Is it really that big of a risk given that Beckerman played in the last half? The setup seemed to cover for his and Evans physical shortcoming. Isn't it a risk of any style to make it it hard for some prospects to make an impact? Is it really an issue if we can find skilled AND athletic players?
Beckerman is a very good DM. I'm talking about attackers who want to play in tight spaces in the opponents half.
In Woitalla's defense, I don't see him questioning anyone's eligibility in representing the USA. To me he's more lamenting the fact that we have so many players whose development had nothing to do with American soccer and asking why the U.S. Soccer Technical Director relys so heavily on a stable of Germanic coaches. I'm not saying I agree with him 100%, but I don't necessarily see his viewpoint as xenophobic.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, but we are definitely interested in video of any pro soccer players with USMNT eligibility you may have."
I'm generally a fan of MW's work, but his reference to "Germans" isn't exactly respectful of the players' dual heritage. I'm also concerned that he seems to be applying a different standard to German-Americans: "They don’t even have to be Bundesliga stars." ... as if we had an ample pool of Bundesliga talent.
I don't necessarily disagree that I would prefer seeing domestic talent. But I'm a realist and, frankly, there has been a shortcoming of talent among domestic players currently in their twenties. And players of BL quality are always going to be in our player pool.
As a veteran of our military this article really pisses me off. If my son was the product of a European mother and myself, my son would still be an American, by right. Who is this author to question that? Obviously every situation is different, but these boys are still American, and they can represent my crest anytime, anywhere. One of the comments on the actual article nails it.
Maybe because his predecessors have not done a good job at developing "American" talent? But that would be indicting the Old Boys at USSoccer - something MW is loathe to do.
In reality is all perception. I remember once a USA borned and raised soccer player was asked "who impressed you the most in camp?" his answer..."Alfredo Morales". Yes, Morales has seen the field 10 times, most have been spot minutes, he does the dirty work that he is asked, in fact, he made fewer mistakes than our top man, Michael Bradley, but the press is unimpressed with him. Morales will be promoted to BL1, he has been a key player for his team during the process, in my opinion his touch and vision is comparable to Fabian Johnson. I have been posting about Bjorn Maars-Jensen, a kid that is a co-scoring leader in Bulgaria's top league, a kid with an aerial game that we haven't seen since Brian McBride's days, a kid with a silky touch that can score with either foot, yet, he doesn't get a single look, I guess to our coaching staff BL2 is better than Bulgaria's top league. Perception is a fickle friend.
I remember the Spanish TV commentator making the remark that Williams is faster at recovery and links up in the attack better than Beckerman, however, the Online Media sees Beckerman .4 points better than Williams. I guess save passing is graded much higher.
I'll agree. JK is more comfortable with players that are presumably trained better. But as manager, he doesn't need to live 'outside his comfort zone' testing himself by trying to make 'lesser' players better (or if you want to say players who were trained differently than he was, fine). While I don't fully agree with what he says about testing yourself (I don't think Donovan would have been a better player had he played in Europe - and eventually achieved success as opposed to MLS) but some players do become complacent and may need to be pushed. That said, good managers can, 1v1, challenge their players. JK chooses are more indirect method by having them seek out their own adventures (yes he may advocate for them with a certain team), but he is not involved in that player's development.
Several times in the article Woitalla referred to these Americans as foreign products. They're Americans, period. Who cares if they were raised stateside? Kobe Bryant grew up in Italy. Didn't see many people complaining when he suited up for the stars and stripes.
Compared to most of his articles about JK, this one was pretty tame. Other than the major soccer countries, all countries go through gaps in their player development. It's natural. A potential reason for focusing on "foreign" born players vs "native" born players could be to fill in the gap. Woitalla could have pointed that out. This may or may not be the reason, but you would expect a good journalist to provide this point as a counter point. Unfortunately, Woitalla has been consistent in his anti-JK articles and SA in general has not been a JK fan. While there are definitely points in the past to criticize JK, there has been not enough balance in their articles. Hence, while I still read their articles (hard to break a habit picked up in the early 90s), I'm usually disappointed in their tone and summary.
apples and oranges. Kobe was living in Philadelphia when he was drafted. His family, following his father's playing career moved back home. Had any of the Germericans, following their father's service returned and lived stateside, then your comparison is valid. For whatever reason (in most cases family breakup), the 'Americans' were raised in Germany, fully immersed in German culture (as opposed to living on the base with other GI families) with the intention of being German (despite having dual citizenship or having the easy ability to obtain it). And nowhere here does anyone question who they are when these guys are on the field (grumbings aside for Chandler for his play on occassion). Its about merit and comparing them with American players within MLS.
Yes, in the sense that -- soccer wise -- they are products of a foreign country's system. But nowhere in the piece does he question their American citizenship, as you claim he does.
Here is what Woitala says about Arsenal product Zelalem at U20's Zelalem, only 18 and eligible for the next U-20 World Cup, displayed some of the most impressive ball skills ever seen in a U.S. jersey. The full article is here http://www.socceramerica.com/article/64229/usa-at-2015-u-20-world-cup-success.html The story about Klinsmann's comfort zone was suggesting Klinsmann is biased towards players in the German leagues. I wonder how citizenship got into the discussion.