I can't find a video, but I do recall William Yarbrough doing an interview at a US camp. The reporter started talking to him in Spanish, and he cut him off and told him he was told to only conduct interviews in English.
this sounds political or paranoid. like you're worried about what people are "saying behind your back" in the second or third language. or are on some real xenophobia kick. otherwise it's fairly standard and only opens doors of coaching and public relations. if this is the response to having a german coach who could talk directly to passport players without speaking a work of english, that's sad and counterproductive. i want coaches who are fluently bilingual from their family background. i want coaches who took language lessons so they could go coach abroad. i want "more," not "less."
some of this is where i get at, are there security prroblems in terms of some of the new ideas. we are anti bradenton and pro academy. a residency hugs the prospects close. the opposite exposes the youth players to view and scouting. and then it sounds like the odp system isn't very secure. what on earth are mexico scouts doing watching at any point the pyramid that builds to the NT? i get there might be games and showcases. but this is for our benefit to pick from the pool. part of this is where i wonder if the current obsession with getting players pro-signed distorts our process. i understand this is the way of the world. i don't know if it should be a big priority of the NT pyramid. anecdotes of where players sign/play seem to have gone from interesting trivia to a metric of success.
Well...............here's the problem in a nutshell. People say they have problems with X, Y, and Z in terms of the youth. That's fine. The real problem is that for the last 5 years or so Tab Ramos has been the only one home. Now he's gone. There is no strategy. There is no day-to-day work. Its absolutely bare bones. Youth Technical Director: Vacant U23: Jason Kreis (part time; has a job at Inter Miami) U20: Vacant U19: Vacant U18 Vacant U17: Wicky U16: Vacant U15: Vacant.
seems pretty likely they are just waiting for the u17s to end so wicky can get promoted and hire everyone?
Wow! You dont understand why people like Hugo? Take off your rose tinted MLS glasses, stop worrying where he is and focus on what he did. There so much talk about euro snobs, but nobody cares more about where a player or coach is at is MLS fans. I will just speak for myself. I like Hugo for what he actually did as coach with our u14/15s. He had a good eye for talent and got the kids playing quality, attacking soccer. He approached the game differently, got results and the kids liked him. Here are a couple articles about what he did with the team and what the players had to say about him. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/clu...camp-ends-hugo-perez-stint-with-u15s_aid33492 https://www.soccerwire.com/resource...-under-threat-at-the-u-17-world-cup-in-chile/
Clubs potentially have players from all over the world who don't speak the native language, therefore the communication issue is potentially more complex. Ours is not. Everyone speaks English. Perhaps I didn't phrase it the best way I could. What I meant is because of what I wrote above, this should be a non-issue. The problem is in our current tense, political environment where everyone is walking on egg shells, people are quick to jump down the rabbit hole and throw around accusations, and read into things that aren't there regarding xenophobia <insert other topic here.>
Note: Mexico didn't hire him as a coach either. Seeing as he's done nothing but burn bridges since he left the U15s, there was zero chance of Hugo having a role within the USSF. Zero chance. Now, why wasn't he hired by an MLS club? I don't know that either. But I do know from talking to folks that there were bigger problems than the language issue between Hugo and the USSF. Folks only have heard one side of that story.
It's hard to give the USSF the benefit of the doubt when they've screwed up time and time again. And, one of the big complaints about USSF is how insular they can be and how they quickly ostracize those who don't tow the company line 100%. People are automatically taking Hugo's side because for one, he's had some real successes that we need more of, secondly the USSF has shown a pattern of behavior that makes this sound more par for the course, and Hugo's status from his playing days and hall of fame status isn't nothing. If the USSF had a better rep and dealt with these issues better on a regular basis, you'd see a lot more people side with them. But that's not the world we live in. Seeing people side against USSF in an area like this sounds a lot more like common sense than conspiracy theory.
