News: Earnie Stewart addresses Gregg Berhalter Speculation

His doctor has advised him as to the importance of a walking regimen and regularity in bowel movements as he reaches "a certain age". Earnie brilliantly found a way to kill two birds with one stone.

 

I generally tune in to see McKennie on Saturdays.

FCKSUMMLS

 

That was my thought too. What exact measure of progress is he using? Going just by wins and losses, we aren't progressing. Maybe in some cases a team can be looking consistently better but isn't translating that to wins yet because of bad luck and/or extremely good opponents, but it doesn't seem to me that that is happening either. If there's some specific phase of the game that's improving or some secret statistical analysis that shows improvement, I'd like to hear about it.

It seems to me that this is a team not getting any better at playing how Berhalter wants them to play. And worse, it's a team that's now running into opponents who know how Berhalter wants his team to play, and these opponents come in with specific strategies to beat us that Berhalter is unable or unwilling to counter. I don't remember Berhalter being this dumb and inflexible with Columbus, but maybe he was, and I just wasn't paying close enough attention.

 

Progress? Metrics?

This is the organization that was so outraged over missing the World Cup that it elected the second in command to take over.

When Belgium didn’t make the knockout of Euro 2000, they gutted their entire federation and completely changed their player development model. We get embarrassed by countries 2% of our size, and people get promoted.

Who needs progress?

 

Sad thing is I would wager 75% of posters could pick a better roster and produce a better “system” than Berhalter.

The problem with Berhalter is that he’s so bad that in his imaginary world, he believes that makes him clever.

 

I am so glad I didn't waste my money on a ticket. I guess I was proactive starting my boycott a month ago.

 

We did out possess both Mexico and Canada! Awesome

 

It's good that you know there's more to soccer than results. Just like Ernie said to Philadelphia fans...

You guys need to realize that we're seeing rolled up sleeves, a vision, a system. Results are secondary. Trust the process guys.

 

So Earnie is the American Arsene Wenger. Awesome.

 

Earnie's comments remind of this from Gregg wrt Efrain Alvarez:

"Regarding a potential choice for him, we want to create an environment that players want to be in. We want to create a playing style, a team spirit that players want to be a part of. If we do, we’re confident we can get players like that and keep players like that in our program."

I wonder how the concept that Gregg's/Earnie's playing style creates an attractive environment is working out for us.

 

His defense for saying there has been progress is that he says that they have shown that they can play at a high level for a portion of the match, now they just have to do it the whole match. This is political speech 101. He says nothing that we can refute. If they play well for 30 seconds out of the 90 minutes he is technically accurate. The guy is in a job in today's day and age that requires that this is how he speaks to the media.

The whole press conference thing that is done for everything under the sun now is just another opportunity for sponsors to hawk their products when coaches and others sit in front of these billboards or have their products in front of them on the podium. There is extraordinarily rarely any actual truth spoken at these conferences. I don't know why they are attended by the press. It must be incredibly frustrating for them. Earnie said what everyone expected him to say. I bet even he couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. You know he knows better, but in his role what else could he say? He has an employee, and can't bad mouth said employee in public. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

We don't know and will never know for sure what's going on behind closed doors. A good reporter, like our own @bshredder will get some inside scoop in the near future from an inside bureaucrat and a couple of players and we'll get a sense of things.

Organizations like these keep press and fans very much at an outstretched arms length for various reasons, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that he would have these comments for public consumption.

 

One can certainly avoid criticizing coaches/players and not say what he did. He absolutely doubled-down. That's not corporate speak, which IMO would be saying platitudes but also starting to CYA (that's corporate America, baby)

 

According to what I read that was all he did. Platitudes and CYA. To whit:

“I’m pleased with the progress, but obviously when you don’t win games there’s a certain pressure that comes with that and we all understand,” Stewart said. ” That’s part of our business, but that’s also something that our player, and our staff and ourselves, we all need to get through and keep to doing what we have to do.”

