U.S. Qualification photo not found.
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Philadelphia Union
With two games left, the Union can still finish anywhere between 7th and 10th in their conference.
Matthew De George has not held back all season. This week he looks at the Union’s completely consistent mediocrity. It is not enough for the Union just to improve. Improving is just keeping up their mediocrity.
How do you allocate the blame for this season?
Jay Simpson is hoping for a better 2018.
That’s not the right football-playing Aaron Jones!
Get to know Chicago Fire.
Local
The Union U-17s finished first in their group.
Bethlehem was unable to claim their destiny, losing 1-0 against Rochester. They now need to win their last game to guarantee a playoff spot.
MLS
Kaka may retire.
Around the globe
LOL. Pulisic can stay. Everybody else can go.
We failed. Again. We’re done. It’s Doomsday.
What are we doing? WHAT ARE WE DOING!?
And of course, the U.S. was knocked out by a little bit of CONCACAF magic and some Mexican comedy, not that it’s an excuse. Unless you’re Sunil Gulati.
Messi singlehandedly delivered Argentina to Russia, while two-time reigning Copa America champion Chile joined the U.S. on the sidelines.
Updated 2018 World Cup Qualifying.
The U.S. U-17s won their second group game and are now 2-0 at the U-17 World Cup.
Highlight of the day
The goal that eliminated the U.S.
Also, Messi magic.
There is so much to say and I’ve already said it elsewhere. But here I will just add that it’s up to us to take this as an opportunity to look in the mirror and fix the problems we have. This is not simply a coach or player or executive issue. This is a complete issue from top to bottom we’ve had for 20+ years. It’s up to us to admit that, identify the fixes, and implement them.
Agreed. But at least half the players on that field last night shouldn’t even be called up to a national team camp for at least a year if ever again.
Honestly, only two players in the squad last night should ever be called up again. Yedlin and Pulisic.
At this point our only goal is 2022. Everyone else is done.
That’s a little harsh to guys like Wood and a couple others, but yeah, the old guys need to be done.
The sad part is, the only way I knew whether you were talking about the USMNT or the Union is the “20+ years” part.
Jim and Earnie are going to produce USMNT players. It’ll be ok!
Honestly I was thinking about this. I don’t think ES is there yet, but he is the perfect guy to take over as TD for USSF.
His resume is unique and brilliant in the realm of American soccer executives. Played for US, understands the US, but grew up in Europe, established himself in Europe, and successfully ran a team in Europe.
Plus his mantra of “Develop and play and use the kids” is pretty perfect for a NT when you ARE thinking on the timespan of 5-10 years.
LOL. Thanks I needed that laugh!
Well played, sir.
2017 is not a good year for america. the ruling class in this country and in this country’s soccer federation are complacent and arrogant and their failures cause everyone to suffer but them
my version of US Soccer……LAMENTATIONS 3.
Only way to achieve really substantial, positive change is to first experience crushing failure. Might be the best thing that could have happened to the U.S. program — to be forced to grapple with systemic problems that otherwise would have been ignored because “we were getting by.” Not saying we’ll definitely see positive change now, but we definitely weren’t going to see anything but the status quo had we qualified for Russia.
What team wins most of their home games by multiple goals and can’t win on the road? Hint, their name begins with U. What, there are two possible answers to this question?
But the US won the Gold Cup. They must be good. I mean doesn’t that entitle them to pretty much win all of their CONCACAF games without really showing up?
The worst part about the US not qualifying is having to read and listen to various “experts” like Twellman bloviate for the next several months about what’s wrong with US Soccer. A solution for a nation of 335,000 people isn’t applicable for one that has 325 million.
But a country that has 325 million people should also NEVER lose to a country of 335,000 people.
Why? There are only 11 players out there at one time for each country.
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If you just go by population, China and India should win every sporting event in the world, but sport doesn’t work that way, does it?
“It’s hard to qualify in CONCACAF. Teams in Europe would have trouble qualifying in CONCACAF.”
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Meanwhile, Iceland qualified for the World Cup. Iceland, population 334,000, qualified for the World Cup in UEFA. They’re an island, so travel was brutal no matter where they went, let alone going to Eastern Europe. The next smallest country in their group was Kosovo, which has over 1 million people. Stop the excuses USSF, you just failed, plain and simple. Fix it, because Qatar is not gonna be a walk in the park either.
The fact that Arena hasn’t resigned already out of shame and failure is all the sign we need that we need a complete change from the top down.
Chile’s coach resigned right after the loss…
Both Arena and Gulati should have tendered their resignations last night. That’s standard protocol.
It’s only a matter of time I feel, but you’re right, that says a lot. He was only a placeholder meant to clean up the mess, but he didn’t, so he has to go no matter what. Might be time for a fresh face from afar.
As a Scottish born, US raised, Union fan, let me just say this…
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Please, Please, Please soccer gods – no more! There is nothing left of my nuts but a numb, pulpy mess. One more nut kick may actually kill me….
Anyone know if the US has an friendlies lined up for next month? If not, MLS probably should change the playoff schedule to play through the international break so people don’t lose interest.
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If they are smart, they won’t take a world cup break next summer either. Maybe allow people into the stadiums early to watch games from Russia on the big screen and then play an MLS game afterwards.
MLS has already published its playoff schedule and they will observe the FIFA dates (as they should). That makes sense especially if a team like Houston is still alive since they have a heavy Honduran presence on the squad.
And MLS has never gone and changed their decisions on the fly before? Although it might depend on who Houston was playing. If it is Seattle, they’ll almost certainly change things to help one of their darling teams.
600 days until the USMNT plays a game that matters again.
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six hundred.
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reading that just made me nauseous
Assuming you’re thinking about the 2019 Gold Cup, you’re probably about 30 days too low.
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On the other hand, maybe the US can stage a mini tournament next year with Chile, The Netherlands, and Wales.
Wow, that Will Parchman tweet says literally everything – “Since 2011, the US has now missed a U17 World Cup, a U20 World Cup, two Olympics and a senior World Cup.”
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If this thing isn’t burned down and built from scratch, then what’s the damn point.
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My god… 600 days 🙁 At least for the Union its only about 143, but also 🙁
“U.S. Qualification photo not found”
Harsh. True but harsh. Well played.
Point 1. I feel the national team has always had this mentality of bigger, stronger, faster being put forth before anything else. The first attribute to look for is skillset and knowledge of the game. It should be the equivalent of the play in Europe or close to it. Everything else is secondary.
Point 2. All US national players should be sent to Europe and or other nations to develop. Maybe the US should create a European committee that takes US players and finds foreign teams to take these players under their wings. MLS does not cut it and never has. I’ve been saying this for years and it has shown time and time again. The difference of skill and knowledge from the MLS and The rest of the world is astonishing and clear cut.
Point 3. This team should be built around Pulisic and him only. He could possibly go down as being the best USA player ever to wear the jersey. He plays like a European. He’s not the biggest , strongest or fastest, but his skillset and intelligence is unmatched within the US Soccer organization.