Running, all-purpose World Cup thread

Never turn down a head job, Jurgy ! Don't you know anything ?

 

Freakin awesome ...

;D

Now please don't screw things up, US soccer. Or Arena, for that matter.

 

Fellas, I'll hope with anyone that if JK becomes the coach that he does well.
But when did you all get so convinced that he's the next Big Phil?
He has a whole two years of experience, with about seven actual competitive matches to his credit. Let's look at his record: Never had to go through qualifying. Could not make the Confed Cup final on his own soil. Buried in a friendly by Italy a few months back. Won an easy WC group, then beat a struggling Sweden in the second round, then beat Argentina on PKs.
Any reason to believe Arena would have done any worse?
I don't see any particular reason to believe that Klinsmann is a genius. With Podolski, Lahm, Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger and Ballack available to him, playing at home, I think the results he produced were not revolutionary. I'm just not convinced.

 

Twoback -- I couldn't agree more. Not saying that he won't do a good job, but it's not exactly hard to get out of your group at home and beat a crappy Sweden team with that talent.

 

And Twoback comes in to shatter all hopes and dreams. :'(

I kid, of course. Twoback, you make an excellent point. I didn't put too much thought into it before.

What I will say is that Klinsmann has a well known and respected name. His coaching really pushed forward the German attack. This is something the US desperately needs. If you look at the prospective roster for the next World Cup, offense is the one aspect that the team seems lacking in depth.

Defense: Pearce, Spector, Gooch
D Depth: Gibbs, Dunivant, Wynne (?), Albright
Midfield: Convey, Dempsey, Bradley, Beasley, Donovan
Forwards: ?

 

Exactly my point. I'd love to see this country develop some strikers. But if we don't have them, what do we do? Recruit them from Poland?
Maybe that's where Klinsmann can help. 8)

 

We could do what Japan did and import a Brazilian. There is also the Australian method of importing Croatians.

I think the US can develop the talent, I just don't think that the team has a current player that is already slotted for the team 4-years from now.

I would think Eddie Johnson or Chris Rolfe, but who knows what happens in 4-years.

 

Eddie Johnson will be our best striker, having shown such talent when allowed to actually play. He was easily the best player in a US jersey during that 4-1 loss at Germany. I still like Twellman, even if no one else does. There's always Adu, but I just don't know about him for 2010. And I've a hunch that Preston Zimmerman is a name we'll be hearing a lot of in the coming years.

Also, several interesting things with the Klinsmann talk. ... it all seems to be falling in place too well.
- Several young American studs already play in Germany (Feilhaber, Zimmerman, etc ...)
- Klisni said he'll take a six-month holiday. Doesn't Arena's contract expire at the end of the year? Waiting avoids potential issues with his (possessive) friend Arena and an almost certain bitter reaction in Germany.
- Still wondering, why did he buy a house 15 min from the US training facility if he didn't want that job?

 

Mark my words -- EJ will never start a World Cup game.  I don't see the talent (he has a terrible first touch), the toughness or the fire to improve.  As The Bruce (RIP) said, three garbage time goals against Panama doesn't mean that you deserve to be a starter.

Kenny Cooper may not be world class, but he has had some nice goals since coming back home.

 

Nice to know there is a sport out there that doesn't (or, at least, might not) let the baseball writers shit all over and make a mockery of the postseason awards:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/nationworld/ats-ap_sports10jul12,0,6396553.story?coll=sns-sports-headlines

 

Never thought he was the best player in the WC anyway.
Show me one that made more of a difference than Buffon.

 

Cannavaro should have won the award.
Thuram was the best French player, beginning to end.
Zizou was unbelievable against Brazil, a bit more believable in other games. For goodness' sake, he missed a game for multiple yellows. And it was an elimination game. He should forfeit the gold ball; he didn't deserve it to begin with.