Bruce Arena resigned last week. The consensus, I think, is that it’s not nearly enough.

Listen, I’m not someone who thinks that changing one guy at the top — Sunil Gulati in this case — is going to make things all better. Maybe most of the board of directors of the US Soccer Federation who has supported him should also go? I don’t know enough about the inner-workings of an extremely political organization like that to even consider specifics right now.

But after Gulati affirmed that he’s not resigning last week, I started to take the liberty of looking through what’s online about the Board of Directors and the bylaws of the USSF. I need to educate myself (at least a little) if I’m going to have an opinion about this.

Here is a link to the list of who is on the Board of Directors. 

And here’s a place you can click for yourself and read through the bylaws. Because educating yourself as a soccer fan can’t hurt either, right?

I’m no lawyer, but it seems that something like a motion to remove Gulati from the top would require a 60 day waiting period unless it’s considered an “urgent case.” In that case, a 2/3 majority vote would be required.  Right now, there is a three-term limit on the presidency that Gulati has in place. I suppose that could be amended, but that seems like a slam-dunk to the people who are talking about whether he’ll run for another term, which is confusing to me. Maybe someone who has the opportunity to talk with people in the chain of the USSF can explore that.

His Wikipedia page says that Gulati, an economics lecturer at Columbia University. Full time. Also he runs United States Soccer. Because that’s just a little part time thing. 

Looks like someone on Reddit had the same general idea I tried to address here. 

OK, let’s talk about the people who could be in charge of changing US Soccer, aside from Gulati:

Executive Vice President – Carlos Cordeiro

What you need to probably know is that Cordeiro is a former executive at Goldman Sachs and was described when elected as a confidante to Gulati. So, I guess you won’t find much change just by Gulati resigning, because Cordeiro would serve out his term. I think. 

Player representatives

The player reps get twenty percent of the vote, no matter how big the Board is. There are three players reps on the board: Chris Ahrens, Carlos Bocanegra, and Angela Hucles.

Ahrens is a Paralympics player and adaptive PE teacher in San Diego. 

Bocanegra is a 38 year old who went to UCLA and spent time in English soccer before returning to MLS and playing on the national team. He is, by far, the most recognizable name on this list aside Gulati. His resume seems like it would have some context, but it’s hard basically all you’ve known of US Soccer has been run by one guy. 

Hucles is a former player on the women’s team and is the president of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Pro Council Representatives

Don Garber in the MLS Commissioner and always has MLS owners’ best interests in mind. His stance will, by definition, to make the professional game less open. Promotion and relegation is the last thing he, and MLS string-pullers like Bob Kraft want. 

Steve Malik is the the owner of the Carolina RailHawks of the NASL. This is interesting, since the NASL filed a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation for not having fair and open practices with regard to putting leagues into Divisions and not having an open promotion/relegation system. Malik would almost certainly be in favor of Pro/Rel, which, it could be argued, is at the heart of most of the issues American’s have pointed to as shortcomings of our soccer program over the past few days. 

Adult Council Representatives

Richard Moeller is a member of the Board of Directors of the United States Adult Soccer Association. According to the USAAA website, he is the vice president of the USAAA board. It looks like he’s the president of the Florida State Adult Soccer Association. No telling where a person like this is at with regard to a desire to see change.

John Motta is the president of the United States Adult Soccer Association and an executive at Dunkin Donuts in Massachusetts. Based solely on where he’s from and what his day job is, my guess would be he’s a person who would be close to people like Kraft and Gulati. That said, he did post this on Thursday, and his tone sounds anti Sunil, which is an easy position to take publicly in these times.

Clarification on running for President of US Soccer. Here are the requirements as of 9/1. The Board passed this nominating procedure. pic.twitter.com/cTdpUjpQtv

— John Paul Motta (@JohnPMotta) October 12, 2017

How far with reform the USSF will go probably depends a lot on people like Motta. Motta’s twitter account certainly confirms my suspicions about how much of a damn political dumpster fire the whole thing is… .

Youth Council Representatives

Jesse Harrell is the Chair of the US Youth Soccer Board of Directors. He’s in the insurance business in Houston and that’s just about all I could find on him in the few minutes I spent. I do this site for fun, remember?

