: USA Done
Well, the World Cup is officially over for the United States. It was not a good tournament for us. I hold our coach, Bruce Arena, at fault. He changed tactics and played a different formation and line-up in the World Cup than he’d ever used during the two years of qualifying. He played a conservative, defense-first style, and refused to start with two strikers or put in a second striker until late in matches, if at all. He blamed early mistakes and bad refereeing for the U.S. not having an aggressive attitude which his defensive line-ups were the true blame. We finish the Cup having scored only once (not counting Italy’s own goal) and giving up six. We did manag the impressive tie against powerhouse Italy, but most Americans won’t realize just how amazing that was. Unfortunately, while I was hoping Ghana had given it all in their win over the Czechs, it was the U.S. who had nothing left for the Africans, who deserved the win (despite the weak penalty kick call against the U.S.). Overall, not a huge surprise for the U.S. who were in the toughest group of the tournament, but what annoys me is the weak play, poor attitude, and defense-oriented tactics when we needed goals. Perhaps U.S. Soccer can get a new coach that will return the Americans to their aggressive style of old.
Topic: [/soccer] |
