Well, actually, he didn't lay into everyone. He let the head coach and former technical director off the hook.
I think JK is "exaggerating" the problem, or just misunderstanding some of the realitiy. 24 or 25 or 26 is not an accurate assessment of the full MLS reality. The league does get younger players, to include guys like Miazga and Acosta and Morris. And guys like Altidore and Bradley before them. JK needs to focus on improving (or just utilizing) that "young domestic" pipeline -- and not foolishly thinking he has to wait until an MLS player is in their mid-20s and is "good enough" for NT consideration, while only the teens abroad would be ready and worth his time as a NT manager. His tone seems to be that a crop of young players disappoints or doesn't develop enough in some real ways (in their opinion) simply because the player stays in MLS.
Former? Who are you referring to? I can't recall who was the TD before JK picked it up the title in the last contract. I know Reyna was the Youth TD before he stepped down. Is that who you are talking about?
Klinnsman is still officially the TD but... Despite recent losses, Jurgen Klinsmann remains the U.S. men’s national team coach and technical director, but multiple sources say that Klinsmann’s duties in the latter area have become more ceremonial than before. Over the past year, U.S. Soccer’s chief commercial director Jay Berhalter—the brother of Columbus Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter—has started taking over a lot of the day-to-day technical director duties. Berhalter even called an important meeting in Chicago in August that did not include Klinsmann. http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/201...soccer-jay-berhalter-jason-kreis-vieira-nycfc
The USMNT's results in the gold cup last year, and Klinnsman's bizarre tactics and roster selection aren't due to some sort of millennial phenomenon.
"Too many of the young players are stagnant at the moment or losing a year or two. That worries us. If it’s Rubio Rubin, or Julian Green still on the second team, or Emerson Hyndman. The years where we lose a lot of our future are between 18 and 22. This is the discussion probably Bruce Arena had before, Bob Bradley had before and Bora Milotunovic had before. How can we get so many young boys who are driven to take their careers in their own hands and [not] to just trust their talent?" I think this is a very German viewpoint, that if you do not succeed, it is because you didn't do something properly, either with your diet, your training, your thought process, etc. Nowhere in his public comments does he ever consider that these kids don't have the natural talent that other kids have and that there isn't a thing in the world that is going to make Julian Green play as well as Douglas Costa. Emerson Hyndman is a nice player but he's never going to be a Michael Ballack. JK looks at the kids that are not succeeding and to him it boils down to a lack of character. Player X is unprofessional because he is not achieving total success at a club, as opposed to player X may not have been born with the same potential or natural ability as player Y and that is why player Y starts and player X doesn't. Sure, there is something to be said for working harder than anyone else out there, but the professional footballing world is deep in hard working footballers who can play at certain levels but just don't have the natural talent to acheive at the highest levels. I think this is one area where JK has failed to make the transition to being an American.
It's profound in it's stupidity to blame work ethic on someone who actually worked hard enough to become a professional football player in the first place. Does Klinnsman think Michael Bradley or Clint Dempsey came back to MLS because they didn't work hard enough or that Gedion Zelalem - deemed pretty hard working enough to be signed by Aresenal - went to Rangers and then finally, he was exposed as someone who simply doesn't work hard enough or eats the wrong food? While conversely Zusi and Wondo, who have very clearly demonstrated that they are not anywhere close to international quality, cut the mustard because they work really hard, drink smoothies and go to bed at the same time as their kids do?
Meh, I think some stuff with JK doesn't translate that well, but I think he isn't just saying they aren't working hard enough. I think he is saying the young guys need to be playing somewhere. That where you are trying to play isn't as important as actually playing. I think there is some naivety with US players that go to Europe in picking where they go play. Like any other sport, just because you are a good player doesn't mean you are a fit in a particular area. Look at Jozy...He wanted to play in England but he just didn't fit the style of the teams he went to. Emo isn't built for the Championship. Julian Green isn't going to see the field in Bayern. Find a place that fits and where you can succeed.
I did not grow up playing soccer. I played football, basketball and baseball. The coaches were very influential during the game. When my son was 11 he moved to an NCSL division 1 team coached by a coarse Englishman who grew up over a bar in Sheffield. He would scream and curse at the boys all throughout the week of practice. The games came on the weekend and he would sit quietly through the first half, speak calmly to them at the break and go back to silently watching the game to its conclusion. I was shocked at first. Then I realized that he did believe that they needed to think and act for themselves.
He's just exagerating the issue.. a lot of people do that when trying to make a point. It actually makes them look worse, but most people do it.. especially when its a verbal conversation
And the generation that didn't qualify for the Rio Olympics. Who was in charge of making sure that happened, Jurg?
I think the point he was making was that it is our education focused view ("get a college degree under your belt first before trying to make a career in soccer" or College Education Centric View), which pauses a player's professional career (and development) for 4 years, not MLS that causes late development. I think that going forward (with the advent of USL U23 teams and other initiatives) we will see more and more kids going pro out of high school and soon we will have more instances of 17-18 year olds lighting up MLS (if given the chance). BTW, who are the players that already have made a splash coming straight out of the academy (other than those you mentioned)? Off the top of my head, Fagundez, but I was thinking of US-eligible players. More to your point, it is not, perhaps, that European clubs are better at producing quality young American players, it just may be that European clubs (for the moment anyway) are the more attractive destinations for young American prospects (and decision makers for their family) whose risk/reward worldview is not the College Education Centric View. Now that I think about it, this group may have a self-selecting bias to value soccer opportunities a bit more than an average American because they tend to have access to European passports (Meaning that they may be influenced by members of their family with a European mentality.) Finally, I agree with you about Miazga and Acosta as examples*. But, as to Morris, if he wasn't "discovered" at that scrimmage, he might be just joining MLS next year as a 22 yo and maybe playing for the U-23 team or riding the first team bench until he is 23-24. * They did discuss Miazga. He probably would have been given a January 2017 camp opportunity even if he didn't go to Chelsea. I think his selection was accelerated because of his dual passport thing.