Iffin' that ain't platitudes mixed in with a little side of CYA, I don't know what is.

 

That part is normal corporate speak and if he had stopped there, I'd agree with you but you're ignoring the other part where he says

1. he's happy with Berhalter
2. results aren't that important
3. references the 25 minutes vs. mexico in GC
4. he doesn't care about the prior loss to Canada and
5. there's nothing Gregg can do in these games to risk his job

That's not typical at all - it's a double-down. Given the responses here, it's far from "what everyone expected him to say"

 

I have two concerns:

1.) Stewart is a moron, and/or is sleeping and drinking in his office and paying attention to nothing

or

2.) Stewart's under orders to basically CYA the Fed's rear, and take the bullets for their idiocy a la Bruce Allen (an evil idiot to be sure) and Dan Snyder.

I have a hard time believing it's #1 after looking at his track record in the Netherlands. Yes Philly was another story entirely, but in the Netherlands he set about building programs based on available assets that seemed to be exactly what we want, maximizing resources, turning over every stone, building a great academy, all of that. Did he suddenly completely forget how to do this (Because word is the youth teams are a total dumpster fire w/a gazillion jobs unfilled, w/all the guys with institutional skill and knowledge bounced out and either not replaced, or replaced with inferior talent.

#2 just sounds more like it because I just have a hard time thinking the hire wasn't predetermined based upon what the fed did after Couva, which was essentially, hand the key's off to a bunch of stop gaps and do literally nothing for essentially 15 months other than hire stewart about 10 months after Couva. So what's the thinking there? Did they have their guy, or were they clueless.

I just flat out have a hard time understanding how it couldn't be #2 because of what's happened.

However, since Stewart's taken over nothing positive has happened:
1.) No extensive interview process.
2.) What youth successes we had were essentially the successes that pissed people off (they wanted Tab out for some reason)
3.) We hired the wrong HC
4.) We've seemingly had no clue how to handle the youth programs.
5.) Leaks at Soccer House, leaks about the horrendous handling of Latino-American players, and staff (we have virtually none of the latter).
6.) Disaster at the U17's

Just could on forever on these stories.

I want to know what the hell is going on, because Earnie needs to understand, as the Fed doesn't, that we're not a stupid fan base. We may be filled with infighting, but we know ---- when we smell it. There is a reason ticket sales are the worst they've been since what, the 1980's. They've undone literally 27 years of building out from Italia '90. We aren't buying any of the b.s.

We've had a calendar year with more "worst lost I've seen in years/decades," performances than I've seen since the debacle in France 21 years ago combined. We not only see the horrible losses, we also see the terrible performances, terrible losses in '02, and '03, in '07 or '09, could always be interpreted as a part of various builds and challenges. These terrible losses have been about player selection, starting lineups, and blockheaded, inflexible tactics.

We aren't idiots. We know "the group" has remained the same since 11 months ago w/only 2-3 major changes. The group sucked 11 months ago and it sucks now. We know the tactics are a poor fit, we know the 23's are a bad group, and we know the 11's are self-defeating. Some of us think rolling the dice w/guys that may make a difference is better than going w/guys that we know won't, while others think both groups won't, so there's reason behind both sides fighting it out amongst the fans. Can we say that about Earnie or Egg? I don't see it.

The only twinkling of light I see, the only slight hint of hope, is that they get this, and they're like a tanking team that's playing the bridge guys until after Olympic Qualifying. Could it be that they're taking their lumps w/the Cupcake sub-mediocrities, because the priority is the Olympics? Could it be that they just plan on eating it, hard for 2019, and then after the olympics, the roster transforms into a blend of a couple of vets, a couple of the youngsters like Pulisic, Adams and McKennie, and the rest of the roster is infused w/U23's by Fall 2020? I think that's figuratively insane, but technically possible. Maybe they don't want to infect the Ledezma's, the Mendez's, the Richards w/the senior team garbage?

