From an Instagram post from earlier today. He brings up a lot of great points, especially about US players not challenging themselves enough to work abroad.
Nothing but the truth! He is right on that we need a coach with a name and character. I see these options about an MLS coach for the NT and I just see the same thing as Arena. I hope the USSF spends money on a good well known with a good track record coach.
its not about lifers...the us players who came back to mls for fat paychecks are part of the problem too.....nothing wrong with them doing that for themselves....but the national team shouldnt allow that. the national team shouldnt allow these guys to take the easy way out and still consider them core players who play with USMNT based upon on reputation and not performance. if you look at it objectively and not with fan-colored glasses players like bradley howard altidore and dempsey were not performing better than many other players in MLS yet played every game and got called up for every roster based on experience and status not on performance. playing time needs to be all about performance not name or status. 100% agree that USMNT players need to test themselves in best league possible. dont necessarily agree that US coach needs to have a name...just needs to be a man of substance a la belichick or poppovich.....usmnt needs its expert-level coach and he could be from anywhere.....a guy like ancelotti a "name" coach would be a horrible pick. some name coaches would be great though. i'd prefer an argentine coach cuz they all seem to do well...in copa america all the good teams were coached by argentines it seemed....and it would be cool to establish more of a connection with s.america in ussoccer, imo...the best confed in the world is conmebol by far. to JJ's other point...that MLS needs to play more youth and second team players - i 100% agree!! and if more americans who excel in MLS left the league....more youth players could play in MLS cuz there would be more open spots!!
JJ’s. EST point is about the comepetativd nature of a European club. There are no safe spots ever. In MLS Jordan morris gets minutes even though he has never learned to use his left. That wouldn’t fly in Germany as defenders would take that away and he wouldn’t have enough of a talent gap to overcome and be effective, he’d have to get better. It’s not that MLS doesn’t have quality, it’s that the rosters are not competitive within themselves forcing you to get better and better. Logs MX is only slightly better in this regard which is why Mexico always comes up short in the WC as well.
Jermaine Jones hit the nail on the head and the USMNT lost it testicles when JJones wasn't playing for it anymore. Like him, love him or hate him Jones knew what it took to compete and the team was never able to get backs its bite when he stopped playing for it.
The bottom line is that every league has a group of guaranteed starters (on every team). The difference between teams and leagues is the quality and depth. In MLS, the level of quality that allows a player to be a guaranteed starter is relatively low compared to many other leagues. In addition, the areas where there is competition are limited by depth. A player that must compete for a spot is generally competing with fewer players of similar quality. Because of the lack of depth, there is more difference between 2nd and 3rd choice or especially 3rd and 4th choice. There are players that have been able to have very successful careers with only one foot but the quality they have with the strong foot must be at a much higher level to get by than it does in MLS...hence you don't see it as often. The fact is that Morris has not been as successful in MLS or the national team as he was last year. MLS defenders have adjusted some as well.
I wanted to add on a bit to the idea of guaranteed starter. I believe it is a truth that competing at a higher level (quality of league, team etc) is better than competing at a lower level. With that in mind, the problem in MLS (as it relates to the national team and player development) is not that we have guaranteed starters (all teams do) but that they stay in MLS once they become guaranteed starters. A player like Acosta has now become a guaranteed starter and is one of the better players in MLS. It is now time for him to move onward and upward. Guys coming back from Europe may slip a bit in their sharpness but they can be very valuable to MLS and to the national team by being role models for the young up and comers. They can demonstrate what it means to be a professional etc. Of course some do this better than others.
I don't mean to speak for the other poster, but I doubt PSG pays a record 222 million Euros transfer to Barcelona to have him be the first substitute off the bench. Yes, PSG is trying to win a championship. But, I'm sure the name recognition doesn't hurt PSG's popularity. On a related note, I remember that during one of the summer barnstorming tours in the U.S. that one of the super-clubs brought their version of a B team to give some of the premier players a little more rest after a long campaign. The U.S. based fans raised such a fuss that these players were flown in.
Dempsey had 3 goals and 3 assists in the Copa. MLS didn't prevent his being effective. Kellyn Acosta, imo, projects more as a fullback at the higher levels of the game. An advantage of moving to Europe is he would either improve at cm or be forced to move to fullback.
Is that really a serious question? Obviously there are the most famous...Messi, Ronaldo etc. I'm sure you have a favorite European team. What player is in the first eleven every game? Is it only one? probably not. Each team, (in any sport) whether good or bad generally has at least a few players that are in the lineup every single time they are available. the top teams might have a Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar while the lower teams have someone without a name. There is competition for a player to move up in level. A player that plays for a champinship team and and is an automatic starter for his team wants to (or should want to) move up to a Premier league team. A player on a relegation team aspires to a mid table team and the mid table player aspires to play on a champions league team. Players like Dempsey had that same competition in New England to show he was ready for Fulham to take a chance on him. I would say that the competition for spots on any team is generally in the middle lower classes. One issue with MLS is that we don't have the same middle class that Europe has. We have the DP's and TAM's and then the quality drops off significantly. It would be like taking half of Barcelona's roster and half of Fulham's roster and forming a team. How many of Fulham's players would break in to the first team and how many of Barcelona's players would sit on the bench? Barring injury, would there be any real competition for the starting position? Edit: maybe there is some confusion. By guaranteed starter, I am not trying to imply in some way that the player did not earn it. I am just trying to imply that the player's quality puts him in a position where the manager writes his name in every game that he can. When the player has a poor game or even a bad run of form, he will get slack that some of his teammates are not afforded. Part of that reason is that there is nobody near his quality to replace him. There is depth at the middle of the roster and below but nobody is going to replace Messi. It is the same at other teams but their Messi and their middle class is much lower.
