Moyes, Tata, Lopetugui were the names. I haven't any agenda to claim they'd been 'gettable' or not. Those were the coaches rumored to be interested in the job.
I agree with you on Belgium. Tons of people love to say they wasted their potential, but I'm not sure how you can set the standard for Belgium as having to win a major European tournament. They can have a Golden Generation and still have lesser talent than 5-6 other European Nations. And they peaked as France was becoming this juggernaut. As for development... You can do all sorts of systematic things, but when we talk world class talent, we're talking outliers inherently. Individual circumstances and effort and luck in terms of timing. There's possibly some systematic dynamics, but sometimes, it's just how things go. And with elite, elite talent, I think there's not a ton people can do systematically; I think it is more about individual variance then.
I do believe that there are good coaches that aren't currently super-hot commodities among the roughly two dozen clubs that make up the non-relegation EPL battlers and perennial CL elimination round clubs that would be more interested in our national team coaching gig than they would normally be, especially if it were a short time gig (say two years, from the Copa until the World Cup). It's not as attractive as a PL or superclub job, and it isn't as attractive as their own national team job in most cases, but it's one of the most attractive jobs shy of that on a lot of levels. The number that I think want to perform the job from 2023 through 2026 is probably fewer than that, though. And I speculate that that is an actual issue, that our best options right now might not be of quite the same caliber as the best options next summer. But going over a year with an interim isn't good for the program, and is no guarantee that we'll snag our European/South American maestro anyhow. That conundrum should be figured into the calculus.
I think at their peak they were consistently one of the three or four best teams of the world circa 2014-2018, maybe a touch past it by Euro '21 (I wonder if they might have won it in 2020, maybe). But you look at the run and who beat them: WC '14: Argentina (Finalist) Quaterfinals, they lost 0-1 Euro '16: The Pratfall tournament: Wales (Semifinalist) Quarterfinals, 1-3 WC '18: France (Champion), Semifinals, 0-1 Euro '21: Italy (Champion), Quarterfinals, 1-2 There is no shame in that. Like I mentioned earlier, England, w/their 90's/aughts golden generation were unlucky to face Brazil in '02, but should've beaten Portugal in '02, should've beaten Portugal in '06, failed to even qualify out of a cake group in '08 for the Euro's, and should've been competitive against a lesser German side in '10, and the remaining dudes humiliated themselves in Brazil in '14 (kind of like Belgium this cycle) and in the Euro's in '16. That is not living up to expectations. I think most people would argue England was at least 50/50 to win that Euro '04 game, should've won WC '06 match, should've done some damage in '08 instead of failing to qualify, '10 was disappointing but not surprising and '14 and '16 were total ---- shows. Honestly, out of the tournaments for that golden generation: '98-'16 or whatever, they played up to expectations maybe in 1998, 2002 and maybe 2004, but otherwise underwhelmed. Belgium played in four major tournaments, 3 before they started showing age, and had 1 outstanding run, and 2 totally understandable runs and 1 disappointment. They were not the favorites against Argentina in '14, or France in '18 and would've been at best close to 50/50 versus that Italian team that couldn't lose for like 3 years straight. No sin in that. They did a great job. The heartbreak, if there is any, should be for 2016, where they lost to a crap team that was just hot (not fair I know, but that Wales team was Bale and a bunch of average players for the most part), and a team that was nowhere near the best in Europe (Portugal) managed to steal the crown over superior Belgian, and French sides. That's the one that got away, 2016. The rest of them? Probably a stretch to win any of them, and its not like they got played off the field in any of them either, oddly, the only match where they kind of stunk was the Wales one, where the opponent was not in the same universe as the ones that ousted them in '14, '18 and '21. I'm not gonna mention WC '22 because we knew one of Croatia or Belgium was gonna stink in '22, we just weren't quite sure which team would show its age, and it turned out to be Belgium. Those Croatians are hard nosed, hard core guys that rarely fail to maximize the potential.
In the end they made a semifinal of a World Cup where they went out 1-0 to a very good France team. Hard to really be that mad about that being the peak. More concerning is the next generation coming up doesn't seem to be on the same level as the one that's currently aging out. Maybe that's a temporary blip or maybe that's Belgium sliding back to where they were pre golden generation. It remains to be seen.
I think the thing is there are definitely good up and coming coaches in Europe who aren't coaching at the top level yet that could very well be excellent coaches with the USMNT. Those coaches just inherently have less of a track record though which means you are taking a bigger risk. The tricky thing for the time being is that we won't actually be hiring for now, so the current list won't necessarily be the same list by the time we get a sporting director in place.
I am honestly not in the least bit enthused that we have to wait until late summer at earliest to hire a Sporting Director. I agree that we should aim for a multi-cycle hire at that position, it's worth getting right, but that timeline feels... slower than merely "deliberative." Meanwhile we're looking at two tournaments and a maybe another friendly window or two with an interim to start off the most meaningful cycle in our history since at least 1994, if not ever. Not ideal.
Earnie Stewart picked a really not ideal time to leave. And it’s unfortunate that there seems to have been no consideration giving to promoting McBride who could have provided some continuity. The thing is though it’s not like these MLS sporting director searches or NBA GM searches Sportsology has helped lead have taken a ton of times. They don’t take 6 months, they move fairly quickly. There’s no reason US Soccer can’t move as fast.
I actually wonder if Cherundolo is in that group. He's in the MLS group so many would be disappointing with him but I don't think of him that way. He's more like Matarazzo in having been in Germany for a decade or more. I do wonder if he would take the job if offered. he could be one that doesn't want to do it yet and doesn't want to derail his club coaching career.
