Yes, only MLS has a tradition of nepotism. It’s not something inherent in our species, no, it’s MLS. I continue to find it funny when people make comments about MLS that apply to all of soccer, or all of pro sports, or, in this case, humanity in general.
If you need to pretend I said something I didn’t in order to take offense, perhaps the problem is with you. I am an MLS season ticket holder and do not fall into the anti-MLS crowd with whom you have a beef. I have not noticed father-son combos in other leagues, but perhaps I have missed them. I do think my observation about the home grown rule facilitating that is valid. But I apparently struck a nerve. That’s on you.
Soccer runs in families. Weah, Pulisic, Reyna, Ferreira, the list is endless. Does everywhere. Ya know, when a young kid is living with his parents...............he's in the academy of the club his father is playing or coaching at. So yes, Gio Reyna was at NYCFC cuz his father was GM at NYCFC. Owen Wolff is at Austin in the first place because his father is the coach there. Why were Jesus Ferreira, Dante Sealy, and others in the Dallas academy? Cuz their fathers played there. There's been this "nepotism" charge against Bradley for like 25 years. Its always irked me. Meanwhile, he was the best US-born midfielder of his generation. And up until that point, probably the best central midfielder the US has ever produced. People used to be like "Why does Michael Bradley get all the caps while Jose Francisco Torres gets few???!!!!" Cuz Michael Bradley was much better than Jose Francisco Torres could ever dream of being. Michael Bradley was starting a Copa Italia final in a midfield with Totti, De Rossi, and Lamela. And people were like "Why are we calling up Michael Bradley again?" Well........duh. So now a new generation of fans only sees the broken Michael Bradley. Which is a shame. Cuz that ~2010 version of Michael Bradley was pretty damn awesome.
More interestingly Bob might qualify as a “famous” father in football. https://www.snl24.com/soccerladuma/international/10-famous-fathers-who-coached-their-sons-20210302
Francesco Totti's son, Cristian recently signed with Frosinone's Primavera (Youth Team). I believe the people behind the scenes owed Totti Sr a favor and felt obligated to sign him on his dad’s recommendation. He is an ok player but so far, nothing close to what his dad was at the same age. Giving Francesco a little credit, he did say that if his son doesn’t end up making it in soccer, that he should find another job. Cristian Totti Signs With Frosinone Primavera - Chiesa Di Totti
Jurgen Klinsmann also brought his son to Hertha Berlin when he was there, which worked out famously for everyone.
I saw Jonathan Klinsmann play college ball from 2015–2017 for the California Golden Bears and coach Kevin Grimes. He was a good college GK but he was always away on youth national team duty or trying out for a German team I think it was so he didn’t play in too many games. Drake Callender also played for Cal during part of the same period. I think Klinsmann though, was a better GK when he was there, at least as far as college soccer is concerned.
Calling Bradley "teammate" is a bit generous. His Canadian First Nation name is "Wanders Aimlessly". Want fries with that White-Gauld combo? 🍟✨— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) September 17, 2023 Why is he even playing?
“Tradition” was support choice of words on my part. How about the norm of tolerating nepotism when it comes to coaches coaching their own sons? I find that odd. Maybe you don’t, which is fine.
I don't understand the topic. Of course fathers coach sons. The father is coaching at a club and the son comes up the academy of that club. Of course. Happens all the time in Europe and South America too. If the father is there long enough, then the kid may progress to the first team. Owen Wollf was at the Atlanta academy (where his brother signed). When his father became coach at Austin, what did he do? Moved to Austin! D'uh. So then he ended up signing with Austin and being coached by his father. We should all be able to name 5 cases of fathers coaching sons in Europe just off the tops of our heads without even having to think about it. I'll start. Cesare and Paolo Maldini Johan Cruyff and Jordi Enzo and Zinedine Zidane. Steve and Alex Bruce Darren and Alex Ferguson We can keep going if folks want. It doesn't have to be a head coach, but an assistant coach. Frank Lampard Sr. and Frank Lampard at West Ham. That's an obvious one. I've never once thought there's more of this in MLS than in any other league. Soccer runs in families. Gio Reyna was at NYCFC's academy. Why? His father was general manager there. If he'd signed with an MLS club, which one would it have been? NYCFC obviously. That's the way it works all over the world. And yes, Christian Pulisic was coached by his father too. His father is a former professional indoor player. It just wasn't at a professional club.
Paul Ince has managed Tom at 3 different clubs. Brian and Nigel Clough. Kenny signed Paul Dalglish at Newcastle. Harry Redknapp signed Jamie at Southampton Danny and Daley Blind Zidane's other son Luca played one game under Dad
Christian Pullisic had a quiet game against Verona. He had one good move and shot on goal and then that was it and was subbed out. Milan 1- Verona 0!
I was at the game, seated very high up. So I didn’t see any of of the TV commentary. But I thought he looked bright and more dynamic than the last two performances. He was involved offensively, playing centrally behind the front line. He made a few runs that weren’t noticed, and he and Giroud had some combination ideas that they couldn’t quite execute. He dropped deep and defended well, and energetically, which isn’t always the case for him. I’m not sure I saw much reason for criticism other than that he had the ball taken off of a couple of times. But he also took it off other people a couple of times. He was much more of an overall contributor than Leao, but Leao finishes his chances, and that’s not nothing.
Here are the player rathing from calciomercato and sky... PAGELLE E TABELLINO MILAN-VERONA 1-0 | Leao decisivo, Pulisic impacciato - Calciomercato Milan Verona, le pagelle della partita di Serie A | Sky Sport PULISIC voto 5,5
I would probably round up to 6, giving him credit for a GCA (secondary assist like stat) on the goal. Seemed like not much in the positive column but no major negatives.
In typical BS fashion of course this is not true. Jonathan joined Hertha straight out of college in 2017. He was there 2 years and went out on loan before JK even joined the club as manager
Having watched a lot of the Milan game, I think Pulisic is tired. He started well and energetically, but really started to fade as the game went on. Pioli needs to find a game to rest him - he's played a lot for club and country, including the trans-Atlantic flight for the international break. I still think it was a mistake to play Pulisic so much in the two USMNT games, and I think this is the biggest symptom of that.
Pulisic will be fine. He's always been streaky. He was at Dortmund and Chelsea too. We all know if he could be consistently impacting goals, he'd elevate his position in the game. But that hasn't been his track record. He's streaky. It's up to Milan to rest him. I mean, they didn't start him in the mid-week Champions League game. Right? And they only played him 56 minutes against Inter. So when the ball was kicked off against Hellas Verona he'd played less than 90 minutes since September 13th. And we took him off after 45 minutes against Oman on the 13th. If he's "tired," then that's a problem. I didn't see the game, so can't assess whether that's true or not.