Comments on: USA 0-3 Brazil: Bradley Makes (Negative) History

By: Brad Allen

Brad Allen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:01:43 +0000

Have some faith in our coach! Although I have been frustrated with line-up choices at times (most notably at the Copa America last summer), I generally admire coach’s steady leadership and commitment to play higher caliber teams in friendly matches. I also like how he has given many players the chance to play at the national level (minus his no-name roster in S. America). I’m excited to see what we can do in the remaining qualifying matches and Gold Cup. Go USA!

By: Bryce

Bryce — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:53:52 +0000

I Bewlieve that although we are losing, we are playing much better than we could have been playing and getting the same results. It’s not as if we are that much worse, its that the other teams do the little stuff so much better. To get an in-depth look at player ratings you can go to http://draftystat.weebly.com

By: Adam from Joliet

Adam from Joliet — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:00:13 +0000

Your ratings on Spector and Casey should be switched. Spector held his own for the most part, though he did make a poor play which led to the goal. Casey, on the other hand, gave no effort. Though Altidore did not have his best game at least we saw him hustling around; Casey just looked lazy.

I still don’t think Bradley should be fired. Considering his tenure as coach he is certainly at a low, but all coaches have lows. What should determine his future status is whether or not he can quickly learn from this time, and turn the team around.

By: Tommie

Tommie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:12:08 +0000

MLS is killing the national team.

It was just another MLS quality game for the USA,did anybody else see lack of control of the ball,the numerous give-aways,the errant passes and finally the players just standing around waiting for the ball to arrive.I saw no anticipation,not much hustle from the majority of the team and Altidore is so over-rated

Suspect refereeing,this is a moot point, Mls allows such physical play that most players don’t need to hone individual skills and certainly show a lack of understanding of the International level of the sport. Most MLS players have no clue either about international football or the sport when they travel abroad.

MLS is a joke and the reason this national team is worse than 1994 or 1995 or 1999 or 2002 is because MLS has been around so long now that the bad tactical and technical training from that leagues has made its way down to the national team level.

By: El Loco

El Loco — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:05:10 +0000

Let’s do our homework here. IMHO, Coach Bradley made his first major mistake by taking a team of infants to the Copa America. He took a team to Venezuela to practice and scrimmage, not to win. Why? You should always insist that the objective of a team is to win. If you want to practice, schedule a friendly. Copa America was an embarassment. We need a dedication to winning, our 94, 98, and 2002 WC teams had that. Never give up and hustle, hustle. I looked at the roster of the team that went to Copa America and it is scary. Of the whole roster, here are the ones still on the team: Bornstein, DeMerit, Wynne, Clark, Feilhaber, Kljestan, and Davies. Bradley wasted an opportunity to take a winning team to Venezuela, so he could glean these players from that squad. I think that is a very small return on the investment. We need more maturity on the team, something the aforementioned teams had plenty of. Maturity, not scared of other teams, smart players. It is supposed to be a Men’s team, not a boy’s team. Bradley should do his scouting by watching players on their club teams, not by using international tournaments to teach his players that they are horrible. And YES, show me another country that invites players to their natonal team, who are not playing for their club teams! Bradley, not only invites them, but starts them. Say what you may about Freddy, but at least he is not scared to play the game the way it was meant to be played…FULL BORE, FULL ATTACK. Replace Bradley with a coach that recognizes skilled players and demands that they also be smart and aggressive.

TTB, you are truly nuts. Did you see the game against Guatemala last year when Heath Pearce got away with a clear hand ball in the box? If the ref calls that we draw at best. Did you see the Panama game a few years ago where they got a goal with 10 guys against our 11?

By: TTB

TTB — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:57:01 +0000

Actually we’ve played pretty well under Bradley.

The Costa Rica game as you said yourself Kartik was no different than other trips to Saprissa. The Brazil games you mention that we were close in were games where we lined up with 9 men behind the ball and prayed. Yesterday we actually played football. Same for the Italy games. In the past we’d be negative and limit the opposition chances. You never saw counter attacking goals against us because we never pushed up.

I think Bradley is doing the best job of any coach we’ve had since I started watching in the mid 1990s.

By: quakesin2kNever

quakesin2kNever — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:42:57 +0000

Kartik,

You are being way too harsh on the coach. Brazil’s team is a monster right now. They are not just the flashy only-offense type team in decades past. They score a lot on set pieces now too. They play a lot tougher defense.

So we lost to two of the top 5 teams in the world while being man down for most of both games. What else would you expect would happen. It’s not Bradley’s fault that Klijestan made an idiotic tackle or that the ref was harsh on Ricardo Clark.

We just need some personnel changes. DeMarcus Beasely and Conor Casey should never suit up for the USA ever again. Klijestan should be permanently benched.

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:44:52 +0000

Derrick, you’ve been preaching the one touch pass and go philosophy for years and have been spot on. But these guys don’t have any of the technical training they need and generally are tactically unaware also. The whole system has to be overhauled. Some newer fans have said this morning on various message boards “it was Italy and Brazil.” Again the simple response is these were the worst losses ever for the US against both countries in games not played in Brazil or Italy itself. That is making history in the wrong way.

By: DerrickinSF

DerrickinSF — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:28:42 +0000

The reality is Mexico is not the measuring stick. There’s more then beating Mexico. It’s about developing a consistently winning program. like someone said a few posts back “Being better then Mexico means nothing.”

By: Mexican football

Mexican football — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:51:37 +0000

Good point, Kartik. So many out there think that the usa is better than Mexico, but they ARE NOT. What matters is how you do in the World Cup. In the last one, Mexico went to the KO round while the USA died in the Group Stage. USA has only been better than Mexico in 1990 and 2002. That’s it. They are not better now, not until they can outlast Mexico towards the World Cup. Many people need to realize this.