Tim Turney is the Vice Chair of US Youth Soccer. If you google “Tim Turney youth soccer,” the second and fourth hits are articles about how officials were directed not to speak about concussions for youth players. So, that’s fun. It seems that Turney is from Kentucky and 

At Large Representative

John Collins was the attorney for the USSF nearly 20 years ago, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has been a US District Attorney and now is in private practice (again, all according to LinkedIn). Here’s an interesting article about an antitrust suit brought against USSF and Collins and about his fighting it off. Probably pertinent to what’s happening both with the NASL lawsuit and the American undercurrent to cut the power out from those who have it at the USSF. Just judging from his history with the organization and the fact that he’s a lawyer who’s been in the middle of these things before, I’d say that whatever happens, Collins is probably someone who is in the middle of things.

Independent Directors

Two of the three Independent Directors have collegiate/NCAA ties. At least one of them is talking about change, but who knows how serious anybody is?

Donna E. Shalala is the president of the University of Miami. She tweeted about the need for a revolution last week, as reported by SI. We’ll see how serious or far-reaching her concept of “revolution” will go. 

This morning 2-1 unacceptable For us in USSoccer more than a wake up call. Time for a revolution. Need a long term plan that is smart

— Donna E. Shalala (@DonnaShalala) October 11, 2017

Val Ackerman is the commissioner of the Big East Conference. She has come out strongly against paying student athletes in the past. Here is a 2013 profile of her in USA Today. No mention of soccer anywhere in there. The March 2017 articles you can find that link her and US Soccer also tout term limits of 12 years. Again, I’m confused how Gulati would get re-elected for the next cycle since he’ll be at that limit. 

Lisa Carnoy is a bank president on the East coast, so I would posit a guess that she’s not in the business of upsetting the current regime. She’s not listed currently on the website, but there’s a tweet and some articles that would indicate she’s also an independent director. In the announcement by US Soccer of her joining the board, there isn’t any mention of soccer experience. 

Welcome, Lisa Carnoy!@LCarnoy will serve as an Independent Director on the Board, the governing body of the USSF.https://t.co/7v2MDBBJdK

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) August 26, 2017

Immediate Past President (non-voting)

Dr. S. Robert Contiguglia’s wikipedia page is interestingly small. It says he has “played, coached, and managed soccer at several different levels,” which, based on their biographies I could find, puts him ahead of most other board members in that regard. He doesn’t get to vote. 

CEO/Secretary General (non-voting)

Dan Flynn’s resume says he was a collegiate soccer player over 40 years ago and is an Anheuser-Busch executive. Straight from the USSF’s website: “He was also directly involved in Anheuser-Busch’s sponsorship of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, which served as the springboard for their future involvement in the sport on a long-term basis.” So, though he’s a non-voting member, his presence is interesting in that Anheuser-Busch is a huge sponsor of US and Mexican soccer. 

Flynn is quoted as a representative of US Soccer in this release from the USSF, though I guess he could technically be a representative of both sides?

***************************************************

So, there’s the information I could gather in my spare time over the last few days, and maybe it gives you a more rounded-out picture of who’s in charge over at the US Soccer Federation. 

Here are a few things that stick out to me:

Lots of banking people and people tied to MLS

This was probably a natural thing around the turn of the millennium. It’s probably less appropriate and natural now, especially with the budding conflict between a free market system and the current system that ensures an MLS franchise can’t be relegated. 

Not tons of soccer people

Aside from the players, there aren’t very many high level soccer people on the board. I see lots of people who have worked on the business side of things for a long time, but I don’t think I saw any kind of coaching certification or anyone who has that level of context. There are more women there recently than there have been (good) and some players (also good), but by and large, most of these people are business people rather than people who think about soccer full-time. Probably having both a business/political IQ and a soccer IQ would be great for everyone here to have. Doesn’t seem like there are lots of examples, if all you’re doing is reading their biographical information that’s first-page searchable. Maybe I’m wrong and I’ll find out that Richard Moeller is actually a highly trained soccer development tactician. I’m open to that kind of information.

