Klinsmann sounds off - Connolly

gotta love klinsmann's attitude - i was laughing through parts of it. i definitely wonder what landon's reaction was - i hope he reads it & gets fired up against the argies and jamaica.

 

Interesting quotes about Donovan. I think he may be right.

 

lets see the mods merge this thread, theres like 5 of them at the moment about this article.

 

That reminds me, about Donovan

Was that deal that Bayer Leverkusen set up with the MLS this time around for two years? I can't remember what it was. Basically, I'm excited at having the chance to drive for an hour down to San Jose and see Landon play this year, but I am hoping that he can also move on to the Bayer, or the EPL, or even to Spain to further refine his game. It's not just playing in the MLS that might stultify his game (although I happen to think the MLS is getting rapidly, better and better as a league), but its also the fact that San Jose has really taken some hits in the last 18 months on the caliber of attacking players they have surrounding Landon. I want Landon to have a well rounded game, but I also want him to be able to play on a regular basis with top level teammates that can help him grow, and it looks like San Jose has regressed tremendously, in terms of personel, since his rookie year with the team. Hopefully, the new blood brought in of late can help out.

 

I agree with Klinsmann when he says that Donovan lacked confidence to score against Kahn. I think Kahn almost psyched him out. However, I think that Donovan will get a shot at redemption, and will succeed his 2nd time.

I disagree that Donovan not going to BL is a sign that he's not ready to go to the next level. It's a personal choice that involved many factors. To make a judgement about why without knowing all the facts is really reaching.

I appreciate Klinsmann's honesty, though, even if I don't totally agree with him. He is still one of my favorite players of all time.

 

I agree, I also need to find out which "amateur" league Klinsmann is playing in.

 

I appreciate Klinsmann's honesty and, quite frankly, I agree with him. There was a term that used to go around amongst coaches refering to many American players as, "suburban marshmellows." I'm not dismissing Donovan, nor his obvious ability. I think that he will grow mentally tougher as he matures. Regardless of the reasons that he gives, he chose the path of least resistance by staying in San Jose when it could have greatly helped him as a player as well as his career to go back to Germany. But, hey, if he's ain't ready, he ain't ready. There are many ways that a player has to mature to reach his potential. I remember that for many years Klinsmann himself was considered "a bit soft." He worked his way through it and went on to a great career. Donovan will too.

I will admit that I am not a big fan of the current German game(although I loved many of the players and teams of the seventies and eighties), but you have got to love that German honesty. Great stuff.

 

I got really excited when he mentioned his 6-year old was playing soccer until I re-read that he had only been in the States 4 years... Could you imagine having Klinsmann's son playing for the USMNT?!?!?

 

I have to disagree with this. Donovan had many reasons for wanting to stay, not the least of which is an obvious desire to help promote the American game. You can almost tell that he feels a responsibility to do it. And he's young enough to think he has all the time in the world to prove himself in Europe. He's 20, making a good buck, and willing to give something back to the game already. I think its a refreshing attitude in a pro athlete.

 

There are certainly some good reasons for Donovan to stay, but I still like Klinsmann taking him to task.

This part is your typical eurosnobbery however:

"In Europe, we have sixty to seventy high-profile games each season," he said. "That makes a mental difference. You could see that some Americans did not have that competitive edge yet."

Like Sunderland vs. Bolton? Or Caliguri vs. Brescia? If there's 60-70 in Europe, then there's at least 20 for an MLSer. His point is that Donovan would get better at soccer in Europe than he would in MLS. Though there are certainly a few here who would argue that, it's probably true, IMO. But 60-70 high profile games? How many games does a team play?

Why didn't he just say: "Every single game in Europe is 'high profile' because, well, it's Europe."

 

First off, always been a Klinsman fan. Heck, I've always been a Germany fan too, so no surprise.

