So what do the Utah folks think of John Ellinger as coach? Not a bad choice in my book, as said by the Utah GM he knows the US and Concacaf youth players very well. And don't be suprised if Memo Gonzales or one of his other good U17s wants to go to Utah and play for him. discuss
Don't be surprised if numerous former U-17 players want to play for Coach Ellinger. Not only do they have the skill and talent, they have something in common with the coach... RESPECT for each other....
He's the best coach MLS has ever seen! After 3-5 championship here he'll have his pick of jobs around the globe! OK, really? I'm very excited to have him: he's our first coach. I'll be telling my grandchildren about him. How will he do? I dunno.
He had a very successful career at the USSF and because of his tenure there, he knows all about every American soccer player between 16-24 (at least). He also has a great knowledge of every soccer player that played his U17 teams (which is many). Also, I noticed on several MLS player bios (on MLSnet) that his former players list Ellinger as their role model/most influential person. I think that says a lot. I think Ellingers experience at building the 96 Crew, his experience at the int'l level and Pastorino's Fire building experience will help SLC be a seriously good team next year. IMHO.
It seems like a lot of players liked him, hopefully we can land some good young talent. Maybe Freddy will request to be traded to SLC to get away from home (But maybe there's not enough booze out here for the little guy!)
Freddy's not a boozing already is he? But anyway, back to the subject, it's impossible to know how well he does at making coaching decisions for pro soccer games. However, chances are he's pretty good at it. I think the main factor is his extensive knowledge of the youth players in this country who will eventually be the stars of the league. Hopefully he'll pick some of them up that no one else expects, and turn them into studs as we go on to win championships. PS: Here's to us not being Real, Glory, or any thing to do with Bees. I'll keep my fingers crossed until tomorrow afternoon.
So mi, give us some examples of which U17's you're talking about that would like to play for Ellinger.
There's a big diff between working with some kids and managing a team of pros day in, day out. I'm not sold that Ellinger can not pull it off, but I would like to know who else applied for the job.