East Coast Bias

Holy moly! Who on here has any west coast representation? For a country so geographically big and regionalized, it seems like having someone from California around would be a priority. Obviously, it isn’t. There is a high concentration of power in the USSF in the New York/New England area. One of the three players (Bocanegra) is originally from the west coast, but as I looked at people’s biographies, the most western state I think I saw is Texas. I wonder how that affects everything from resources to selections at even the earliest of ages. The lack of west coast representation has to have an impact, doesn’t it? Californians sometimes joke about having their own national team. 

Change would mean a MASSIVE shift

Given the ties that many or most of these board members have to both Gulati and each other, and given that people generally think they’re doing the right thing (whether they are or aren’t), it would take an amazing amount of change in the groupthink that goes on within the board or in the people themselves. Given how long he’s been there, it’s likely that Sunil Gulati has been a huge part of getting each one of the board members onto the board. Even if people in the (still sometimes ignorant) US Soccer community want to put the blame on Gulati, it will take much more than ousting Sunil to deal any real change to the USSF. Even if he’s ousted on the next election, the Gulati principles will remain long after he’s gone in the form of the people he helped get there. You see, organizations and boards like this are not easily moved or changed. At least not usually. Especially not when so many dollars in general are up for grabs — specifically if the United States has a shot at a World Cup within the next decade. 

What do you think? What would you like to see change? What is a reasonable timeline for real systemic changes or do you feel that tweaks are better than changes? Comment below or find me @fansmanship on twitter. 

I met John Pranjić watching a US soccer game in San Luis Obispo with the local American Outlaws chapter. A few months later I started to explore his podcast. 

I’m a neurotic soccer fan, but hopefully my conversation with John was a little fun and a little informative.

If you want more information about John or his podcast, you can find it at 343coaching.com. 

It came into conscious clarity around the 84th minute — this was the quintessential USMNT fan experience. In my first in-person US Men’s Soccer game, the Americans conceded an early goal off a corner kick, gave up a penalty to close out the first half, and were the same frustrating, uncreative, non-adjusting team they have been lately in a 2-0 loss to one of the best teams in the world.

This guy was in the stadium and amped more than 2 hours before the game. By Owen Main

Oh, Hi Columbia

All the Columbians came to Santa Clara. The fans were pro-Columbia, and it wasn’t even close. For every one fan of the United States, there were four or five yellow or white Columbia jerseys. Of the sold-out crowd of 67,439, I’d guess about 45,000 were Columbia fans. Seriously, it’s like everyone in Bogotá traveled to Santa Clara for Friday night’s game.

You think it doesn’t make a difference when Michael Bradley and co. step onto a pitch in California and are greeted with a sea of gold?

The AO Experience

As a member of the SLO American Outlaws chapter, I was really pumped to see what sitting in the AO section would bring to the table. Honestly, it was really cool. The chants, cheers, and collective will the section exuded was pretty awesome. It would have been better if the rest of the stadium wasn’t in yellow and if it didn’t feel like a road game, but it was really fun nonetheless.

Cheering-wise, my favorite part early on in the game. Just seconds after the first Columbia goal — a crushing one inside of 10 minutes, the AO drummers started-up a progressive clap to help keep both the fans and, hopefully, the team right in the game.

The good and the bad

Let’s start with the good, and this section will be short. Geoff Cameron and John Brooks looked all right in the center of defense. Michael Bradley generally hustled behind the ball. Alejandro Bedoya left it all on the pitch, and Clint Dempsey’s free kick was a good one, despite the save by the Columbian goalkeeper.

Now to the bad.

First, DeAndre Yedlin. Yedlin should be one of the few US players who can put pressure on other teams with his speed and skill on the wing. Yedlin’s play, though, seemed less inspired and sharp than I’ve ever seen. Passes he sent seemed to go awry. Passes to him sailed out of bounds when he stopped runs, or flew out of bounds behind him. He looked really out of sorts and like he couldn’t find his place on the right wing that Gyasi Zardes and sometimes Bedoya also roamed. Yedlin’s handball gave Columbia their second goal.

