As a Sporting KC/franchise STH for every season, and having followed Peter Vermes very closely as both a player and a manager for over 17 years in person, there is a lot I would like to share about what I've learned and observed about him. Vermes name comes up in a lot of discussions recently re: USMNT head coaching position, especially since 2018 WC is now out of reach for the US, and we turn our eyes towards the 2022 cycle. This isn't a "lobbying for Vermes" thread. In fact, my current position is that he is a great coach within the SKC/club system, but is unproven elsewhere - and thus carries risk with choosing him as USMNT coach. Peter has shown a lot of qualities that I think would be good for this position, but there are also things (not necessarily negatives, just "not right fit, not right time, not yet proven") that I think are not as well suited for this position right now. I would like to discuss the following topics in more detail over the course of future posts in this thread, so that BS readers can have a variety of information to form their own opinions as to Vermes current and/or future suitability for the top US coaching position. The next hire is going to be big for US Soccer, so a lot of scrutiny should be encouraged and welcomed: Vermes the player. USMNT World Cup starting forward (almost scored a stunning equalizer against Italy in Rome 1990, saved by an incredible GK stop). "Last man off the roster" in two subsequent WC cycles. Transformed into MLS Defender of the Year 2000. MLS Cup Champion Vermes the developer and "reclaimer". Players who have grown under Vermes & his dual hat role as Sporting KC Technical Director. Includes "built from scratch" development of US players (Graham Zusi, Matt Besler), and "reclaimed players" (Benny Feilhaber, Ike Opara). Includes other WC players such as Roger Espinoza. Vermes the scout. His success in identifying totally hidden gems from around the world and integrating them into championship teams (Uri Rosell, Jimmy Nielsen, Aurilien Collin, Kristian Nemeth). Vermes and his experience with DP/"Big name/ego" players, and willingness to drop them: Omar Bravo, Claudio Bieler. He benched them both, there were rumors of fallouts, and in the end (and many other examples) - his club won without them. Vermes and game tactics/strategy. 4-3-3. "High Press" evolving into "Possession". Emphasis on "Total Football" Defense. Substitution trends (not often, and often late). Squad Rotation (he uses his best XI a lot). Reputation (applicable or not) for "ugly, physical, hard fouling, tough play" Vermes psychological and philosophical approach to game, leadership of players. "Sporting Fit". Another example: 2011 MLS Cup playoffs SKC @ Colorado. SKC played a very physical style of ball en route to a victory. Colorado coach publicly called out SKC's physicality to the media, to which Vermes replied, "All I see out there are 11 men on our side playing a man's game like men, and winning". (Implication "maybe your Colorado team needs to man up" - which COL didn't and got physically crushed again in the return game in KC) To the last point, and to both keep this from being too long, as well as offering some cheer to offset the demoralizing Hex campaign that just concluded - here is a recent 60 second clip of Vermes in the locker room last month (Sept 20, 2017). The video shows the entirety of Vermes' locker room speech after the triumph of guiding his team to its fourth trophy in 6 years. This briefly sums up the man's attitude, his determination, his take no prisoners attitude, his ability to balance those traits with empathy for players, and most of all - his all consuming hunger to win everything. NSFW - video contains some swear words (yes, Vermes knew the cameras were rolling and he didn't care) http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article174531471.html Let the discussion commence!
Same victory speech from a different angle. Note Vermes' demeanor. He's not smiling. It's not because he's not happy, it is because he's not satisfied. I want that attitude to permeate every layer of USSF, from the President of the Federation, to the USMNT coach, to every player on the NT roster or trying to get on the roster, to every youth coach, player and club. And I don't care where it comes from/who inspires it. It just needs to happen - and in the 2022 cycle it is not going to come from Gulati/Arena/M Bradley. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article174532796.html
National soccer culture creation isn't really the job. It's not Chef's Table, it's Chopped. Here's some random ingredients and 20 minutes, whip together whatever you can.
100% agreed. And this is the main reason why I don't think Vermes success at SKC will translate at all into USMNT success. At his club, Vermes has total control as TD and coach, with a full season, and longevity at his position and an entire club development system at his direct command (he tracks Academy players as young as 12yo and can focus development, resources, etc.) He gets essentially ZERO of that as USMNT coach, and his track record with big star players is mixed at best (and actually disappointing in my opinion). That also is a bad omen for a USMNT coach. Vermes only obvious plus is that he has been there as a USMNT/WC player. Both as a starter, and as the last person cut. So he totally gets that side of it. And he has starred both in offense and defense, but that was 20 years ago. It's nowhere near enough to offset the other risks.
I think he's a very good coach, but he shows too much rigidity at times in his methods and I don't like how he relies so much on very few players. He runs his players into the ground. I'm not so sure he'd be willing to experiment with young players. But he has a proven track record, more so than any coach in MLS. His system is very good for what fits our team right now, IMO. I think he'd be a very good fit for what we need out of a coach right now, no-nonsense, he'll tell the team whats expected of them, and I think he'll implement what we need. His experience with the NT also helps. I'd say he's the top option of guys currently coaching in the USA. If we can get a top international manager though (Bielsa, Tuchel), put Vermes spot on hold for four years from now. Otherwise, I'd say make him coach after the end of the season with SKC.
