Well...MLS is good and all...its getting better, but there IS a difference in the level of play from MLS to Peru..Brazil...Mexico, etc.
I wouldn't say it is encouraging or discouraging. It just is what it is. By itself it's neither good or bad. If it doesn't get results then its bad and and if it gets results its good. Right now its a style and philosophy that definitely is more negative due to recent lack of results. But its really just part of the puzzle and I wouldn't say its a cause of the problems. Basically, that's how I look at most coaching. These items by themselves are not bad: Determining starting 11 by talent first and specializations second Pushing style over cynical results Going with a possession style that stresses CB ball control and passing over pure defending ability Having a philosophy that systems matter less than roles and game by game tactics Focusing on fitness Believing competition is more important than chemistry ETc etc Any given decision isn't wrong. It's like baking a cake. They're just ingredients. IF the cake turns out horrible (results) then the cake is bad. Its not one particular ingredient's fault. It could be some don't mix well. It could be the wrong doses. It could be that the quality of one ingredient just isn't good enough and should have been exchanged for another. There are just too many variables and saying every variable chosen by the cook is bad, is really silly. In the end, the proof is in the cake. Is the final product good? The world cup was.. imo.... good enough. It was neither a huge success or huge failure. IF JK can't do better the next WC, its a failure based on what he has promised. The problem and what really makes it hard is that he will be judged on the WC performances and not GC or friendlies. That is when we see what he can cook. All of the other tests are just benchmarks... we are left wondering if these poor cakes are what he is going to produce or are they simply exeperiments. I think we all can agree that if what he produced at the GC was what he will produce at the next WC- then the USMNT is in trouble.
This is the epitome of the naive/novice view that's so prevalent on this site. Comparing two professional level players - one has to be elite...and the other drools on his shinguards. No minutia.
Wonder if JK's dad produced a lot of shitty cakes along the way before hitting upon the right recipe.
My son in an ODP training session was instructed not to take on any player 1v1 while in the defensive half of the field. Not 40 yards from goal, on the wing, with several defenders behind him.
Turnovers have a strong correlation with winning or losing, the closer to goal/fewer defenders back the higher the correlation. The whole point of pressing is to create turnovers higher up the field. Knowing when and where to get rid of the ball is a key attribute for a high level defender, at younger ages I accept more risk but not in senior games that matter. I agree that there is no inherent moral/ethical state of each of those items but that if good vs. bad is determined by results over the longer term then favoring just ball playing CBs who are weaker defenders will lead to more losses and fewer wins because a single defensive mistake is worth hundreds of passes. The soccernomics guys said that offensive skills for defenders are overrated and defensive skills underrated when it comes to teams' results. I disagree, to a degree, because those offensive skills can be used to 1. control possession allowing fewer chances for the opponent and 2. produce better clearances/fewer dangerous turnovers. But those things are only true within the context of a team that, as a whole, can dominate the ball against its opponent and turn that domination into chances and turn those chances into goals.
Coaching preference. I think that reinforces that our players are coached about winning first over development. I would say you need to be 100% confident that you won't lose the ball, but if you can shake the press and gain a better pass or gain space, then its preferable. In a developmental program, I would think we would want players to try to take players on more- not less. The only reason to coach that is to be risk adverse... why be risk adverse with development?
I agree with this completely. As to risk, its very individualistic. In senior players and games, I expect the players to know their limits. It's fine to take on a press or to use your ball control to gain a tactical advantage over the press, but there is zero room for error. Sport economics is very interesting but its always about how you slice the data and how you group the analyses. I would be very interested in seeing any data and conclusions.. but I take no stat based conclusion as key principle of play until it has been seriously vetted and tested on the field. The game is older than the use of the stats. I should add, its not the data that I doubt, its the data analyst. There is a lot of importance in skill and historical knowledge when using stats. Its never as simple as they first appear.