Fabian Johnson did all right on the left side, though on a particularly weak cross right in front of me I wondered how strong his left foot really is. I know Johnson likes being a left-side player, but he’s got to do more than run straight north and south to create moving forward.

The most annoying aspect of the game was the US’s inability to be creative and matriculate the ball forward from the back line. Throughout both halves, Columbia would sit back without pressuring Brooks or Cameron. The tactic totally stopped any flow the US had, as they closely covered Bradley, Bedoya, and Jermaine Jones, who the Americans were trying to play through. None made particularly creative runs and so, despite having three attacking players looking to get forward, the United States spent very little time in the attacking third.

For years, Americans have had a really hard time with the final pass or two to break-down world-class defenses and get goals. Nothing I saw tactically or from the players on Friday night made me think that would change anytime soon.

There are lots of other criticisms of tactics and players you could make. If you were in the AO section, you probably felt like the US didn’t really get the calls they should have. From behind the goal, it looked like Dempsey was dragged down in the box early. It also seemed as though Columbia committed enough fouls to have deserved a yellow card somewhere along the way. It definitely wasn’t the ref’s fault that they didn’t win and maybe it’s just part of that pure fan experience to hate the ref in a game like this… .

On the line

Jurgen Klinsmann’s legacy has already in doubt for a lot of pundits, and this performance didn’t do anybody any good. I’ve always been a Klinsmann supporter, but this team’s play is just flat-out mediocre right now.

I’m no body language doctor like Bill Simmons, but if I was going to guess, I’d say Klinsmann would be out of his job prior to the next World Cup cycle. I hope he turns things around and Sunil Gulati has no choice but to keep him, but it’s hard to see a series of events that makes the team better enough to justify that.

So THIS is what it’s like

So, the overwhelming thought I had leaving the stadium is that I’d just been indoctrinated into a US Soccer fan. The game and tournament had such promise. Maybe it still does. But, maybe, I learned a little more about what it was like to be a US Soccer fan. The American soccer fans who were there were really great. It’s a fantastic, loyal, passionate community whose main currency right now might be frustration.

That said, I wondered how US fans were SO outnumbered in their own stadium. It was a little bit embarrassing that US Soccer hadn’t done more to generate better interest in the Bay Area. And isn’t California supposed to be full of soccer people? Man, the more I think about it, the more I think the Bay Area didn’t do very well in terms of numbers. Hopefully Chicago and Philadelphia do better. Again, props to Columbia fans for buying up all the seats.

On the way home, I stopped in King City for a snack. Waiting to use the restroom with my US Soccer gear on still, I found myself face-to-face with a Columbia fan. He had a gold James Rodriguez jersey on and we made eye contact.

“Sorry, bro,” he said.

Yep.

Up next

The US will have to get good results from their remaining group games against Costa Rica in Chicago and Paraguay in Philadelphia. If they play like they did on Friday, that’ll be their last game in this tournament they’re hosting.

Photos by Owen Main

If you are a United States soccer fan — I’m pretty sure I am — you have to be pretty darn excited right now.

The 2014 World Cup was fine. The United States made it through the group stages but were bounced in the first round of knock-out play, leaving fans wondering what direction this seemingly stagnant team was headed.

In a post-Landon Donovan era, it was a team that was built around getting players — and in turn, fans — out of their comfort zones.

For evidence of the United States’ changing of the guard, look no farther than Donovan’s weird departure from the team and from playing soccer. Fans who had grown up in an era when Landon Donovan was synonymous with the game in this country might have been questioning Klinsmann’s plan.

Largely because of players like Donovan, though, the United States has continued to find young, talented players. Getting those guys into winning form has been a tough, fluid code to crack.

In a recent game against the Netherlands, the US team looked like they were going to lose in familiar ways. There wasn’t enough back-line discipline. Forward Gyasi Zardes wasn’t taking advantage of his opportunities. Zardes did put one in the back of the net, but the United States was down 3-1 with things not looking good.

Then a few funny things happened. Central defender John Brooks — who gets pretty badly beaten at times — made a 70th minute  box-to-box run and finished to put the US within a goal. OK, his run wasn’t “box-to-box.” Actually, it started around midfield, but still, it was a piece of inspired play that depended especially on Brooks’ trust of others to cover his back line in the likely case his run hadn’t resulted in anything good.