Peter Vermes. Not just the same, but more of it. I will give you this , for those yearning for turning back the clock, he's your man.
There are good national team coaches. And there are good club coaches. Similar to the college vs pro coaching argument. I think Vermes is more of a club coach who has the ability to work almost year round with the same group and get them to play exactly like he wants. You can't do that with the national team. You really need a flexible tactician willing to adapt almost game by game. Maybe not with formations but with stylistic choices and responsibility of players and getting them ready. Could be totally wrong, and if it was between him and Ramos I go Vermes every time. Bruce was supposed to just be a bridge to a better coach starting a new cycle. This just speeds it up a year. But I don't think you get Vermes to leave SKC with anyting other than a 5 year deal through 2022. Not sure Id want that if there are better options.
Vermes on the state of the National team. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mls/sporting-kc/article178720451.html
Vermes said all the right things. And I know Vermes would have the continual fire in his belly to make it happen over 5 years. He'd be a great Technical Director for sure. Could Vermes take on dual role as coach too? Our last USMNT attempt at dual roles didn't turn out so good, but Vermes has done both roles for years at SKC. I believe that Vermes having the power in both roles at SKC helped immensely in on field success. As TD de could shape his vision of what players should be from the start, and as coach he could "guarantee" those types of players saw the field. That type of internal consistency, continuity and accountability between the "development tiers" and the actual senior playing team, is sorely needed at the US national level. I think JK saw and expressed this too, but he didn't execute well enough on it. I walked into this thread saying Vermes might not be the best fit, but I'm open to persuasion in either direction, and this interview nudges me slightly towards the position that he'd be a good choice.
Why Vermes? MLS is a below average league, with weak competiton (regular season performance make little sense), and Vermes is only a good coach of this league and I don't know if his style and team selection can fit international games. Is there any good performance in CONCACAF club championship for his team? I really prefer a foreign coach. There are quite a few foreign/domestic players' quotes and foreign coaches' quotes hinted that MLS has little tactics.
The only two MLS coaches who could conceivably deserve the job are Martino and Vieira. But there's no way we would want Vermes right now when he is the same "play the seniors" coach that Arena is.
If Gulati and his supporters retain control of USSF, then I think Vermes is a clear contender and certainly the top contender from the US system. The only substantive rumors in the recent past clearly mention Vermes as a candidate for the position. November 17, 2016: U.S. Soccer has been in contact with LA Galaxy boss Bruce Arena and Sporting Kansas City counterpart Peter Vermes within the past 12 months, the sources said. The federation declined to comment on Thursday. Tab Ramos, Klinsmann's current assistant, could also be a candidate for the position if the manager is let go, one source said. http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-...cements-for-jurgen-klinsmann-for-year-sources November 22, 2016: The choice [of Arena] may have been different had Klinsmann been let go over the summer (there were whispers of interest in Bradley and David Moyes, both of whom have since taken jobs in the Premier League, along with Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes), but it's a safe choice given the circumstances. http://www.espnfc.com/team/united-s...-excuses-the-final-straw-for-us-soccer-chiefs I personally am not really interested in Vermes.
Go in-depth behind Sporting Kansas City's 5-1 loss against Cruz Azul in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday with this match's fast facts. https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2014/03/20/fast-facts-sporting-kc-1-5-cruz-azul-march-19-2014 I wouldn't consider anyone personally who doesn't have success outside MLS. Our league tends to exist in a bubble with weird rules and regularly does poor vs other CONCACAF teams. Need someone more versed the global game.
Vermes is tactically rigid. I aslo don't think how he has shown to deal with players perosnally will work out in a national team setting.
Simply put, after missing the freakin WC, this next cycle becomes the most important in the history of the program. You must aim higher than someone like Vermes in this situation. Worse, we have little young talent to turn to. They're mostly prospects, hopefuls. Many had issues with our vets but next cycle we're unlikely to have many proven international vets. Combine that with few talented current 20-24 yr olds and it's borderline scary.
Martino has bona fide credentials that have nothing to do with his MLS stint. Vieira doesn't (and I'm therefore not super thrilled by that idea), but at least there's a different soccer DNA there. Vermes, Ramos, Caleb Porter, there's nothing there we haven't seen before. It's not just a guy's birthplace and passport, soccer cultures are different. These guys should be trying to get foreign managerial jobs to broaden and challenge themselves, no different than our players.
Why do we need someone we haven't seen before? Y'all are really overreacting to not qualifying. It was a bad cycle, the next cycle is more talented and should be better. Get a competent coach in there who demands more of the players and is better than Arena and Klinsmann were (not a hard thing to do), and we should be around where we were from 2002-2014, maybe better when you consider that we are improving our talent level with the younger generation thats right now 20 and younger.