Arena The Old Title Was Way Too Long: USMNT/MLS Discussion

Perhaps a reminder is in order-- it's the men who are missing the World Cup, and will be missing it for the first time since 1986. The women have had no such problems.

 

The women have no problem qualifying for the men's World Cup?

 

To be fair, I'm okay with Firing Jill Ellis, too. I feel like the world cup was won despite her, not because of her.

 

Well she did give a lot of new players time after 2016, I don't think it's fair to do that. She isn't a great tactician yes, but who could be the better choice?

He isn't good at building a new team with fresh blood, which was major reason of his failure at Bayern.

We need a young and passionate coach.

 

I just bought a US Soccer logo t-shirt about a week ago... that'll be kind of embarrassing to wear now. I could justify it as being because my son plays on a US Soccer DA team, though.

 

Mark Parsons? Laura Harvey?

 

Hope Solo. She'll whip them into shape...

... I'll go now.

 

Thank you, exactly what I was looking for...

 

language warning, behind tags:

Spoiler: alex morgan police video

 

Seeing the players' sad face I really couldn't blame them, this is a bad cycle overall, Klinsman should have been fired after the Gold Cup and a better coach than Bruce Arena should be the replacement.

 

Insightful.

 

Does the US have a better coach than Bruce Arena? (Bradley is not a valid answer.)

 

Depends on how you define "better", I guess.

Was there anyone that, staring an 0-2 record in the Hex had the combination of international experience and club/country success that Arena had?

No. Which is why I had no issue with the hire.

Arena, given his pedigree and previous success, should have had no issue qualifying, even given the hole he started in.

But, it's like he forgot everything he was doing right for the last game. After the home win against T&T in Denver, an almost entirely different starting XI went to Mexico City and got a draw. After the loss to Costa Rica, an almost entirely new starting XI went on the road and got an embarrassingly celebrated draw with Honduras. After the home win over Panama ... the entire starting XI stays the same, including a Keeper who has rapidly aged before our eyes into a shell of himself (and trust me, as a Rapids' season ticket holder, I've seen Tim Howard decay first hand) and who we intentionally hadn't played both games of a Hex pair because of his surgery recovery, and then seemed surprised that the team was fatigued, and the keeper was making errors and out of position.

But, were there managers that know the player pool that in recent years as Arena has gone head-to-head with them in MLS have shown they outshine him? You bet your ass there are. Caleb Porter, Peter Vermes, Oscar Pareja - to name three. Greg Berhalter hasn't managed the hex, but he's navigated it as a player (you'll remember him, Yankee - he drew the handball penalty that wasn't called against Germany in 2002). Sigi Schmidt was unemployed and eating chicken wings when they hired Arena.

Arena was the safe choice, And he should have had no issues qualifying. A road DRAW with T&T or a home DRAW with Costa Rica, instead of losing both of those games. A road win over either Panama or Honduras instead of drawing both of them.

instead, rightfully, the US takes it's place as the fifth best team in CONCACAF. And has no information about any of their young goalkeepers.

But, hey, I'm really excited for Panama and their first ever trip to the World Cup.

 

I remember not only Berhalter, but also Vermes.

 

it's not like I'm still bitter about that terrible non-call or anything.

 

I am happy to see that I wasn't the only one that had the same first thought about the US losing which is the same as Mac from "Speed" when he is told the ramp is not completed:

 

Arena just officially resigned. About three days later than he should have.

 

While I agree, Arena wasn't their problem. That was the house that Klinsmann built. It's the upper brass that needs to go. Then again my college roommate who was a hell of a soccer player as a kid before he focus solely on track as believed for years and years now that until they revamp youth soccer and make it a more affordable at the upper levels, the US will still be pathetic.

 

Klinsmann didn't waste the Gold Cup not looking at any young Keepers. Honestly, would anyone have cared if we lost the Gold Cup this year? Maybe in the moment, yeah, a little upset over losing. But wouldn't it have been better to run out Jesse Gonzalez, Ethan Horvath, William Yarbrough, or Zack Steffan out there and see if we had something? Howard looked old in the T&T game and had slow responses on both goals. His terrible distribution on the goal kick in the Costa Rica home game lead directly to the first goal. I've seen first hand, as a Rapids Season Ticket Holder, Tim Howard actively decaying before our eyes. A better Keeper in the final Hex game, and the US might still be alive.

Klinsmann didn't bench the only Centerback playing the EPL for the final two games of the Hex. Omar Gonzalez is not a world class Centerback, but Arena opted for him in both of these games over Geoff Cameron. Who had a sloppy clearance that ended up as an own goal? Not Geoff Cameron - Omar Gonzalez.

