Hex: USA Bungles Costa Rica Match; World Cup Spot in Jeopardy
There's a word for playing it safe:
Mediocre.
The dullards who run the USA football program are all about it, even when their comfort zone catches up to them more and more frequently.
And that's what's gonna happen -- again -- with their handing the keys to Bruce Arena.
USMNT officials spent most of Jürgen Klinsmann's time at the helm doing all and sundry to tunnel his authority, simply because he was doing what they hired him to do, ie- catch up to the world's top powers.
Even though the German legend put the USA in a World Cup bracket where it had little business being, his methods -- recruiting Europeans with American passports -- alienated the MLS, who felt their brand was being diminished.
As if.
They never bought into his concept of friendlies being for trial and error, even when he had the side firing on all cylinders. The OG's were so open about it that the players themselves began questioning a dude who'd been there and done that.
Arena was re-hired because he knows how to be a company man and player's manager. It didn't help against Costa Rica in a vital World Cup qualifier:
Really, with John Brooks outta commission, is the best Arena could do was pair Geoff Cameron and Tim Ream at center-back?
If someone makes a male version of Clueless, look no further for the leads.
And was anyone surprised at the Ticos deploying a rope-a-dope 5-4-1 on the road?
If not, what in the name of Sir Stanley Matthews was Arena doing by sticking Michael Bradley out there all alone?
That went over like a fart in church.
So here's the situation heading into next Tue 5 Sep's trip to that hellhole in Honduras:
The USA's final two matches are home to Panama on Fri 6 Oct and at the T&T on Tue 10 Oct.
Winding up in the pale blue means a playoff against Asia's No 5 team, likely Syria or Saudi Arabia at this point. Assuming the Yanks don't wet the bed against Panama, they've still got a decent shot at joining the party in Russia.
However, vanilla's probably not gonna work at the World Cup if the USA expects an extended stay.
If so, then failing to make the bracket will be considered a regression.
But that already started when Klinsmann got dumped.