My fellow Americans, our great national nightmare is over ...http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2016/11/21/13677648/jurgen-klinsmann-fired-usa-soccer-usmnt
Tab through the Hex, then somebody new. Marcelo Bielsa would be magic. Arena had his chance and shot his wad. He needs to retire -- just like the players he brought up. Landon, DMB, and the others.I don't like seeing all the chatter about bringing Arena back.
Tab through the Hex, then somebody new. Marcelo Bielsa would be magic. Arena had his chance and shot his wad. He needs to retire -- just like the players he brought up. Landon, DMB, and the others.
Vermes is intriguing. Former USMNT legend. Played in Europe. Played and coached here to an MLS Cup. Fluent in Spanish. Reputation for bringing up young players and attacking soccer. USA would have some balls again. Bringing Arena back just sounds like a nightmare.
Why would you say that? Im totally ok with the door hitting him on the way out. Apparently none of us know anything about soccer.Prost! Don't let the door hit you, Jurgen...
Have you not been watching USMNT soccer for the past few years?Why? Smh.
Have you not been watching USMNT soccer for the past few years?
At least he doesnt constantly play players out of position and then throw them under the bus when they dont preform as well.I've watched the past 20 years. The team wasn't any better under Arena, he doesn't deserve a second chance.
I've watched the past 20 years. The team wasn't any better under Arena, he doesn't deserve a second chance.
And doesn't some of it have to do with the timing of the cycle? Like the men had just gotten a big payday from actually being in the WC, whereas the women hadn't played yet. I thought I read that had something to do with it as well.They had the opportunity to sign a deal that was similar to the guys. They decided not to do that.
They wanted extra things like a regular salary, health insurance, pregnancy insurance, cervical cancer coverage, subsidized birth control and other benefits. They took lower overall pay to get those benefits.
Despite the fact that US soccer pays out cash payments to subsidize their professional league and their national team games, on aggregate over a typical four year cycle lose money, the women decided that if USSF had the money to pay Jurgen $3 million a year, then they were getting a raw deal. At least the stars did. The lower rated players know they make out like bandits compared to MLS role players named to the national team.
So Solo and her buddies decided to try to extort extra money out of their contract after Klinsmann got paid. When that didn't work, they went to court to cancel the contract. When that didn't work, they went on the Today show and claimed they aren't paid the same.
In anecdotal ways, that is true, but most female players overall are paid better than most men and the women's program loses money.
And they aren't the better performing team. If the men had the same advantages against their competition in terms of infrastructure and talent development, we would perform at a high level too.
While the women did win the last World Cup, they played like dog shit the first three games and nearly got bounced. They were heavily favored in two previous World Cups and choked badly.
And doesn't some of it have to do with the timing of the cycle?.
Sort of. The women compared their World Cup year with an off year for the men and said the pay over a four year cycle should be paid based on that, not what was generated over the previous four years. Because if they did, it would have been a net loss for the women. Something thing that gets lost in all the girl power discussions.And doesn't some of it have to do with the timing of the cycle? Like the men had just gotten a big payday from actually being in the WC, whereas the women hadn't played yet. I thought I read that had something to do with it as well.
Yes and no. Former college soccer player here. College soccer needs to be abolished. The funky rules and particularly the practice time limits are no place near what other countries are doing. High school soccer is fine, but it needs to be geared towards fun and less about getting a free ride to some college. If you are good and want to continue to play, you go to a special school for that starting at age 12. If not, you play for fun. If you haven't switched by age 15, its over. Everybody else plays for fun. The only way that skills will develop is by playing for fun. Whether that is in the city streets as a poor kid or a manicured field as a suburban kid. Structured practices and formation heavy competitions do little to develop soccer skills. I learned more from hanging out with international students in the dorm than I ever learned from one of the best college coaches of all time. And learned because I was having fun and the ball was always at my feet. I wasn't worried about scoring, or winning, or getting a scholarship, or getting my team into a traveling tournament, or justifying my coaches absurd $100,000 salary for coaching 14 year olds even though he never played and really hadn't won anything. He stumbled upon two pretty talented kids and turned them into a career by conning parents.Soccer will not get any better until there is a better HS and college system in place.