OK, so here are those pesky Americans who always give their fans a little more hope than is realistic. So I thought.

Danny Williams, a relative unknown, proved me wrong and unleashed this crack to level the match.

Then lightning struck in the 90th minute. I mean, Amsterdam was reeling, but one name you know (Michael Bradley) and two names you probably didn’t know (Jordan Morris and Bobby Wood) took advantage and made history.

Yes, the Netherlands took their feet off the gas and no, their defense was never VERY good in this game.

But the US team took advantage. They scored four goals. They were opportunistic. They finished.

To summarize, The four goal-scorers on June 5th have six total goals between them in International play.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey’s group. However, in a post-Landon Donovan era, with a national team that was 1-3-2 since the World Cup, the recent wins are huge.

Following the comeback in Amsterdam, the Americans beat Klinsmann’s Germany and are now 4-1 in their past five games.

The really fun thing about their recent run is that they have done it without some of the names US soccer fans have gotten used to. Perhaps it’s time for US fans to get to know some of these younger, lesser-known guys.

A week ago, I sure was pumping my fist in excitement, celebrating a comeback for the ages. My arm has plenty more where that came from. I wonder if some of these new faces have the same.

A former national team coach, Steve Sampson instantly becomes the highest profile coach in the Cal Poly athletic department. By Owen Main

Cal Poly athletics made a big splash on Thursday afternoon, when they announced the signing of former United States Men’s National Team and LA Galaxy head coach, Steve Sampson, to be their men’s soccer coach.

In a press conference held in the President’s Suite at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman announced Sampson in front of media, fans, and a group of players from this past season’s Cal Poly team.

“I absolutely am so excited,” said Sampson. “I can’t emphasize that enough. Everything you see with respect to the Mustang Way — all those things I stand for. All those things I want to help to grow and develop at Cal Poly… . ”

For his players, he will have a high expectation coming out of the gate.

“We have an incredible group of young men coming back,” said Sampson. “We expect to raise the standards”

Sampson, who has spent the last few years directing the Steve Sampson Soccer Academy at the Global Sports Institute in Southern California, said that it wasn’t a decision that required a ton of consternation.

“When I was approached with the opportunity of coaching here at Cal Poly, I think it took about five seconds for me to respond with my high level of interest,” said Sampson.

Sampson last coached in 2006 in MLS. His LA Galaxy won both the MLS Cup and the US Open cup in 2005. His influence in the soccer world since then has been felt mostly through his academy but his connection to Cal Poly is an easy one to dissect. Paul Holocher, who resigned as Cal Poly’s coach just days prior to the start of last season’s training camp, played on Sampson’s 1989 co-national champion team at Santa Clara, where Sampson coached for eight years before becoming a national team assistant and eventually the head coach.

Cal Poly has other connections. Google “Steve Sampson Cal Poly” and you’ll find that Sampson played a role in Chase Minter’s decision to come to Cal Poly. GSI, which his academy was a part of, has a local component, including holding sessions in Arroyo Grande. Matt LaGrassa and many other players on the team have trained together at his academy during past off-seasons as well, so there is a definite familiarity and the move for Sampson to San Luis Obispo might not be quite as drastic as some would think.

He told the story on Thursday about how his son graduated from the school of architecture at Cal Poly, and of how he fell in love with the area years ago.

“During his junior year, when we were going around and visiting schools, we came to Cal Poly,” said Sampson

“We actually came to Cal Poly on WOW week, and I thought, ‘WOW,’ what does that mean?… We actually had the opportunity to sit-in on a speech by the then-president of the university. The president spoke, students spoke, and he turned to me and said ‘I love this place, this is where I want to be.’ … We fell in love over those six years of following my son and his progress here at the Univeristy. We fell in love with the school. We fell in love with the student body. We fell in love with the soccer program. We fell in love with the community.”

Don Oberhelman recognized a number of people in the athletic department for their role in search for a new coach and eventual decision to hire Sampson, but also included a number of past players in his opening remarks including former Mustangs Mackenzie Pridham, George Malki, Patrick Siegler, and Anthony Grillo.