If that's the definition you're using, then most 18 year olds in Europe wouldn't be considered rookies yet.
Good interview. Poor Steve Sampson doesn't even get a shout-out in the "ex-US manager roll call" that JK did.
Maybe not at their parent club but I think a case could be made that they are loaned out or playing with the B squad by 18
What I find interesting here is a few are taking issue with Jurgen's comments about working harder and not settling(paraphrasing) yet Sigi basically just said the same damn thing in the interview about Yedlin. “When you look at everybody’s history there is a seminal moment there where they come to a conclusion or face realities and often times it’s connected with some adversity, where maybe you’re not quite sure you’re there yet,” said Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, who tutored Yedlin in his first two years as a professional. “The good ones go through that and it makes them stronger. They deal with the adversity and it makes them want to tackle it. And the others shy away from it, and they become adequate but never break through to the next level. “You gotta have that hunger, but are you willing to do what you need to do to learn about yourself, or take the advice you’re given and implement that?” “A little bit of it is inner hunger, a little bit is your desire. What I mean by that is your willingness to put in work. A lot have the hunger but aren’t willing to do what you need to do. You gotta have that hunger, but are you willing to do what you need to do to learn about yourself, or take the advice you’re given and implement that? When you’re having success a lot of times you go, ‘Yeah, yeah,’ and keep moving. ‘I’m having success; do I really need to listen?’ Once that setback comes, the good ones say, ‘Hold on a sec, I’m missing the boat here. Let me figure this out.’” That Yedlin wanted to figure it out didn’t shock Schmid. The longtime MLS coach remembered the first time he watched Yedlin play. It was an academy tournament and Yedlin’s team was playing its second game in two days. Yedlin had taken a knock earlier in the game, but even as his teammates faded and went through the motions, the defender pushed the game. Schmid said he saw something then, a “willingness to dig deep,” he called it. Something a little bit “different.” So here's Sigi talking about inner hunger, not settling and breaking thru adversity, desire, willingness to work harder and dig deep personally, and suggests from what he's witnessed Yedlin has more of it in him than pros he works with and sees every day. Do people just not like hearing this from a foreign NT coach? IMO some complain just because they like complaining. All pros don't have equal work ethics. But best of the best usually outwork everyone else. Kobe was famous for this, his 3am and 4am workouts, being in the gym for hours before practice even started. Jordan was much the same, sleeping 4 hours a night and always in the gym. We see Pulisic was obsessed to the point his parents needed to actually hold him back a bit. Ronaldo, in Howard's words, was the hardest worker he's ever seen. Steph Curry spent hours upon hours retooling his shot with his dad after being in the NBA. Making it to the pros is just one step. There's more steps to take across sports, more levels to climb. And in general, our players do need to work harder after signing pro contracts. The evidence of that is the high numbers of players who hit walls and stall out for us.
I wonder what the actual percentage of 18 year olds on pro contracts in Europe are regularly playing first team games, at any level. I would venture to guess that the average 24 year old American professional soccer player has played substantially more first team games than his 18 year old European counterpart. Klinsmann is exaggerating a bit, intentionally or not.
I actually agree with him about the "let your personality show" thing. He can't coach players up at the National Team. He needs to take players based on their club form and ability, and then let them do their thing with the national team. I mean, a wingback is a wingback. The reason you're in the camp, is because you've already played the position. It's not like International soccer is different from Club soccer. If you're a central midfielder, then you better work on your ability to hold the ball under pressure, pick a pass forward, and be sound tactically. You don't need Klinsmann to tell you this. My issue is that Klinsmann spent a lot of time whining about the apparent weakness in the pool, and also spent a lot of time bemoaning the lack of development in our youth, when a lot of that blame could be laid at his own feet for ignoring our rising talent. As national team coach, he's got the bully pulpit, but I wish he used it to do pretty much anything but whine about how terrible our talent is. It smells greatly like excuse making.
That's the thing, Arena and Bradley - I can't ever recall them whining this blatantly about the lack of talent in our pool.
The goal posts seems to be pushed back but even at 18 as the threshold I don't think your statement is correct. just using Chelsea I can find the following examples: Hazard made his Lille debut at 16 and became a full time starter by 17 winning young player of the year Fabregas debuted at 16 and became a regular player by 17 Azpilicueta first team regular by 18 And from the loan army: Christensen who made his Chelsea debut at 18 and continued regular first team with Gladbach 19
That's a hand-picked list of players who have gone on to become Chelsea first-team level players. There are many, many more young players like Julian Green than like the ones you listed, that are still playing in youth games at that age. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of 18 year old professionals in Europe have not met your criteria for being considered a rookie. But then again, I don't necessarily agree that that's the best criteria either.