My attempt is to distinguish between high quality opponents who are expected to consistently make the WC (as both did in 2014 and 2018) vs. the rest of Hex which is significantly less talented; because the talent level between these groups is significantly different, I don't believe comparing the records vs. each other is appropriate. i think you knew that.....
Well, OK, the 'major leaguers' got whooped then. One draw and three losses. Players should be chosen on the merit of their performances with the NT.
And the minor leaguers lost to a C-team from already eliminated T&T. You can't compare games vs. minnows to that vs. Mexico/CR although you really want to.
Of course, they can be compared and contextualized. Arena chose to play the same lineup on 3-days rest at T&T. A non-MLS player, Gonzalez, scored the spectacular own-goal. Then again, that was but one game. We lost 3 out of 4 against CR and Mexico: unprecedented in this century's Hex.
"Twas terrible. losing to home to Mexico while given up goals for the first time in 20 years. loss to CR away was ugly too, no doubt.
The cycle was a disaster. The Euro vs MLS divisiveness permeated the scene from the fandom, to Garber, to the media, to the players, to both head coaches. There were too many agendas where only the player's contribution should have mattered. Hopefully, the next coach has the political skills to avoid getting sucked into this toxic behavior.
I want someone who can win games. I don't give a crap where they are from, I'll take the Prince of Sealand - Michael Bates, if he can win games
Once again I was watching my daily dose of ESPN FC and they mentioned something interesting. There was supposedly an MLS anonymous player survey taken and one of the questions was name a coach you would not want to play for. And to my surprise two of the top three were Colombians including Oscar Pareja. The panel came to the conclusion that they were strict and had very high standards. Now in some ways maybe that is something we need at the US National team level?! Hard ass guys who will bring discipline. However if MLS guys allegedly dont want to play for you maybe that is a reason why Pareja won't be hired. Something to follow in the upcoming months and analyze as a factor at least.
It is not that bad. The coach that the respondents most wanted to play for was Vieira (23%), Berhalter(12%) and Tata (11%) The least was Cabrera(11), Olsen(9), and Pareja(9). Vermes (7% yes/8% no) and Marsch (8% yes/6% no) made both lists! http://www.espn.com/soccer/major-le...up-failure-promotion-relegation-salaries-more
Tuchel set to become PSG manager next seasonhttp://www.espn.com/soccer/club/par...-question-marks-remain-over-european-pedigree
To me a manager who has never managed a National team does not make a lot of sense. Not to say there can't be someone who steps in and learns on the job and does well but I just don't think it is likely. .
A manager in any other professional sport is there to find the players the coach needs. The coach reports directly to the manager. The manager and the coach get together to come up with a plan for the season. Now, for a national teal is a bit different. The manager can only get American players, that is a big limitation. The manager should be very much involved in overseeing the development of domestic players, so with that in mind, the manager has to be good at knowing what player is ready to move up in class. The manager needs to be well versed in communicating with other leagues coaches. the manager is there to keep the coach in check. in the past, the only person that was doing that job was the federation pres. I think Ernie Steward has all of the boxes checked for the position.
Joachim Loew was coaching in Austria before he got an assistant job with Germany. Name any coach that started their coaching career with a national team.
Der Kaiser, Berti Voigts(U21), and Klinsmann all managed Germany as their first coaching jobs. Klinsmann had to fight the German Federation tooth and nail to get Loew the assistant job.