“It is clear, in my opinion, that we have some of the best soccer fans in the United States,” said Oberhelman. “So, why shouldn’t we have one of the most accomplished head coaches in the history of the United States lead our program?”

Sampson has big goals when it comes to continuing to raise interest in the program not just on-campus, but around the community as well.

“We have some of the best fan base in the country,” said Sampson. “We’re not only going to try to get 11,000 [fans] here for the Santa Barbara game. We’re going to work with the community to get lots of people out here — not just from the student body, but we’re going to dive into that community. We’re going to embrace the Hispanic community, we’re going to embrace the soccer community, the Anglo community, and we’re going to make them know what this soccer program is all about. We want to embrace them such that they come out and support this team all throughout the Fall season.”

Details of Sampson’s contract were not disclosed pending final review.

“It’s more than a year,” quipped the coach. “More than two years.”

On the field over the past few seasons, Cal Poly has expressed an emphasis on a controlled, possession-oriented style of play. While they’ve been successful at establishing their style and scoring more goals overall, success in the Big West Conference has not come as easily. Last season, Cal Poly failed to make the conference tournament, finishing in last place in the Big West’s northern division.

Sampson talked about the possibility of being a little more direct and La Grassa concurred.

“I think all three coaches have been slightly different, maybe, on styles of play and that kind of thing, but for the most part they all want to play good socccer  and they’re smart enough coaches to know that your style of play should enhance your players and the type of players we have are built for a possession-type game. I think it will be interesting, there will definitely be changes, but it’s exciting.”

La Grassa anticipates training sessions ramping up in the presence of their new coach as well.

“Any coaching change is going to bring a lot of new energy, spots are open, training sessions are intense,” said LaGrassa. “But then to have somebody of his quality… I think knowing that if you can impress Steve on a daily basis and he thinks you’re a professional player, then you’ve got a really good shot of becoming a professional player, and that’s what we all aspire to be. That’s really something special that brings a different type of life to a training session.”

Sampson seems to have some energy after his hiatus from being a coach.

Sampson’s coaching experience has led him to a pair of national championships — one with UCLA as an assistant and one at Santa Clara as a head coach.

“When you’ve done it all, you want to do it again,” he said. “It’s quite a challenge. I would love to [win a national title] on three different campuses. There is so much opportunity here and like I said earlier, I love nothing more than being on that soccer player with these players.”

“I took a little bit of time off after I left the Galaxy. To be honest, my president passed away for the LA Galaxy and that was very difficult for me, and I took a little bit of time off and I wanted to reconnect with family and reconnect with the community. But I have this incredible, burning desire right now to get on that field and start winning.”

Ed. Note – The entirety of the comments from Sampson and players Matt LaGrassa and Kip Colvey following the press conference will be available via a podcast, scheduled to post on Friday. 

Clint Dempsey scored a spectacular goal for the United States on Monday. By Erik Drost, via Wikimedia Commons

The United States showed virtually zero ability to maintain possession of the ball and were dominated in nearly every phase of the game, but still managed to somehow beat Ghana 2-1 in their World Cup opener on Monday night.

Wearing their really good-looking red, white, and blue kits, the US team was buoyed by a first-minute goal from Clint Dempsey and a late goal from John Brooks, Jr. The game’s result was exactly what the United States needed. How they got there makes me skeptical.

The Good

The United States won the game. Clint Dempsey showed why he is still a world-class forward and the team found a way back into the lead just minutes after Ghana finally broke-through. Resiliency is something the Americans usually have and Monday was no different.

While the team was mostly outplayed through the midfield, Fabian Johnson looked really solid going from a defender into what looked like the USA’s most creative threat from the wing. Brooks might have looked better than Matt Besler after Besler went off with a hamstring injury at halftime and, for his part, Dempsey looked as effective as ever.

This team has been challenged to be in “uncomfortable” situations since Jurgen Klinsmann took over and the German head coach of the US Men’s National Team should be feeling pretty good about the decisions he’s made so far.

