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With what we had available, we did have the best roster available.

Had we CTed that game (a point I've touched on earlier in this thread), we'd have won.

Have we spent the past 6 weeks fine-tuning and changing our philosophies?

Absolutely.

What happened in the Worlds is unacceptable, and if anyone thinks we're going to take the same approach into the next qualifying campaign, you're nuts.

By the way, I'd like to point out two things:

#1 Under my stewardship, we were 4-1 against teams that made the semifinals of the Worlds, and the one was a game we basically did not care about (continental finals, we had CTed to ensure advancement to the Worlds, while Brasil had not). That defintely stands for something. Our problems in the Worlds boiled down to getting CTed twice. One we couldn't do much about, the 2nd we should have met with a CT of our own.

#2 An American should run the USA NT. I'm all for having the best candidate winning the election, regardless of where they come from. I just believe that the best candidate for the USA NT should come from the USA - they'd understand the USA culture, communication, etc. more than anyone from another land. That's not xenophobia - it's just common sense. Many smaller countries, case in point Nigeria, do well with foreign managers coming in, but the USA is one of the powers of BB, and there are enough USA users capable of doing the job that we shouldn't need to cast our eyes to foreign shores.

Domenico/Jàn Ïtor is a great candidate for the NT, lots of experience and former BB too! I think in any other country, maybe even in the first round of NT elections, you'd be my choice.

Although, Juice has shown commitment and class while managing this team that IMO can't be topped. The work done in organizing the NT infrastructure was top notch, including setting up a website for US managers, organizing a team of advisers, and setting up scouting for the present and future. On top of all this, he welcomed criticism and advice from everyone, and even in cases of disappointment always took 100% responsibility no matter what the case.

True, the US didn't have the best World Cup performance. That's overlooking everything that was done to guide the US to the point, including a strong qualifying campaign. In all, I'm confident that in every game the lineups were made up of the best available players with plenty of debate for tactical planning. Juice did an amazing job overall and we're lucky he's willing to commit his time and effort to another term.

Last edited by brian at 5/9/2008 10:46:39 AM

Whatever happens, I still love ya.

Just a couple points to contend:

the key to the success was the fact that Italy can play a 2-3 zone and still manage to shut virtually every perimeter offense,

That's nice if you have the players, especially superior ones, to have the "best of both worlds" defense you laid out. If you were manager, what can be done differently to influence training, other than advising managers of key players on training?

nigeria had to be stopped, even on a normal vs. a CT. was it possible with the given roster? no way.

Overall, the US team was undermanned (talent-wise) IMO, against teams like Brazil, Spain and of course Italy, who also had the benefit of home court. Since the US had to maintain higher enthusiasm to overcome these teams should they meet, do you believe it better to CT to get a win, even if that means you're risking any chance of the ultimate goal, winning the tournament?

This was the case against Nigeria were it wasn't even assumed they would CT and even if they did, we'd still have a chance (only 8 point loss). If you knew that a normal would give you a "toss-up" chance of advancing, would you take that to keep the ultimate goal intact?

Overall, the US team was undermanned (talent-wise) IMO, against teams like Brazil, Spain and of course Italy

And the first two we beat and the 3rd we play on Monday.

Overall, the US team was undermanned (talent-wise) IMO, against teams like Brazil, Spain and of course Italy, who also had the benefit of home court. Since the US had to maintain higher enthusiasm to overcome these teams should they meet, do you believe it better to CT to get a win, even if that means you're risking any chance of the ultimate goal, winning the tournament?

This was the case against Nigeria were it wasn't even assumed they would CT and even if they did, we'd still have a chance (only 8 point loss). If you knew that a normal would give you a "toss-up" chance of advancing, would you take that to keep the ultimate goal intact?

I don't believe the US team had the players to win the whole thing. So, that being said, I feel like the goal should have been to advance as far as possible. CTing against Nigeria in a must-win situation would have ensured that. Should the US team have beaten Nigeria Normal vs. CT? Yes, probably. However, there was a chance of losing, which is what happened. As Juice has said, he would have done it differently given another chance, and I respect that.

Obviously the Americas initial qualification is a bit of a cakewalk, but any thoughts on the group:

Pool B
Team W L PF PA %
1 United States 0 0 0 0 0.000
2 Bolivia 0 0 0 0 0.000
3 Ecuador 0 0 0 0 0.000
4 Paraguay 0 0 0 0 0.000
5 Brasil 0 0 0 0 0.000
6 Puerto Rico 0 0 0 0 0.000

If we don't advance past this group whoever is in charge should be shot.

We also play Brasil last, and for the 1st time not in Brasil.

9 candidates registered, 2 actually debating - where are the other 7?