Actually I might disagree here. The key would be how many offensive possession result in a goal? How many offensive possessions are gained through a ball playing CB? Then how many mistakes result in a goal? Its definitely going to be a stronger correlation between mistakes to goals against than possession to goals for... but that could be ok. Lets look at a couple of scenarios: 1) Scenario not favoring a ball playing CB Without ball playing CB Score a goal every 20 possessions Team averages 40 Average goal scoring is 2 goals per game CB averages 1 mistake per game net is 1 goal per game average With ball playing CB Score a goal very 20 possessions Team averages 60 possessions with ball playing cb Averaging 3 goals per game now CB averages 3 mistakes a game net goal is now 0 per game 2) Scenario in favor for playing a ball playing CB Without ball playing cb Score a goal every 20 possessions Team averages 30 Average goal scoring is 1 goal per game CB averages 1 mistake per game net is 0 per game average With ball playing CB Score a goal very 20 possessions Team averages 60 possessions with ball playing cb Goals are averaging 3 per game CB averages 2 mistakes a game net goal is now 1 goal in the positive Those numbers are likely a lot more messy. The point being its possible that the increase in the number of possession may offset and even surpass the goals per error. There are just too many things i don't know: I have no clue what the usmnt per goal per possession number is. I have no clue what the increase in possessions per game is with a ball playing cb (even if we had the numbers there are a crazy number of changing variables and a very small sample size) I have no clue what the mistakes per game are without a ball playing cb vs with a ball playing cb. I have no clue if JK even tracks these numbers. I have no clue how much opponent, line up, tactics, systems, etc effect those numbers. But it is theoretically possible that increased offensive possession can lead to a net positive goal differential. I just don't know if it does.
