So Lalas went off in a recent broadcast on pretty much everyone on the Men's National Team. You can tell his frustration has been building and he just let loose. The Men's National Team has had some disappointing results and is in real danger of missing the World Cup.
Alexi Lalas just called out basically everybody involved with the USMNT. pic.twitter.com/usPKcIO0vM— Total MLS (@TotalMLS) September 11, 2017
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"What are you guys going to do? Are you going to continue to be a bunch of soft, underperforming tattoo'd millionaires? You are a soccer generation that has been given everything. You are a soccer generation who is on the verge of squandering everything!"
I'm curious to see how Landon Donovan is going to continue blaming Jurgen for it all.
I know there are a handful of you on this forum who very closely follow the US Men's team.
My question, for the rest of you average sport fans out there (like me), have any of you ever followed US soccer so closely? I dont give a single shit about MLS or premier league soccer, never have. However, I have been watching the national team. I can't say I watched anything but the World Cup/Olympics growing up. Now I watched the Gold Cup, some of the WC qualifiers, including a miserable loss to Costa Rica from an expensive bar in NOVA.
This has to be good for US soccer right? I don't really even like soccer, yet I'll watch. I can't be alone in this.
I've followed them closely for long enough to know that Alexi "had to wear a headband to keep the hair out of his face when he flopped" Lalas calling anyone soft is pretty entertaining.
But I do think national interest has been steadily raising. The sport as a whole is getting much more popular here, and it's being televised more.
He's a blowhard, but in this case, his statement is completely correct. Hopefully, a good thrashing in the media will help motivate this team to the qualification, because things will inevitably get incredibly ugly if they miss Russia.
Yeah I'm not necessarily disagreeing with him on this, but he's kinda like Stephen A. Smith where he's blown too much hot air for too long and it makes everything he says pretty much useless.
Its good as far as I think the team needs to be motivated, although keep in mind before the last world cup Mexico was in an even worse spot than we are now; needing us to beat Honduras I think it was in order to give them a chance at a playoff with New Zealand to get into the world cup. We better qualify as not making it would be an absolute blow to our development.
However any fan I've ever met that pays a lot of attention to the game knows Alexi Lalas is about as useful as a poopy flavoured lollipop. The guy's input never makes sense (nor Donavan's at that) and is mostly just RAWR WERE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH! MAYBE IF WE TRIED HARDER AND CARED MORE WED WIN MORE!!!!! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE! He doesn't delve into tactics or anything which given these two are ex players is really disappointing.
Cheers! Patches O'Houlihan references always get a leg from me. Didn't know Lalas was the washed up old chump that folks here make him out to be.
Obligatory rabble rabble rabble follow up
I never have followed soccer or the US Mens team unless its Olympics or World Cup.
MLS is awful to watch and I think it always will. Now I have been slowly getting into EPL where you can truly see the talent on the field. Still not a soccer fan (because ties after 90 minutes is a joke and a half) but I have been just turning on some EPL games to start my morning and maybe do a couple parlays.
I'll never understand this logic.
This is my response to people who say that:
Anyone who played knows how important pulling off a tie is when you think you're going to lose and anyone who follows it at all knows the strategic importance of getting just that one point (or denying someone else 3).
my logic is I like to see a winner for every game. Yes, I get it.... a loss/point is better than nothing for teams who are underdogs, but from a guy who doesn't have a stake/team, ties are a waste of time for me.
thats fine, agree to disagree... I know this is a small sample size, but all the people i know that don't like watching soccer, the ties are their biggest gripes. Without a team or stake in the game, it leaves you saying... wow, we ended up just like we started.
Not really.
how so? If I have no stake or team I am rooting for, and want to watch a soccer match.... how is 0-0 any different then 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, etc? Yea I get to see goals, whoopdy doo... Any game tie leaves many wanting more.
Example.... I am (unfortunately) a redskins fan, when they played the Cincinnati Bengals last year and went to OT and ended up tying, everybody was pissed. There was no winner. People traveled a long way and/or paid a lot of money to see a football game, and nobody game out victorious. IMO that's lame and I would be very disappointed
Because that tie can make a huge difference for a team facing relegation. I can see why it's frustrating for some folks, but you have to come in with a different mindset than there's only two outcomes.
