The "Thoughts That Don't Require Their Own Thread" Thread XIII

1) he's got significant WC qualifying and WC finals experience (not to mention Copa America and Libertadores). He navigated Paraguay through the extremely competitive CONMEBOL qualifying, without any of the superstars that Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay had, and got good results even against those top-tier teams.

2) Then he came to MLS and lost no time in figuring out the league, how to play with/against US players and pretty much mastered it.

3) Add to that years of coaching in Argentina and his qualifications are night and day compared to Klinsmann at the time he was hired.

yeah, agree.

 

Yeah, but the list of those as arrogant as Klinsi is really short so that's damning him with faint praise.

 

Point taken JK was far more arrogant. Martino isnt arrogant; the main knock against him for USEF is his lack of English. I don't know why that matters since there are Spanish speaking US players who can disseminate instructions but apparently it does.

My hesitation isn't his lack of English but having a lack of players who have the tactical nous to understand what he's looking for. Paraguay is a smaller South American national but they're more sophisticated tactically than American players. You'll point to Atlanta and the Americans like Parkhurst and Larentowicz but that team is boosted in a BIG way by the record breaking goal scoring prowess of Martinez, the vision of Almiron, and even guys like Gressel who can get down the wing and cause problems. Plus, having a prolific offense and a vet like Parkhurst who can anchor a 3 man back line in front of Guzan allows Atlanta to play the front foot. This is a major factor in why they've been so successful. Those tactics do not translate to the national team. If the US tried 3 at the back in qualifying we would get utterly destroyed. He would have to change his tactics entirely for the NT.

I just don't think it would be a good fit at this point in our evolution. Maybe 4 or 8 years down the line, but not now.

 

Funny thing is that he does speak English, he just isnt confident speaking publicly in english. His wife is an english teacher

 

Hey, it's not like there has never, ever been a foreign national team manager who didn't speak the country's language. I know they speak English in Nigeria, and Bora Milutinovic was their manager at one point (who could forget him wearing the dashiki on the sidelines?) The guy theoretically could speak English, but if you ever listened to him, I think you'd have an easier time understanding Boomhauer from King of the Hill.

It was said that Bora could speak 9 languages, but none of them coherently!

 

Tata has been managing at a high level for twenty years. I just don't see how you can liken him to Klinsmann who had been managing for not even half the time and with debatable success (Low's perceived involvement with Germany, failure at Bayern, etc.). I certainly think that Martino would have been capable of working with our current player pool and implementing practical formations. In fact, I think his high pressing attack focused style is arguably best for our current crop of young players.

 

A good manager (like Tata) sees what kind of players he has at his disposal, recognizes their collective strengths and weaknesses, and comes up with a system that maximizes the former and minimizes the latter. An ability that we surely could have used with our last two managers, unlike Nicol, who was pretty good at it

 

Because of his limited talent while in Paraguay, he had to rely on a really tight defense that defended like their lives depended on it, and a warrior mentality of every player being totally committed to each other and team defending. That's something that could translate to the US team (although 'younger' folks may think - US/tight defense???; that's something that we used to be really good at - and should be able to be again).

Regardless, it's all moot. The talented, creative international coaches have been passed over for a coach with a mediocre record in a mediocre league [apologies, MLS].

 

If he was that good, why wasn't Mexico going after him? Why is he in MLS and not managing in Europe? Sure, he's a good manager but I can't understand why people assume that will translate to the NT. Berhalter has been a player in Europe and MLE manager. He has gotten Columbus to buy in during significant adversity. That translates well for a NT going through a transition period.

 

I'm confused... he's Mexico's new manager as soon as the MLS season is over. He's managed Paraguay, Argentina, a little club called Barcelona, and a number of top South American clubs.

 

Perfect, then he's a great fit for Mexico as they've got far more talented and tactically astute players than we do here (painful as it is to admit that). Mexico is further along in terms of making a run at the World Cup than the US is. Martino managed Barcelona, which has some of the most talented players in the world who can play tiki taka. Same with Argentina. Right now, the current US pool is young and likely not capable of playing tiki taka or a high press. It just wouldn't work with this group of players. When there are more Pulisics, McKennies and Weahs who have been exposed to the best leagues in Europe, then things will change. Right now it's still a cycle away from someone like Martino being an effective manager. Berhalter is the right choice for this point in time.

 

Martino can manage very talented players, as he showed with Newell's Old Boys, Barcelona and Argentina.

He can also manage successfully a country with mediocre talent, as he showed with Paraguay. They did not play tika taka.

He can quickly adapt to new countries, leagues and styles of play, as he's shown with Atlanta.

The only thing Berhalter has over Martino is proficiency in English.

He's a better fit for Mexico than the US because of language, but who cares? Why would US Soccer do Mexico a favor by not hiring him?

 

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

Tom, this is a great point. I think the issue with most of our unsuccessful managers (so most of our managers), has been the ability to get the team to work within the system. Agree that Nicol was really successful at having everyone on the same page, and think that Clavijo was a close second (he just didn't have enough talent on his teams). Heaps was undoubtedly the worst at this, in my mind.

 

For those who think this board is too negative:

Columbus hasn't even named the replacement for Berhalter yet, and the Crew board has already started a "Fire Caleb Porter" thread...

 

I don't have a whole lot of hate for Porter, but if the rumor of Arena as GM ever happens, all the sympathy over the "Save the Crew" movement will have completely gone away. Screw those cow-shagging, cousin-marryin' toothless inbreds!

 

We get to continue laughing at the Yellow Football Team and that's a great thing.

 

Yeah, if you go over on the Crew forum, they're all boasting about how high MPG their houses get. Must be nice to have a home that's mobile but 4 cars in your front yard that aren't!

 

The Revs hired another scout! Its Neveleff's brother in Argentina. Now they have 2 full time scouts!

https://www.nesoccerjournal.com/new-england-revolution-to-double-scouting-staff-team-source/

 

I love nepotism. Wasn't Neveleff the one who pushed for Machado?

 

Ah, the NovaLaff Brothers. A Revolutionary Comedy coming to our backyard soon.

 

Well congratulations to Atlanta for winning the MLS Cup.

Those poor suffering Atlanta soccer fans have been waiting a looong time for this. It's only fair.

Following Chicago's MLS Cup win in '98, I understood there was something different about a league where an expansion team could win it all in their first year of existence.

I amusedly suggested at the time that perhaps the Revs would be better off blowing up everything and start over from scratch.

The more things change...

 

Its amazing what a passionate ownership group can do in the league. It doesnt hurt that they get 40k+ attendance every game, but thats what happens when fans see gate receipts turn into players who regularly make the best xi