All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

I'm not saying Beckham belongs at Real. I don't think he fits the style. But he's good enough to play for, and improve, a lot of major clubs. But to say he's finished is to ignore the results he delivered in Germany. While Frank Lampard was pounding 15 solid chances over the crossbar, Beckham was accounting for half of the goals the team scored.

 

Beckham has become a one-dimensional player. But to say that he was always one-dimensional just seems silly. As mentioned before, the guy could cross the ball. He was a serious offensive weapon. Now, he's a dead ball specialist. He is what he is.

 

I watched Beckham play a lot his last 3 years with Man United, less so with the Galacticos. He has been fortunate as never having to be the focal point of his team. He doesn't dominate the game with his shooting, he's not a Roy Keane/Gerrard "grab the game by the scruff of the neck" type of a player and he's certainly no threat in the air. He was an ill fit as captain, because he's not a leader the way that Keane, Terry or even Gary Neville is.

But he works his butt off on both offense and tracking back. As I wrote on an earlier thread, he bled Man United red and England white. He is an excellent passer, a great, great crosser of the ball and corner taker. His free kicks speak for themselves. He is a game changer. As terrible as the English press made him out to be, for me he was the best player for the English at the World Cup.

Is he more concerned about marketing than he should be? Yes. Has he aged as well as Giggs? No. Would I rather have had him over Cristiano Ronaldo the last 3 seasons? A toss-up.

 

Bruce Arena apologizes: SI.com Link

 

I still think he has a ways to go. His dismissive attitude toward U.S. soccer has been harmful, also. There are ways to say "we're trying, and we're getting there" that sound better than "we overachieved for the last eight years" and "it's a joke" that the U.S. at one point was ranked No. 5 in the world.

 

Twoback, I completely agree. Arena's bitterness has really shown in the last few interviews. He might want to take back some of what he said and correct the image he has shown, but it is still there.

The US earned that rank by beating some good teams. Saying that the US isn't a top 20-team in the world implies that you can find 20-superior teams and I just don't see that as the case. I think there might be 10-teams, but hardly more.

The talent on the team is there for all to see. There was just some poor strategy and even poorer execution.

 

Pastor -- I'm not as sold on the talent as you are. I thought that our big advantage in 2002 was the element of surprise and our speed, especially DMB and Landon. People were ready for DMB this time and he didn't play well. With the exception of Landon, I just don't see any players with top notch skill. Maybe Convey.

The Bruce is often too honest in interviews -- I remember his rip on Hey Dude a couple of months before this WC, saying that he shouldn't have trusted him to avoid a yellow against Poland in 2002. Obviously, he's bitter and trying to justify our performance. But he needs to think before he speaks.

 

Webster, if you look at the total depth chart then the US will be down the list. However, if you look solely at the starting IX plus 3-subs, I think the US is right there.

These are the teams I would classify as better:
- England
- Italy
- Germany
- France
- Netherlands
- Czech Republic
- Brazil
- Argentina


Borderline teams that are back and forth
- Australia
- Japan
- Portugal
- Greece
- Croatia

Outside of that I'm just not sold on other teams being that much better.

I think one of the major flaws with the US going into the World Cup was their decision to not play their best players all of the time. There was hardly a chance for the team to come together and gel. You contrast this with Germany, which started their best team every chance they could aside from a spot start here and there for some players.

I'll also say that Beasley was in some sort of off-year in terms of play for his club and it appeared to have carried over into the World Cup. So, I'm not sure if it was an issue of other teams figuring him out, or he was having a bad year.

 

I think that if we play well, we're at the middle of the second tier, which includes about 15 teams. We haven't had a single breakout field player since DMB. I think that part of the problem is that The Bruce picked a stale and older team, part is that we had more Euro-based guys who had come off of a full season, but mostly is that we just don't have skilled players.

Look at Amado Guevara -- a flawed player, but a genius with the ball at his feet. We haven't produced anyone with imagination and skill like that. Maybe the next generation will be special, but right now, there aren't many players coming down the U-20 highway who excite me.

 

I don't know if I would go with the headcase that is Amado as an example of a break-out skilled player. The guy has just as many off-games as he does on. (When he is on, it is beautiful to watch.)

Arena did go with a team that was rather plentiful in the veteran department. Additionally, he pulled that bone-head move of talking to the press about Beasley's play. This, of course, does not count the failure of imagination in the 4-5-1 that we saw against Ghana.

 

There were several things the U.S. lacked in this World Cup. The biggest void was a creative midfielder (which JOB was in 1998) who could orchestrate, organize and distribute. Claudio was supposed to be that player for us, but he gaffed in the biggest way possible against Ghana. Secondly, the U.S. is not a come-from-behind team, and every team we played this WC took the lead first. In 1998, with the exception of the Poland and Germany games, the U.S. struck first and could protect and counter.

To go back to Beckham. It may be the case he's not suited for the Spanish game, which emphasizes quicker passing and less play in the air than the EPL. I enjoyed watching him in the mid- to late-90s, but it's painful to watch now.

 

NYTimes says US pursuing SVE. Sounds like money will be too steep.