Klinsmann didn't decide Darlington Nagbe was a first-team, always start type of player regardless of opponent or environment. Nagbe has game, skill, and class, but his type of game doesn't translate into what the US needed on Tuesday night.


Yeah, Klinsmann screwed. Yes, Klinsmann is a terrible gameday manager.

But Arena owns this.

 

Heelsy, that is such a mutli-layered question.

I don't think there's a large concern that the league will be impacted in the sense that attendance and TV will dip. Every team in the league has an established fan base, and even the newest teams have established themselves in their community. The lack of a World Cup is not going to cause relatively good attendance numbers to drop and is not going to cause the relatively poor tv numbers to dip further.

Where I do think there's going to be a large, negative impact is on the growth of the league. The World Cup is a unique opportunity to take a soccer fan and make them an MLS fan or a fan of an MLS club. I'm a shining example, and there are millions like me. I was a soccer fan - I watched the Euros, I watched the World Cup, I was aware of MLS. Then, Landon Donovan scores that goal against Algeria. And the next thing I know, I'm buying tickets for a Columbus Crew game, and then I'm hooked. Last World Cup, Tim Howard had that insane game against Belgium. I immediately got questions from soccer fans - "hey, Tyler, where can I see the next Tim Howard?" and I'd tell them to watch Chicago and see Sean Johnson or DC United and see Bill Hamid. The league isn't going to get that moment next year, and that's going to stifle growth.

(Note: This is another moment of failure in marketing from my local team, Colorado Rapids. Last summer, Shkëlzen Gashi played in the Euro 2016 Tournament. When he returned to club duty, there was absolutely NO marketing around "you saw him on Europe's stage, now see him locally". The club (and, mostly, the league) have no idea how to market unless it's an EPL star getting their last paycheck, an American, or a Mexican. But I digress, this is besides the point.)

I think there's a secondary hit to the league and that growth potential, too. Some of the TV growth can be attributed to Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Jozy Altidore starring for the USA and coming to MLS. There's two things here that will negatively impact the league. First, the USA isn't playing in the World Cup. So some of those "fringe" stars won't get that additional exposure to the larger audience. Fabian Johnson, who is getting up there in years - for example - might have been tempted to move to the US after the World Cup. A strong 2018 showing in Russia for him would have opened casual view eyes to him, meaning that him signing with, say, Red Bull New York, would have been a needle mover in terms of interest. Now, it may still happen, but no casual soccer fan is going to say "hey, I just saw that guy play the World Cup, I want to watch him play for New York!" Beyond that, right or wrong, the move to MLS is being blamed for Bradley and Altidore not helping the US qualify. That means Geoff Cameron, Tim Ream, etc - those guys aren't coming to the league anytime soon and providing a boost to attendance and tv ratings.

Now, all that said, there are two things this does that opens the door for some long-term growth for MLS, if they can seize on it. And, the smarter clubs will. Panama, which qualified directly, have a few MLS players on their squad I would expect to feature in Russia. A good showing on that stage could mean interest from European clubs in some of this talent. Houston Dynamo's Aníbal Godoy is one such player. Michael Murilla of RBNY is another. Much like Columbus Crew SC used a strong 2014 World Cup showing from Giancarlo González with Costa Rica to get a nice, hefty sum in selling him to Italy, I could see similar things happening with Panamanian players. Similar, if Honduras qualify, they have a few MLS based players that might be sold after shining on such a stage. And, unlike with young American players, where the league/team is tempted to keep them "home" to market them, MLS is likely to sell Panamanian, Costa Rican, or Honduran players if Europe comes calling. That capital investment could be parlayed into youth development, the right long-term bonus for the league.

The other side of it is the US will not be playing competitive Soccer again until the 2019 Gold Cup. They will still play friendlies, because Fox and ESPN like money, and other national teams like playing the US for both the test and the money. That means - at least it better mean - young players especially in MLS - will be getting call-ups to the national team. There's no need for playing older players who won't be involved in the next cycle, for the most part. That means the ability to shine in a USMNT game is there for these young players, and while not the stage of a World Cup, still offers the opportunity for them to be showcased to a larger audience. Some of the players I'd expect to see in these upcoming friendlies that are MLS based players:

Wil Trapp (Columbus)
Cody Cropper (New England)
Tim Parker (Vancouver)
Khiry Shelton (NYCFC)
Danny Acosta (Salt Lake)
Zack Steffen (Columbus)

Any of those players who takes advantage of a call up and has a masterful game against a Spain or a Brazil - even in a friendly - can suddenly be a powerful marketing force for the league.

So, short-term, I don't think they lose anything. Medium-term, I think they lose the usual bump in attendance, ratings, and interest. And long-term, I think it has the potential to be good.