My god Haaland is too much!!!! Outrage in front of goal. 🙌🏼— Brian Kleiban (@b_kleiban) May 16, 2020 If Haaland was American: “Great finisher, good for what he is. No knock on him, he won’t take us to the next level. 4 out of 10.”
It’s interesting to me that Kleiban seems to be a fan of the Berhalter system, though he thinks that the players don’t fit. (He’s right about that) With the Kleibans, it’s important to understand they are literally incapable of viewing their own players objectively. They’re all 10/10. That hurts players like Mendez who believe they’re 10/10 and then go to Ajax and see what a 10/10 really looks like. It’s the players they didn’t train where I trust their opinions. Also the number ratings don’t have a clear scale so they’re basically worthless. It’s the opinions I found interesting. Brian Kleiban obviously knows the game, probably better than anyone on this board. He clearly values the technical side above all else; that’s his opinion. There are a lot of ways to play soccer. If you accept that the Berhalter approach is the way forward for the national team, we really do need much more technical players across the board. If we need to select the most technical U20s to achieve that so be it.
I used to agree with the take that Kleibans are too bullish on their own players. But to me that's not nearly as important as their tendency to compress all players into either 4-5/10 or 10/10 bands. It leads to absurdities as lots of players being rated the same as Gio Reyna, which self-evidently causes lots of conceptual problems. It's also detrimental to the other aspect of his project -- guiding the US Soccer community into greater self-honesty about the true levels of its players.
If Brian didn’t show an obvious bias towards the players he coached (to be fair, it would be hard not to) then he would come off as a lot more credible. He said Oscar freaking Cervantes was just as good as Tanner Tessmann while one starts for FC Dallas and the other is a bench player for UC Irvine. His other main problem is that he ignored the obvious flaws the players he coached have. Yes, Efra is truly special on the ball but he is downright lazy off the ball. There is a very good reason that the Mexico u20’s have not called him up and that he is not a every game starter for LA Galaxy. If a player has this much potential, they have to have glaring red flags to be kept on the bench. Leo Sepulveda is a great possession center back but his defensive decision making is terrible. There’s other bits and pieces in the video that show that he doesn’t even watch these players at all in the last couple years unless they’ve broken into the MLS or USL level. He says there is no other LCB even though Bobby Pierre has been called up to both u20 camps in 2020. He says Tanner Tessmann is a 6 when he’s an 8. He says Johnny Cardoso is an 8 when he’s a 6. He says Indy Vassilev is an 8 when he hasn’t played that position since his first couple months at Aston Villa in early 2018. If you are going to talk about a player pool and know that you have a large influence on a lot of American fans then you should actually take the time to stay educated on the players in the pool. There are many people on here who may not be a better coach or be as knowledgeable tactically. But when it comes to the youth player pool actually know their stuff and do a lot of work to stay educated. Those fans I thank because the American soccer culture needs more people like that.
On a more local level, what happens to the 6 or 7 starters on his teams he doesn’t rate as 10/10? They get ignored and end up fending for themselves in college. If they’re lucky, they either get drafted in mls or end up bouncing around the lower leagues somewhere. It’s great that players like Mendez and Llanez developed and improved, but what about all the players who have gone there and didn’t develop?
I don’t think Reyna’s as good as Haaland because very few that age are, but I think Reyna is as athletic as Haaland. They are different types of athletes, but Reyna is a tremendous athlete. He didn’t like Reyna at first because he wasn’t from his stable of players.
Yeah it seems that now that he doesn’t have a “stable of players” he suddenly likes a lot more of them.
He didn't like Reyna for the same reason a lot of people didn't rate him... the way he played youth soccer in US. He looks like a completely different player at Dortmund. With our u17s, he was selfish and tried to do much by himself. It was clear how good he was technically, but I think a lot of people questioned his soccer IQ.
Reyna and Haaland are completely different types of players, don’t you think? Reyna is better on the ball, but doesn’t yet see the game at Haalands level. If there is one American I would compare to Haaland it would be Johann Gomez. He is the only forward I’ve seen that has anywhere close to the instincts that Haaland does. Haaland just so happens to also be a phenomenal footballer. You can’t teach Haalands movements and timing. It’s an absolute joy to watch.
I definitely agree. I was making the point that while they play differently, they are similarly great athletes, although they use it differently. Lebron James is a great athlete and so is Kevin Durant. They use their athleticism differently.
Brian Kleiban is a pretty good coach. Unfortunately he is an idiot. He hopes to make Mexico out of us while even his super star isn't good for Mexico. If we try to be Mexico we will be Salvador. Is Alvarez eligible to play for Salvador by any chance?
He is not. Last big time USA/El Salvador dual nat we had was Junior Flores I believe. There has probably been one more recent who I’m missing
The fact that he rates players like Otasowie, Cam Harper, and Indiana Vassilev shows he's not trying to 100% make it about "his guys". I'll credit him that. But ultimately, if someone asks your opinion about the people you rate highest in your industry, chances are you will have some bias.
The only point of all this is to scream, to GB "Look at me! I'm your guy, I love the system! Just give me some youth and I'll bring Efra back. You know Efra, he is the best thing in the world. Just give me the job, please, please!". The coach that has too much baggage.