I think Cherundolo definitely takes the job if offered. Unlike Matarazzo he's a former USMNT player and has a different level of investment in the national team. It's also just a huge coup for him to be offered the chance to coach the USMNT in a World Cup at home this early in his coaching career. Also just being so early in his coaching career he isn't really derailing it by taking the USA job for 3 years. My general view on Cherundolo is that he is the highest ceiling option of the MLS options. That doesn't mean he'd ultimately be the best pick of the domestic options, but more that he has the most overall potential based on his background. I think Matarazzo would have taken the job if he wasn't coaching in the Bundesliga. I think that if Cherundolo got a Bundesliga job than it's a different story. We aren't there yet, but we may be the next time this job opens. I sort of think that if Cherundolo doesn't get the job this cycle, he's not available again to coach the USMNT for awhile.
There were rumors of interest in Michael O'Neill and Slaven Bilic. I love the image of him taking public transit in NYC ICYMI: David Moyes was spotted last night taking NJ Transit to and from the USA/Brazil friendly. pic.twitter.com/O5VjRLhPHR— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) September 9, 2018
we'll always have "the nick lima role" pic.twitter.com/2S6f6zJXZO— USMNT 🇺🇸 Thoughts (@USMNT_Thoughts) March 7, 2023
Sure placeholder just like Lovitz and Trapp and Zardes and The Gregg Berhalter coaching tree at work... how does +3500 compare to T&T's odds of beating the US in Couva? 2-0 Violette heading into HT thanks to a pair of good goals from the Haitian side. Now -260 to hold on for the win tonight. If you bet on Violette before the match, you really are something. https://t.co/6wXVDg5cTD— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) March 7, 2023 https://streambug.io/v/4ac265 https://streambug.io/v/dafbb5 Losing 2-0 to a Haitian team that isn't even playing in their home country, hasn't played a competitive game since May 2022, and hasn't tweeted since 2018 I want to know everything there is to know about this giant tree behind Violette's goal at the Estadio Cibao in the Dominican Republic. pic.twitter.com/ttMwBEhn1Z— Joseph Lowery (@joeclowery) March 7, 2023 Fun story brewing in the opening game of the CCL: Violette AC, of Haiti, currently lead Austin 2-0 at HTHaving not played a competitive game since May of 22’, and forced to play this home game in the Dominican Republic, they’ve run Austin off the park in Verde’s CCL debut#CCL https://t.co/y9aUHOcpjB— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) March 7, 2023 Good catch! Yep! https://t.co/NU5bJn5iJk pic.twitter.com/HaiEZfPIyC— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) March 8, 2023
👌 @VACHAITI increases its advantage to 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/heAzVOM6rC— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 8, 2023 3-0 mini-Gregg is getting worked... that's okay the Haitian team will stop scoring now because they were always only trying to win 3-0 Con mucha confianza jugadores de #VioletteAC piensan en la victoria ante @AustinFC / “3-0” #clubdeportes #verde #austinfc pic.twitter.com/6PWg6Jz0ZC— Club Deportes Sports Weekly (@ClubDeportes) March 6, 2023
If Gregg had tweaked his system the way Wolff has, I’d have been a lot happier with him. Wolff plays a scoring and creating #10 behind his front 3. And half the attack comes through the middle. Fullbacks have to defend as well as attack. Not the same.
Is dialing back the offense from the fullbacks what allows them to play Driussi (more of a scorer than a creator) as essentially a second forward? I will say again, Austin's defense against the ball, both scheme and personnel, is pretty weak, and routinely got caught with a high line last year. Their main defensive strategy is through possession but their "rest defense" was frequently their weakest link. I don't disagree so much with the idea that a shadow striker could have worked for the US but Austin's offense creates mostly through much better crossing from their fullbacks and Fagundez cutting inside than a "creative 10", IMO. Reyna as a Driussi in Wolff's system would be interesting...
To my eye attack is much more balanced than it was for the US national team. Yes, there are still attacks up the wide zones with crosses, but there is so much more through the middle and we see with Berhalter. The team lacks even MLS quality center backs. The only one they had had to leave for family reasons. None of the remaining center backs are really starting MLS quality.
Just ask yourself how much Berhalter would have been skewered had the US lost 3-0 to an equivalent team on the road in CONCACAF as Austin just did. That shows me Wolff is still learning and a bit naive. Probably a good lesson for him and he will learn from it.
He was definitely a bit naive in selection, but I actually think that Austin can still get through. Austin is built pretty much entirely around Driussi, which is a smart gameplan for that roster in MLS. Driussi is a star, even if he regresses a bit, and making him the focal point of everything makes a lot of sense for what is otherwise a pretty middling to questionable roster in places. There's no doubt that Wolff took a risk in playing a mostly B team, and not really changing up his tactics for Violette. Especially since his defense in suspect, and it gets exposed much more easily when the threat of Driussi is off the field. I think he was naive in playing a B team -- thinking Violette couldn't do this to them -- but I would love to hear from him the reasoning of keeping with essentially the same tactics except swinging Fagundez to Driussi's spot ... which downgraded the offense at two positions. Was it naivety? Or simply an acknowledgement that even at club level, his team is really focused on playing primarily one way. Either way, it's tough to translate Austin's tactics directly to the USMNT. Reyna may or may not be the Driussi of the USMNT ... but he's not the Driussi of the World Cup. And Austin also saw what happens when you try to play pretty down South -- the fields are crap, the refs are crap and it's tougher.