I think people forget that Bayern used to be called FC Hollywood. For an organization that looks like an efficient German machine from the outside, they always seem to have a ton of pretty soft personality conflicts that cause drama. That said ... I don't think this was mostly the players or results. Nagelsmann doesn't click with Bayern management, who are notoriously picky about the dumb stuff like the skateboard. I guarantee you that crap was bigger than it should be. They will probably win the CL with Tuchel, but he won't last long. Tuchel is a giant ass, and Bayern management are picky.
Bayern routinely sacks managers if they are not in first place, often late in the season. There is often some player complaint {not-tactical, too-tactical, no-communication, too-much-communication, too much possession, too-direct, wrong-selections, ...}. It is nothing new and happened when they sacked Klinsmann, Van Gaal, Ancelotti, and now Nagelsmann. They would have also likely sacked Pep but he left for Man City instead.
Didn’t they want to interview Peter Vermes for the USMNT coaching job just like a month ago but be turned it down? Sporting KC are about to start the season winless in 5 matches with 2 goals scoredOne month ago, they gave Peter Vermes a contract extension through 2028 coming off a season where they missed the playoffsVery dangerous game to play in MLS is to get comfortable with mediocrity— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) March 26, 2023
Mexico only scored because Acosta was inexperienced in international play and especially CONCACAF and didn't take an intentional foul on a Mexican player near midfield. Funny that Acosta learned from it and has more dark arts CONCACAFery than any player we've ever had.
I was surprised that the US wanted to talk to him and that KC renewed him. He's past his sell date in my opinion. He also seems like a jerk but maybe if he's your coach or GM I wouldn't think that way. Now? He's just the latest coach to be passed by like Hyndman and Kinnear.
I thought it was unclear which role. I figured it was the Sporting Director role; that would make some sense. Also, we were/are in the due diligence phase. I give Vermes somewhat of a pass for last year. This year, not so much. And I've never liked his knee-jerk reliance on certain players.
That was Kellyn's 4th CONCACAF WCQ match so he was hardly inexperienced. What are you blaming Acosta for on that play? He hustled back and aggressively slowed the Mexican counter-attack down at midfield. Not sure what else he could have done on that play? Even DMB did very well containing Vela 1v1 but in the end Vela did a Vela. That was just Vela individual brilliance, the US defended that transition fairly well.
👏 ¡ELOGIOS PARA ZENDEJAS! 🇺🇸 El entrenador de @USMNT, Anthony Hudson, destacó al jugador de @ClubAmerica y lo calificó como una gran persona que se preocupa por el equipo. 🎥 Aquí sus palabras ⬇️#USMNTtelemundo #CNL #Concacaf #TeamUSA #USMNT pic.twitter.com/nF2dpHEDLL— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) March 27, 2023
Maybe it's impossible for there to have been CONCACAFery before the founding of CONCACAF (1963, I think), but Charlie Colombo certainly was a master of the dark arts.
Charlie Colombo was a defensive midfielder and defender for St. Louis club teams in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was a regular in the United States team at the 1950 World Cup, including the upset win over England. In the book "Soccer Made in St. Louis" by Dave Lange, he is referred to as a "human wrecking ball" and as "big, brutish and sometimes violent." There is a quote in that book about him from Bob Kehoe, who later both played for and coached the USMNT in World Cup qualifying. Kehoe said: "If you were a forward and you saw that ball coming at you, you kind of halfway looked over your shoulder and said "Where's Charlie,' because you knew he was gonna make contact with you somewhere along the line." Another player, Rich Meisemann, refers to an incident in a club game, when the ball was passed to him down the wing. "I went to the wing and crossed the ball in. I was proud of my cross and, wow, Charlie hits me. I've still got a scar. Colombo may be most famous for an incident in the 1950 game against England in which he brought England's Stan Mortensen down with a rugby tackle from behind on a breakaway and prevented a possible goal. The referee awarded a free kick but Colombo was not sanctioned. (This has some similarities to what Acosta did to Gareth Bale in the final seconds of the US-Wales game last November, although the 1950 version was much closer to the goal and also less subtle.)
….and treat Gio like an adult. The kid has had it so so hard. Just let him do what he wants. It‘s not his fault.
Hugo Perez: "They can criticize me in El Salvador and whatever they want, but in the end when we arrive on June 24 I am still as a coach in this team, that is where the truth is going to be seen ... qualifying for the World Cup, that's our goal and that's my job"— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) March 28, 2023 Hugo Perez, who has 73 caps for #USMNT in his playing career, asked if he has interest in the U.S. job."If I say yes or no, they'll kill me in my country" 😂"The players they have right now...the depth they have...whoever comes in, it's about how to get the best out of them."— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) March 28, 2023
Hugo? Sadly he doesn't fit the profile. It has to be a fancy Euro name, or a known MLSer/American. They interviewed Vermes instead of Hugo, that should tell everyone what they need to know.
In four games against the US recently, El Salvador has a total of 2 SOG. Perez has done a good job of being defensively pesky -- though at home, it's mostly us being incompetent (33 Shots that last two times at home). But his team isn't generating real danger until we make a massive mistake. Yes, they are El Salvador, but there are plenty of coaches who can create a solid defense.
Let’s get him an MLS job and see how he does. And then maybe for 2030. If Herdman ever left I think he’d also be an interesting coach for Canada (who probably doesn’t have the cash to attract alot of people).
I like Hugo a lot but he really doesn't have the profile for this group. I think any coach coming in has to be not just solid but very good on UEFA tactics.
I'll stick with my peference of Materazzo manager/Perez assistant. Best of both worlds. Materazzo might manage to keep Hoffenheim up in which case he'd likely be set for a while there. With Hugo, I think the conundrum is that ES has a good shot at qualification for 2026 due to expanded field. They have to be top three to qualify automatically or be 4th best and go to playoff with another conference. I don't think it looks good, personally. They have to finish ahead of Jamaica, Panama, Honduras et al. Hugo would take the US job but not so sure about an assistant spot. I guess if it paid well and he liked the manager?
I think if you wanted him as an assistant you'd offer him the Olympic job to sweeten the deal. As long as the U23 job stays open I feel like it's the sort of thing you could offer someone to get them to come be an assistant when they otherwise wouldn't. Also I don't know how much we pay our assistants, but I imagine that Perez is not getting paid a ton by El Salvador.