The Player Leadership thread

I think Holden is party right but the culture was toxic when the team missed qualifying. I think something different is wrong now but the roots are similar - there is still a missing generation that should now be elder statesman that show all the younger players how they are supposed to act, practice and play. A Jermaine Jones at 33 who would likely crack ankles in practice if someone is goofing off. I think this coach partly solves because he has that kind of authority that Varas doesn't and Gregg had lost. I can see Pulisic, McKennie and Adams doing that next cycle but right now they may the one who needs a grizzled vet to remind them.

 

As a Padres fan, I see a lot of similarities between the Padres and the USMNT.

Both are very emotional teams without a lot of established senior leadership. Last year, the Padres' season got off to a super rough start and the emotions started going the wrong way. They started to crumble under the pressure, and having a "player's manager" who defended them and believed in them didn't work.

This year, they got off to a better start, but also had a much more hands on manager who pushes them a bit more and is more active. I don't really think he could save the team if it went into a death spiral again ... but the combination of some good results has got them believing the OTHER way (along with the sunny disposition of one Jurickson Profar).

I don't know that this team is going to develop real Player Leaders anytime soon. So Poch has to take a firm hand, give lots of direction and we need to get some early wins to get that belief back.

 

One of the things about the World Cup roster is you did have some of the older veteran leader types (Zimmerman, Yedlin, Long, Morris, Roldan, and Acosta) who didn’t play a ton other than Zimmerman but I think did have an important off the field intangible role. Those guys all been phased out since (something the fan base wanted for a long time) except for Zimmerman who’s just had lots of nagging injuries. And I do think someone like Zimmerman makes a difference in the Panama game down a man compared to CCV.

And with the missing generation and those players phased out we don’t really have any older veteran leadership in the group. Even Adams who is younger but was the guy who the players elected as captain has mostly not been with the national team since the World Cup because of injury. Pulisic is our best player which has made him our captain by default, but he’s not the sort of guy who gets in people’s faces and what not the way someone else might.

 

At least Zimmerman should be brought back.

 

It was also a bit odd to see Chris Richards as the captain last night but he sort of made sense considering everyone else on the field.

 

None of us are in the locker room.

We don't know what the culture is; nor do we know how it needs to change.

Pulisic wasn't talking about needing a culture change 6 months ago or 12 months ago.

I do think Pulisic is a little like Donovan in the sense that I don't think he wants to be the leader. Donovan has talked about how he didn't like being captain. Pulisic never seems comfortable at all talking about these types of issues.

When I see a guy like Pulisic talk like he was in the video above I feel like screaming "BE THE LEADER!!! YOU BE THE CULTURE CHANGE! You're the most talented player. The guys are looking TO YOU NOW!!"

I really do think the emotional heart of this team has been Adams and McKennie. When they're not there, its noticeable. Somebody else needs to step up when they're not.

 

Adams is most important player on the team due to mentality. him, zimmerman,

 

And that's not good.

 

The amateur psychoanalysis is silly. The '18 group had simply aged out to be followed by the Missing Generation. Was there tension and animosity amongst the '18 guys. Sure. But plenty of sports teams and organizations have performed well with internal discord. Those same '18 players had excelled in the '14 World Cup and the '16 Copa.

Gregg had a lackluster WCQing campaign followed by a lackluster performance in the World Cup. USSF chose to renew his contract. In Nations League, the team then struggled against powers Trinidad and Tobago followed by Jamaica. Gregg finished things off getting embarrassed by Colombia then grouped in the Copa. The team was 35th on the Elo when he had coached his first game. It was 32nd following his last game. This despite the massive upgrade in playing talent.

USSF has to take the L on the mess. They had wanted to run a 'Dutch-style' 433. Yet, they hired a 4231 coach who had had only an above average record in MLS in the way of career highlights.

 

In the 2010 and 2014 cycles, the USMNT was full of players who were leaders with their clubs; often a majority of the players in the lineup were either captain or vice-captain of their clubs. And that wasn't just in MLS, there were usually two or three players who had leadership roles at European clubs. In 2022, the World Cup roster included one club captain (Yedlin) and three vice-captains (Ream, Zimmerman, Roldan), of whom only Ream and Zimmerman played substantial roles in the World Cup. In 2024, we played Copa America with no club captains and one club vice-captain (Ream). A lot of the current lack of players in club leadership roles is simply a matter of age/experience, of course.

 

I don't think there are many club captains/vice captains among the Canadians.

 

Marsch.

 

I remember comments Ream pre Copa made about Richards having all the tools to be great but he needed to put it together and become a leader. At first I thought he was complimenting Richards, but with Richards struggles I wondered if it was more a criticism. Just a small diatribe.

I also tend to think having a coach that's going to show he's the one in charge will make a difference. Sports are littered with teams getting better because of having different voices in the room. Plus, it's kind of hard to get effort from everyone if they know that no matter what they did it's going to be the same old same old.

 

Greg's rehire said your effort and intensity is enough... Let's hope some slaps upside the head are in the offing. Our fight never used to be an issue. The "golden generation" lacks it for the most part. Think of Donovan, Beasley. They were freakin intense.

 

1. competition for places
2. a less mechanical style of play

 

To your latter point, train them to read the game so that they can play without second guessing themselves. They've seemed a half step behind because of overthinking.

 

I’ve said this a few times, but I don’t think Weston is that guy anymore. I think the fire is gone.

 

TBD. Has his shoulder separation issues affected his play?

 

Good question…

 

This leadership shit is blown way out of proportion and our fans just make up random ass nonsense without any actual idea of what goes on in the locker room.

 

I think what effected him most was how things went at Leeds and then returning to Juve. Wes seems to be a positive person but I believe it was the Athletic that interviewed him pre Copa and he seemed really bothered by how he was treated at Leeds (granted a lot of that is because his friend was clout chasing on twitter) and he seemed pretty offended that when he got back to Juve he was treated like they didn't want him (paraphrasing)

I feel like Wes is at the same point that Puli was his last year at Chelsea. He just needs to find a team that wants him.

 

If I were Poch, the first thing I would do is root out those who don't really like football as a game but are playing for other reasons.

I'm not going to say Varas did anything "wrong" by appointing CR as Captain v. New Zealand. I suspect he just picked a badge and passed on Pulisic because of the crap he endured v. Canada. Having said that, I also suspect he thinks that giving somebody the captaincy will buffer their character building. At the end of the day, giving bronze a shine doesn't make it gold.