Everyone in the media seems to think it’s an attractive gig, but who knows. We’ll see if Berhalter moves on who the interested candidates are. Agree with you on the Golden State analogy not working. We don’t have the equivalent level talent relatively as compared to the Golden State Warriors compared to the rest of the NBA.
No kidding. We're now treating The Ringer columns about the USSF as gospel? What has the world come to. People will believe anything if it feeds into their paranoia about the USSF and the USMNT.
No competent reporter would write that Berhalter was doing the TD job, think about it that is nonsense. What specific TD actions could/did Berhalter take? That was the same report that quoted Bruce Arena as saying he had a deal with Sunil to replace Klinsmann before Copa 100 but they had to wait for approval from the President of USSF who was going to be hospitalized for a heart operation. Sunil is not Trump, you can't have it both ways.
everyone who in the media? the ones who were outraged we changed our official crests to some gay version? the ones cashing checks and saying what a beautiful country qatar is? the ones saying it was a historically strong performance for the us? anyone saying this is an attractive job before 2024 if we are involved in copa america are either a) lying, b) works for us soccer, c) works for mls or d) some combination of the three. i left one off, of course, e) am american who believes only an american should be hired. because thats the only profile (an american manager) motivated to spend a year and a half doing jan camps, a gold cup and nl matches against martinique.
I agree on Martinez. Biggest issue I have with him is that his teams all tend to peak his first year with them and then it's a pretty quick decline. Even Belgium who didn't look good in the Euros or really the World Cup. So to me you'd be seeing the best of him in 2023/2024 then a quick decline. Now am I against going after some of the names from this tournament? Absolutely not. But I also don't think Earnie and McBride are just going to jump to offer a big name whatever they want... and honestly history all over the soccer world proves that that is not a smart decision anyways
When I say everyone in the media, I mean the reporters who cover soccer in this country. Whether or not they are accurate I have no idea, but if Berhalter leaves, we should get a sense based on what sorts of candidates are interested. Though I'm not sure the vitriol from your end is super warranted here.
so you think a year and a half of gold cup/nl is attractive to pep? mourinho? moyes? martinez? herdman? (do you see the trendline here?) instead of trying to paint every opinion other than yours as vitriolic, or radical, or naive why not try actually just talking soccer for once? so please- expound on what is so attractive about this job right now?
It's the tone of your post, not that you disagree with me that makes it vitriolic. I also said I never agreed that it was attractive to coaches like Pep. Just that people have asserted as such and that we'll find out once there is an opening.
thoughts? A lot of people are asking me who I’d want to coach the USMNT this upcoming cycle. My answer is Ricardo Gareca. pic.twitter.com/eEehuNhfJR— Takes 🇺🇸 (@USMNTTAKES) December 7, 2022
That's what I was trying to get across but failed. The Chicago requirement isn't really about that; it's about the job requirements. US Soccer doesn't want someone who flies in and out for camps because they clearly wanted a head coach who worked day in and day out with Earnie (and later McBride), with his assistants and scouts, with the YNT coaches and the player development/coaching dev people. Everything Cordeiro and Earnie talked about when they came in was about building a sustainable program. So they wanted a coach who would be an integral part of that. Not one who would jump on a phone call once in a while and work a couple weeks every three months. I know this will horrify a lot of fans that this idea was held in such importance, but it makes a lot of sense in the context of what the Federation is trying to do. The requirement may change for 2026, or it may loosen with learnings from COVID, or another top coach could possibly push the limits here. But they tried the Jurgen model and from an organizational standpoint, from an ability to create something that grows and improves over time without relying on individual heroics, that was a colossal failure. Earnie wants a coach who helps grow the organization, not just coach the senior team. Or at least, he clearly did. It's a big reason as to why the USSF selected Berhalter, IMO, and why the search seemed so limited. And in that case, especially pre-COVID, you want co-location. Well, I definitely don't agree here. We need some kind of generally consistent style of play and some game to game consistency. That doesn't mean you can't adjust and be flexible, but I don't think that you can really optimize a team without a plan. I don't think changing that plan constantly works -- players don't do well yanked from here or there. Klinsmann's late era was a series of no plans or whiplash from plans. Nor do I think a sort of vanilla plan -- like what Dave Sarachan was running -- gets the most out of players. It's the ultimate teamwork sport. Playing from scratch every game is suboptimal. Why even really have a coach then?
