Does USMNT suffer from systemic apathy?

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by bsky22, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    if you are opposed to a school type residency, it would at least make sense to have the players together all summer at chula vista or the like. someplace mild and where they can gather a whole team, during a period of the year when select somewhat slacks.

    i also think one way of chasing a (late) version of this, while not fighting capitalism/centralism/pro ball would be restore something like project 40 where teenage pro signees from the YNT would all be on one USL team, as a matter of choice and contract, make money, get playing time, have technique watched and worked on, have a style implemented. as opposed to riding the bench and subbing in for 24 different MLS teams, each with their own style notes.
     
  2. IndividualEleven

    Mar 16, 2006
    #52 IndividualEleven, Oct 25, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2019
    Bob truly valued technical abilities--to a fault: he tolerated problem players like Adu and Feilhaber, whereas Arena and JK didn't. In LAFC, he has a team that mirrors much his ideals.

    JK wanted wanted players who could think for themselves because he sure wasn't going to coach them. Every player should be a club captain. And he wanted players with that attitude: he wanted 'nasty'. Bob would never have tolerated players like Zardes and Wondolowski--the technique was too weak. JK loved the cyborg work ethic and never-say-die ethos of those two.

    And JK wanted players who challenged themselves in the soccer cultures he viewed as superior to those of the US.

    Arena wanted commitment to the shirt, in addition to commitment on the field. Arena would never have given someone like Tim Chandler a WC slot. He didn't even bother to cap a born-and-bred American, like Jona Gonzalez.

    3G seems to value how well a player 'gets' his system and how well he gets along with him and everyone else. Fit in and don't rock the boat.
     
  3. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    i'd point out that the first two the guiding principles are more entrenched in soccer. the last two, depending how you see the berhalter system, are actually more cult of personality as opposed to soccer based.

    loyalty could be valuable if the underlying scheme is clockwork and beneficial. but if arena or berhalter has a loyalty test on top of a talent problem, you're just making it worse. ditto requiing public (and probably private as well) buy in to a malfunctioning system.

    berhalter's system could be seen as soccer based but the confluence of formation and selection is so odd, idiosyncratic, specific, inefficient, that i don't see the benefit of the cult and/or of notions that system guys fit it better.

    his idea of "fit" is overrated as it reminds of nth degree bradley when he got fired. bradley went unathletic and touch player with that 2011 gold cup team and it lost twice and got him canned. i agree he's often looking for "types" but i think the types are so odd and second rate that i don't believe picking better raw players gets a worse result. you see how morris looks. morris is primarily an athlete. he resists that. we both know that was supposed to be boyd. but morris plays well and boyd not so often.

    there's a whole set of weah green holmes etc. sitting around that would be more athletic and exciting than this bunch. this feels like a midtable club coach on a budget constructing a team to play in a very specific way. this doesn't feel like a NT coach.

    some of this probably gets at respect. i trust the prior coaches to take strong positions, bench or omit people. this guy yanks pulisic or omits pomykal and i want to say, where do you get off? and to be fair, that is technically his job, and it's not like JK or BA didn't bench or omit people, it's not like JK didn't throw around his big club theories with lasting negative consequences, but i think they have the established gravitas where i'll defer to that and hopefully it works out. this yutz, it's like, get out of here, i don't trust you making tough choices, laying down the law, deciding which dual national YNT to chase and being the one who leads that charge. the way pulisic has reacted a couple times (and pomykal the once before being left ff) makes me think i am not alone.
     

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