Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

I keep checking back to see if any body has posted this or photos of a pork roll, a jelly roll, a spicy tuna hand roll... anything.

OF COURSE Sigi is deserving of another call-up of some kind. You can call him anything but...

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

Its very disappointing.

 

Without having the time to look back at responses above, one thought comes to mind: it's great that we have two coaches in MLS that we can debate about this way. I'd be happy with either.

 

On the issue of head to head competiton being some significant litmus test, I just don't buy it. At, what was it, a 5-3-1 total?, the sample size is too small, first of all, and second, one or two game events going either way for either team are likely to skew the results dramatically, or, more probably, bring them more in line with being "even."

As to ShortCorner's points, first, it will be quite interesting to see what Bob does in NY/NJ with all the salary cap room he has. It's certainly has all he earmarks of being a clean slate, and so maybe we'll see him replicate a CJ Brown or a Jim Curtin (who by the way, was not an expansion pick up). If, hypothetically speaking, a Derek Potteinger winds up on the Metros squad and makes a significant contribution -- well, the Bradley method can be said to be operating again.

As for the Sigi vs. Bradley style, Sigi is certainly no dummy and would probably do just fine in the international game. I think Bob's approach has been more international-like, but that's not to say Sigi couldn't adjust -- if "adjust" is the right word.

On the issue of set pieces, I have to say that this was one of the key shortcomings of Bob's teams, both attacking AND defending. To me, it's been maddening. In game 3 against the Revs, we had 10 corners (which bespeaks the Fire's ability to control the game) and two full-frame close-in free kicks, and came up empty. We should have gotten at least ONE goal out of the scrum, though the Revs marking, typically was outstanding. It's as though we were only interested in run-of-play scoring.

Finally, for Bob to cement the '06 job -- he is the leading candidate now, though that could change --he does need to put together a competitive team quickly in New York, and he needs to win at least one cup during the next four years. I wouldn't bet against him.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

No one is more disappointed than I. I've never seen the picture, or Sigi even. But apparently he would tear up that KFC delivery.

 

Re: What is the International Style? (Mies van der Rohe for USMNT coach?)

Let me start by appologizing to Nutmeg as I do not think that his recent posts are personal attacks on Karl. Now on to substantive matters.

For me, my biggest concern is Sigi's use of man marking at times. At the international level, I think this is a doubtful strategy. With respect to my long ball accusation, that may be a factor of talent. However, I have observed Sigi long enough to believe that -- and this is a scale, not absolutes -- that he is more inclined to use the long ball than Bradley.

Good point. Sometimes I am a bit of a utopian only focusing on the flow of the game and not goals.

Hanging me with my own words, OUCH! You are right as both Marshall and Hendrickson (when he was playing in the back) are excellent at going forward. I would discount Lalas and Califf's scoring in regards to my point, as their goals are generally off set pieces, not from going forward in the run of play.

Bottom line is that, for me, my concerns with Sigi's coaching philosophy are the main points. How Bradley does at NY will also be very interesting.

REAL BOTTOM LINE: This is an academic debate as I hope Arena doesn't go anywhere for a while.

 

I didn't bother wading through the rest of the posts, so I'll just answer the question

Should there be a role for [Sigi Schmid] with the national teams?

Obviously, yes - food tester.

 

I am very interested in seeing what he does with the metros defense, see if he can bring order, and see how he does so. Does he keep all of those talented but so far dysfunctional players or does he trade or go abroad for talent to bring cohesiveness?

Putting together a good defensive unit in MLS is an interesting thing. I think that we just saw in NE at team that was mostly made up of Jim Curtin's and CJ Brown's- second-line ability players who Nicol was able to get to buy into his concepts in part because Nicol had the good sense to hide the holes in the players' games (which makes them second-line in the first place).

We know that Bradley can do the same as Nicol when he needs to and as you Karl and short corner and Martin and Nutmeg say above this isn't exactly how a good international squad is put together. But with the metros Bradley starts out with some probable first-line talent in Petke and Jolley and Howard and some potential first-line talent in Ziadie and Akwari along with some journeymen- now second-line talent in Chrono among others that are totally dysfunctional at the moment. But the potential is there and in particular I am concerned right now about who will be the leaders/organizers on the nats defense now that Arena can no longer depend on Agoos and Llamosa. Pope isn't the answer as his DCU teamate Ryan Nelsen makes clear in a nice little interview the other day. Could Petke or Jolley step in to this void? They have the egos to do so...


Here's the link to the Ryan Nelsen interview with John Diceson. Scroll down a bit to fnd it:

http://unitedmania.mlsfansites.com/...09&PHPSESSID=a7d0e57193132ea50887c46530bf36cd

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams

Having seen the picture it is pretty funny. That is why I keep coming back here only to be disappointed.

Dear God:

Please inspire someone to post the picture.

Thank You
MLSNHTOWN

 

Sorry to be argumentative, but Ryan Nelson's self-serving declaration that Pope is not an "organizer" does not convince me that Pope is not the "answer". More relevant to me is the fact that Pope already has been the answer at two World Cups -- which tells me he can do it again. True, we have to find a partner to Pope that compliments him, but having Pope is a darn good building block. And we may already have the answer in the form of Berhalter.

 

Shave and a haircut...

Like I said, you can call hm anything but...

 

Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

I knew it wouldn't take long for someone to come up with this type of comment.

 

Jeez, that's the lowest reference to Fitz that I've ever heard.

 

One of the reasons that Nicol had such a terrific defense was, paradoxically, the aggressive high work-rate play of his FORWARDS.

That's another sign of a good coach, by the way, to get his forwards to play on both sides of the ball.

