To some extent, I believe that certain shortcomings are actually the result of a lack of depth in our overall quality at the lower levels. We have a depth pyramid with steeper slopes (that is my guess). The reason this is important imo is that the gap in quality is too great until our best players reach a greater age than in other nations. I believe that this is changing pretty rapidly at this point with the rapid growth in the academy system (quantity and quality). The reason that this is important is that "keys" are different at different levels. As the competion grows, what worked before will not work now. A simple example is that when I was very young, I used to score a lot of goals at the near post. Later, as goal keepers that success went away. In the past, a player with top level skills or athleticism rarely had to outthink his opponent. I think that is becoming less true. Adjusting to the higher level is always going to be a challenge for young players (actually for any player moving up in level) but I think the quality of competition that all our young players (not just the very best) are getting is far superior to that of just a few years ago.
People just want straight-forward, clearly-stated opinions which comport with a shared reality. When things go in a different cryptic and/or assertively assumptive direction, posters tend to go "uhhhh... wtf?" No one is "scared of the argument". People are literally calmly questioning you about it, poking holes in your "logic" and asking for your specific response. And regardless of how you respond, that's not the act of one that is afraid of some sinister truth coming to light.
Here I was thinking this guy’s irrational hatred of McKennie was disturbing. This is next level weird…….
i dont care about this particular slap-fight at all, but repeated posts of "youre a lying liar, you liar, thats such a lie" isnt exactly "calmly questioning".
Maybe not, but that particular post was in direct response to gogorath. And all he's done is go in with basically zero ad homs and pretty calmly break down his statements.
Jay Berhalter wanted a promotion to CEO when Flynn left and didn't have support from Cordeiro. Flynn pushing hard for Berhalter, I'm told, but fed prez Carlos Cordeiro not aboard. The board of directors will make the decision. Meantime, the search for a #uswnt general manager is apparently down to three finalists.— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) June 21, 2019 He did what anyone does when opportunity dries up, he looked for another job and then left. 📰 | Jay Berhalter has stepped down as CCO of @ussoccer.We are deeply grateful to Jay for his many years of service and contribution to the growth of the sport in the United States.— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 7, 2020 Any talk about being fired for nepotism or anything else is not right and tendentious.
Well, his new job is a better job. The tinfoil hat brigade loves his new job. He's executive VP of MLS and SUM. The tinfoil hat brigade loves being able to connect SUM to perceived shadowy dealings. I picture them with their photos and red strings on a bulletin board connecting everything to SUM in the middle. You look at Jay's resume and everything he's had a hand in, and everyone should actually be congratulating Jay for everything he's contributed over his long career. If people want something pseudo-relevant to today, he was the CEO of Copa America Centenario in 2016. He has a long, long, long list of important contributions like that. But when thinking about him nobody gets past this unfounded nonsense about his brother.
Obviously if not for the hidden hand of Jay Berhalter who secretly controls everyone in US Soccer, the coach of the USMNT would be Pep Guardiola. Incidentally I don’t think it would have happened but post Klinsmann Pep was the new coach who Gulati was determined to try and hire at some point.
I do think the chances of Pep Guardiola coaching the US men's national team is greater than zero. I just don't think it's a lot higher than that. On a 0-100 scale, I'd probably put the chances between 4 and 7. Pep does like the US - he spent his sabbatical year between Barca and Bayern in New York. I could see him being convinced that he could leave a different type of legacy. But with that being said, I don't realistically see it. If Pep coaches a national team, it will either be an uber-talented team like Brazil, Argentina, France, or Italy or it will be a petro-state team that gives him a blank wire transfer form and lets him fill in the compensation that it would take to get him to coach that national team for a World Cup cycle. Given his Catalan advocacy, I don't ever see him coaching Spain - in fact, I'd say Spain is probably a lower probability than the US because of that.
I don’t think Pep will ever coach the USMNT but he has expressed interest in coaching the US at some point and I think the likely team will be NYCFC. He has said he has a fascination with the US generally. He’s also said he wants to coach internationally and it’s just a question of what jobs are open when he’s looking and who can meet what will be a very high price point. But bringing him to the USMNT was Gulati’s dream hire before everything fell apart.
Hopefully by that time, Caleb Porter is out of the league. I'm sure Pep remembers the MLS All-Star game in Portland.
Why would he remember that. All star matches are just meaningless matches played for no reason other than making more money from the fans. There is nothing ever important or remarkable about all the all star matches that have ever been played so few, if any, people remember even who won much less anything about the coaches involved.
That was a fun episode in MLS history. The time Bayern showed up for a pre-season friendly and expended a fun little stroll around the park for fans. Then the MLS All-Stars had the audacity to tackle and play hard!!!! Pep couldn't believe it! A real soccer game broke out and he was forced to bring on some of his star players like Robben, Lahm, Neuer, Boateng, and company. MLS 2 Bayern Munich 1 That was fun. I don't care if people don't like All-Star games. When they're actual games? I'll watch. That was an actual game. It got chippy.
Next year supposedly Pep’s last at Man City. Perfect timing for him to move to the US take a one year sabbatical and take over the USMNT. Let’s start working on Arthur Blank and friends throwing in some money for his salary.
Most of the coaches we are looking at are club coaches for teams that overall was quite successful and what they really did was make sure their team did not get worse. That is in no way similar to the USA MNT. What we are is an OK team that needs to get better. For a club coach I would look at coaches that markedly improved their team. Someone like Russell Martin from Southampton would be a better choice than most of the other club coaches mentioned. I still do not think our next coach should come from the club environment unless they also have experience in coaching national teams. but, if you must have a club coach, we should look at coaches coming from team that show steady improvement and the do not spend a lot of money doing it. The ability to succeed with poorer players and less money points more toward what we need more than some coach who had a near unlimited budget and extremely gifted players. That is successful club coaches at lower budgeted teams are the best coaches to try to run the USMNT. Of course just picking some coach at random from some random club might be an even better pick. I wonder if the USSF is at all familiar with the "dart board" approach. It might result in better choices than all this careful selection process.
One of the factors in Berhalter's initial hiring was that he had generally overperformed his budget as a club coach and markedly improved both of his clubs from his predecessors' records.
Which is why his hiring was somewhere between bad and awful. But he IS our coach for now and the foreseeable future and must have some support. I do NOT think he will be replaced until after our WC. It seems debating his abilities is, currently, less than productive.
Wait. He met precisely the criteria you set, and you're telling us it's why his hiring we bad to awful?
He did that but in MLS where the difference between top and bottom is very small. I do NOT think any MLS based coach should ever be chosen as MLS is a hot bed of mediocrity. But what is true now was not necessarily true back then. But this is NOT the time to debate Gregg's hiring. He needs and mostly deserves support and I will give it on a limited basis. MLS is a great training ground for goalkeepers and a fair one for field players up to a point but coaching in MLS is not good training for anything else but coaching MLS or below or maybe the Mexican leagues.
Joe Mazzulla is talking to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. Intimate conversation. Mazzulla has spoken about studying other sports and applying it to 🏀 pic.twitter.com/K92xtzCVL2— Morey Hershgordon (@MHershgordon) June 5, 2024 If MLS was willing to foot the bill the one thing that makes me think we would have a chance of Pep as coach is he very clearly has a fascination with the US and American culture.
Regarding the tweet, The Athletic had a great article about how Joe Mazzulla is a big soccer fan and studies Manchester City. That had to be a career highlight for him to talk with Pep. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/52...-mazzulla-celtics/?source=user_shared_articleHow Pep Guardiola, Manchester City have shaped Joe Mazzulla’s system with Celtics