Isn’t Erickson the only one of those three who is available? Hiddink is going to Russia and Big Phil (I think) is staying in Portugal.

I’d take Erickson, believe it or not.

- Fire Bruce Arena and hire a foreign coach. Nothing against the ranks of U.S. coaches, but the international game is radically different than the U.S. domestic brand and this team needs a comprehensive overhaul of personnel and tactics. Given the speed and skill of the U.S. attacking midfield and McBride’s penchant for scoring goals with Fulham, there’s no excuse for playing a 4-5-1. Look to Scolari, Hiddink or (God help the U.S.) Erickson.

- The toughest obstacle for the USMNT is the lack of quality they typically face in their opponents. Sure massive victories against Panama, Jamaica, and T & T look good on the socresheet and in the FIFA rankings, but did nothing to prepare us for the Czech Republic. Other than the qualifier against Mexico, the U.S. hadn’t seen quality opposition since the friendly with England last spring, and that was against their B-team. A foreign-based coach would lend the US some international credibility and encourage the European and South American powerhouses to take us on.

- Lastly, four years isn’t that long. I cried for a week when England blew their lead against a ten-man Brazil squad in 2002; but before I knew it, the European qualifiers were on and England was back to pasting the Faroe Islands and such. The US is a young team and, with the likes of Freddy Adu on the rise, the future looks very bright. With an influx of new ideas from a foreign coach and the maturity of additional players gaining experience in Eurpoe’s top leagues, the US will be a serious contender in 2010.

I haven’t been able to make a post either though I will be sometime later today with two pretty good articles as sort of a point and counter point if Bruce should stay or if he did a good job or not.

As the Britts would say, I am gutted.

3 points:

• We were overrated
• We under achieved (for a multitude of reasons)
• We received no breaks

As much as I dislike Landycakes at times he did say something yesterday that I had to agree with. It was something to the effect that last World Cup we got all the breaks and this time we didn’t get any. Last time there were several P.K.’s and we saved them all.

Oh yea, and one more thing Donavon, you should up last time and this time you didn’t.

Landy want a cracker–if only it were that simple.

A lot of US fans are waking up with the feeling that four years = eternity. Thinking about how disappointed the Czechs must be makes me feel a little better and there’s a good chance France won’t make it through either. I have such a flawed character that I’m happy about the failures of other teams. And I like Thierry Henry & Zidane. I think we’re all sick & tired of hearing about American underachievement and weakness and disinterest…

Thanks Jeremy, for the story about the US supporters. We should all focus on the positives, such as they are.

By they way, proper credit for the story must go to my fiance, who first sent it to me.

And now, and unrelated annecdote. Since all the soccer fans on here were undoubtably watching yesterday’s match on TV, my guess is that I was the only one that experienced KFAN’s (1130-AM in the Twin Cities) handling of the match. Paul Allen had Star Tribune baseball wonk and soccer fan La Velle E. Neal III on with him, and they broadcasted from Major’s Sports Cafe, which was packed with USA fans. It was neat to me because I could hear the excitement (and eventual disappointment) in the crowd over the air. Also, in the second half, whenever the U.S. got near the opposing goal, either PA or La Velle would frantically yell, “Audio! Audio!” and switch on a live radio broadcast of the game.

End unrelated annecdote.