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PPoPj5Vau3RBJMADXyHT9elSvcZRxmOVFznUbIBqWJ0AHmfwk8zUHD0gNcunVtWP4Iv8I203+Ov0YUOwvXJCj/AE7frzjqR8h8Zma07kGBA2nYf3Pn8utSMl77ORyj2V6evn+H4+yQD95uQHLzPSvSWFA1MdTXouAItqCeU+EU/kAt2SdXgnpyH9/1pVfGcZtpzzHMqyPZBY5QGbZdao8TUZT+84lEBHsg5AOWgmT8Z1GkVnMd2xwakG3bOIYHIGygKDJaNpiZOixrVITHKcSxGILAWyi5hlIbwuuhMsPEPeGmm1SpgLVlZxFxSAcwDlVUNlCFgBuWEk66ljoNqxuP7X4u5nCeCNAtpSWblAkEtvOkfWqmH7KYy+3e3PCre0cQxBG+w1IjTQxOsmq38C0avH9s8Kv2aA3DpAylLY6cvSDBpLxXtJiGCQwtqQT3dsfaFYEED2jGoIUE+IdDJf7M2rWVs5vMfBmH2aI3hAMrrALKTDTAkDcia3ZCSM3dsrLnGGtgsG8Vti5YyRAYk6ABrZ50kkFshwvBrt91vL4AkqTeuT4t82QEkGGYEEoSG9Kt/wD0XDI73Lr3sTcCgsubJbCkgCEBGZdRvn38684exAtMMlu20Byxzq+Ytb1WTmAARSc5IhCJGhscO4Pefu/CzKECst2UXkMqxr4WzlXytOZNdJodghp2exochLSKtlQQAlprYTRTEkBCdSIXmPWrvaLBs9kldXQi4nXMuoq9grLqgDkMRzC5RHLT0jUQDvA2E4+lQUWezuPW9aV12cBh5HmPUH86bViez1w2L92wfZnvbfox8S+UH8TW1UzrXTieqMpLyfaKKK1JCiiigBL2txvdWD9o9sscqlELEkjaYhdAdTHrWJ4bjskDvATsSdAx8j7r+RgnoRW27S8WS1YckKyx4s3sgfn6Vx+3xpHu5GQqW0WdSw6Oo2Hr1rj9RfK0bQqqNfxjhi3QSqwx8RTbMRuyTotwcxz89CM5hjdw7C5bY+E66RH8LA6qT0OhprguIMoyMM9vkJ1EbFDOvodRyJ2q+2V9Scw9kOBLj+Fx746ggMPrXO2pF9CLiGFS6r4nCrBHixGHUfO7bH4rz9d50jG4bw+K/ZGZCDrct81B5wNQfSi5w+5Ydb9g7awDKlecdV6jcV7cgH99wugUzet/+NubRzQ8/n1ou+w66HHCeId9aS8IN2yQtxiNSPdubgDMPCx5S/3aZccuLbjEgqEI8RI6wI5e0ABrpIXSaRWbyJcXF2h9jd8N5BspO4jz1ZfOR71P+H2CrXLDuzrcm5aYxAGmgIA8iJk6MSdRXTjlapkSR4wzhrbKDsJX0PiWPRgyjyiob94Let3dB3hU77mCpUCfdl2JA6SdqgwrNbulW0kkTAEezOgJyhXyESBIBIEV9xABsugkG1qdNQj6MBO0czvHOlVaD7mhGuUdCyH03H/tj50t4DZIUqSScyiSI9le7IHoFGo0NMuHvmtKx3OUt/y9kn6CqHDbiq7g3CS1xmVSAMuaVyCBrqrGTrqaLQUNk1byAn56D5KPrULHMT5bev8AgaUtPHbf2rNnRbLhH0kyYUGFnTameGxVp1lWRgfOhSUugpohUgAAfrlm/tXgJnIJ1QeyORP3iefkPj6TYzHW0GZnRR1/zWbxHaq25ZbSXbpHPLC+omJHnEfkmmPRoS4zTEnYeX5Cl/EuN2bX+teVNCcoMtA8hr9KyHFOKX7q3BLofEq2bIJusRKzpspb3m8Mbms0nZm9lZ2e0jE90QDmaTBllRoBygnVpOm1ChfbE3XRt7HbVbz5cLaZwN7rnKo8o1Yny08/PxiOI3Lpyl3Y/dQED0MQD6Ems7bxCW7lrBIYXLnuNMGAPZnqxiegMDy3vB7KKsAabaDaqpLoVtifC4C06zcw4nYsVWfiVObalV7stYDF1EqT4kLEo0HYnflyPKtTbuFbhU7MNPXrWS7V4/8AdcQrZl7txLoDroYZwOo0238Q3iGmxNGksYpUtMMLaSy+mZEtZmLFhLHKPFIJOY/GJqlxQ38jNcXKWXUPdzZSvj+zCHw51DiM0MYEjaoMPfYeNGEjVW5HmPgR+Na3hmIW+q3CozCdxJU846VIzO2+GXLpuBlZ0a4xzT3KQV9sAe1MwZVwfHPtCmR4attR3txVADELZRVkFQrAdQRlkADYHzp1iLAdWQzDAgwY30rFcZxLqthmBPcl7VzzEqOXVQpBosmb4qxhh+O4RGt92pXOSM5EsN9JJLbjanPDeIZ3e20ZlggjZlOzD8DWAx+EIN1LYVUaL1sg+8sTGnM6gbma1HBgX/d8QknMTbb0Kk/RgaTM8eRt0zU+Yr7lmvjsFBJMAcztXtCCJEEeVFG9iHtHayZMSoJNk+IDmjaMPlrWq4XfDJoZG4PUHUGqN6yGBUiQRB9DS/speNvNYbeyco80Oqn4bfAVcHTsTNXRRRXUZBUGMtSskxGup0+NT18ImgDnfE7X7ywa1cDMpkWrkCI+4dVB84nzFY7H2Ws50ZGtMwIIyAsZH+2wiFDHkecyN60Paq7lxDNbRUg5coyr8dNCx6V8w/aKVyX1W4o3DjUfHkfM1xfUp1I1cPKMdw7heJtXEt2S9y2MouSmgkSZkkggQY0IBEzTnh3GFYkA67Gd9CRoecEEQdtYjetFhuGozF8HfezcJko7FlYn1J6ab+lK+J8KDkLi7LWXkBb1icpJ09nbbpBGp03olBT2gUmtMvYbGTJkSYnkCdpYDVX5Zhr/AMtajfDslzv8OIuD27Z2cHkQNCD5aHlB0pPiMJfwol/trIJm6g1Qaz3gbVQBuG5QJY0wwHElYAq0jkdiDzifZPVTpv5CsJRa7NE76PeFFtJuWwf3O9KX7XvWWPIdADqp+A5U54O7D/0zMDdtHPYaQA6+1lHkRqBy/lqiVJY3LYXORldW0S6PuOD7D9D9TUNpCCqoWkEnDM3tIy6thrn5Tz9aqLpiaH/HbAuIt9RuIIL5QrbeLQidDbPPbXSKoYTHJmS6WkOuR/MMB4viSjHpmIplwrHLiEZ1BCXJW5bPuXBv5ww/AHQk1zjjmLNu81gt4lGaIjSTDCABtPXX1rXJLXJExW6NnhO1KKjrqSpb4xuf6lNR2OJjE946+FrTK49PDJ+kfz1hLDxcnrB8teXzDfOr3AMZ3eKtMSAMvd3P+Dnc+hKtPkK5nkt0+jVR0ajFYVhjsaiyVxeEW/bG4z2zlI+JYVLd4G62yMocGGDZH5wdGQu2Wf4FI1Ijemj2yl2w3O0/dnzS54QD6NB+VHFeIPhsJduLqbEqF1118BMfwsv0roi+yGuhHcwIVlcrbtsM0KEu3JzQSSLgtaAoNZ517sdmbjv3rPc8USTiDbSB7ot4YgEakwXPnNLuF457ts3XJd2iW67fIeQq9wzGmWJJAUggcifSlHLy6OqXo6jd7G1vA2VQqSGVTJVYtocwG4BAcebTvvS/j4VbttEUKqJICgASdNgNPCv1ptg8aAASsQImZP6+NLeLYc3bxdZywo6bE/3FCmYPDNeDk3EcZdGIuXGJEO67bAEKAPMqATXU+B8aLWReWCCpO8CRI1+Vc84peNl7v7zYOW65kHSB1BEjQR6weUS9/Z5jAmHAUZkDv584+HX4itG7RlVMn7PX8VdxQe8919WJDWxatr4ScqDd4MDNHX4+eLdmGL4hVae9Pf2yRMg+1bzToVJJgDUMOhrY28QWzEQPdkxpPM9aQ8XF1Sji8HFtiQqpoAYUySxMxJ5bUJiaE/ZDiipGEvsFu2zlQk6Oo2CnmRtHONOdbfhDd3eKTo4+q/4rjfbO2f3gMBlDGY6aiTrqNifjXRuy2Ma5bwrt7ebKx111ZZPrAPxpyWhI34NK8bw1WuOXUG1cQZ5IEMugYeeUxTPnVKzg4X7Vw0qFYxG2oMz6fKeZqBsSf/QMPbcFmd3GZQG0zEiMskcxppA3p1YdjHdoFXwkREEaA68+eo5CeYmzKJsCfdJEsRlWRO/6NeRiBll8qofvMDP5ajzpkRxpdaFOI4pZtqzG53pWUYISZmSASemuo2ga6awXePXcxsW7fiZZtsGz8s0+Ia+Gd+dKwlg3HKB74dtLdtSLc5oguRpqdwBEwDrVN+0fdlQHs2FykEJ47qjKrIDu0E3F2iIaQDoRRYt/A3tpiCbVxmuWypi411iiwGkNDbypIIA93oai4r2ltrj7LWiCoi3dbQZg7ZQBJk5WEnToBzpNhO+xDKy4V75Ihnu/6Y8QaQrHY6qVLkwAdDV212FxF1U/eL6IUELlXPkGULpMSYVYLEwVB12NaXY4qjqdnFCBNFIeGqLdq3bDtcCKFDkSWyiJJUQTpRR9ZmnBGopfxw3e5YWVLOdBBAjz139KYVBjs/dt3Ud5By5tp866X0ZI4t2i4QtyVv8Af2mzSSIiSAJKkDSBuDPzNKjwbGoPsLtrEIJOTZuUSGIaNB71aHtb2cxtxszd6oGsqM4J6yjZgfONqyi2ccmk2rwHJhB/+JH15b1w01/s20XBx3uoXEW7tht5ysyzO3I/LN61ruFdqGyeIpftHScwYehPIjo0elZlO011Bkv4e6U21TvkjqY8QHkAa+2cFgMQc1o91cHOwxP9SaMB5RU1W+v8AbyxYtXPtMM+RxPgLFd9f5pP3g3lFZ/