I'm not here to defend Wynalda (mostly because I'm sure he will do it himself), but he IS right about 1998. There was a ton of strife on the team for that WC, and people seem to want to say it was on Wynalda. However, people forget that John Harkes didn't play in that tournament because of some behind the scenes stuff, and he had been the captain of the team for the 3 years prior to the tournament. How does the 3 year captain NOT make the team? something happened there that was obviously not the singular fault of Eric Wynalda, despite what the majority of BP posters seem to believe.
During the 2002 World Cup, I think Wynalda commented on something, but Chinialgia disapproved, causing Wynalda to defend himself and stating a really good point (I don't know what it was.)
Wynalda is a complete knob. That makes him fun to listen to, even tho I don't agree with his views. I think it was Waldo who said something like the 1998 team was much stronger than the 2002 USMNT. Now he says being in mid-season form is not helpful to the USMNT when it goes to the WC. All those Euro guys are whining about end of the season fatigue weakening thier teams. Who you gonna believe? He also appears to say MLS is not helping the USMNT, that the players are not getting the training they need. Well DC United ain't Man U, but they are a far sight better than the Charleston Battery as far as preparing and evolving players. My take is that Waldo is a bitter man who feels he didn't get his due, and that these guys now are not as good as he was. Sorry Waldo, you scored some goals and all, but you never had anything like the competition there is now for places on the USMNT. Rest on your laurels, there are a few. US Soccer is on the up and his best bet to participate is as the irrascible sideline commentator cause he has trouble stringing sentences together and is not going to make it in the booth. And it doesn't look like any team is clamoring to pull him into the dressing room where his player selection and mentoring, team building and leadership skills can result in the kind of success he was used to on the field.
I'm curious, does anybody else perceive things this way? Personally, I don't get this impression at all. When Wynalda raves about Carlos Bocanegra, or when he hypes Taylor Twellman for the national team, I see an enthusiastic commentator who really wants the young guys to succeed.
From what I picked up from discussions on these boards it wasn't as much a "swap" as a "steal". But, a) that is from reading these boards and b) you may know more about the situation than me. You are a newbie with 2 posts and you could be Eric Wynalda or Harkes or one of their wives for all I know.
Whatever your views on Eric's politics, he is the best thing to come to American soccer TV commentaries. For years, we have had had boring, uneducated, condescending sportscasters. Did I sayboring. Eric, on the other hand, is very refreshing. He has a deep passion, cares a lot about soccer growing in the US, wants Ameican players to succeed, has charisma, is funny, controversial, makes the soccer snobs nervous, and is very astute in the game and can explain it to the average sports fan without boring the true soccer fan. All this is great for Amercan soccer. Which makes me fear that the soccer powers in the US will try to knock him down somehow. Good Job Eric. Keep it up!
divingheader, how can you say wynalda wouldn't be on the national team now? in his prime, eric was an invaluable addition to the national team, and to say he wouldn't be on it is an incredibly ignorant statement. eric would be a starter on the team, and with all the skill that would be behind him now, he would score even more goals than he did
Fatboy15: "divingheader, how can you say wynalda wouldn't be on the national team now?" I didn't say that. I reread my post to see if I had, and I hadn't. I did say that he never had the competition for spots that there is now. I stand behind that. If I read your post correctly, you feel that with the improvement in the team in general, if Waldo was in his prime now he would not only start he would score more goals than he did. Well that is an intriging new twist to this thread. If time were to bend like that, I think McBride would still start at big/target forward. I think Waldo would be in the mix for the other forward role, certainly, but not a lock. And I think he would score more than he did for real, too, with the better team behind him. I agree with soccrfn's point that he is an interesting voice and livens things up a bit. But I still think he's a knob. Take a look at the post that started this thread. "My book will tell the real story...", a shameless and heavy handed advertisement for his book, his version of the truth. Truth about what, exactly. Ohh, I get it, I've gotta buy the book to see...
Egotism Someone needs to get Wynalda to check his ego at the door. Seriously, the 98 team better than the 2002 team is laughable. Ramos, Dooley, Burns, Wynalda, and Wegerle were all washed up by the time this tournament came around. Waldo fails to realize that Sampson never developed any new blood for the 98 Cup and left out players like Agoos and Harkes. Although on occasion he makes some good points during the games I believe he has a severe case of narcissm.
Maybe I missed it but where did Wynalda ever say the '98 team was better than the 2002 team? And even if he did its not like hes the only one thats said it. Friedel said it as well, ever seen "Our Way". "Talentwise I think we had a little bit better of player in '98, but team wise its not even close". Is it just heresay that Waldo said that, something created on these boards by people that hate Eric? He does a great job, way better than most of our American soccer commentators. Go complain about Ty Keough or something geeze.
I agree that Wynalda's views are a breath of fresh air to U.S. soccer commentary. Despite his writing (IMHO it is awful), his ideas are great. He is not afraid to criticize and ruffle feathers, which makes him entertaining. Wynalda does have an ego but to express the broad and controversial views that he does, I think his ego serves to his benefit. However, I find Wynalda awful in the booth. Most of his comments either state the obvious (remiciscent of Rick Davis) or are irrelevant to the action. IMHO, Wynalda would have a much tougher role establishing himself as a star on the U.S. national team. Wynalda, even in his prime, would not beat out Donovan, given his form in the 2002 WC. Wynalda, please do me a favor and stay out of the booth. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to get a writing tutor.