If he didn’t represent Efra and other players in the u20 pool and stand to make a financial gain from promoting them I’d have less of a problem with it
I don't know Brian...nor am i in a position to judge his coaching ability, but from videos that i have seen on line his youth teams did appear to play an attractive style with purpose. That being said...I don't know who would hire this guy...and with the way things seem to be playing out, i don't know which players will be willing to listen to his brother either. Brian was the Academy coach for the Galaxy. His sole job was to train players to prepare them for the Galaxy first team. Instead, his brother encouraged his players to not sign for the Galaxy, and encouraged them to go to Europe....Why would anyone pay Brian and invest in a youth academy, if he is going to encourage the top players to leave for free, while teams are investing millions in these academies? Then...on the other hand these "Soccer geniuses" are encouraging these kids to go to some pretty challenging environments. They first sent Alex Mendez to Freiburg...a team that does not play with a creative 10. He was making about $1K a month on a youth contract, instead of signing with MLS, living at home, and making a Homegrown salary. Then they sent him to Ajax, who has one of the most talented youth pipelines on the planet, and he rides the bench on their second team in the dutch second division...so he is basically a bench warmer in a league the equivalent of USL. They sent Uly to Wolfsburg, and now it looks like they are sending Kobe Hernandez Foster to Wolfsburg...another club that traditionally does not play youth players...Are they really better off playing for German U-19 youth teams, than by getting regular minutes in the USL or MLS against grown men?...I think if these kids start to flame out, the Kleibans may really lose a lot of credibility
They’re also all European based players, which helps feed his “Americans are too dumb to make soccer players, except me, my brother, and this referee that we let run our podcast” agenda.
doing right by youth player is the best thing a coach can do. If they’re good enough to move up the ladder, a good coach will help them - just like in college basketball. teams can make a lot of money now that S/TC has been accepted by MLS. finally, MLS is asking for 3+2 contracts, directly contravening FIFA guidelines so it’s reasonable for goog agents of good players to not sign with MLS. Heck, an MLS executive’s son left their academy to move up the ladder....
Brian would be much better served if he just shut up (and told his brother and sycophants to shut up)..................and did the work. Learn from guys like Matt Pilkington. Brian is a good coach. The US soccer community is worse off with him not having a job. I think the absolute perfect job for him would be at one of the biggest non-MLS academies in the country. He can work "outside the system" at a club the caliber of Solar. We're not talking about Hugo Perez here, who has virtually nothing of note on his coaching resume. Yet for some reason has a loyal following in the US soccer community because he has an ability to communicate with young latino players. That doesn't make you a good coach. It makes you a good club administrator. [I'd love for Hugo Perez to be a sorta assistant general manager for US Soccer.] Brian is a good coach. We can all pick apart the qualities of the players that Kleiban has helped develop. [One can read plenty from Kleiban on the greatness of Ben Lederman.] But he's developed a lot more players that are playing professionally now than most domestic coaches. Its just that everything that comes with Brian is really off-putting. The things he said about Paxton Pomykal. Moronic. He feels the need to tear down other young players in order to prop up his own kids. Totally unneccessary. Turn the microphone off. Turn the tape recorder off. Leave Facebook and Instagram and Youtube. Just get down to business and do the work for God's sake.
If you ever work with kids, the number one priority should always be to do things that are in the best interest of the kid. Manipulating your relationships with your players in order to benefit your employer is unethical and Kleiban was right not to steer them to LA. If he was steering them away and it wasn’t to their benefit, that would be unethical too. I’m worried that Gary, for all his knowledge of the game, is a bad agent. Mendez is in over his head, and Llanez can’t get game time despite being good enough. Kobe is heading to Wolfsburg too, which is concerning. I’m not sure that LA would have been any worse, even if the contracts were not ideal. As for the tone; this is normal and young pros should hear harsh and even unfair criticism from time to time. If Pomykal is losing sleep over Kleiban’s takes he’s probably not cut out for pro sports. He does need to improve his technique and it’s silly to pretend he doesn’t. At the same time, someone needs to be telling Mendez to get in the gym, learn to defend, and stop losing possession carelessly if he wants to make it at Ajax. There’s a place for that in the community. Kleiban is just one voice of many. It’s obvious what he values and what he doesn’t. I don’t need the USMNT to be Spain 2010, and I’m ok with players that bring more athleticism than technique. There’s room for a lot of viewpoints, that’s what makes the sport great.
Aside from the very clear lack of professional ethics in the family, this is really what turns me off on the Kleibans. Pump up your own players? Sure. Blame everything on USSF and dumb Americans? Okay, oversimplistic, but typical of US Soccer Twitterati. Be super egotistical? Not my thing, but again, not unusual here. Bash other players -- and definitely bash; there's no constructive criticism here -- to make yourself and your players look better? Yeah, that's just a terrible human being. And that's before the issues with their ethics.
The Galaxy didn't fire Kleiban because of his criticism of other academies or coaches or players or the US Soccer community. Certainly not his ability as a coach or youth development expert. They fired him because he was guiding his academy players to his brother's agency. Pretty basic. The LA Galaxy were paying Kleiban to develop players for them, not to line his brother's pockets. I agree with @Thundering165. There's room for lots of different viewpoints, lots of different training and development methods, lots of different attitudes. And US soccer is worse off that Kleiban isn't training these kids. i can't imagine folks defending Kleiban's actions in any other nation, though. Do people think that at the Dortmund academy they'd put up with their academy director encouraging his best players to sign for his brother's agency in order to move to bigger clubs? Not for one millisecond would they tolerate that corruption. Kleiban wasn't running a charity. He was being paid by the Galaxy to develop players for the Galaxy.