Counterexample: Manchester United had a tricky tie away to Stoke City who play at the Britannia. Stoke isn't a particularity good team, but they can be dangerous especially at Stoke which has always had a reputation for being a tough place to play. Picking up a draw was frustrating giving United's form, but it's better than losing since we were able to maintain our place at the top of the table thanks to goal difference.
Again, you post/example is IF you have a rooting interest or stake in those game(s) or result, like regulation you mentioned
Well then find a rooting interest. Doesn't make any sense to complain about ties then saying ties aren't bad if you have a rooting interest. You're in a circle. You don't want to root for anyone because of ties but ties are okay if you root for someone. What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
I don't want to root for anyone because I have no team or connection to make sense to root for a team. I like watching many sports because sports are awesome. But any sport that ends at a tie leaves many wanting more or disappointed. It is what it is, but that's a common feeling/thought on soccer
I am a fan of futbol and I hate it when teams tie. There's a lack of finality in the game that will always be there. I certainly understand the points system and the excitement it comes from making it through a round robin on one point. But i still would prefer there had been a definitive winner of that match in the first place.
I don't think that's an unreasonable critique from the casual fan. And to become an invested observer usually takes immersion therapy from my experience.
i have seen more critical Americans turned futbol fans whilst in a sea of Europeans watching the world cup than in any other circumstance. The passion is infectious and like when you watch your first nfl football game with your dad, feel his passion and then root for the same team for life. It doesn't happen 100% of the time, but more often than not.
I would rather see a tie than a game decided by college overtime rules.
College football or college soccer? Because both overtimes are awesome, especially football.
While I understand your point, I'd much rather as a neutral watch a 3-3 draw than a boring 1-0 win.
American sports culture needs winners and losers. Soccer is not like that, outside of MLS, there are rarely playoffs to see who the champion is. I will agree, that in September ties as a neutral may not seem much. But as we get into the spring, and teams at the bottom (or top for that matter that need a point to stay in the lead or in champions league places) some of the best moments are that late equalizer that gets a team back to 1-1.
Not for everyone, but out of the context of the entire season, draws do leave something more to be desired. But I think any fan, or neutral, needs to understands the thinking behind, "Huddersfield draws at Newcastle this weekend. That could be a massive point come April."
Oh I totally get it and agree with a lot of what you say. Sure, a 3-3 tie is better than 0-0 because you get to see goals scored but like you said, it can leave something more to be desired.
I also understand ties in soccer are huge, especially for underdogs who weren't expected to come out with a point and prevent the top dog getting 3 points. Totally get that and how it works in with the longevity of the soccer season. All I was saying is a person without a team/rooting interest who just watches it because sports, a point for a tie doesn't really turn the dial for them because they don't care.
I agree 100%. Ties are annoying.
If there's no winner why are you playing the match in the first place?
I like some things about soccer but the low-scoring nature of the game is not something I like at all. Any sport where you can play for 90 minutes and end up with a very low # of points scored is annoying, beyond the fact that low-scoring sports increase the odds of a tie game at the end of regulation, because there's very little way of teams that are slightly better to earn some recognition on the scoreboard for their superior skill/teamwork. Sure you can point to some of the stats kept by 3rd party observers, but at the end of the game nobody cares about time of possession or pass completion rate because those things don't earn you points.
Think of the Tour De France and other major bicycle races. All the pro riders are so close in ability that a flat-land race would be decided by tiny margins, making it hard to differentiate between those top riders. To counter that and help make it obvious who is actually the fastest rider, they include a ton of hills and climbs, so that those who are better have a chance to put their ability on the record and separate themselves from lesser riders.
Soccer (and hockey for that matter) needs to do something to increase scoring so the skill / ability differential between teams can be reflected better on the scoreboard. I'm talking about going from a 1-0 game to a 10-3 or 10-6 game.
No. You play to win championships. Draws are vital to winning championships.
Soccer scoring is fine. Not to call you out and be a soccer snob, but a sign of a person who doesn't understand soccer is the ones that want games to be 10-3 or 7-5 or something like that. Watch futsal if you want high scoring soccer.
