USA Redux

It's been a week since the US was eliminated from the World Cup, and I've read countless (many of them stupid) opinions and formulated some of my own. Instead of pouring gas on the fire, so to speak, I think ample time has elapsed to make these points:

1. The US wasn't as bad as it was made out to be.
2. But it's time for a new coach.
3. And Europeans, as always, are a bunch of idiots.

To expound:
1. Let's face it, the US lost its World Cup in a matter of minutes. Against the Czechs, we gave up a goal 5 minutes in. You can't really blame anyone for Tomas Rosicky's cracker of a 2nd goal, and the third happened because we were trying to launch everyone (unsuccessfully) into the attack. Against Italy, we had two red cards in 5 minutes after stealing the momentum away from those shifty Itals. And against Ghana, it was one stupid play, followed by one great momentum swing followed by an immediate stupid penalty call.

I'm not saying we didn't suck at times during the Cup: the offense was anemic, Landon Donovan played like a pansy and DaMarcus Beasley displayed the touch of a six-year old. But that said, there were some bright spots: Clint Dempsey (forgive the overused Texas expression) swash-buckled his way into these finals and ransacked his way to a great game against Ghana. Against Italy, he was clearly the difference maker. It's a shame he had to come off against Italy because of some unfortunate refereeing decisions, as he would have certainly helped the US win that game. In the end, he made my purchase of his jersey look very astute, and he should no doubt be playing in Europe soon (Holland?). I only feel sorry for him because playing in an MLS game this week must have been a major letdown.

Oguchi Onyewu also had a pretty good tournament. He had Luca Toni (by far the sissiest guy over 6-foot-5 I've ever seen. He flops. Enjoy those tall Italians, Toronto Raptors) in his pocket against Italy and did fine against Ghana. That penalty kick call was the worst call of the tournament because it so blatantly changed the game, and tournament. The only reason Gooch had so many calls go against him was because of his size, which clearly the officials couldn't keep up with (speaking of that, the refs clearly can't keep up with the game anymore. We need two of them on the field) and his nancy-pants opposing forwards couldn't either. As we have told our European friends until we are blue in the face, there's just no tolerance for what the Czechs, Italians and Ghanians did in those games (see point #3: Europeans are idiots).

Also, a huge hand should go to Jimmy Conrad. He came on to play central defense against Italy with the US down to nine men. It was completely the "oh s---, it's over now" moment of the tournament, but Jimmy more than held his own. Against Ghana, it looked like he would get beaten by a faster attacker, but alas, it never happened. I haven't watched any replays but I can't remember him getting in trouble once, which is more than I could say about anyone else.

Perhaps one of my favorite moments of the tournament came after the Italy game on a crowded walk outsidethe stadium: we bumped into Jimmy's (I can call him by his first name. He is a totally likeable guy and an English major with a column of his own that runs on ESPN.com) best man. It was really cool to be able to sort of share that moment, the "That was really awesome how well he did tonight, I'm so happy for him" for a guy I don't know and say it to his best friend. I'm still awaiting the column on ESPN that describes him getting summoned to face Italy off the bench, the "You want me to what?!" reaction he had to have had. World Cups...it's not always about the Ronaldos, the Zidanes, the Henrys, but of guys like Conrad who are completely fun to follow and root for and you're glad as anyone to see them do so well.

2. Bruce Arena has been the most successful coach in US Soccer history, that's a given. He's brought a winning attitude and even has made a federation (appear) to have grown up, and believe me, I know from where I speak. He's uncovered dozens of players who 10 years ago would have never played for the national team (and not because they were probably 14 at the time) and created heightened expectations for us fans, which I'm grateful. He's even kind of a loud-mouth know-it-all, but we can give him the benefit of the doubt becuas ehe took us to the quarterfinals in 2002.

That said, it's time for a change. New blood is needed on the sidelines as well as the field. Clearly Bruce's guys, like Josh Wolff, Greg Berhalter, etc. etc. need to be gotten rid of and other guys should be tried. This may or may not be exclusively MLS guys, but having followed the game on both continents, MLS does a good job but it's nowhere near the level of European leagues, on and off the field. Got that, Don Garber? You can't deny the fact that MLS has worked wonders in its 10 years, but it's still totally irrelevent to mainstream America (and to a certain extent, this die-hard American soccer fan) and clearly not the ultimate step in developing your soccer star (see: Donovan, Landon).

MLS is fine; deep down, I love it, but deep down, why wouldn't you come to Europe, if only for a few years, and see what happens? And in that sense, let's give some guys who are doing great jobs forging their careers on their own (Jay DeMerit is certainly one name to spring to mind) as well as guys that have come up through the flawed American system. It needs to work both ways, and I wish MLS wouldn't get so uptight about it. Hello, I worked for two MLS teams, probably the best organizations — but would I work there past 22 years of age? Probably not. And so you can imagine how it might feel to be a Clint Dempsey.

3. This is getting long, so I'll try to end it simply: Europeans are idiots. The more I hear about English and French newspapers and fans whining about the play of their team, the more I wish they would just lose. France has guys like Zidane, Henry, Thuram, Vieira, Makelele, Ribery, etc., and their country doesn't deserve any of them. In 1998, the adidas ad on the Paris metro showed Zidane telling the fans "You're crap!" It wasn't until they made the semifinals that anyone actually started to care. Eight years later, the French have won everything and their fans are still crap. Seriously, just the thought of having France's bench and guys on holiday already makes my mouth water, let alone having someone like Henry or Zidane on the field at all times.

England's the same way. They are playing lousy and the press decides to slaughter the one guy who is actually doing something about finding ways to score goals, David Beckham. I can't wait until the day the US plays lousy and still gets to the quarterfinals. IT'S THE QUARTERFINALS OF A WORLD CUP! It's not easy to get there, you know? The English press makes me sick with their extreme highs and lows after every game — they are the epitome of the "only your last game counts" theory, and it's growing a little old.

With that said, Germany's fans are at least optimistic and knowledgeable about the game and their team that their excitement is justified. They just want to have a good time and sure are fun to be around unless, of course, Argentina beats them tomorrow!