inBEzs1yybDqPDeQKAxYhnhASGJbePEddN6X2uG3kEoRfUaShAbfdl5EDlEmNxNNcB2te34LwzKdCl0ZW25Tv9atT/mE4+x8sIyjxEHLKF01WR4WUqdV8QINt9oMa1LceSJjMYDLJK3ANQyncOOR9pf4hNOrVq1iINhyCNWtNAaNZAJBIEkmNVmkGLstaYq1sspXNdQKfD1ZehETmGhgExIAlw1cehqXhjC1ixYuC6T9nchLxgDUnwXzGgM+FvPXYiU37RcAQFvDdSA8RBG0mfdBM77fKpL182wMxFyxcEK495TuD0cc/MDmBMOJ4tNjuLhDMvgDffT3W9Y0PmKnkqplULeA8HOJVsjD7O2W8yfdA9SN/OkfER4LV9A2ZVi6DoWUgAmPIQw8tOVaDsXxI4curDRHyhjswfUJPXeJOubrAMfaYC2022BtyDb02Eew3/E6ehrJpJWWuzZ4HFHEYJbo8T93E/wAS8/VmCt6U2v4ZbzX7bAFL1lTt1DIfplrHfs2xuXvLHun7S2OhAhk+WX4CtijqhsuD4V+xJ8mjIfjC/wBVbY2nsl6OVcK4i1gNh23RiuvMA/l/atBgeIKRIABpd+1bghS6L9rTMc08g3n5EaVlOG8b5NKNsRy+B51zpOLZ62KUckfudOtYnNzpthSK59g+LDMBO4rS8N4lNXGSZE4OI64zwOzirRt3RpyYe0p6qeVY3D8Kv8Pi0yJcwwJPfqIYg6RcA98aeLmB10rc4XEA1fIVlIYAgiCDsa6E9HDkjZiMLjlJCumZZjNuIPkfSPnTDi/FsKE+1uAAwAAY38Maepo4l2XCktZYop3UageYG4+BrF4ns1iLkoblm4oY+1cysB19kajypx72c8k0I+1H2zKyp4B4QAY5gAHWZOh+IredhLVzLh0f7xcCNVAX2f6p/QrNvwW/YNu3abPd7uTkXMGIYmApmYBAzdek6OOH8Wxdod5dW1ZZgUzXPagZRNpCYMlp8R1CuBtWjIOlNfQrmzALAOaYEeprN43tFaELaZsQ0AAWxOYnYySEynrBFY25iruKZO7W7imV1Yl0y2iAynKFYA29mkGCCNDyp1hey+IuiMTcS2kAhLQHhMBZB3BKhZ1IJUGJqdLse30Wr3G7r6ObdqWYANmu3fCzD2CsLqsGF0zKfFSkLcvv9lbu3zLfaXPZysIET7MAyVkeJQR0rT8N7PWbYHc2DeP3iMw+bQm9aJOFYhwAWt2V6KM7enJVP9QoUm/2ofH3ZjbfZNmVjisQttC5cpbhFBMEidBBKqYjdVIg6ljwrCYND/6XDtfcaZlTNHq7Qg+BrUYfsrhwczqbz/eunP8AJfZHwFOkQAQAABsAIFNYsku3X5+e4uUF1sQ2cFiX9opYXoPtG+eij60wscItrq2a43W4c3xA9kfACmFFaxwxX3+SXNsKKKK1ICiiigBb2gx72bLOltnPkJy/xEDUgeVcC7UY04jEFxjVtsBEZ2BnmWjTmNI5D4907V981o27CmWBlokD1EgmuUYj9nWJYy2ckknSyvPeZfnWOS2y49GTstiVnLjcO/kfCPmoBpgcQ5E3beGuRrKXFnntIBG/3udPLP7Mb2gCX+ev2QOvUlyabYD9llyZd3n+K4APgEBrF476X9qL5GNtcSCn2MQh5eIOPhq0fCKfYPtUIyXGW4D7t1Z/GSf6q1f/ANr0bV7gmN8pbp5rG36k1YtfsytD/cJ/lb/+kUvoy/P+j5oz2GsWLhDYZ+4ubhc0pP8ADBlD6U8s8ULDusdaJ+7eUZgdd5XQj/qDU1z9mtsGbdzKfIFfqCaq3OzWMw5zWybg55YY+hUxmHlFLhOG6C4sqcY4Rctm44i9hrxQZbaj2icpukkwra5i40YAggaVjsTaAgocy6kMNZH6+II9a6Bw/iRQnKMv37DSBr93Nqh8iIPKYisr2nsorBsOCLZ9q2Bqh28HSPuj4dKzyJSVrsqNrRY7N2VZbwuGbLrBB1t7asw9CAW5A6wBpnMZ9lcNi7OQHwljJj197Tnv1pt2d4sliRcRmDNmVlcqU0iVHUztsZioe1YtORoVHRkysP5do/46eQrFv9JdbKfB75w19Li6qpDEcymzR5hSdK6TgIupctg6BmtyPI95acfynf8AgFcktt3fhJLW9uuXzH9q2vYDHw3dMwIYBFadPDrbJ9B4PQUoOtDezUcbwf73goJVTlOYsPZYaHyEEGuDY7DG25R7yGdAdDPKf8V3PF8U/drrZ1m1dllMjR9