Arena Football

The US Men’s National Soccer Team has followed up their quarterfinal appearance in the 2002 World Cup with a miserable showing in 2006. They went 0-2-1 in the first round and quietly returned home. The first game against the Czech Republic was disappointing, not so much because they lost but because they looked so horrible. They seemed so… disinterested. It was as if they couldn’t get motivated to play. Then in the second game against Italy, they looked much better and held their own short-handed against a great team. But even though the team looked good and fought hard, we only managed a 1-1 draw thanks to Italy scoring an own goal. So we enter the Ghana game needing a win. Which team would show up? As it turns out, sadly, it was the team from the Czech Republic game. The disinterested one that didn’t look very good.

There are several ways a team can lose in an upset. One can simply be being victimized by bad officiating. Another is the team can fail to show up motivated to play, with big time players showing poorly. And a third possibility is bad coaching. I would say that all three of these happened. I think the US team is good enough to overcome one of those on a given night. They might even overcome two of those occasionally. But when all three converge, it’s just too much.

Ghana scored their game-winning goal on a penalty kick that should never have been called. Oguchi Onyewu did absolutely nothing wrong. His defense on the play in question was perfectly legal. Both players were going for the ball, and his arms were away from his opponent. There’s simply no foul there. But a PK is awarded nonetheless and the whole complexion of the game is changed.

But we can’t just gripe about that call, no matter how huge it is. We have to look at the players and the coach. Seconds before Onyewu was called for the foul in the box, Carlos Bocanegra had misplayed the ball. He had kicked it straight up (it landed in the box), when the proper play would have been to knock it out of bounds. But more than that one play, our entire team showed a lack of intensity that is both mystifying and dismaying. Two stars in particular failed to deliver performances we have come to expect from them: Landon Donovan and DeMarcus Beasley. There’s no denying their talent, but we must now question their development. Donovan, in particular, quit his club team in Europe, where the going was tougher, for a return to the MLS. Maybe Donovan needs to stay in the kitchen a bit more and learn to handle the heat. I think every US player that was on the field against Ghana needs to take a long hard look at himself and ask if he really did everything he could have done. This is the WORLD CUP! There’s nothing else to play for. If you can’t get motivated to play during the Cup, when will you get motivated?

Despite all this, the person I’m most surprised by, and most disappointed in, is Bruce Arena. I have long been a very loud and proud supporter of his. I think he’s a brilliant soccer coach, I think in the past his gameplans have been nothing short of genius. He has always known exactly how to use the players at his disposal to maximize success from them. America could not have asked for, or produced, a better man for the job these last eight years.

But…

I think we have to place the lion’s share of the blame for our World Cup showing squarely on his shoulders. I think he made a series of mistakes that hurt the team. Against the Czech Republic he had Beasley playing on the right side, a spot where the left-footed midfielder had never played before. He also had Eddie Lewis playing defense. This cost us. Against Italy, he took this best player, Clint Dempsey, off the field in favor of Beasley…again, on the right side. By the time the Ghana game came around, I was already baffled by some of Bruce Arena’s decisions. And the bad moves kept coming.

Here was a game that WE HAD TO WIN. We knew we needed GOALS. What did Arena do? He put us in a 4-5-1 formation. 4-5-1?! ONE FORWARD? This was way too defensive of a scheme. I’m sure he was thinking in terms of controlling possession through the midfield instead of defense, but we needed GOALS. Put your best goal-scorers out there! We need at least a 4-4-2, maybe even a formation that gave us three forwards. He tried to use a 4-5-1 against Italy, but 1) we don’t know how well it worked since we got players ejected; 2) this WASN’T ITALY AND WE NEEDED A WIN.

He finally decided to put Eddie Johnson in the match at the 60th minute. Well, guess when the US finally started showing some energy in going forward? That’s right, the 60th minute. Johnson should have been starting, plain and simple. Also on the bench were Josh Wolff, who only saw second half action against the Czechs, and Brian Ching, who never saw a minute of playing time in any of the three matches. I say you come out in a 4-4-2 and if you don’t have the lead at halftime you bring in a third forward to start the second half.

Both the formation and decision to not bring in Johnson until the hour mark are two decisions that possibly cost us the game.

But beyond that, when the team doesn’t show up mentally prepared to play the game, you have to look to the coaching. What was it? A lack of playing time together? Players in new positions not knowing their role on the field? Intimidation? A lack of big game experience? A lack of motivation or enthusiasm or confidence? With any of these, you can point the finger at Bruce Arena.

And then came the comments after the game. Arena said he told his players at halftime to play for a make-up call. His attitude seemed to be that 1) the ref had made a mistake in calling the penalty kick, 2) the ref knew it and 3) the ref was willing to award a make-up call if we could just make enough plays in the box. I’m sorry, that just strikes me as completely wrong. What about playing for the win, coach? Instead of playing for a make-up call. Arena also kind of lashed out at MLS. He’s always been a vocal supporter of the league in which he used to coach (and may very well again), emphasizing the importance of its role in developing American talent. But now he’s saying it’s not enough that we need to get more of our top players in European leagues, that the MLS isn’t good enough.

Well, don’t look now coach but your best player in the tournament was Clint Dempsey. Last time I checked, he was playing for the New England Revolution. In our equally embarrassing showing in the 1998 World Cup, the only players that looked good were Brian McBride and Frankie Hejduk…both of which were MLS players. And Donovan and Beasley were both plying their trade at home when they were lifting our team in the 02 Cup. So I’m not buying it. I agree that Donovan might need to join Beasley in Europe now. He’s someone we all need to see step up to the next level. But the MLS is doing just fine, Bruce. How about pointing the finger at yourself?

In short, I think it’s time for Bruce Arena to step aside. His contributions to our soccer program have taken us gigantic quantum leaps forward, it could never be overstated. We’ve grown exponentially under his guidance. No question about it. His place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame is a no-brainer. But now that he’s gotten us here, let’s get some fresh blood in to try and take us a little further. We need to do a little better than this in 2010.