That's when its NOT soccer or hockey. They don't need to do anything to change it...it's fine just the way it is, and the way it have been for decades.
This whole obsession with winning and proving your dominance that is inherent to the US as a society fascinates me. In some ways, this mindset has led the US to excel. In others, it has been our own worst enemy.
I see it, but soccer is more about suspense and getting you on the edge of your seat, than instant back and forth action. For a lot of people that's just as fun to watch.
I'd say the opposite of that is the NBA where constant back and forth scoring on an extremely short shot clock can get tiresome to or even boring to watch.
I agree its more intense than NBA where most of those games don't matter/get intense until 4th quarter or last couple of minutes.
That's why I love hockey more than any sport because it is fast paced, physical, and intense/keeps you on the edge of your seat all game long, and last but not least, there is always a winner. Go to OT, loser still gets their 1 point.
Yes. Suspense. The scoring of goals is not the exciting part of the game, or certainly not the only exciting part. It's the difference between Hitchcock and horror films: you feel the suspense more profoundly when you don't see the violence.
This won't change anyone's stance on the matter, but in almost every situation, a tie is not a tie in soccer. A tie is a win when an underdog can come in and steal a point off a big club, and a loss from the other bench's perspective.
There's also no good way to get rid of them. Penalty kicks are a stupid way to decide a game IMO and overtime in a strenuous sport like soccer just produces really shoddy play the longer it continues more often than not. I was always a fan of golden goal overtime but it's still not a perfect solution.
I get that and I agree penalty kicks are dumb to decide a match. I have always thought doing a point system like the NHL where if you manage a tie, you still get a point and if you win in OT (golden goal or not) then you would still get your three.
That approach would be interesting, I wouldn't be against trying something along those lines.
If you're betting on EPL games you should love ties after 90 minutes. One of the great betting angles if you know what you're doing. If I bet on EPL games, it's almost always on a tie.
biggest pay out, but I like to usually take the top dogs in most game since I usually just do parlays for even bigger payout
I'm like you, don't follow any of the pro leagues but watch USMNT whenever I can.
And I don't understand why we aren't significantly better.
Casual fans watching soccer is amazing. To give you context, when Lalas played on the national team, something like 4% of the US population watched them play soccer. That number has jumped to about 8% as of last world cup and should grow quite a bit (I'm hoping) for the next world cup. Lalas is saying the exposure they have is so much more than anything he could have dreamed of and the talent level is astronomically higher than when he was a player. A lot of our current players fiddled around in the Premier League for a while then set up stakes in the MLS and are happy being on the top 11 most years.
They are a little too friendly and don't want to win as much it seems. Losing to Costa Rica last year on home soil was the equivalent of the JMU game in 2010.
woah woah woah lets not compare a loss to a costa rica team that was a pk shootout away from the world cup semis to JMU hahaha. Keylor Navas is the most under appreciated keeper on the planet
correct...it would be like England losing to Iceland at the Euro's. Preposterous....I know /s
Does anyone really think the US won't make the World Cup. Everything I know about the world cup and FIFA is that it is completely corrupt and driven by $$$ (just like the the Olympics). I cannot see a way they exclude the US and the missed revenue the event would generate for FIFA.
While it is disappointing its coming down to this, it just seems that (if needed), some obscure ruling may surface allowing the US to back door their way in to keep the $USD and television money flowing.
If that were to happen, I'd be pretty pissed because then A) the USSF would probably end up under investigation and I'd rather us maintain a high level of integrity considering our own FBI has spearheaded the investigation into the corruption and B) it wouldn't actually fix our on field product.
Definitely in FIFA's best interests to have the US qualify. Remember, Gulati switching his vote to Infantino in the second round of voting was evidently pretty key in gettting other association presidents on board with electing Infantino to FIFA president.
https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/02/26/gianni-infantino-fifa-presid...
I think his speech is fine and warranted, regardless if it's hypocritical coming from him (and I admit I don't know much about the history of US soccer).
Not saying he's wrong, but I'm not a big fan of Lalas. Average player at best, below average announcer. He likes to pontificate on things and....just....won't....stop. He won't let the play-by-play guy get a word in edgewise.
