Soccer, sports and politics (R)

Jesse Marsch sacked at Leeds. Will the clown show that is the USSF offer him the job?

https://worldsoccertalk.com/amp/new...fling-hiring-process-20230211-WST-419278.html

 

He’d likely be an improvement over Berhalter, but he hasn’t exactly established the best track record so far. From what I’ve seen Leeds fans thought he was very tactically limited, which sounds a lot like complaints from US fans about GB.

 

IOW a perfect fit by US Soccer standards!

 

I wonder how tactically astute USMNT players are compared to the top countries. In other words will it have any effect if you put a tactical genius in front of them.

 

Yeah, that sounds like something you would wonder.

 

I would think Gio, Pulisic and Dest are tactically matching players from the top countries because they were in such an environment from kid on, but how about the rest?

 

So who's left in the 90s pipeline? Marsch looks to be going to Southampton

https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/jes...usmnt-miss-out-leeds-boss/bltdaf8f7364011716f

 

Tangentially related, I watched last night on Apple TV a documentary called " Super League, The war for football". It is about the Super League creation and crashing down. It is pretty well done albeit with a strong pro UEFA bias.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24587530/

 

Different World Cup, same old sportswashing?

"USWNT star Alex Morgan calls potential Saudi sponsorship of Women's World Cup 'bizarre'"

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...izarre-for-saudis-to-sponsor-womens-world-cup

 

She's 100% right. There has been some movement from the Saudis re women's sports, but it's barely the equivalent of a baby step.

 

Well to start with I wasn’t really referring to some super secret tactics concocted in a Dutch lab, more the basic ability to adjust a formation and tactics depending on the players available that’s essential to national team play, and to further modify those tactics and formation before or during a match to counter what your opponent is doing.

But beyond that the fact that the core players of our national team play in top European leagues these days suggests that they don’t fall short in the areas you’re suggesting. And these days most of our best domestic academies and youth clubs have high quality coaches that are either from more established soccer nations themselves or learned from such coaches. The gap is still there but it isn’t what it used to be.

 

I heard a very depressing interview on NPR with a very well informed NY TImes reporter about the Middle Easterning of the World Cup. The wealthy Middle East oil bloc and FIFA both regard Qatar 2022 as a huge success, because working together they effectively squashed dissent. Qatar feels as if it got more than its money's worth in promotion, and FIFA loved the fact that Qatar paid it $$$$ and was willing to let FIFA do whatever it wanted, as long as that was apolitical.

This reporter thinks there is a legit chance that the Saudis will get the next available Men's World Cup.

 

They should boycott.

 

It depends. What is more important...human rights or $$$?

 

$$$ are people too!

 

Speaking about boycotting the women's national team to our north were planning to skip the SheBelieves Cup as a protest against Federation cut backs and pay inequality but backed down after the fed threatened to sue the players.

 

Their choice to boycott or not boycott will answer the question totally.

 

The Australian and New Zealand organizing committee should tell FIFA to shove their World Cup if Saudi Arabia is a sponsor.

 

I doubt anybody really cares who hosts the WWC. But the USWNT might be able to threaten to stay home and then make it clear that whoever DOES win is a paper champion. The USWNT has more clout with the public than the given Fed. New Zealand doesn't go to the World Cup enough on their own for the Fed brass to opt out. Hosting means qualification. The team players need to be the ones to say they're not going...

 

Besides, holding World Cups and Olympics in autocratic countries equals
TRADITION

 

$ is speech ergo human beans

 

Your DC United jokes won't make a dent with these barbarians.