US Soccer: What Is the Next Step After Two Defeats?

I have decided to do another roundtable discussion at Bleacher Report in reaction to the defeat of the USA in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. I invited Deb Stimson, Tim Fontenault, and Jo-Ryan Salazar to participate and discuss “What Next for US Soccer?”

The reason for the discussion was to address the decisions that US Soccer must make in order to advance to a level in which it can compete efficiently. The decisions that should be made are not easy.

The alternative of being complacent will not help anymore, since this is a serious issue. It remains to be seen whether US Soccer will go to the next level or remain where it is while other football (soccer) associations advance.

The question asked of each panelist was the following:

What can US Soccer do after its defeat in the 2011 Gold Cup and the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup?

The Need to Change Coach and Game Plan

Deb Stimson:

As far as the men's team, I personally think it's time for a new coach. It's not like we don't have good players but the coach doesn't seem to know what the players' strengths are, nor what adjustments to make against the strengths of the different teams.

Also, the lack of a consistent lineup does not help things, either. For a team to play well, they need to be in sync with the other 10 players. This can't happen when the lineup is constantly changing. As for the women's team, I'm not sure there's much that needs to be changed.

I don't know what happened with the US, but for all the missed shots, uncharacteristic errors on defense and the abhorrent PKs, I feel that Japan had a "12th player" on the field. Call it fate or call it divine intervention, if you will.

I will not take anything away from the team, though. They fully deserved the win. Their skill and "never say die" attitude is very admirable. Japan, the country and the team, has been through so much in the past year.

They overcame a lot of adversity just to play in the WC. Even though I am gutted for my country, no one else deserved that win more than Japan.

Keep Pia (Sundhage) and Fire Bob (Bradley)

Jo-Ryan Salazar:

It must keep Pia Sundhage, but dismiss Bob Bradley.

Look Towards the Future

Tim Fontenault:

On the men's side of the game, the focus needs to be on being ready for qualifying, which begins next summer. The first step for this comes in the form of three upcoming friendlies, first with Mexico and Costa Rica at home and then a trip to Brussels for a friendly with Belgium.

Its time to start going back to take a look at the younger players who played for the US against the likes of South Africa and Chile. With Mexico, you want your best team out there, but this time the inclusion of Timothy Chandler would be preferable.

This guy is going to be the right back throughout Qualifying and into the 2014 World Cup. We need to start getting him into the game consistently. I like the young fullback combination of Chandler and Eric Lichaj. That is going to be a solid duo.

For the September friendlies, it would be wise to call upon the likes of Mikkel Diskerud, Juan Agudelo, Alejandro Bedoya, Freddy Adu, Yevgeni Starikov, Brek Shea, Gale Agbossoumonde and maybe even Daniel Williams, should all see inclusion in the squad.

These are players who could be beneficial as they get older. We have a lot of young talent on the men's team that needs to be developed and turned into an impacting component of this team. For the women, there really isn't much to do but continue to bring popularity to the sport back home.

Qualifying for the 2012 Olympics will take place in Vancouver starting on January 19. Not much needs to be done to the squad. Let's be honest: the US beat themselves on Sunday night. There's no doubts about that.

They missed too many chances and made a couple poor decisions in the back. It was simply not their night.

To keep confidence high, I'd say maybe schedule one or two big friendlies before the trip to Vancouver, where they are joined by Canada, Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba along with two teams to be determined for the qualifying tournament.

Maybe a game against Brazil or France or Germany, maybe even against Japan yet again this year, could really get people interested and give the team some confidence going in. If there's anything to work on, its Pia Sundhage figuring out how best to use her forwards.

There's no doubt that Alex Morgan is emerging as a star. She is going to be a great player. Amy Rodriguez was the regular starter alongside Abby Wambach (who obviously stays in) until Sundhage went with Lauren Cheney in a sort of second striker role on Sunday. Cheney was phenomenal in Germany. What to do?

Another question could possibly be at center back. Will Christie Rampone still be part of the team? She was tremendous at the World Cup, but she'll be 37 when the Olympics begin. Should Rampone call it quits, her magicJack teammate Becky Sauerbrunn could take her place in the middle.

Sauerbrunn played very well against France in the Semifinals, her lone World Cup appearance. She would bring a great youthfulness to the back, as would Stephanie Cox, who is another option.

Jurgen Klinsmann Should Be in Charge

Roberto Alvarez-Galloso:

I think that the US Football (Soccer) culture should change with the following:

Jurgen Klinsmann replacing Sunil Gulati as President and Bob Bradley as Coach of the USSF (United States Soccer Federation).

Klinsmann was able to renovate the German National Football (Soccer) Team by phasing in gradually younger players and removing those who were not doing enough gamewise. Klinsmann also was able to inject discipline and cover every area of the field, including the defense.

Klinsmann is also a proponent of changing the football (soccer) culture in which (according to Klinsmann: "The Pyramid is upside down"). He achieved most of his goals and was able to see Germany advance within the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

A Note Of Thanks

I would like to thank Deb Stimson, Tim Fontenault and Jo-Ryan Salazar for their participation in the roundtable discussion concerning US Soccer.