I would pick Tab Ramos as the ideal assistant for Poch. He was born in Uruguay and moved to the U.S. when he was 11. He's played in Europe and in MLS. He has proudly represented the U.S. as a player (in three world cups) and as a coach (head coach of the U.S. U20s; assistant for the senior team under Klinsmann). Ramos is the perfect cultural bridge between Poch and his crew and the American players. He knows what it means to play for this team and represent this country, and did it as one of the most skillful players to ever wear the U.S. jersey.
Brilliant stuff as usual, yes Jermaine Jones is more "useful" than Jim Curtin who won Supporters Shield not too long ago and was a PK away from winning MLS Cup, with the Philadelphia Union who spend no money... on the other hand Landon Donovan is literally no longer a coach having given up on it after a few years, and Jermaine "pretty good tactical knowledge" Jones first got his USL team eliminated from US Open Cup by a BURRITO RESTAURANT and then got suspended by USL 1776071896527679877 is not a valid tweet id USL suspension of Jermaine Jones reveals fractures within team and even wider discord Yet nearly a year later, fractures between Jones and the club’s players have led to discipline for the coach that before now has not been publicized, and an investigation that revealed clear mistrust within the league’s ranks. According to documentation reviewed by The Athletic, Jones was suspended through the end of the 2024 season following an independent investigation. The summary of that investigation said it had “substantiated” repeated instances of harassment, retaliation and hostility from Jones toward members of the team. https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/1g0iv3j/usl_suspension_of_jermaine_jones_reveals/ Some wonderful stories here about Jermaine Jones... yes let's have him coach the national team
Michael Bradley hired by Canada as an assistant coach. Working for Jesse Marsch. we should have hired him first.
Keep wishing Poch would hire Michael Bradley, Tab Ramos, Rico Clark, Feilhaber, or Josh Wolff - someone who knows American players and culture and can help Poch deliver his message. The absence of an American on staff is glaring.
In what way is it glaring? Our best players were either unavailable by choice or by force and the foreign coaches got the C team further than the American coaches did last time.
There’s interesting dynamics at play here. If you get an American to ‘translate’ the message to the team, it creates a secondary source of information that could usurp the primary one. Now guys go to him instead and unless that person is very aware of the potential credibility issues that could arrive for the head coach, he’ll be their go to crutch. It could get complicated is what I’m saying. Personally, I like the style of coaching that separates church and state, so to speak. We’re not your buddies, we are your taskmasters. If you don’t understand what’s required speak up and we’ll clarify. If I see you don’t understand I’ll clarify. Poch definitely has his crew and they are definitely apart from the players. As long as communication is encouraged, this kind of thing works fine for me.
I see what you're saying. But I think there's no one on staff now that the players trust and can talk to. It's good to have a "back channel" to relay info to the manager when you can't tell him things directly. Poch's job is to decide on tactics, strategy, and lineups. The assistant American can help convey the message and help scout the right players, if done correctly. Look, Poch basically wasted 10 months because he didn't know the players from Day 1 - having an American on staff would have allowed us to beat the learning curve.
He hasn’t wasted time. He’s gotten the best out of likely starters, Tillman and Richards, plus rediscovered/discovered fringe starters, Luna and Freese. What the hell did the American coaches accomplish last Gold Cup?