SA POLL: Who should coach the U.S. national team?
- by Soccer America , Sep 20, 2010
[U.S. MEN] In light of Juergen Klinsmann's revelations U.S. Soccer again pursued him to be national team coach before sticking with Bob Bradley, who should be the U.S. men's national team coach?
14 comments about "SA POLL: Who should coach the U.S. national team?".
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Like the leaders of other modern organizations, the leaders of US Soccer have as their first priority, the preservation of their jobs. In for-profit organizations, the leaders keep their jobs by making profits and growing the business thereby making their owners happy. In a not-for-profit like US Soccer, its leaders do not have to satisfy any owners, just some other bureaucrats, who like the leaders have one priority and that is to keep their jobs. (BTW this is not to demean or insult the many grass-roots volunteers who give up their time and money to support their kids and the sport of soccer). Improvements in the quality of play and the skill level of US players is not on their priority list. In some nebulous fashion these people want soccer to grow BUT only as a means to expanding their own positions and resulting perks. That's why the effort to bring the WC to the US is so important to them -- more money and more prestige but not one step closer to developing a bigger and more skillful player-pool. Any one interested in improving the level of US soccer should take a look at the board of directors of US Soccer and ask themselves why any of these people would care whether the USMNT improves or not, just so long as their cozy little world is not disturbed. Klinsmann has been quite outspoken about the need to shake up this incestuous little group, so who would you pick Banal BB or Jurgen "hold on to your seats" Klinsmann. Just like cynical politicians, the leaders of US Soccer will play the patriotic card, expecting that US fans will blindly support the team while overlooking the hypocrites lurking in the background. The questions is will we continue to blindly support them or withhold our support until they start doing their job of improving the overall state os US soccer and bringing the game out of the suburbs and into the inner cities.
One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,we need someone like Klinsmann, who have coached at this level, and his attacking,offensive coaching style would appeal to an American audience.
What is the point of this article? We have BB for the next 4 years. I just do not have more energy to talk about this topic....I wanted it somebody else, but we got stuck with Bradly.
This is a no-brainer....Bradley is great for Division II Soccer.....its time to move up to Division I Soccer with Klinsmann...the leaders of US Soccer are like our Politician...for the good of themselves,but not for the good of the general soccer public.
Clyde you are right the American public started to pay attention to the beautiful game. Then the bottom fell out. We should have continued and grow further to attract the public awarness and support.The moron Gulati ruined that chance by appointing Bradley. He will be responsible for the demise of the game and the National Team. And Bradley should be ashamed of himself being un-American accepting a position that he has absolutely no capability nor the experise to to be a soccer coach (he is a baseball fan)let alone a National Team coach. The above 17% shows the non-confidence that the American public given him!
@ Julio: its not like we live in North Korea or another totalitarian country where we would just have to "accept" the appointment of MLS Bob for another 4 years or risk being put up against the wall and shot. Loud massive dissent, civil disobedience, boycotts against injustice can lead to positive changes being made as the cost of maintaining the status quo becomes increasingly more expensive. If people just "accepted" unjust actions then the PRI would still rule Mexico, Argentina would still remain under the Junta, Soth Africa would remain under apartheid, Germany still divided and perhaps America would be a British Crown colony. The people/fanbase sorely want change for the USMNT program as the poll demonstrates, we now need to empower ourselves to make that change happen or faces years of mediocrity to come at the hands of the ham-fisted USSF and their MLS allies.
Does Klinsmann have a full-time PR staff? Why is the press always speculating about what could have been, with Klinsmann? Unless he is announced as the US coach, I don't care to see his name.
Margaret -- maybe people listen and want to listen because what he says is relevant to the future of US Soccer!!! Listen to his interview and then say he has nothing to add to the discussion. Unfortunately, your attitude (which is shared by many) is exactly why the US Soccer hierarchy continues to ignore the long term needs of soccer in preference to their own needs. Ignorance is bliss.