Which is why USSF so desperately needs a CEO hire outside of the organization. Unfortunately, since USSF thinks all of this is just fine, Jay Berhalter will be the next CEO and things will never change. In a different article about Dan Flynn on the Athletic, one of the commenters mentioned Mark Tatum as an ideal candidate for the CEO position. The commenter's direct comment reads as follows: "Mark Tatum, Deputy Commissioner and COO, National Basketball Association and USA Basketball Board Member...would be one of the first people I reach out to if it were my search...find out who in basketball understands the grassroots, connecting with inner cities and diverse socio-economic backgrounds. No one in US Soccer leadership has that experience nor expertise. If the job is not for him, he knows the person." Tatum is the kind of guy that would be a strong out of the box hire to be the CEO of US Soccer. As the commenter said, he would understand how to scout and make inroads into areas the current hierarchy of USSF seems to ignore, if not outright shun. If we wanted to stay in the soccer sphere, my choices would be Darren Eales (Atlanta United) or John Thorrington (LAFC) - both have made major inroads reaching out to diverse groups to build top-flight organizations from scratch.
I dont care why Mexico hired him. What bridges has he burned and how did he burn those bridges? Zero chance? Reallly? I have no idea what stupid reason MLS used to not hire him. I also take zero stock in anything MLS does. They dont know what they are doing or just dont care. Problems? Were they really problems or just things the federation didn't like? I have no idea what those things are so have no idea.
not everyone speaks English or speaks it well. That’s not a requirement for citizenship in all cases.
Fair point, but I think Tatum's experience with developing markets with the NBA and USA basketball would be a real asset. As the commenter says, he understands how to get into the under-developed areas and find talent. USA Basketball has been able to develop a good youth program as well. My opinion only, but a lot of the skills that make Tatum good in his current role would translate well to US Soccer. He can hire good soccer people to handle the technical side of things. Plus, I think a lot of the issues around youth talent development are very similar between basketball and soccer. Both sports aren't terribly expensive to participate in (I'm obviously excluding US Soccer's pay to play system - this is strictly about the cost for balls, equipment, etc.). Now, the counterpoint to my argument is that Gary Bettmann was the deputy NBA commissioner before becoming commissioner of the NHL, and his record has been inconsistent - and I'm probably being diplomatic there. EDIT - Reading Tatum's bio and work history more, he actually came to the NBA from Major League Baseball, so he does have experience making the jump from one sport to another. Just something else to think about. "Prior to joining the NBA, Tatum worked for Major League Baseball in Corporate Sponsorship and Marketing, the Clorox Company as a Regional Sales Manager, Pepsi-Cola Company in their Sports Marketing department, and Procter & Gamble in sales management."
Tangential - That reminds me of the time that Alejandro Moreno, ESPN commentator, was barred from the press room by USSF for a conference prior to a US-Mexico match, because they suspected he was a spy for Mexico. Setting aside the gross lack of professionalism - Alejandro Moreno is not even Mexican. (disclaimer: i'm not implying the USSF is racist, i'm implying they're just complete effing morons)
Wow. I’d love for my 11 year old to learn Spanish so he can communicate better with any teammates who would speak Spanish more comfortably (and he’s already had a teammate where that would have been really useful). Are you willing to give USSF and Jay Berhalter any benefit of the doubt right now? For me, until I see tangible proof otherwise, my initial reactions will be to side against the leadership of USSF. I don’t trust them whatsoever.
You miss some of the question but his response is there, its the main first response he gives. In regards to the Tatum point above, you dont even have to look at just him but someone with his knowledge. Someone who has proven the ability to talk to people from different cultures in a way that is both respectful and impactful because they took the time to understand the nuanced ways some cultures respond and react to different things. Experience in reaching out to poor communities, not just people of color but rural areas where Caucasian poverty is high, put in soccer fields in those areas and let kids see there is a hope to escape to a better life (college if not more) through a sport that right now is actually losing players at a very high rate. You could even go to look at some of the better academies in the world and try and poach some of their office members to come and be a consultant or make new positions with that surplus of cash. The fact that there is not a full time scout team for a country this big, plus all of the dual national possibilities is a joke. Hugo may be a huge tool behind the scenes, I cant attest to that. But I can say definitely he has an eye for talent, and having had success as a player can really pull kids who are firmly in the middle to one side or the other, or help identify players who the US overlooks with their apparent cookie cutter scout system.