Properly defined, a fool is not stupid. A stupid person lacks in intelligence. A foolish person lacks in judgment. You try to teach a stupid student about differential equations, and you'll spend hours making him grasp the idea. You teach it to the fool, he'll get them in half an hour; but then he goes and tries to use them to pick girls in a bar. Most coaches blather a bit. But they have the good sense, the _judgment_ not to blather about general principles which they will be obviously violating the next day. Also, they put some of substance when they give interviews, instead of stalling in general philosophical disquisitions that would be barely tolerated even on a football blog by a fan.
Good post. I think Klinsmann's tactics have been pretty solid thus far, and while he had certain pet projects to start, he's settled in on a defensible roster of contributors. But his drama with Landon and banishment of Freddy do not look like positive developments. Regardless of club situation, form or temperament those guys are among the 6 best players in the pool at creating goals. I'm not against freezing out those guys right now in the hope that they get their heads right, but going into World Cup qualification without at least Landon is a very daunting task. The prevailing belief around here is that we should build our pool like the great football powers do- requiring club form and spotless commitment in order to make the side. I think it's foolhardy. Many of the smaller European sides have to deal with playing benchwarmers at bigger clubs and head-cases in order to compete. We're much the same. When those European sides have a manager feud with a talismanic figure, the side is doomed for an entire cycle. When we have three or four players at each position who can play, then we can act accordingly.
There are no issues between JK and LD. The major problems with the usmnt are some unwarranted egos. Once JK works out that issue, this team will be fine.
Pretty sure drama and LD were wed prior to klinsi. Additionally one of these players is not like the other one they should never be used in anything other than aa contrast and compare statement. Epic PHAIL On the bright side Freddy may well be the oldest professional athlete in history.
Which Freddy are you referencing, Flintstone? If so, he has the skillset to play a stone age 6, sort of like Torsten Frings, only greater in girth. If its Adu, not sure how he's become the oldest statesman just yet.
They've always been pretty complimentary of one another. The last time LD turned down a call-up, Jurgen said something to the effect that there would always be a spot for him. Long before that, he'd clearly said LD was the best US player available (naturally, he can't really say that now). Even with Wynalda prodding him to call Donovan unreliable, Jurgen is pretty complimentary: http://watchsocceronline.blogspot.com/2012/10/klinsmann-talks-donovan-us-future.html
Good post. Thanks. This should squelch my fears but regretably it doesn't. Klinsy certainly makes the right noises in this interview and seems to want LD back. Good. Do you happen to have any quotes from Landon supporting Klinsy's method? Fingers crossed. Cheers.
A smart player never criticizes his coach. Even when it's a former coach. It's dumb, because then people will question his ability to be loyal and to keep his mouth shut. Any player who's not over 60 would do better to be quiet, or just say anodyne, pleasant things. Some day they may want to get into coaching or administration, and what you said in the past becomes important to be considered for such a job.
May have already been mentioned but Donovan, and to an extent Klinsmann fell into the politics of the club with Donovan being somewhat unfairly criticized by the Munich board, who positioned it as just one of the reasons to get rid of Klinsmann at the club that is appropriately called "FC Hollywood" in Munich. Donovan wasn't terrible but he wasn't so great. But the other threat to Donovan was that Munich had also signed Ivica Olic that same window however he wouldn't be with the club until the next season, and he was available on a free. In addition they also had a few other young players coming along. So you had one coming in that was already slightly older than Donovan in Olic AND a proven Bundesliga performer along with younger talent, not to mention Munich still had Klose and Podolski, and Ribery. Uli Hoeness was rather harsh in his criticism of Donovan to the point of over-stating things quite a bit (in the aftermath describing Donovan as a player that wouldnt' even play for their reserve side... all a bit much considering he was rahter good in pre-season with the regulars). But this was more about the politics of the club and the board vs. Klinsmann than Donovan, who was collateral damage. I do not think Klinsmann disliked Donovan at all otherwise he wouldn't have tried so hard to get him to Munich. Though I can believe that maybe the aftermath of the Munich debacle in general could have left a bad taste in Donovan's mouth... and of course there are things that maybe we don't know.