nRgeRhTO/ibQ1x/tvjsxa8LVsNniVDAAajWTqfCNRAOmldTjy6FCbjoUcPyrcUreJKzpBIPKOZrXcP4kcwUgrIJEgidtprn7cXYK6hRI96WiJiYJInUVZwfG75dVzk28oJBAhQBBbQCMpn5RzoeCT2aw9Vx1LaOw8N4lEA1o8NjprmPZvjHfrKrBUDNJ2PT6GtRgcWZ0lvwrHk06Z1uEZq0bW1cmqfE+Elpe0xS5EbnK3qOR8xrXzA3Tpp9aboZrWLs5ckaMjb4ViGuB+9WyTo5IzXGAMgAghVAPm252phiMBhhHflr+o1dJSdgTlGXSTqfOndxNdq8RVbMeCGOG4TAiVVeiD8OX0qxb4TaBkrmPVvF8gdB8BUXCcToLZ5ez6dPhTOuqEIVaRzSck6YUUUVoQFFFFABRRRQAUUUUAFFFFABRRRQAUUUUAFFFFABRRRQBVx/DrV4RdQN0OxHoRqPga412ujC4q4iZsikRmM7qDyG2um9dvrG/tA7MfvCd9bE3FHiX7yjp5j6j4Vhnx8o67Oj00oc6n0zll6LkMmoO/kfhy86jxuBWPeCxIGYwPdYecEgik+LW7YuZ7emuo5H1FOOH44XlzLuPaU7qTp8jyPkK86UWjty+nlj32jPm6Ucqbg32JkxtAPMT59addm8YovKpYKrkCZ0BJ0P8A1SnjJFphLESfu5v76VUfidrmyz/w/wAUuLe6MTsTWTfR7GKNwOtyVZbZJIGnJSDPiB05zvrS7i/YuzctsA+IE9cJO3/K1PxJJ86yGD/abikCr3oYZgQz2iSIAWNI8MDXnqda2/E8PxO/ZLrxAIxXMq2rShGG/tQWj5x510QTWr/qjOXucox/Z5Lbsr3HA6d1kJjb3QT6V4w4wiSXNxwNgS0H5wKg7RYW6lwHE32dvu5iT+WnnApHiGX3Vy/GSfyFXGMpfxM0SjV0dM4Ni0vWx3VsW1DHxACT/ffqa0+Cs9LjD4LWC/Z1fm06n3X/ABArdYWOo+dZOFSaOmElwVD/AAqMP9yf5P8ANN8LcbqDSbCuY5H41fw949PrVVRMnY3MnlXhhX2y8ivbitDDogkggg6itFhr2dQ3X8az5H+KvcHvwch56j1/X4VrilToyzRtWN6KKK6DlCiiigAooooAKKKKACiiigAooooAKKKKACiiigAooooAKKKKAMj2v7EW8UC9uEu8/ut69D5/OuOcS7O3sLdJAZHGhBG46H7wNfpGqPFuE2sQuW4s9GHtD0P5bVhkwqW12dmD1koLjLaOCXLDXEX/AE0OurgmDp4Z6RMT0PxzvH8HdsQcyGeiD56E/hXWeKdnr+Cc3EJa2d2UA6fxBgQPXbzr7xk3b1krkUk7MUCQOu7qfhHwrj4cXtGkmruPRxC5axDCZYDqYUfXWnHB+2V2xY7h7txlB8OQqcoPRmEg+h2NVOM21tswdzeYbhT4FJ5E/wDdZy+TuflyrXGuapoJRrZoOK2bbEPaOfOCZJk6blpMyKz+JQ8vnX3hliXBOwpldsFpMVescquzfFilmx29Dj9md6GvJPJWA+YP5V0G0fKuY9krnd4pejAqfjqPqBXR0umdKibTlYoY3GPF+BzhMUBpB+VMsPe15/KkVjHEaFh6RNXrOM/URUtipo1GFu6VbDzWfwmM8/oaY28TQpESiXYrzJBBG41r5bea9PWiINDh7oZQw5/qKkpRwbEalOuo/MU3rqi7VnFOPF0FFFFUSFFFFABRRRQAUUUUAFFFFABRRRQAUUUUAFFFFABRRRQAUUUUAfCKxnarsZ3k3LBKkam1mhT/AMeS+m3pXyiplFS7LhNwdo49xzgKFi2WD7xHM/rnWNxlskxAAB1j6CiiuFfplo9rHjjKOyWygRZjU7V8IJ3PwooovydK1pFrB3TplAEaz6a1vsJiA6KeoooqF+5oyyrRdw9yDpTSzdaNIr5RWhySL+HunnV+1coopEFm3iYqx300UU0xUj5bvkEMNxrWqw90OoYbETRRXRhZzZ15JKKKK3OYKKKKACiiigD/2Q== Our youth soccer landscape is estimated to be a 5B/Y industry and much of that is based on winning to make the parents happy. Very few are willing to give up their profit for the sake of development outside MLS academies.