I think he does make a good point about the difference between playing in Europe and MLS. It's not always just the skill level. In fact, I'd say the skill level is closer than the mental factors required. A pioint he emphasizes and a point which German soccer has never shied away from.

It doesn't take long, watching a game in the German league especially, to notice a drastic difference in the intensity with which the games are played. Your average league game is played with more intensity than the MLS cup final. And this happens week in, week out. If a player can rise to this occasion regularly, it will have to improve his game mentally, even if his skills are no better.

Still, I see reasons for Donovan to stay. But, that is likely because I am just as interested if not more interested in seeing MLS get better as seeing the national team succeed. Sure, I want a strong national team. I take pride in watching guys from my country playing up to the level of top teams from around the world. But, overall, I'm interested in seeing soccer get bigger and bigger inb the US, and their just aren't enough international events of note to make the national team a viable way for that to happen in my mind.

We need games week in, week out in a solid domestic league. So, yeah I do think Donovan would improve his game more in Europe, especially mentally. And, hey lets face it, that's where he has the most room to improve. His skills are pretty much what they are at this point. But, I'm still glad he'll be stateside for at least a little while longer.

 

so much has been written on LD staying in mls... the reasons he's mentioned: family, loyalty, weather- one can understand to a degree. personally, i think it was mainly a non-leverkusen decision. wanting to wipe his hands clean of that experience, warm s. calif plus his early success there must have seemed like a sanctuary. add to this his proximity to bruce arena in a world cup runup. assuming continued success w/ mls & the nats, however, i think he'll see very tempting, lucrative deals coming from europe, and in a year or two will make that move. despite his "refreshing attitude", etc (i enjoy watching him on espn too), one can only hope the ambition & talent that got him this far will push him toward that continued development- namely not in mls.

 

His son's a citizen through his mother. That being said, this fantasy should probably go in the Nomar-Mia baby pile for a decade.

 

Mental Edge

Ok fellow bsers, this is just my opinion on the mental edge subject, so easy on the flames! Klinnsman could not have said it better. Having lived in Germany for years going to games weekly, and gotten accustomed to German frankness(sometimes brutally honest) I think Klinsman means the mental difference in American pros(MLS) is different from Europeans, he was not comparing skill levels or aesthetics/ athletic ability of MLS players to European league players.

Someone mentioned Sunderland vs Bolton....If you attented the stadium of lights to watch that game you would have to walk though a wall of pressure that you could put your hand out and touch as a fan, never mind as a player!! Sorry but IMHO Colorado vs Kansas City can't compare. Why? Fans pressure, relegation pressure, promotion pressure, Must win pressure, Media microscope pressure, money, shareholders pressure, Up and coming new players pressuring, Advertisers, TV revenue, players livelyhoods(usually they are not college grads) all of the following and much more is on the managers and players shoulders before the kick off. This pressure I believe is the pressure that Klinsman was talking about giving the player that tougher mental edge, your survival and livlihood as a player depends upon it. When I think of MLS Pressure I see No promotion no relegation, fans sitting polite and silent like church (not the barn burners and other great fans)golf claps, chanting occasionally defense defense blah blah blah, rock/hip hop music during the game, announcers letting you know its a corner kick,poor media coverage both print and TV, not much pressure from up and coming players(at least not yet, I'm hopeful though) pay is poor (ask Taylor) most have college degrees if the soccer thing doesn't work out, High school playing fields, artificial turf, If you don't make the playoffs ..oh well maybe next year etc... The MLS environment produces solid players but again the total atmosphere is not there and I think that is the point Klinnsman was trying to verbalize and is the reason he believes the Americans failed to beat the Germansin the WC and why Landon failed to score in that game. my .04 cents worth!

 

Re: Mental Edge

Very well said and exceptionally articulated; to quote Smokey Robinson, I Second That Emotion!

