That's the optimistic POV. But there's a very recent example of him using his "philanthropy" to an organization to leverage influence politically, likely so his investments keep paying off. Look at his Wiki page, at the end of the "Political Views & Activities" section. (which also debunks the notion being a booster doesn't come with strings attached). There's also a long history of using "philanthropy" to launder influence, as well as sports as a vehicle for political propaganda. Again, I won't cite specifics here, not that I can't come up with many, but because not intertwining sports w/ politics is a very one-sided philosophy, which reinforces my point.
I think it’s also easy to get someone to pay to bring in a coach as that’s a very concrete thing. Especially two years before a home World Cup. Just like it’s easier to get someone to give for a training facility. Compared to like getting people to give for other things that might be helpful to USSF but not as tangible. And as others have noted paying for part of the salary of a big time coach by a booster is fairly common in college football.
Heck if one of our billionaires wanted, he could bring all the top coaches in the planet to MLS with the money he uses to collect vintage cars in a year. But there are rules in place so that does not happen. Even the Ken Griffin donation is going to be examined closely by FIFA. Don't be surprised if in a few months we're in trouble over it.
There’s also the possibility that’s Sportsology is really bad at its job. Since they were supposedly the ones identifying interested candidates. And their record in general is a bit hit or miss. But I think a big part of it was Crocker had just got there and was still getting settled (and hadn’t even started the job fully except for the coaching search. Whereas now he’s been in place for a while and has a good sense of USSF.
Exactly this… I become annoyed when I hear people criticize or belittle Donovan’s contribution to the team. He was pretty clear he wanted to build a league in the USA. I’d say he helped anchor the development of the league, without question. And for the most part, when he showed up to play, he helped drive the success of the National program. He displayed infinitely more heart than I’ve seen from most of the current crop of players, excepting Pulisic.
I also think that people should not underestimate the likely change in budgets and willingness to change created by shorter timelines, the failure at the women's World Cup and Copa America, etc. I simply don't think that the budget was there from USSF and very possibly the interest for a longer project. Pochettino was also very well employed. I find it hard to believe that Crocker didn't make a few phone calls then.
After all the spin that Berhalter came in and created this wonderful culture that had been lacking in the past, well now this from one of greggg's biggest supporter. Pulisic anticipates Pochettino to institute change. "Hopefully a culture that is willing to fight, that is willing to take risks," the AC Milan winger said. "There's a lot of things that need to change, just the mentality and the culture of the group. I think we have the quality but I know hopefully that's the first thing that he is going to want to change." https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/41212779/usmnt-star-pulisic-ready-pochettino
There’s zero about this that is true. FIFA cares zero percent that we got a donation to help fund the salary of our coach. There are also zero rules that would prevent American billionaires from paying coaches top dollars to come to MLS. Precisely as Saudi Arabia has been doing with players and coaches.
Man it was nice to hear Pulisic’s yearning for a culture of taking risks. 6 years of slow, scripted caution has to end.
Klinsman was right. Weak mentality. He might not been a good coach, but he knows damn well what it takes to be a champion.
It is very interesting to hear the contrast between what Pulisic said about the team just after the World Cup and now.
FIFA is corrupt to the bone. They have regulations about money laundering and fair play in place that should have stopped what China before and the Saudis now are doing, but those countries first bought their good will with the proper palm-greasing. We're not doing that, so far I know (I may be wrong, I've heard some rumors I can't confirm).
Nothing about what we are doing is money laundering. Neither are the Saudis who are engaging in sportswashing not money laundering in terms of bring in players and coaches, And yes FIFA is a corrupt organization but most of the questionable activities of the Saudis are deals being made directly with FIFA. And FIFA is not an organization that will investigate itself.
I agree with all of this, but I don't see USSF as a site of much political power or influence. Having Cindy Cone in his pocket isn't going to get him much.
Did the players get an opportunity to meet the new coach? I doubt it since he came to America the day after. But would like to know the answer to that question.
i believe he did come/is- cause i heard the same thing that he was going to meet with the players- and hes got his first press conference tomorrow.
Phil Anshutz has similar politics to Griffen. And while I don’t agree with his politics, very few people have done more financially to support soccer in this country. And I’ve never once seen the political stuff get entangled with the soccer side.
This might be too pollyanna-ish of me, but I wouldn't be surprised by a pretty quick return to form for the team. Not that they'll turn into world-beaters, but they'll get back to comfortable handling CONCACAF opposition and being able to give top-10 teams a run for their money. Mexico had a downturn, because they had a generation of pretty good players age out, and the guys replacing them weren't as good. We have basically one important player from last cycle aging out--Ream. You might say that other guys like Reyna and Adams have been hurt a lot and shouldn't count or Turner is now benched and can't be counted on, which is true, but we've also had good players added to the pool like Balogun, Tillman, Cardoso, and guys like Pepi, Sargent, and Richards are better players (at least club level) than they were last cycle. So, it's not like our talent pool suddenly got much worse. I think it points to something being majorly off tactically and/or culturally, which is exactly the sort of thing a good, experienced coach like Pochettino could be able to fix.
One of the bigger podcasts went through sportsology when they were mentioned like 18 months ago or whatever, and the verdict basically was somewhere between "neutral and net negative", there wasn't a large sample size of coaches they were involved in getting hired, but of those that they were, it was totally a mixed bag, no genius move, a couple net neutrals maybe 1 good one, and a couple of crappers. There's no evidence they are any good at this.