I think Petke and Jolley are good MLS players, but I wouldn't consider them first line talent the way, say, Eddie Pope is or perhaps a Ryan Suarez/Wade Barrett is, Barret being a guy who has muscled his way onto that list. Ziadie has upside, as does Akwari. How far they go is still a bit of mystery, but with Petke and Jolley, what you see is pretty much what you get. Chrono and Addo I would bet are history.

On defense, Bob has good raw material to work with, so aside from jettisoning the truly awful, I don't think much dramatic will happen there. If anything, Bob's first order of business to replace the guy who he was swapped for -- Faria.

 

A Josh Wolff, perhaps?

 

Re: Shave and a haircut...

LATE FOR DINNER.

C'mon guys, help a brother out with his bad jokes.

 

just to point something out. sigi isn't american but german. just so you guys know.

 

Re: Re: Shave and a haircut...

if you give a brother time to get back on line...

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Sigi Schmid - should there be a role for him with the national teams?

this is not the picture in question...but it's the only one I could find - courtesy of our friend, Les Philling.



and one more...

 

Here is the picture in question:

 

Crewtoon, thank you!

Sigi ate all the donuts.

 

Oh my God. Those photos are just so shocking I've got no more jokes. It's truly sad.

Give me a minute.

 

I want my Cobi-back, Cobi-back, Cobi-back...

 

Karl Keller said, “On the issue of head to head competiton being some significant litmus test, I just don't buy it.”

It appears that Karl is employing the practice of speaking vicariously for me again. I never claimed that this was the one single indicator determining whether Bradley or Schmidt would be a better international coach. I said this was Sigi’s strongest argument, and I believe it is, but it is only one among many others.

The strongest case, but not the only case, a player can make for himself to get a call to the National Team is quality performance on their club side on a consistent basis. These club competitions are the testing grounds. They are where players are assessed. By watching players compete against their peers, projections can be made in how they might compete at a higher level. Of particular interest in how an applicant might fare on the National Team is how they perform when matched up against players who currently are on the National Team. In MLS for example, we pay special attention when Steve Ralston, a wannabe, lines up opposite DMB, a locked-in. Not only that, but you can also bet that Steve Ralston gears up for that match up, because he knows this game will go a long ways in Arena’s determination of whether or not Ralston makes the team. To even better assess how the applicants will fare against National Team caliber competition, Arena calls his pool into camp and watches them go head to head over the course of a week or longer.

This same test also applies to coaches who aspire to international duty. Their overall performance is important. Certain qualities are especially key, including those qualities that have been previously discussed in this thread. Sigi compares favorably to Bradley or any other MLS coach when discussing these qualities. When two coaches are so closely matched in terms of their success and the results they’ve achieved on all levels in which they’ve competed, another criterion the two can be measured against is how they’ve fared against each other. This isn’t the only criteria, but it is a significant one.

When the USSF opted for Bruce Arena 4 years ago, you can bet that one area they evaluated closely was how Arena had fared against the best coaches he vied against in his MLS career. Because Arena had shown consistent success over the best teams and coaches MLS had to offer, and because Arena brought so many other qualities important in International Football, their choice was an easy one.

Karl Keller continued, “At, what was it, a 5-3-1 total?, the sample size is too small, first of all, and second, one or two game events going either way for either team are likely to skew the results dramatically, or, more probably, bring them more in line with being ‘even.’”

Since 2000, according to the information I could find, in MLS regular season and playoff games Sigi and Bob have faced off in 11 games. Whether or not that is a fair sampling size I guess is debatable. In my opinion, this is more than adequate. In those 11 games, Bradley beat Schmidt only twice. Sigi won 7 times. Two of the games resulted in ties. As for a couple of game events possibly evening the results, this is the type of hypothetical “woulda coulda shoulda” argument that has no value. For every game event that could have resulted in a more “even” record between the coaches, there is probably a corresponding game event that could have resulted in an even more lopsided result in favor of Sigi.

The sad fact of life that Karl needs to come to terms with is that results are judged based on what DID happen, not what might have been. Arena’s run in the 2002 World Cup “might have been” voided had Korea and Portugal played to a tie, ousting the US from the 2nd round. Fact is, they didn’t, and Arena is given credit for an amazing run through the tournament, as it should be.

Martin Fischer claimed that head to head results aren’t significant by saying, “To me this is just an old saying -- too many variables play into this and the rules at the international level are so different that I can't see this as much of a factor.”

I tend to see this in a different light. The changing variables in MLS are multiplied when a coach arrives on the International Stage. How a coach responds to variables will significantly influence the results that coach can achieve in MLS, but especially in International Soccer. Sigi has shown a tremendous capacity to win DESPITE the variables that come into play. He does so on a consistent basis, and as we have through his record against Bradley, Sigi has done so against the best competition he has encountered. Sigi’s ability to predict, adapt to, and overcome the variables that come into play as an MLS coach is a strong quality that is another mark in favor of Sigi.

I agree that this is an academic debate, as Bruce Arena will coach the National Team for the next four years and Sigi and Bob will continue their work in MLS. Over the next 4 years, I look forward to watching and comparing the success they have against the rest of the league, but particularly against each other. Karl says that Bradley is the front-runner, and he very well might be. He also says that to secure his spot, he needs to win at least one more MLS Cup with the MetroStars. To that argument I counter that if Sigi wins more Cups than Bob, and especially if Sigi wins against Bradley as he has in the past three years, then the prevailing opinion that Bob is the heir apparent to Bruce Arena should be, and will be, questioned by both US fans and USSF itself.

 

I put that one up for captions on the MLS board. The best one, and possibly the best caption ever on BigSoccer was something like, "Yet more proof why shirts should come with weight limits."