Juergen Klinsmann would be, in my opinion, an excellent choice to mamage the U. S. National Team. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with him on a few occasions a few years ago and assure you he is a perfect gentleman and extremely bright. Further, his accomplishments as a player should be and to me are, beyond reproach. Finally, he has an outstanding record coaching the German National Team to considerable success....but you know what?; he is NOT the manager of the U.S. National Team. We don't know if he would have comparable succes to that which he had with Germany. What we do know though, is that Bob Bradley did NOT miss chances in front of goal, lose his mark in the midfield, or get caught flat on the counterattack. I think he gave our team every opportunity to win and before the discussion of who should be coach goes any further, let me stress something that has been apparent and in fact obvious to me throughout my 40 years in soccer at many different levels...that while the role of the coach changes at various levels, SOCCER IS A PLAYER'S GAME! If you don't have the right players, you're not going to win.I believe the U.S. largely had the best players available for the World Cup. Could a few have been missed? Possibly. But Bradley's decisions on players got us to that point and our team played extraodinarily well on several occasions under his guidance. Our players, while not necessarily all in the world's top 100, are solid pros, capable of great results. Still, we do need to constantly search for more! But until the head coach of the National Team can dictate to the National Federation and ALL THE STATE FEDERATIONS on how players are to be trained, coached, and developed, there will never be continuity or an identifiable style in the American game. The coach will have to take what he gets. The "almighty dollar" at the youth level drives, instruction, scheduling, and all related "develoment". The question is, whose benefit is the priority? Are coaches, club presidents, state directors, etc. willing to sacrifice ego and some dollars for the benefit of player development and therefore the health of the game in this country? If not, you can ressurect Alf Ramsey, Rinus Michels, Vittorio Pozzo, sign Mario Zagallo, Franz Beckenbauer, Cesar Menotti and anyone else you like to assist Juergen Klinsmann or Bob Bradley and it's not going to matter. Until then, I'll continue to be a fan of Juergen Klinsman, and support and respect Bob Bradley, an excellent coach.
727 votes from hardcore, knowledgeable soccer fans, coaches and players so far. In and a landslide victory for Klinsmann, can Paul or Ridge get this tally over to Gulati and / or the powers that be to show them that an error has been made based upon this educated consensus? Maybe some kind of position can be created (Asst. Coach, Offensive / Defensive Coordinator, etc.) for JK that which would be copasetic with him and pacify the soccer fan base to give us a chance in 2014? Obviously, bringing in JK will not solve all of our problems, but it will be a step in the right direction. It would also make the transition process to move him up to Head Coach in 2014 much easier as he will have already established himself in our program and hopefully bring his fresh idea's into fruition (which, of course Bumbling Bob can take credit for!).
I've been as critical of Bradley over the last few years as anyone; however, I can't understand this obsession with Klinsmann. As a manager of the German national team, Klinsmann was much critisized by the media and experts in Germany. And a semifinal spot is not a great achievement for a German team playing at home. It's the minimum that one would expect from a footballing super power. Now, take Klinsmann record as a club manager. He was a failure at Bayern and was sacked before his first and only season in charge was over.
So, why Klinsmann?? Is it only because the media in this country keeps bringing up his name? Or because Gulati talks to him once every 4 years?
While David M is rightabout Klinsman and all of us, most likely aware of that. Recognizing that it only shows how much everybody is fed up with the present "regime" and how negatively Bradley and Gulati rates with the majority. For Goodness sake even the "other" received 12% versus Bradle's 16%. BTW who was the "other" my 11 year old son? It could have been as well!
945 votes and counting so far. Perhaps within "other" some were wishing for Michael Bradley in replacement of his dad? Lol! :)
Chris Snyder, you are correct that it is a "players game." I believe this is where Klinsman and Gulati have a parting of the ways. Klinsman wants to have the power to change the system in which USSF develops players. Thereby generating a larger more diverse player pool. Again, you are correct to say the U.S. doesn't have a plethera of talented soccer players, but we should and could have more than we have now. On a seperate note, the potentially best talented players end up in college were they get malcoached and do not play enough games.