A Decision That Had To Be Made

So the United States finally fired National Team coach Bob Bradley. It took long enough for the powers that be at US Soccer to figure it out. Now, before I get going, I thought Bradley was a great coach for the US when he originally took the job. I also think he did a very good job at the helm of the US National Team, a team that, for all intents and purposes is like coaching Ole Miss in the SEC. The fans want success like a powerhouse while only possessing the talent and resources of a middle of the pack team. With the exception of those nations that can legitametly think about winning the World Cup in every single cycle (Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy), only the England job seems as difficult to meet fan expectations as the US job is. Needless to say, this is a difficult job and Bradley did a very good job with it.

Considering I liked Bradley as coach, why then did I start with saying words like finally and it took long enough to describe his firing. Those sentiments are gleamed from what I know in world soccer. And what I know is that coaches leading the same country into consecutive World Cups rarely do as well on the second trip and many do much worse than the presumed worst case scenario (just look at 2006 World Cup Final combatants France and Italy who both experienced among their worst World Cup tournaments ever in 2010 under the same coach). For that matter, the US should have learned from their own mistakes from 2002-2006. Bruce Arena remained employed by the US after his stunning success in 2002 reaching the quarterfinals. Then it all came undone in 2006 with only one gutsy performance aided by an own goad against Italy to show for that cycle. So knowing that, I was in favor of sending Bradley off to a nice club managing job somewhere (whether it be MLS or in England where his tactics are much more appreciated than they are here) instead of retaining him for another World Cup cycle.

On the positive side for the US side, Bradley's apprach became stale and the US results faltered well before they did under Arena leading up to 2006. This allowed US Soccer to get rid of Bradley with plenty of time to get a new program in order before World Cup qualifying begins. Heck, whoever the new coach is pretty much is starting anew at this point. The only drawback is no trip to the Confederations Cup in 2013 because of the ugly defeat to Mexico in the Gold Cup final.

Despite it being a firing, today should be a good day for US Soccer. As long as the new coach can figure out a solution to the long running left-back problem, the United States should be just fine as far as qualifying for the World Cup. The team also should advance out of the group stage again as long as they are not drawn into some sort of Group of Death like 2006. Will the team reach the quarterfinals again like in 2002? It's not likely. For one thing, even if rival Mexico were to somehow await in round 2 like then, the US talent level is no longer equal with Mexico's. The US would need an epically open draw, even moreso than the 2010 World Cup appeared to be to reach that far. At this point, we as a country need to have realistic expectations. Those should start with make round 2 and see what happens, not do better every single time. We don't have the talent base or the financial commitment for those kind of expectations.

Postgame Thoughts: USA-Slovenia

We just saw the best match of the tournament - This is just proof great matches can involve nearly anyone. Highly anticipated matches between quality teams have disappointed so far, but attacking ingenuity reigned supreme here. Slovenia, while playing a largely negative possession game made the most of its chances, particularly the first one, a rare shot in this tournament on net from distance. The US, with no real defense to speak of, threw everything they had at Slovenia in the 2nd half culminating in Michael Bradley's goal from the little seen 3-2-3-2 formation. If only every match had this level of attacking or even the will to attack, this tournament would be much better for it.

Slovenia got the result it wanted, just not how it wanted - If anyone had told the Slovenians they would score twice in the first half, they would have taken it and said the game was done with a win in the bank considering the record of giving up just four goals in 10 qualifying matches in the group stage and one in two matches against Russia in the playoff. Slovenia had a 2-0 lead. They blew it and now they have legitimate reason for concern. Goal differential very well may come into play and the Slovenians with only a 1-0 win over Algeria could be in some trouble.

The referee was awful - Yes the US got screwed at the end and should have had a third goal that was disallowed by a phantom call. Most outside Slovenia probably agree that the disallowed goal was a terrible goal but that doesn't even begin to get into the bad refereeing today (on both sides). It seemed all day long the whistle was blowing for marginal calls. On a regular basis, both captains were appealing to the referee after dubious decisions and the yellow cards flew today for seemingly no reason at all. While many want Robbie Findlay benched for the next game (and he will be because of suspension), the yellow card he received for a handball that was clearly incidental and may have hit him in the face and not the shoulder was quite harsh.

What's next for the USA - The Americans need a win against Algeria, preferably by more than one goal. A two goal win likely sends the US through no matter the results in other matches as the US would go through directly or win the goal differential battle with either Slovenia or England if it came to that.

Why the USA will never win a World Cup Part 2

Let me preface this by saying there is nothing wrong with the education mentality in the United States. It is just different and lends itself better to other sports when put under this microscope. The system of play through high school and then go to college before entering the draft works fine in football and basketball and a hybrid of the soccer system and the college sports system works great in hockey and baseball. Soccer is a different animal entirely.

Let me also state that last night's loss to the Czech Republic, while helping prove my point (the Czechs fielded their second class players except in goal and will not be in the World Cup), I had already planned this piece before that game.

Why the USA won't win the World Cup anytime soon - Part 1

Way back in the mid-1990s after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup and exceeded expectations by reaching the knockout stages and MLS was formed soon after, soccer was riding high in the United States. US soccer created a plan to win the World Cup by 2010. While the US has greatly improved, a World Cup title is not going to happen this year and its not going to happen anytime soon. Here is a look at some of the reasons why the Americans remain at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the world in soccer.

People in the US play sports other than soccer. In much of the rest of the world, kids play soccer first and everything else 2nd.

More after the jump