Plus: - the job Sunil really covets is of course the FIFA Council spot with its 300k salary and endless expenses that you don't even need to document and that's not counting the $5000 cash envelopes for "incidentals"on every trip. Not to mention the power and influence it gives him at the highest levels of the game. Sunil is a scrupulously honest man but the job pays what the job pays. He can give up the USSF gig but still have if not control then a whole lot of influence with a protege he has handed the job to. And he will have her support when he needs to get reelected. It's a deal I'd take all day long. Let somebody else fight with AYSO over tournament dates, quibble with the USWNT about hotels and decide what to do when your keeper's husband steals a federation van at 3 am. Who needs the headaches? - there is a huge elephant in the room that nobody ever mentions and that's CEO of World Cup 2026 which we will get, no question. Rothenberg was paid $ 7,000,000 for running 1994. What do you suppose the job is worth now? Plus, he'll be just 66 years old when the WC kicks off. What a nice little retirement package. And if he wants it, his hand picked Fed President will be only too happy to give it to him. Go ahead - try naming someone better qualified. So Sunil gives up the Presidency and lands in a big pile of roses. Or rose scented money and power. Blatteresque indeed,
BREAKING: Longtime U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati will not run for re-election. https://t.co/uuWa4MyYGN pic.twitter.com/gRyC1ivuZH— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 4, 2017 You won't have Sunil to kick around anymore. (Oh, wait. We will.)
Say what you will about Gulati and Carter. But it's sort of cool for USSF that the "establishment" are not white males.
Yes, gotta be ultracompetent. However, there are areas in soccer that have a huge subconscious bias. Look at American MLS coaches. Look at the WNT. If your gonna get the most competent guy then you need to rid your team of those biases. That's not being a bleeding heart, that's simple pragmatics. That's why I hated, hated the Curt Onalfo hire in LA. How is that guy getting a third shot as head coach? It screamed of a screwed up selection process.
In fairness to Onalfo, he was in a no-win situation back in 2010 here in D.C. That 2010 team was simply too light on talent at every position on the field. It was the end result of three years of overpaying for mediocre foreign talent. United had no Garberbucks left since it had already burned it on trades and poorly scouted foreign signings. The team was entering its resource-poor phase that it's finally getting out of with the new stadium. The previous coach didn't make any indications whether he wanted to re-sign or not until after his contract expired. The team president let it happen. Onalfo was the last available coach with MLS playoff experience and had no control over the roster he inherited. He then went back to the minors with LA Galaxy II and worked his way back up to the majors. He was then placed in another no-win situation with a team whose cupboard was bare and was in need of being blown up and rebuilt. Coach Arena left abruptly to try to stop the bleeding under Coach Klinsmann and couldn't start the blow-up and rebuild that he was probably going to start. Coach Onalfo again didn't have much control over the roster. I actually think that Coach Onalfo would be a competent MLS coach if he had a couple of seasons to build a squad. Maybe not a multiple time champion but probably making the playoffs.
While I'm not sure of that, I'll agree that he was screwed last year in LA. I mean, it isn't like Sigi was able to do much with that crew either. They said they wanted to play their youth and then were amazed when the youth didn't pan out and fired the coach. That team was poorly constructed from the get go and not even the best coach would have got them anywhere.
With LAFC coming into the league, I would think there would be much more pressure on whoever is coach of either LA team to win so maybe we could have a situation where the coach of LAFC/Galaxy is constantly being hired/fired.
Krishnaiyer talks to Commisso about Malik and USSF. I do not regret posting this. http://worldsoccertalk.com/2017/12/05/rocco-commisso-speaks-steve-malik-ussf/#comments
What a bizarre piece by Krishnaiyer. Here is a quote from Rocco Commisso: "'The arrogance of the US Soccer Federation, something any objective person who has worked within the sport in the United States has seen, was also discussed by Commisso. I didn’t receive a ticket to the (USA-Costa Rica game at Red Bull Arena) despite being an owner of one of the three New York professional teams” ... As an owner of a professional team who is in a USSF-member league, Commisso claims he’s never gotten a ticket to anything. ... At the game, Steve Malik — who was a guest of US Soccer — never came by the Palmer suite to say hello or explain what had transpired at the USSF board level (Malik had recused himself from the vote on NASL’s sanctioning).'" Is Commisso really this much of a thin-skinned amateur? Or is this just hot air to try to throw red meat to the NASL faithful? "Commisso meanwhile alleges Malik was negotiating independently with USL during the period when these presentations about potential new clubs were being given to the existing NASL owners." So what? Isn't Malik allowed to talk to other business entities about business? Unless there was some sort of contract that prohibited such negotiations? I could go on. This piece is just bizarre and amateur hour and does absolutely nothing to help the NASL's cause.
Kartik is also an absolute master of the non-specific, fact-free sideswipe: - Gulati has been largely seen as not only pro-MLS but someone who is willing to use the levers of power within US Soccer to protect the current top division in the US. - I have spoken on background to several figures who indicate that conscious efforts to weaken NASL took place at the board level - Similarly questions have been raised about North Carolina FC Owner Steve Malik - his decision to stick with NASL despite courting from USL in late 2016 can be interpreted as having saved the league. - However during 2017, the actions of Malik, .... have been questioned. - The arrogance of the US Soccer Federation, something any objective person ....has seen - In fact, it could be argued that NASL as an independent league has no real need to exist if the Cosmos brand is not active. - it is entirely possible,... that the league would not have been sanctioned to play in 2017. - It’s been a common theme that new owners in both NASL and USL often aren’t warned - Commisso implies in the interview above (and sources who have spoken to us on background) that Garber was largely responsible for Malik’s appointment. On and on it goes. Pure, unadulterated sleaze. A decent writer can write this same article about damned near anybody. But no responsible journalist would do it. They don't because it's nothing but sleazy. Not a quote, nary a named source, not even an attempt to relate something like evidence. Just "trust me, I know these things" It's astonishing to me that anyone, anywhere takes him seriously.
He has a whole audience of tweens over on reddit. Truly a web page for the brain dead. Jack Bell sucks more than Martinez. Patience is a virtue. Sooner or later that rising tide will come in to lift all boats.