The Bad

Let’s not mince words. The midfield of the United States was bad against Ghana. Michael Bradley and Kyle Beckerman couldn’t connect on possession. Alejandro Bedoya showed flashes of greatness, but without nearby support. Jermaine Jones played a solid match, but it’s hard when both he and Beckerman are more like defenders on the pitch.

It was a game where, in the stead of a player like Bedoya or Beckerman, I did miss Landon Donovan. Donovan has always been cool and collected. While he wouldn’t have played the kind of defense that Beckerman or Jones do, his presence may have allowed the United States to have more possession and not have to work quite so hard chasing the Ghana players who ALWAYS seemed to have the ball.

Because they had two defensive midfielders on the pitch at the same time, the United States wasn’t able to maintain possession or give me any reason that a better team like Portugal or Germany won’t have their way against the USA.

The Ugly

In the win, the Americans took a few knocks. Jozy Altidore went straight to the ground after what looked like a torn hamstring in the first half. Pure strikers like Altidore are hard to come by, and the United States will do their best with (possibly) some combination of Aron Johansson and Chris Wondolowski at the position. Donovan is a more proven creator than Johansson or Wondo, so one of them will have to do some damage in the next two games to keep the “shoulda kept Landon” pundits from coming back out in full-force.

Also ugly was the high kick Dempsey took to the face in the first half. If it didn’t break his nose, it should have. In a World Cup that some Americans view as a cesspool of flopping and playacting, Dempsey  didn’t give his bloody nose any more than a second thought. The Texan got right up, got his treatment and never seemed to embellish even a little. The “man of the match” photo at the end of the game shows his nose huge and swollen.

Yeah, in light of yesterday, the players in this come off as entitled, short-sighted http://t.co/Il2GsmivFR

— Richard Whittall (@RWhittall) June 17, 2014

Uglier still is this article that The Score’s Richard Whittall tweeted a link to today. The article is from about a year ago, when the United States played Honduras and lost. It seems that at the time, there were a lot of players who were jumping off the proverbial bandwagon, even if they wouldn’t put their name to their comments. After reading the article, it would be stupid to wonder what’s behind Klinsmann’s tactics leading up to the tournament. I also wonder how many of  the anonymously quoted players are still on the roster.

Klinsmann would have got a pass from me no matter the outcome of this year’s World Cup. His willingness to not cow-tow to anyone or anything is something I respect a lot. Here’s something to think about — a quote from the Sporting News article from above about why Klinsmann, by design, fostered some confusion during the qualifying process and how players react to it.

“They all want the safety net. They want to always feel comfortable, but if you want to elevate the program to another level, you need to go to a phase of being uncomfortable out there and then deal with that,” he said.

Here’s to the United States being comfortable in an uncomfortable position for more than 180 more minutes this Summer.

Jürgen Klinsmann has rolled his dice. Tonight, we get an indication about whether his Landon Donovan decision will pay-off. By Nathan Forget, via Wikimedia Commons

A post I initially wrote last week for BigDSoccer.com — here are some thoughts about the opportunity that is in front of Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Jozy Altidore today in the absence of Landon Donovan on the US men’s national soccer team.

It was a coaching decision that sent shockwaves throughout the entire United States. It didn’t happen in baseball, basketball, football, or even hockey. Instead the announcement was by the German coach of the United States Men’s National Soccer Team. Jurgen Klinsmann was letting the nation know, a week before his deadline, that the country’s greatest player would not be on the roster for the upcoming World Cup.

To put it simply, people were angry. One could argue that the fact that there is controversy this large surrounding US soccer is a victory for the sport’s development in this country over the past 20 years. But, at the age of 32, this was supposed to be Donovan’s swan song.

Donovan could have played an important part in Brazil, but he obviously didn’t meet whatever standard Klinsmann set. Instead of kowtowing to the pressure and notoriety that a legend like Donovan demands, Kinsmann made the tough decision to leave him off the team. Fans were not happy.

But instead of whining uselessly, I’m going to take this pre-World Cup time to be excited about the unknown possibility. Instead of the narrative being “Can Landon do it in his final World Cup?,” it’s “Who is going to step up?”

There are candidates. In warm-up matches, the triad of Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Jozy Altidore have begun to work nicely together up front. Over the past few years under Klinsmann, the United States has gone from being relatively easy to defend to an offense that is much more dynamic and unpredictable — leading to more interesting soccer and better chances.

