvious direct contradiction, but I understand why people are looking for easy scapegoats.
This was Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard's last game. Probably others. People like them and Bruce Arena have been a part of the highest highs for the men's team and now part of the lowest low. Pulisic has been robbed of his first World Cup experience. The legacies of Bradley and Jozy, two of the best to ever wear the jersey are doomed to eternal questions that until now we're mostly unfair. This changes everything for American soccer. This will impact the program forever, and I don't think we will get the hard won but positive change that should come as long as Sunil Gulati is still part of us soccer. He has to go. He bears more responsibility for this than anyone.
It's insane that US fans finally got our super star and this is what happened. Younger guys like Pulisic, Yedlin, Wood, Acosta will be fine but the players like Jozy, Bradley, Besler, and Omar who would have otherwise rolled right through to 2022? I have no idea what happens to them. This ecosystem of predictable, non-competitive entitled spots is done though. Because of this failure and because the next generation is just better and deeper. No more looking at a 20 year old and knowing he's going to 3 world cups. That's over, except for maybe the elites like pulisic (who will still be 23 in Qatar).
Dempsey should retire tied with LD. Both robbed of their final bow. Careers that meant everything to malnourished fans and a culture hungry for stars going out like losers. As someone who has watched hundreds of hours of their careers, that hurts. This is a paradigm shift.
As for this game, Arena's tactics were a terrible idea against Panama and even worse against T&T. He just got lucky that Panama lost their minds and didn't bunker. Obviously T&T weren't that stupid. Michael Bradley isolated and alone was Jurgen's biggest tactical sin and Arena doing the same thing against counter attacking teams is unforgivable.
I don't know where we go from here but this is unthinkable. The weird part is that it feels sort of right with the state of our country. I now have zero things to be nationalistic about until Trump goes. I think we deserve that in a weird way.
This is sort of just what happens in sports when your organization is stale but ultimately still too successful to do more than paper over the cracks in the foundation. Eventually, your team will fail because paper over cracks isn't any kind of foundation and past success isn't a guarantor of future achievement. Success isn't an entitlement. Constant accountability and innovation are necessary but it's impossible to pick the right innovations every time.
This is the same process that is currently happening to every sports team that I love. Institutional decay being revealed after long stretches of comfort and relative success.
You can't blame MLS for other countries success and our failure; it's an obvious direct contradiction, but I understand why people are looking for easy scapegoats.
This was Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard's last game. Probably others. People like them and Bruce Arena have been a part of the highest highs for the men's team and now part of the lowest low. Pulisic has been robbed of his first World Cup experience. The legacies of Bradley and Jozy, two of the best to ever wear the jersey are doomed to eternal questions that until now we're mostly unfair. This changes everything for American soccer. This will impact the program forever, and I don't think we will get the hard won but positive change that should come as long as Sunil Gulati is still part of us soccer. He has to go. He bears more responsibility for this than anyone.
It's insane that US fans finally got our super star and this is what happened. Younger guys like Pulisic, Yedlin, Wood, Acosta will be fine but the players like Jozy, Bradley, Besler, and Omar who would have otherwise rolled right through to 2022? I have no idea what happens to them. This ecosystem of predictable, non-competitive entitled spots is done though. Because of this failure and because the next generation is just better and deeper. No more looking at a 20 year old and knowing he's going to 3 world cups. That's over, except for maybe the elites like pulisic (who will still be 23 in Qatar).
Dempsey should retire tied with LD. Both robbed of their final bow. Careers that meant everything to malnourished fans and a culture hungry for stars going out like losers. As someone who has watched hundreds of hours of their careers, that hurts. This is a paradigm shift.
As for this game, Arena's tactics were a terrible idea against Panama and even worse against T&T. He just got lucky that Panama lost their minds and didn't bunker. Obviously T&T weren't that stupid. Michael Bradley isolated and alone was Jurgen's biggest tactical sin and Arena doing the same thing against counter attacking teams is unforgivable.
I don't know where we go from here but this is unthinkable. The weird part is that it feels sort of right with the state of our country. I now have zero things to be nationalistic about until Trump goes. I think we deserve that in a weird way.