T Hawk said:
We are also in the training department...Go look at how they do it in Europe and South America... That is why their players are so good... Our training is better and getting better but not anywhere near what they have...
I disagree.
I follow the German team like a religion, and let me tell you that the training in Europe is NOTHING like what we see here in the US. Juergen Klinsmann actually learned from US teams about training and practice, and tried to implement that in his team. He got lambasted for it before the Cup - to a point where The Kaiser was also up his ass.
Klinsmann hired American coaches to train his team. He stressed physical fitness and psychological training. He had his team runs laps while pulling tires for an entire practice session and didn't even have them touch a ball.
That sparked chaos in Germany. He used tendency charts, and coached the MENTAL aspect of the game - something totally foreign to Europeans who had always believed in "creativity", not "statistics" nor "physicality".
He said he learned from the NFL that a non-guaranteed contract and competition is what breeds "desire". He knew he didn't have guaranteed contracts on his team, so he started a system on his team where EVERY job (except for Ballack and Klose) was up for grabs. He almost faced a mutiny when he got rid of the captain Kahn and chose Jens Lehman to play goal.
Klinsmann started a system of "attack and defend the middle". The purists in Europe had always said that attacking football wouldn't succeed because of the threat of a counter attack. Klinsmann went to US Womens Team, and used their system. The attack at all times, but when the opposition gets the ball, it is everyone's job to force the ball to the outside. Once the ball goes to the wing, it slows down the fast break and gives players a chance to come back on defense.
The US has a lot of training methods that the Europeans do not know about and do not believe in - and Klinsmann is using it now, so lets not say Bruce Arena didn't have the chance to succeed. He just couldn't do it, and he played scared.