JPB Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 quote:Would he do it again? Not knowing how it turned out I am sure. Let's see what happens in China. He should not be given the opportunity to even think about doing it again. The mistake he made on the World stage is huge. It will color and compromise any coaching decisions he'd make in another big competition. That is the monkey on his back. The team should not have to feed and put up with that monkey. In fact, the veterans have shown themselves too compromised already. And none of that goes away by pushing Solo's nose into the mess the monkey makes. Should Scurry remain on the team if there is this deep pool of keeper talent in the USA? Doubtful, but even if Scurry merits a jersey, her presence on the team will be under an unnecessary shadow. How will she earn her way back to starter? By not playing, or underplaying, Solo. Whose decision would that be? Solo was right when she said that 2004 is the past. The game with Brasil shows that what happened at the World cup is the way of the future. Ryan's approach to the game is dated. He coaches through a rear-view mirror. That's good, if you want to watch that monkey on his back, but otherwise .... not so good. A replacement for Ryan would have seen what happened. Lessons learned. No need to reward Ryan with another chance to mess up the team's chances on the field. He demonstrated, in his response to the unerred error that he committed, that he puts himself above the team and above even those amongst his very best players. In an organization designed to win, Ryan's stunt at the World Cup would have been accepted as a choker (mis)coaching himself out of a coaching job. Still, for Canadians, there are lessons to learn from Ryan's example. The tournament should have brought much more scrutiny of the Pellerund and his coaching decisions, too. Circle the wagons seems to be ingrained now, far past its Public Relations value. The performance of Brazil at the World Cup should teach us, Canadians and Americans alike, that the game demands more than either coach could come up with on their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 A good read: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2003955389_kelley17.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPB Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 From the column Vic just linked: quote:Solo ... had no history of problems with her coach or her teammates ... on a team that preaches unity, she was ostracized. A team that always talked about keeping its problems internal aired this to the world, day after day after day. ... None of her teammates or coaches bothered to factor in Solo's heartbreak after being benched before the most important game of her career. ... Nobody considered the fact her father, Jeffrey, died of heart failure in June and this tournament was her best chance to honor his memory. Before each of her four World Cup starts, she sprinkled her father's ashes in the goal box. I had noticed that Solo wore a black armband when she was on the bench during the Brazil match. Does anyone know if that was in honour of her father? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Sounds like another goalkeeping gamble is imminent: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=483718&cc=5901 Also sounds like Owen Hargreaves may be on the out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 "England's Euro 2008 dreams - and quite possibly Steve McClaren's job - were washed away in the Wembley rain despite a thrilling David Beckham-inspired comeback. Two goals down to Croatia at the break, needing a point to reach next summer's finals and his big goalkeeping gamble having backfired in catastrophic fashion... and when substitute Mladen Petric beat hapless Scott Carson from 20 yards 13 minutes from time, there was no way back and surely no way McClaren can hold onto his job either, having failed to deliver qualification despite the unexpected reprieve given to his stuttering, faltering side by Israel at the weekend. It will hurt McClaren all the more that the first seeds of England's downfall were sown by Carson's monumental early blunder." --- Sub the holding midfielder and no one cares, but swap the goalie and you're toast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Que Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Vic "England's Euro 2008 dreams - and quite possibly Steve McClaren's job - were washed away in the Wembley rain despite a thrilling David Beckham-inspired comeback. Two goals down to Croatia at the break, needing a point to reach next summer's finals and his big goalkeeping gamble having backfired in catastrophic fashion... and when substitute Mladen Petric beat hapless Scott Carson from 20 yards 13 minutes from time, there was no way back and surely no way McClaren can hold onto his job either, having failed to deliver qualification despite the unexpected reprieve given to his stuttering, faltering side by Israel at the weekend. It will hurt McClaren all the more that the first seeds of England's downfall were sown by Carson's monumental early blunder." --- Sub the holding midfielder and no one cares, but swap the goalie and you're toast. Fired! Especially when the goalie has very little international experience (Carson-he looked bad) or is no longer the clear number 1 (as in Solo/Scurry case). McClaren took a big gamble and lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 This gamble make more sense than the Solo vs Scurry debate. Robbo has been poor for a while and was under pressure. I think going with Carson was a mistake, David James would've been a more logical choice with his experience and having a decent season at Portsmouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terpfan68 Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Hindsight is always 20-20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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