I liken him to the Joe Theismann of soccer announcers.
Yeah, this will get the fringe guys all up in a flutter. But in all honesty, he's just spouting off at the mouth. For 14 games under Arenas, taking over directly from Jurgen, they were unbeaten. And won the Gold Cup. There are a lot of things at play, and if the elder statesmen take things to heart given the results, they are way ahead of Lalas in the knowing what needs to be done category.
Wasn't he a big supporter of the American youth system (aka funnel as much talent into MLS as possible) that's a big reason we're in such a mess? Genuinely asking because I literally can't remember. I can't keep the analysts' opinions straight any more since 99% of them are apologists that keep claiming nothing is wrong and Jurgen was just talking a bunch of nonsense with his calls to make things more like the European model that's so successful for the rest of the soccer world.
I've always found he's a big proponent of our best players needing to be overseas and practicing with the best talent int he world. He wants the MLS to grow and be a legitimate big boy league, but it needs to get there on its own and not with bribing the best US players to stay here and pad stats against weaker talent.
At least that's what I gotten from him the last few years with his frustrations. I don't disagree at all here. MLS is good for growing the sport in the US, and yes, it definitely needs to have some attractiveness, but we're not doing ourselves any favors by essentially making the USMNT players the stars of the league. Our best needs to be routinely playing and practicing with the best in the world. Until we do that, we're not going to compete and will continue to get outclassed by anyone with a pulse. Its no mistake we've seen a dramatic drop in play since all our best came back stateside over the last couple years. I also agree that the MLS needs to be a better league and a legitimate international player. Unfortunately, the league needs to grow to get to that point, and you can't force it. Right now, we're completely trying to force it, and we're doing so at the expense of the MNT.
Digressing a bit, but it's always been my opinion that the league is too americanized to be a major international player. Youth development is essentially nonexistent compared to the academy system. Draft, salary cap, conferences, playoffs, etc all make the league easy to jump into from an american perspective, but just makes for some inconsistencies with the rest of the world. Travel associated with the league in a country that is massively bigger than any major European league makes a difference. League calendar relative to other major leagues makes a difference. Don't even get me started on the convoluted transfer system.
Edit: I guess to bring it back around - one of the better ways to increase the strength of the league isn't by bringing in designated players at the top of the salary system. this has historically been used to bring in past-their-prime global stars to sell tickets (and still be excellent in MLS). See Villa, Pirlo, Schweinsteiger, Gerrard, Lampard, Drogba, Beckham, Henry, etc etc. The real way to increase the strength of the league is to up the quality of the squad players. A rising tide lifts all boats in that regard. Malcolm Gladwell had an interesting take on this in the opening part of a podcast about reinforcing strengths vs improving on weaknesses.
Problem is that squad players make so little in MLS.
Exactly.
Click bait, worthless rant. Alexi is the worst. I still have zero concern of not qualifying directly and I still would be pretty shocked (Group of Death aside) to see us bounce out in the group stages in Russia.
Fact of the matter is: one bad result in nearly 10 months with Arena. Freak out and faux rants aren't necessary or productive.
yup, rest of the concacaf is catching up...and if it was from Wynalda then I'll take it.
via GIPHY
Remember Brewer's first year and all those injuries? Well US is going through that right now especially on the back line. First, there is no good partner for Bradley in Midfield. My honest opinion is that it should be Geoff Cameron. This brings up a bigger question in that the US needs to improve their depth, its one of few teams that has depth issues in just about every position including goalie.
I also question some of the positioning and formations used by Arena. Pulisic needs to be given a free role if he is going to do anything. He's on the wing where he doesn't touch the ball that much. Any other country puts their best player just right behind their striker so he can be free to create. I have no confidence in the forwards, Dempsey is aging, Wood is a slasher but no major height or body frame but can score. Altidore has all the tools but cannot score, Dempsey is aging and is becoming a sort of a free kick Specialist.
Aside from this our outside backs are not good enough to hang with skilled players, even without speed, they get beat on the first move leading to lots of crosses and pressure against the goalie and centerbacks.
I think we will make it to the world cup but it won't be easy.