Yes, I think there was confusion on both sides. I think you wrote in your previous post about the difference in the middle of the roster. The only point I was making is that a guaranteed spot as the top player isn’t the same thing. These players are incredibly driven and compete to win every game while carrying their team. They are competing to be the best against players not on their team. Guy’s like Messi, Ronaldo, etc may have a bad game here and there, but it doesn’t run for stretches. If you drop down to the top guy at a middle table team, they are fighting for a big contract or move to a big club. They may get some leeway and continue to start in a poor run of form, but if they don’t deliver over the season, the team will move on.
I think we are talking about pretty much the same thing. In MLS there is the carrot of getting TAM money or DP money for a lower class player or the lure of Europe. If a player does not work toward the higher level that isn't due to anything other than his own lack of drive. Regardless, there is obviously a difference in how easy it is to move between top teams from MLS compared to Europe. In Europe it is one large market. Players routinely move between leagues in Germany, England, France, Italy etc. In MLS there is a much greater barrier for American players that exists for all players (MLS or otherwise). If anything, MLS breaks down the barrier to Europe for many of the lesser players. An middle potential 18 year old US player going over to Europe has a MUCH more difficult road to success and probably a lower chance of success than he would by beginning in MLS. He may still be able to make it in Europe after time in MLS or he may end up being an MLS lifer. I also believe that your statement about the very top players in any league rings true as well. It is true in any sport. The very best plaeyrs are the very best because they put together, in one package, a combination of very top level skill, competitiveness, drive and discipline. Take away just a little bit of either and they may still be a top player but not the best. In a lower league or team you can have different combinations: very top level skill but lacking in competitiveness, drive or discipline or lacking in top level skill but world class competitvieness, drive and discipline and every combination in between. Look at a guy like Clint Mathis. He had top level skill (at least for an American) and competitiveness but was definitenly lacking in discipline (possibly drive as well). Oh what could have been....
This reminded me of one of my favorite tunes of the 90's... Counting Crows Mr. Jones "Mr. Jones strikes up a conversation..."
The list of clubs represented by players starting the first match of the 2010 World Cup: Everton (EPL) Hannover 96 (BL) Watford (Championship) Milan (Serie A) Rennes (ligue 1) Fulham (EPL) Borussia Monchengladbach (BL) Eintrakt Frankfurt (BL) Everton (EPL) Hull City (EPL) Real Salt Lake (MLS) Two subs: La Galaxy (MLS), Bolton (EPL) Here is the list of clubs that took the field at T&T: Colorado Rapids (MLS) Newcastle United (EPL) Pachuca (LMX) Sporting KC (MLS) Santos Laguna (LMX) Portland (MLS) Toronto (MLS) DC United (MLS) Borussia Dortmund (BL) Toronto (MLS) Hamburg (BL) Three subs: Seattle (MLS), Sporting KC (MLS), FC Dallas (MLS) If Charlie Davies is not in a car accident, he played for Sochaux in Ligue 1. BB would have fielded an all European lineup with 10 players in Top 5 leagues. BA fielded 6 guys from MLS, and brought 3 more MLS players on. How that came to be in 8 years, along with Bruce Arena's malpractice, is probably the #1 reason we are eliminated.
inconvenient facts are inconvenient. To be fair, some of them had just comeback to MLS in 2014. Was Altidore back already? http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255931/match=300186512/index.html
My recollection is that Bradley transferred to Toronto after the WC (he transferred in 2014-2015 season, Dempsey transferred to Seattle the year before (pretty sure he did a loan spell with Fulham as part of his WC preparation), Altidore was still technically an EPL player (though he wasn't getting games at Sunderland and I think transfered to TC after as well). FJ and JJ were BL, Besler, Beckerman and Beasley were MLS, Badoya was France, Cameron was EPL. So mostly what could be considered European based players. Subs were 2 euros (Brooks and AJ) and 1 MLS (Zusi). Reaso
Not necessary to make the point. The progression from players in Top 5 leagues to mostly MLS is pretty linear. Doesn't change the facts, which you ignore.
Americans taking the easy route back home for lots more money is perhaps selfish but easily understood in our society. All I want is a good manager who sees talent and not comfort in the same names. If they come back and fade, sit them and eventually get rid of them from your 23. Replace them with unproven talent you like and think you can work with. This whole narrative of 'experience' has me baffled. Good coaches see potential and test it when they can without risking loss. Good coaches get rid of guys who lose their edge and get a step slow too. Risk in this? Yes, but what could have been worse than what we just watched? This isn't on the MLS, other than their league's depth is waiting as 'untested' talented youth. This is on USMNT lack of leadership.
as long as we don't believe we can "handle" a proven star international coach "because he doesn't know the players", we will not become a proven star international team... A top coach is not the "answer" but it's part of the solution.