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Rock the Crossbar

Friday, July 14

It's official - no more Arena

"U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said Friday that Arena's contract would not be renewed when it runs out at the end of the year. A search for a replacement will begin immediately, Gulati said, adding that no potential candidates have been contacted" - I don't care how they spin it. Glad this Humpty Dumpty bozo is gone. Things could get worse I suppose but at least no more of this joker

posted by Chris P at 7/14/2006 01:47:00 PM

14 Comments:

  • Oooh...! This is big news. Next Sunderland manager right there. Jurgen is free so I wonder if that contact has already been made....

    By Blogger WhatsupWheaton Simon, at 1:53 PM  

  • God, I hope so. I'm glad to see the back of the Mad Hatter. Even better to hear that The Red Bull-s**t is interested in picking him up. We can look forward to Amando Guevera in goal and Ante Razov at left back presumably. If Djorkaeff returns from his "family emergency" he can expect to be handed goalkeepers gloves.

    Now, yes, absolutely. Grab up Klinsi while he's available.

    By Blogger gooner71, at 2:27 PM  

  • While Klins might be the popular choice at this very moment due to media hype and speculation, I think US Soccer should be extremely patient in their search and selection. Germany were not exactly tested, tactically, in the WC and he was clearly out-coached by Lippi twice this year (4-1 and 2-0 defeats). A favorable home team draw and crowd fervor carried that team into the semifinals, not his brilliance as a manager. New blood is needed, be it European or South American. The WORST thing that could happen is for someone to be promoted within the US coaching chain (MLS, NCAA, etc.). The French model of regional training centers (they have six, the USA has but one) should be developed. It will be interesting to see what happens...first move should be to name Dempsey captain and bench Donovan indefinitely (forever = indefinitely). As for Arena: enjoy your MLS team shuffle for the next decade, you poofy twat.

    By Blogger GAC, at 2:38 PM  

  • GAC, the only problem with developing more regional schools is a dearth of qualified coaches. There needs to be root to branch reform / redundancies of the set-up.

    I am not hopeful that the US will pick a non-American. In their mind, a dodgy call or two was all that kept them from advancing and they were the only team that held Italy to a draw. They're quite pleased with themselves

    By Blogger Chris P, at 3:22 PM  

  • Verdict is in:

    http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=373882&cc=5739&campaign=rss&source=soccernet

    By Blogger TheBusbyBoy, at 4:46 PM  

  • Chris: agreed on the training centers/coaches. As for the Italian scandal verdict...WOW.

    By Blogger GAC, at 4:55 PM  

  • Was hoping Milan would get hit harder so Gattuso would leave and hopefully join United.

    Decent article here about the top players affected by these decisions and where they might end up:

    http://www.unitedrant.co.uk/archives/2006/07/the_vultures.html

    By Blogger TheBusbyBoy, at 5:37 PM  

  • Gatttuso is top, top draw and *Exactly* what your shower need. I hope he signs for Citeh.

    By Blogger Rich Hughes, at 5:38 PM  

  • Definitely. United also being linked with Viera. That would be weird. I am sure we will end up with neither.

    By Blogger TheBusbyBoy, at 6:28 PM  

  • did anyone catch this article about a projected US team for 2010 by Jack Bell, the NYT columnist?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/sports/soccer/12soccer.html?pagewanted=2

    what's eyecatching about it is the number of players he's spotted that are already in Europe now. Guys off the radar screen.

    i'm for replacing the mad hatter with klinsmann. what he did was cultivate young players like lahm, mertesacker, podolski, and borowski into a establishment of ballack, schneider, klose, and frings. let's not forget how professional the germans are when we look at the 4-1 game against italy. they're not going to break a sweat in a friendly and once in a while they get embarrassingly caught because of that. klinsmann is articulate and a players coach. but he's removed enough from the US set up that he can administer the bad news to a sacred cow type like Reyna, Donovan, and maybe soon to Keller.

    there's no us coach to match up with him. maybe the best plan is to get someone like bradley to apprentice so that an American could be ready to take over next time.

    By Blogger gooner71, at 8:51 PM  

  • Uh, gooner71, Reyna already announced his retirement from international play (the day after the Ghana match). Keller has admitted to the same, though not officially, and Donovan is already doing damage control with quotes about he expects changes. Thanks for paying attention.

    By Blogger GAC, at 6:34 PM  

  • Bit more on United-Viera link in the Guardian today:

    http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1821476,00.html

    By Blogger TheBusbyBoy, at 9:55 PM  

  • GAC, thanks for your help. See, I don't get much news, so I'm completely dependent on you to point out the completely obvious. Since you're obviously a samaritan with unlimited free time, please go ahead and list every player who is not likely to feature in the next US team so that I can avoid having anyone else parse my words.

    "sacred cow-types."

    You really couldn't understand that I meant to convey that type of player that we all know was either unsuited on an international level or past it?

    Johnny Harkes = "sacred cow type," past tense. Just to make it abundently clear: I'm not suggesting that Johnny quit sneaking out of the back-door of Eric Wynalda's house because he might feature in 2010.

    By Blogger gooner71, at 11:49 AM  

  • Excellent use of the word "parse."


    Sincerely, Captain for Life

    By Blogger GAC, at 12:46 PM  

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