Alright, don't kill me for throwing this out there. I know it's super unlikely for any number of reasons, but it's a slow news day, so some speculation won't hurt anyone. How would you like the idea of Wenger as the next USMNT manager? PSG are apparently fans of his and they may need a new coach, but his reputation has likely taken a hit in the last few years and he may want a new challenge if he's forced out of Arsenal. Managing the USMNT would certainly be that. The book on Wenger from Arsenal fans at the moment is that he's tactically suspect and stubborn to a fault, but historically he has been good at developing young talent. The next USMNT cycle will likely lean young as we attempt to move on from the 2018 failure and prepare the next generation, which means a wise old sage like Wenger might be a good fit for our current "project." I know it's highly questionable whether he'd be A.) available and B.) interested, but assuming that it were feasible, how would you react to the hire?
Please. He has no ambition. I don't know his complete record, but he's been coaching Up the Arse for what seems like 50 years, and everybody and their mother wants him gone. He's going to be moved upstairs after this season, whatever anyone says. He's not likely going to be a manager for another team
I don't know about Manager but a TD role would be great. He has a ton of contacts, is great with youth and Arsenal is on firm financial ground. The game has passed him tactically but I see him doing great things behind the scenes.
I'm an Arsenal fan and have been wanting to see Wenger leave for some time now so I get how tarnished his reputation has become in many circles. That said, he's likely a better coach than anyone we'll actually end up with. The real problem is that I can't imagine he'd take the job or that we'd pay what it would require. His pay demands would make what we paid Klinsmann look like chump change.
Can't imagine Arsene would want to be involved in a poorly developed US National Team system. I can't see him getting any joy from jumping into the current shit show. Ain't happening never.
Our federation is a mess right now. We have no TD and the GM position is a joke. Top/legendary coaches don't want to join a rocky ship if all they are going to be told to do is shut up and coach.
game has passed him by tactically but you want him involved in the overall direction for us soccer as the TD? do you know what the TD does?
dude we have a terrible guy in there now...wenger is a bad fit...but technically an upgrade because grade 2 cancer isn't as bad as grade 3...doesn't mean I want to have grade 2 cancer.
Eh, people are getting all freaked out. Reality is that the pool of coaches who would take the job between now and the World Cup is minuscule. If we want to catch a small fish in a small pond, we can do that now. But then, the same people complaining about Sarachan would be complaining about the new coach. We can look at out-of-job coaches now... or we can wait until the club season ends; and the World Cup ends; and go fishing in a much bigger pond; Eh, I guess it just makes me roll my eyes. Having managed and run large organizations and controlled hiring at an earlier point in my career, this kind of mindset often leads to disastrous hires.
I think the job is actually more desirable than some folks think. Its an opportunity for a manager to work with a talented group of kids and build from scratch.................free of expectations for a while. And while the USSF doesn't pay what the "big boys" pay, the USSF pays a lot more than most federations. And the cupboard of talent is nowhere neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear as bare as some people make it out to be. We're not going to get that upper echelon of coach, but there should be plenty of interest. I personally would hire a coach right now on a 2 year contract. That would be thru the summer of 2019 with the Gold Cup, Copa America, U23 Olympic qualifying, etc. At that time we can extend if we love the results or hire somebody else for the WCQing campaign.
US Soccer badly needs outside help, but not Wenger. The people running this federation are, quite frankly, unqualified to do their jobs. This is becoming increasingly obvious as time goes by.
Wenger would be absolutely perfect since he 1. knows all the American players including their tendencies, capabilities, shortcoming, so that he would know how to use them perfectly, and 2. knows all the concacaf opponents very well including, their players, their styles, their tactics, and etc. 3. He loves America, has spent many years living here, and is genuinely interested. #sarcasm
All 4th place jokes aside, I'm not too sure he wouldn't be just a reskin of Klinsmann. The last decade he's shown himself incapable of doing things like "coaching defense" or "fixing the obvious flaws in the tactical setup". He's a big "go out and express yourself" guy. I'm not sure we're in the right place for that.
Jesus ********ing Christ no. If you thought Klinsmann shoehorning players into the wrong positions was a problem, you'd die under Wenger. Beyond that, one of the most important characteristics for a national team is to have a solid defense - since teams don't get to play together as much as a club team, there needs to be a good defensive system and good chemistry between the players in it. Arsene Wenger is utterly clueless when it comes to managing a defense. The good Arsenal teams in the early part of his tenure were good defensively because they were already good at it before Wenger showed up. Guy's been a manager for 34 years and he still hasn't figured out how to coach a defense. That's insane. Wenger as US manager (or any national team, really) would be an absolute ********ing disaster.
I have tons of respect for the guy, but his weaknesses as a manger are the most essential parts of the USMNT job. He has been passed by tactically. He ability to gameplan for a specific opponent is weak. He has no ability to organize a defense. He relies on his ability to get the best out of highly technical players: our greatest weakness as a nation. Great coach, but wrong in every aspect for the US.
@dark knight Please rename this thread so I don't have to start another one: Random crazy idea: Zizou for USMNT manager!!!! How awesome would that be?