I watched most of those friendlies via internet fields. Donovan played very well - on the wing. When the season restarted, Luca Toni was hurt and JK played Donovan as forward. it was really ridiculous. Donovan looked like a boy lost in a redwood forest. I thought JK misused him and undid the work they had done in the previous games. I always felt that was the source of his failure there was how he was used. When David Moyes used him properly, he thrived. I thought this a while back. It's ironic - we get a European coach and he is more Southern Californian than anyone from Southern California could possibly be. It's like we're being coached by Bohdi from Point Break
Not besides generalities (at least that I can remember). As Suyuntuy says, I wouldn't expect much beyond that, particularly anything negative, even for a guy like LD who tends to be impreduently candid at times. Landon is a fitness freak, and fitness/workrate is a big deal for Klinsmann, so they seem to see eye-to-eye on the training/conditioning thing. As far as the phone book ripping and stuff...who knows?
Egos are always a concern for any team. The best teams are those where "what might be best for the team" is placed ahead of "what might be best for me". It is easier on everyone if the coach is a role model in this area. It becomes a practice after years of coaching, if one is to become successful. This has been a bit of a concern for me regarding JK, but he has gotten better. Why does he occasionally say one thing and do the opposite? It's ego. It's hard to say if a small piece of this puzzle may be that JK has in some ways rubbed Donovan the wrong way. Brad Friedel retired very early from international matches, to a certain extent, because he believed he was clearly superior to Kasey Keller and struggled with the allotment of playing time given his own subjective evaluation of the situation. Certainly, Donovan's situation is entirely different from this, but it has crossed my mind that he may be rebelling on a certain level. And certainly, I do not see this as a major item in the uncertainty of Donovan, at the moment, only, perhaps as a supplemental or incendiary concern, at best.
There was speculation some time ago that Donovan might be upset that he wasn't offered the armband, but I kinda doubt that. Remember that LD was sat by Bradley, too, when people were speculating that Landon had "lost it" in 2011. I think whatever's going on is Landon-induced, for the most part.
So, I have to make a correction to my post from earlier in this thread: Klinsmann did sort of criticize Donovan for not sticking it out in Germany. I had forgotten about that part of this press conference: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=255737&root=us&cc=5901
On the other hand, Klinsmann has said nothing but positive things about Donovan's time at Bayern. He said that he wanted to keep him past the loan deal, but that the board refused. (If I recall, he also mentioned that he encountered an overwhelming amount of pushback from all corners whenever he gave Donovan minutes at Podolski's expense, and I'm sure Donovan was equally aware of that.)
Landon is still the US's most irreplaceable player. There's really no one else like him. So, you've got to believe Jurgen would be wise to let this play out and welcome him back with open arms when he's ready to return. Getting another cycle out of Landon was always going to be the biggest challenge for the US coach, whether it was Jurgen, Bob or anyone...
Again, we really cannot look at anything from the 'Bayern days' and draw conclusions. 1. Anything that JK did was met by resistance by the board by the time LD came over for the trial. LD was the poster boy/scapegoat and the conduit for everything Klinsmann was doing wrong. 2. Klinsmann talking positive of the time was the direct hit back at the board to show that he knows what he was doing (and probably to extent protect Donovan from the FUBAR situation).
The longer this drags on, I think the worse it is for his chances of coming back. And Jurgen HAS to accept him back with open arms when he does. No hostility, not cut in play, no coming off the bench. Although it doesnt set a great example, LD is the glue to this team. Jurgen has to find a way to get him back out on the pitch. By the Mexico game, he has to be back. And if not, Jurgen and USA need to plan for a future minus the most important player on the team.
if this really is about LD trying to get out of the MLS i think Jurgen supports him in his plight. Jurgen isn't a fan of the mls and would love for LD to be with everton/epl.