 

i agree with klinsman on probably every level (i just can't think of one that i don't). almost month our U teams are qualifying and doing very well in international tournaments, but seem to always fall in the semi's or finals. now i'm sure somebody is going to upload some list from the internet and show me how many tournaments the U17's or the U20's have won, but really. us as a soccer community do not expect them to win the finals that they play in, and that's just it.

what makes LD, DMB, and convey amazing is that they play like they are always going to win. and THAT was what was different and has always been different on the american landscape. for the US mentality to change, so that we are deeply shocked when we lose. it hurts me in this strangely deep way when the US loses (i mean i hated that we couldn't pull a victory when the U20's lost to Mexico, all excuses aside). but what Klinsman is saying is that the US lacks SOLELY the competitive edge. something that European soccer/football has always had by nature of the fact that they already believe that their leagues are the best.

so put aside the comparisons to euro ball and look at the content. klinsman is class and it's criticism like that the will make LD the best player the US has ever produced. as long as our baby-loving american soccer fans keep cradling and caressing his soccer image, he'll never leave her (ie. aspire for bigger things) and i don't care, anyone who thinks that staying in MLS is the ultimate soccer end is a moron. i love MLS so much it's not even funny, but c'mon.

 

I hope we play Germany in WC 2006- it will be good barometer of our progress and improvement. I think a reasonable goal for 2006 is the quarterfinals, depending on our draw, but we need to beat a Europeon team on Europeon soil to really convince the Euro-snobs we are totally for real.

By that time, I think Donovan will have proven himself in Europe and we will have an even bigger presence over there.

 

Re: Mental Edge

Exactly. If you spend some time in the English, German, Italian or Spanish football cultures, you start to appreciate that what appear to be meaningless games between mid-table teams really do matter for any number of reasons, not least because the fans and the media live and breath the game 365 days of the year.

In MLS on the other hand, 8 of the 10 teams made the playoffs (and of course nobody worried about relegation)...

 

the world cup is often such a fluky experience, decided by the most bizarre situations. we could easily have a stronger team in '06 and bow out in the first round. having goals are fine, but i don't think the results are necessarily any barometer of improvement.

 

I posted something similar in the thread on this in the USA Men forum, but:

Software Engineers have a saying that the last 10% of a project takes 1/2 the time.

Were getting closer to the 90% mark of having a team skilled enough to challenge for the cup.

The last 10% is going to be mental and it is going to be the hardest part.

 

I agree that the threads should be combined. I already sounded off on Klinsmann's off-base remarks about LD.


But I agree with the other things he said. You can't expect the US to go from being crap in 1998 to being a savvy, take no prisoners side in 2002. We're still evolving. Hopefully we'll show the attitude that Klinsmann talks about in 2006 in front of him and his countrymen.


One more point about LD and DMB. How may 20 year olds would have been able to contribute to their team like our kids did in the World Cup? Klinsmann may rip LD for not having confidence, but obviously something went right in their development that allowed them to matriculate to the Natonal team at such a young age.

 

Well, if Jurgen said it, it must be right.

But - what if Kahn saved the goal because he's, like, really good? Maybe Donovan took the shot because he had that confidence - maybe if he was as big of a wimp as Klinny says he woudn't've even gotten it off.

 

I fully agree with Klinsmann's view on the youth being too reliant upon organizations in promoting development.

This mental block theory, though, seems like a stretch.

The fact that we were still challenging late in the game shows that we were in the mindset of winning the entire match. We did not play a cynical game and hope for a miracle, we took the game to Germany. Handball call goes our way, Sanneh's header goes in...does Klinsmann still make this comment? Kahn also deserves a little more credit for making one of the saves of the tournament. If he had mentioned our inability to defend set pieces as a mental failing, it would make more sense.

Yes the atmosphere is greater in Europe than here. Simply put, more people care about the outcome of the game. However, could it be that very lack of pressure in the US helped in our World Cup run?

 

Especially when the second one was started 12 hours after the first one by someone with 20 posts. (I am superior to him because I have 2000, of course )