Well, Greg Ryan will not be asked back to coach the U.S. women's national soccer team next year. I must admit, I'm a bit surprised. I know that some have been calling for this since his decision to bench Hope Solo for the critical semifinal match against Brazil in the World Cup, a decision that many people believe is directly responsible for their loosing the match. Yet, as The Footie reminds us, Ryan maintained 45-1-9 record. And, I rather thought that Solo might have taken the heat off her coach with the ungracious comments immediately following the loss:
As for Solo, whose fate we've discussed before, one assumes that she will continue to play with her team.
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4 comments:
They should not fire this guy, he has a great record and the team has been highly completive on the world stage under his guidance. With any other sport, if the US was this competitive he would be considered a hero - and this includes all men's sports. This seems to be a problem of the expectations, not a problem with his coaching ability. This is very different from the men's world cup where Arena deserved to be fired.
And Solo? What do you think should happen with her?
She had to sit out a game. That's enough.
There are lots of examples of coaches with excellent records not performing on the appropriate big stage and subsequently getting sacked. Joe Torre might agree (although technically he wasn't really fired). Tyrone Willingham certainly would. I'm not too terribly upset with this decision. Yes, he had a great record. However, on the world stage, he made horrific coaching decisions. His decision to sit Solo was not the only issue. Do we decide to take another four years with an excellent international record followed by another loss at the World Cup before we sack him?
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