Agree. Everyone learned how to work remotely. I'd say it is more about job requirements than location. Ideally, I think Earnie wants a head coach who works with Mikey Varas on style of play, on scouting players, etc. That kind of thing. I don't know what level of coach he'd drop that for. I'm sure if Pep came running, but I think people are underestimating the collective organizational reaction to the Klinsmann years.
Here's two data driven ones from the article (off the top of my head): The US was one of the highest counterpressing teams in 2022, and one of the lowest in 2014 The US's % of long balls was one of the lowest in 2022 and one of the highest in 2014 --> we went from hitting the ball deep to building out of the back Honestly, I would have to go back and re-watch games from then to actually talk in anymore detail; I really don't remember step by step tactics from then and frankly I wasn't really watching for them back then, either. I agree that these changes aren't the result of tactical genius -- and that was my point -- they are just tactical evolution due to changes in the player pool. I have a lot of criticisms of Klinsmann, as you know, but I don't really think tactical choices in the 2014 World Cup come to mind. He did well with what he had there from a high level.
I wonder how much of it has to do with the permissive officiating and crappy fields? Playing through the middle seems harder when you get hacked and when the ground is bumpy. Or maybe it is just that a lot of our opponents are shorter?
Gulati is literally THE USSF good old boy. He did an amazing amount of things for the organization, but he did not know how to scale it or build an org structure. He was like a start up founder who wouldn't give up control to let the company grow up. He deserves a ton of credit but also probably needed to move on.
Earnie Stewart held his role for three football clubs in the Netherlands and the Philadelphia Union. The latter he was part of the group that built their development organization into what is now one of the best in MLS. He doesn't have any experience doing this?
This may or may not be true, but it's also worth noting that Jackson was a dumpster fire. He had split the locker room into literal religious camps, was paranoid that ownership was spying on him, and was "motivating" players by playing them off each other. The guy was a nightmare, and Lacob hated him. Perhaps he was truly light years ahead, but Mark Jackson is not a great parallel.
You want a manager to set an identity. Maybe I'm not coming across the way I mean to. Jurgen pointed at a dartboard (or it felt like) to get guys on the field and do kind if whatever at the end of his tenure. That's too loose. Gregg feels like he pours over every minute and tries to formulate a plan for that exact moment without reading the game. There should be a middle ground. As far as a cohesive style of play, man I just don't think you can integrate that in the US to the degree Gregg wants, which I think is why he held onto MLS players for a little longer, thinking their familiarity would help. In other countries, sure those guys play together and against each other all the time, so there's a deeper familiarity and a way they can play together. Here, you set an identity. Is it pressing, countering, movement, set pieces, etc? That's the focus. Not a 433 or 541 with defined play calls and patterns. There needs to be a loose framework with which the players work, but it can't be so tight that it stifles the players. That's where I think Gregg lands. Jurgen was at the opposite end. There's a happy middle ground that I like my managers.
Anyone know anything about him? All I know is that his Peru lost the intercontinental playoff, right?
I'm sure we disagree on where the fine middle ground is, but yes, I agree that there's a middle ground there. I do actually think that having a group of defined patterns of play is smart. Not as plays that you run or are limited to, but as movements the players can get familiar to and get their timing down on. I think there's a number of drivers on why we didn't score to our potential, but one of them was simply being a half second off on timing almost all the time. A lot of our successes, even in build up, came on those.
I see the logic in that. But if it also comes with a dedication to the 4-3-3 and defensive lopsidedness, then they are sabotaging their own (laudable) goal.
Tac (Tactical Manager) really likes him. Qualified for 2018 World Cup, had some very deep Copa America runs (runner up in 2019), and made intercontinental playoff with an undermanned Peru squad while playing attractive soccer. Apparently he has expressed interest in coaching Mexico (though I doubt Mexico goes that way). Coached exclusively in South America. I'd absolutely give him a call. Only question to me is if he'd be in it for the long haul (turning 65 in February) but if he's interested I'd talk to him
Haha, there's always a point of view or factor they don't tell you about. That's why it's good to stew on things and get all the info before going off the deep end with any particular take. Thanks for posting this.