There are quite a few people who are making a really good living off of teaching kids to play soccer/sports. As to why this mentality exists with parents, kids won't get seen by college scouts on losing teams.
Somewhat.... parents also 1) want to win because they are living through their kids or 2) hate seeing their kids unhappy and winning makes their kids happy. I these are the larger factors. The first is a problem in all youth sports the second can be dealt with by a good coach.
If you'd like to provide me with tapes of every game he's played for the NT, I think I'd find the same thing for the NT, but I pay attention to the team, not an individual player when watching the USMNT play.
That's what I said? They are both good players, but they possess different skill-sets. You are the one that grouped them together and failed to distinguish them, possibly because you don't know the difference and think they have the exact same skill-set.
One thing I haven't noticed in this thread is a critique on the mismatch between Klinsmann's desires for the CB pairing and who he roles out in more advanced positions. I can understand the desire to play with CBs who are more comfortable on the ball and allow for a possession based system. But if that is what we are striving towards, why do we play with guys who struggle in possession at the wide mid positions? Playing with wingers in a 4-4-2 or similar configuration does not lend itself to short passing and technical play. Zardes and Yedlin have their strengths, but passing and possession are not among them. They are at their best flying up the field on the counter, not working through tight spaces. If we wanted to play a style predicated on keeping the ball, we'd play with one striker and at least three central mids. Don't these tactical decisions lack coherence?
Yeah. I haven't really said that Klinsman wants "possession based" soccer. At least I hope I haven't ...because that's such a stupid general term. Or that his choice of CBs guarantee that the rest of his field players do one thing or another. It's just been noted that his choice of CBs are players who are capable of being craftier under pressure, and able to play a higher, purposeful ball up the field. So Bradley or Jones or Beckman do not CONSISTENTLY have to track back and start our attack from 5 yards in front of our CBs. That spreads everyone else out. Pulls Dempsey, Altidore further from the midfield/wings... When your defenders are limited to a radius (either by passing or possessing) in which they can initiate offense - the entire spacing is compromised.
Some perspective is needed. While the MLS is not a top league in the world, let's not forget a team with several MLS lifers up to that point (Besler, Gonzo, Yedlin, Zusi, Wondo, Beckerman) was less than a minute away from beating Portugal, with all their fancy schmancy Champions League players. Thinking you can evaluate the strength of a team based on the league where their individual players play, or their transfer values, is just as naïve as thinking we have a Top League.
The typical first choice formation is a diamond with 2 strikers and 4 central mids. Klinsmann has tried Zardes and Yedlin together as hybrid LCM and RCM with mixed results. Against Brazil we went with a 4-2-3-1 with Bedoya, Jones, and Bradley as the central triangle.
He has started moving away from this, and (as you pointed out) usually played guys out of position at the LCM/RCM spots. I did like the idea of a narrow 4-4-2, but using Yedlin/Bedoya/Zardes as central mids rarely worked, while Williams/Morales seemed to be lost when asked to also provide some width at those same spots. Plus, with Fab and Timmy C out, we don't have the fullbacks for that at the moment. I think the arrival of Nagbe would make this more practical, as he can play as both a CM and contribute in those wider positions, unlike Williams/Morales. Who can play the other spot? I wish it were Mix, but he has been struggling of late. Jones could be the answer, as he does offer something moving forward and would have a 6 behind him, but we have yet to see if he still has the legs. Is Lleget capable of playing in the middle of the field?
Yes, Lletget came up as a #10 and spent time as a #8 for West Ham. LA's system also calls on him to narrow off.