I know that's a pipe dream, but honestly, it's the only exculpating evidence for the disaster I can find, period. Otherwise, EGG is a complete moron, and stewart is either a complete moron, or CYA'ing it for the Fed. Considering how poorly literally everything is that the fed does, I am highly skeptical there's some "brilliant, cunning plan" in play, to quote blackadder. It's just "stupid is as stupid does," to quote Forest Gump. Needless to say, I think it's the latter.

 

This is a results-oriented business. And, yes, this is a business.

Perhaps the most ridiculous assertion is pointing to the first 25 minutes of one match as a sign of progress--in a game, by the way, that was lost. In other words, the result was a big fat L. Sometimes bad teams look for a moral victory after a defeat; but, you can only really do that when you have a struggling team that takes it to the wire only to come up just a little short at the end of the game against an opponent who otherwise far outclasses yours on paper. Talking up the first 27.8% of a game against your archrival--during which you actually scored no goals at all--does not qualify for any rational person as any kind of moral victory or sign of progress. What's worse about this is that archrival made adjustments after those 25 minutes that were not adequately countered by the current management--that is a sign of the opposite of progress.

Put it like this: can you imagine the brass of an NFL team like the Redskins coming out to the media that they back their head coach because they played pretty well during the first quarter of one game earlier this year against a divisional rival that they ultimately lost--and then defining "playing well" based on the mere fact that they made some first downs and didn't allow the other team to score?

That's absurd and that's what we're dealing with here.

 

Earnie is just getting roasted on United States of Soccer (Sirius). I have literally lost all hope. He cites the 1st 25 minutes against Mexico in the GC for growth? We lost that game and then went on to lose 3-0 to Mexico the next time and then get shutout in Canada and you cherry pick a portion of a game you lost? This goes way deeper than GB.... the Fed is more concerned w/ staying in power than winning games. We are F'd.

 

"We were doing well against Mexico until the coach we should have hired made adjustments, for which the coach we did hire had no answer."

 

More quotes from Earnie when with the Union and they too essentially marginalize winning.... check this one out:

"And people who come for winning and losing? If they’re only coming for that, I’m not going to promise it. If you come to see us win every single game, don’t do it. You’re going to get disappointed. But if you come to watch our players roll up their sleeves, go out every day, play within our vision, play in our system, and compete, we give those players chances."

Yikes. As fans we can't hold an organization, coach or players accountable for their success or lack thereof? I will say it again... we are F'd. This guy just doesn't get it. Winning matters.... this is not AYSO U-10.

 

I was excited when Earnie was first brought into the Union organization because I liked some of the things he did in the Netherlands and I thought he would import a different perspective into a franchise out-of-touch with what matters most: putting forth the effort to find any means necessary to produce a winning product on the pitch.

Then, when he was hired by USSF? No excitement. Can someone take a guess as to why? Hint: it kind of has to do with what he did not accomplish at the Union.

 

Wow. We lost 3-0 but it's okay because we had 73% possession without purpose with 2 shots vs the other team. But it's okay, we had the ball the most and that is what matters. Results don't mean anything.

 

I would take whatever Earnie said with a very light grain of salt.

When a GM/Director goes out of his way and state publicly very strong support for an extremely poor and under performing coach, it's likely that coach is gone the next day/week.

 

The problem with that is Earnie's track record.

When he repeatedly stated his support for Jim Curtin to the public after repeated Union failures, he honestly kept his word. While I 100% appreciate keeping one's word, the content of what Earnie is actually saying right now is not exactly the message many of us are hoping for at this time...

I have little doubt that Earnie really means what he said in regards to Gregg's job.

 

So Earnie can even act like a typical GM/Director of a sporting organization? Like talk shite, make lies, not keeping their words, blame other for failures, etc.?

We got the wrong guy for the job, folks.