Coaches that want to coach college need to go overseas (Europe, South America, Japan, Africa, etc) and work (not just observe) for a couple of years so they can learn the different styles (BTW, good/great players does not mean good/great coaches).
US soccer (and MLS) needs coaches with different philosophies and methods so that players with diverse talents can come through the ranks.
At some point, US will find a style that is unique and perfect for the USMNT.
Soccer in the US is based on discipline and measurements and it lacks players that can make a difference with their technique 1 on 1 (like Messi or Ronaldo), their defending abilities or their passing. In other countries, kids are given a soccer ball for Christmas (usually their first gift) and they grow up trying to copy the players they see in TV. Here in the US, kids are forced to be very organized and do what the coach says all the time. I think soccer needs something similar to street basketball.
Extort? Of course the women have performed better throughout history. They may have been favorites and "choked" the first few games, but they still won, right? Choke is generally reserved for when you actually lose.They had the opportunity to sign a deal that was similar to the guys. They decided not to do that.
They wanted extra things like a regular salary, health insurance, pregnancy insurance, cervical cancer coverage, subsidized birth control and other benefits. They took lower overall pay to get those benefits.
Despite the fact that US soccer pays out cash payments to subsidize their professional league and their national team games, on aggregate over a typical four year cycle lose money, the women decided that if USSF had the money to pay Jurgen $3 million a year, then they were getting a raw deal. At least the stars did. The lower rated players know they make out like bandits compared to MLS role players named to the national team.
So Solo and her buddies decided to try to extort extra money out of their contract after Klinsmann got paid. When that didn't work, they went to court to cancel the contract. When that didn't work, they went on the Today show and claimed they aren't paid the same.
In anecdotal ways, that is true, but most female players overall are paid better than most men and the women's program loses money.
And they aren't the better performing team. If the men had the same advantages against their competition in terms of infrastructure and talent development, we would perform at a high level too.
While the women did win the last World Cup, they played like dog shit the first three games and nearly got bounced. They were heavily favored in two previous World Cups and choked badly.
That is what I was trying to say just 10x better.Yes and no. Former college soccer player here. College soccer needs to be abolished. The funky rules and particularly the practice time limits are no place near what other countries are doing. High school soccer is fine, but it needs to be geared towards fun and less about getting a free ride to some college. If you are good and want to continue to play, you go to a special school for that starting at age 12. If not, you play for fun. If you haven't switched by age 15, its over. Everybody else plays for fun. The only way that skills will develop is by playing for fun. Whether that is in the city streets as a poor kid or a manicured field as a suburban kid. Structured practices and formation heavy competitions do little to develop soccer skills. I learned more from hanging out with international students in the dorm than I ever learned from one of the best college coaches of all time. And learned because I was having fun and the ball was always at my feet. I wasn't worried about scoring, or winning, or getting a scholarship, or getting my team into a traveling tournament, or justifying my coaches absurd $100,000 salary for coaching 14 year olds even though he never played and really hadn't won anything. He stumbled upon two pretty talented kids and turned them into a career by conning parents.
The USA will never have a single "style". We are too big. Germany is the size of Oregon and they have regional differences between Berlin and Hamburg, etc. Tab has done some good things in terms of standardizing playing rules. But we are better off with everyone in Southern California teaching kids the same basic skills by certain ages that everyone else is learning, then defining that into the California style. Doing the same with the Midwest, the Pac West and other regions will give us a broad base of basic skills and a playing pool that can pull the best players and that have the best skill set to mesh with their teammates into a blended style that is uniquely American. That may mean that some really good raw talent gets left out of the national team, but playsworld class ball elsewhere. That's fine. Ask Carlos Tevez and countless other generational players that never quite fit into their national team about the same experience. This is what Klinsman was trying to do, but he was too incompetent to identify how to do it and too arrogant to get people to follow him. Seriously, what an ass.
Our kids are learning tactics light years ahead of kids even ten years ago. The problem? They are learning them on a video game. They need to go outside without any adults around and learn how to do what they see in the game.
Thanks, I appreciate it. But most of the thoughts aren't mine. I spend a lot of time around soccer. Most people who have played abroad or worked professionally in the sport after playing overseas share the same views. People I respect.That is what I was trying to say just 10x better.