General Soccer Thread

[Fat Strat]

Identified is probably the wrong word, but in that realm. A number of players have the choice to choose between a couple countries, e.g. they were born in Germany to American parents, or they were born abroad and immigrated to the US when they were young. Klinsmann did a good job of recruiting those players to play for the US, Jones, Green, Zelalem, Brooks, Johansson, Pulisic, F. Johnson, Gooch, probably others I'm forgetting. Another coach probably wouldn't have gone 0-fer(I don't want to oversell Jurgen's impact), but Klinsmann is charismatic and has cache in Europe from his playing days so that was a net positive. His problem was that he couldn't make much happen once they were all on the roster.

That's something I always considered with Klinsmann. We weren't necessarily getting those types of players before him.

I don't think we'll have much of a problem getting those players going forward, though. We should be more consistent with Arena or whoever else and we have the players to compete at a high level. If that happens, recruiting will take care of itself.

[thrill]

I'm extremely skeptical of the Klinsmann as recruiter narrative. I think he was probably good at it, but not as important as Nike, Adidas, the player's agent, attraction to American culture, family ties, and the opportunity to regularly contribute rather than possibly never make the German NT, etc.

If Giuseppi Rossi were 18 right now, there's no way he'd pick Italy. It's a completely different landscape for young American soccer players now.

[Fat Strat]

I'm extremely skeptical of the Klinsmann as recruiter narrative. I think he was probably good at it, but not as important as Nike, Adidas, the player's agent, attraction to American culture, family ties, and the opportunity to regularly contribute rather than possibly never make the German NT, etc.

If Giuseppi Rossi were 18 right now, there's no way he'd pick Italy. It's a completely different landscape for young American soccer players now.

Good points.

[thrill]

Get a load of Jurgen Trump.

http://www.espnfc.us/team/united-states ... cer-chiefs

Klinsmann explained away the losses in public. In private, his excuses were even more bold; he told Gulati that he was convinced that the Gold Cup was fixed so Mexico would win, setting up the big-money playoff match against the U.S., a viewpoint that exasperated his boss.

FOX, ESPN & CONCACAF rigging tournaments for ratings! Sad!

Crooked Sunil fired him, yes, but this kind of [expletive] drives me crazy:

It was around then that rumors began circulating that the USSF was prepared to jettison Klinsmann if the U.S. lost its last match of 2015, a year-ending qualifier on the road against Trinidad and Tobago. With Gulati in attendance in Port of Spain, the Americans managed a scoreless tie, and Klinsmann kept his job.

This kind of arbitrary, make-or-break referendum should not be the reason anyone in any industry keeps or loses their job. The manager in charge of any employee should be able to know whether or not they are employing the right person regardless of individual results. Failure to see and move on the big picture in a timely fashion is what sets programs/initiatives/companies/governments back for years and sometimes generations.

[stlouie_lipp]

[Fat Strat]

It's Bruce Arena. No surprise.

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/11 ... ional-team

[thrill]

Very happy with how sensible this is. We can try to be more ambitious after Russia '18.

[TimeForGuinness]

Uninspiring but practical. I'd rather they go in a different direction, hopefully he can get the team to the WC...but I'm doubtful.

[thrill]

Why do you think they won't qualify?

[TimeForGuinness]

I just see this as regressive, as in we don't want to go out and get the best coach out there to push the team forward. I don't care for band-aids, and it doesn't inspire confidence...but you know what is more regressive? Not making it to the WC. So I can see why they went with someone familiar.

I hope it works out.