I just got into a heated debate with an american guy in a another forum. I find it unbelievable how the typical comments about football being boring or for pansies comes out. I threw everything at him and finished that the football is rising in the US. Now a few minutes after, I kind of wonder how problematic it must be for americans to defend the sport. I sympathize with your struggle.
Even if they know, they aren't going to dismantle a relatively lucrative youth club-level system of development and hurt themselves economically.
That would take dismantling the cash cow that is youth soccer in this country. Not about to happen. And, if we don't have a profitable professional league that can invest in its own developmental teams, with focus on technical skills and not games and tournaments, we won't get there.
If you believe that he's on the right track with his comments (which I do), then giving him the managerial position isn't really relevant. Not that he wouldn't be a good manager -- I have no idea, maybe he would -- but that won't address the issues he's raising. The manager of the Men's National Team doesn't set policy for the USSF. The change -- not simply in personnel, but in *thinking*, which is much harder to effect -- has to come at Soccer House. EDIT: and as others have noted above, the financial win for the USSF that is the current organization of youth soccer is going to be hard to convince the Federation to change.
Someone pointed out that the French and Italians are promising big change, then asked why the US wont do the same. the answer is simple the press crucified their teams and the US team has not been scrutinized at all by the mainstream press. If we want drastic change then the press has to do their job and question the USSF on their decisions and hold them accountable for the decisions they make. When we dominated the world in FIBA basketball tournaments the press treated the US basketball team nice. When we started losing the press started to call them out and USA Basketball hired Coalangelo and fundamentally changed the way the mens team was constructed. But it was the press and the public pressuring for results that led to this. The press needs to pressure the USSF and not disappear until the next major international tournament. Will they? That is a better question.
Klinsmann needs to head up USSF. Coaching the team will pave over cracks IMO and is a short-term solution. He needs to be involved for over the long haul.
I have said it for years. Soccer in the US became big business before we got good. That is a dangerous thing that has held us back and will continue to plague our development.
I heard this and it is 100% correct. Core soccer talent is built in the youth ages (under 15 or so). Unfortunately, very few inner city kids are playing soccer this early due to the cost.
You don't need to completely dismantle the pay to play system. All you need is a few academies in each city that take the best players at age 8-10 and train them until they are professionals. I think the MLS academy system was a good step, but there need to be more academies (maybe several branches of each MLS club?).
Why arn't we taking inspiration from Mexican soccer? They are producing players like Hernandez and Dos Santos with great technique, worthy of big clubs like Man U? Why don't we use the mexican model to produce guys like this?
I got the feel, not knowing alot of history of Klinsmann and the USSF, that his explanation would be why he would not take the USMNT position. Brilliant breakdown though for all those who watched, espescially for those not thoroughly into the landscape of USA soccer.
Bradley is a good coach. Klinsmann himself failed with Bayern. If Lalas is going to sit on TV and say Ghana is not Brazil, Argentina or Mexico so the U.S has to win, then the U.S will always end up at the losing end. People such as Lalas should not be brought near the U.S soccer. He does not know anything. Garrulous and comical he is. How does he feel losing to a Ghana team that does not have the organizational structure and financial muscle as the U.S federation. Ghana played only two friendlies coming into the World cup yet they are moving on; and dimwits such as Lalas will never understand because they are programmed to think a certain way about other countries and culture. Does he Lalas really think Mexico can beat Ghana? Mexico were lucky to have held South Africa? Yet for Lalas, Ghana is not Mexico so the U.S cannot lose to them. Maybe, he should br listening to Harry Redknapp or Franz Beckenbauer. Germany did not go into the Ghana game disrespecting their opponents. And from the way Ghana played Germany, no one is his right mind should have guaranteed a U.S win over Ghana.
This. Perfect compromise. We can still have the American coach (which I feel very strongly about), but still get the foreign/elite influence that is needed to bring the game to the next level.
Klinsmann is a genius but he couldn't win with a team chock full of superstars? And as others have said, nothing that he said is news to anyone that knows jack about soccer in this country.
Wow! I used to be Klinnsman fan. But he has no idea what he is talking about. Only players from poor economic environments make stars? Yeah, sure, Kobe Bryant who is king of the hill in probably the sport with the top athletes in the world comes from a poor neglected childhood. I should have been so neglected. The USA one of the wealthiest countries in the world is just out of luck! Get real Jurgen, leave your Euro class warfare where it belongs; the waste heap! Players become champions not because of training, skill, opportunity, perseverance, luck or what have you. They become champs because they have the "heart" of a champion and a will to make it happen no matter what gets in their way. A champion just gets it done. I guess Bryant, Duncan, Manning and others had to overcame their money advantages!
He's right about hispanics, but why aren't they delivering? There are around 50 million hispanics in the US, while Ghana has 24 million people total. Some of the talent the US would want to tap into is african american, but basketball rules the streets. It's easier to put up basketball courts in an inner city than soccer fields, and kids really can't play on the streets like they do in poorer nations. What soccer really needs to do is (step 1) promote itself better here, with the right (talented) people doing that. Combined with that, you need the personalities, rivalries and controversies to help promotion. MLS needs to encourage personality and tension. With better promotion, more people watch the sport, more kids are exposed to soccer on TV, and more kids will play it seriously- rather than play it because their parents made them. They will want to play it AND be really good. And they will understand the game from watching it on tv (assuming the soccer they see on tv is beneficial to them!). I see this process as very slow and gradual and taking 2 or 3 more generations, at least. Step 2, we need coaches for players at all ages knowing the skills to teach kids. The knowledge is very sparse. We shouldn't rely on special acadamies, it's got to be universal so kids of poorer incomes and late-developing players can get up to speed and enlarge the pool of talent. You're not enlarging the talent pool with soccer acadamies.
I think he was merely referencing that in the United States this is an untapped area that needs to be addressed. I think he is correct in this assessment. I think it was great that he called the US out on the structure. When was the last time the US was called out on a major network in that manner. On another note, it is one thing to identify and address the issue, it is an entirely different thing to correct issues.
Donovan had strong game creating chances, the problem is that our strikers sucked at this level, Altidore & Findley should put one way, we had no problem creating more chances the teams we played.
We need start capping younger players, play more friendlies, better training or coach in shooting the ball.
scoring is just 1 aspect of the Striker position. Its what they do without the ball that opens up space. Couple points that come to mind. 1) Jozy's head down to Bradley for the Slovenia goal. But the subtle aspect was despite it was a CM scoring, the space was opened up b/c Gomez ran behind jozy for the slip taking his man with him, allowing MB the clear run through the middle. 2) Jozy's pass to Dempsey who's shot hit the Algerian keeper deflecting to donovan for the game winner. 3) Gomez's pass to Dempsey who scored against Algeria to see it called offside incorrectly. i would have preferred to see our strikers score, but we did notch 5 goals in this Cup, should have been 7. Given if we had a healthy Davies, things would have been different
Klinnsman made some good points but his comment about players coming from the inner city who are hungry is just not true. The majority of the very best athletes are still coming from middle class families and their desire to be great is from the love of the sport. Tom Bradey, Peyton Manning, Michael Jordan, Kobe, Kaka, Inesta, Derek Jeter, etc... all from middle to upper class families