Dempsey has a good International resume. Altidore has played overseas for years as has Bradley, before returning to MLS this season.

Evolved Style?

Without Donovan’s leadership, there is a gap that the three players above have an opportunity to fill. Instead of being sad about Donovan’s absence, I’m eager to see what kind of a leader Bradley can be. Instead of going into Landon withdrawals, I am hopeful that Altidore can finally be the player US fans have always wanted him to be. Instead of hanging my head about Donovan’s absence, maybe other players can fill the gap of leadership, movement on the pitch, and style of play.

Instead of being sad, I’m on the edge of my seat to see if, finally, the United States’ style of play has actually evolved and to find out if they can sustain a better style over the course of at least three games.

Winning might not be everything

In the “Group of Death,” it’s possible that the United States could be clearly better than four years ago and still not make the knock-out round. Portugal, Germany, and Ghanaare that good. While it won’t be easy, I am going to TRY to be reasonable and not make snap judgments solely based on outcomes against three very good teams…

Opportunities

But, can you imagine what would happen if this team somehow found a way through their group? Think about the HUGE step forward it would be for the United States to, without Donovan, move to the knockout stage. It would be the single most successful World Cup in the country’s history. Players like Dempsey, Bradley, Altidore, Tim Howard, and others would join Donovan as household names for casual fans.

I said earlier that the sport has made huge growth in the past 20 years. Getting out of this deadly group could make an impact akin to the 1994 World Cup, making new fans and capitalizing on the burgeoning momentum MLS has gathered over the past five years.

Then again, if they fail miserably I think I’ll probably try to argue that you’ve got to risk big to win big. For his part, Jurgen Klinsmann — the man in charge — has already rolled his dice. We’ll wait a few weeks to see whether he’ll be coming back a hero or just crapped out.

Yesterday’s news was a bombshell. About a week before he had to, United States men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to announce the final 23 players who will be heading to Brazil this summer.

Landon Donovan’s name was not on the list. Donovan’s omission sent some into a tizzy, sarcastic remarks included.

Bruce Arena: if there are 23 players on this team better than Landon Donovan, then we are going to win the World Cup

— Scott Smith (@JasonSSmith1) May 23, 2014

Still fuming over no Landon Donovan. #MISTAKE

— Dude Perfect (@DudePerfect) May 23, 2014

That's some BS. How can kids be one step ahead of Landon Donovan. Pissed bra. pic.twitter.com/5KU9IzuWh1

— Edgar Iniguez (@edgargetactive) May 23, 2014

Robbie Keane: If I Were Landon Donovan … I'd Be PISSED!!! [VIDEO] #newslocker http://t.co/lAZqsoJfYH

— newslocker Gossip (@yourgossipnews) May 23, 2014

So pissed that Landon Donovan isn't going to be in the World Cup. ESPECIALLY since i bought the $150 World Cup jersey with his name on it

Others, mostly people who write about the USMNT, were more measured and had some other fun details.

Watching these #USMNT players stumble over their words about Landon Donovan's exclusion shows how shocking this announcement truly is.

— Adam Serrano (@LAGalaxyInsider) May 23, 2014

Klinsmann says that he didn't discuss the selection process with the leaders of the #USMNT. Didn't want them involved in personnel decisions

— Adam Serrano (@LAGalaxyInsider) May 23, 2014

Not writing on Donovan. Wrote this a year ago and not sure what I would change: http://t.co/dmS7ALwY2c

— Matthew Tomaszewicz (@shinguardian) May 23, 2014

Klinsmann’s job hasn’t ever been to keep the status quo, though, and by including players without the name Donovan, the head coach has opened the door for some others to step into a leadership role on the national team. His decision was certainly one that takes intestinal fortitude.

American soccer fans, in the absence of global domination, have latched onto the “we’re so much better than we used to be” story over the past 5-10 years, though the team hasn’t taken any big steps forward in that time. Klinsmann’s job is to help them get there — to take them from good to great. The move to take younger players over Donovan has its risks, but it also squashes any doubt about complacency as an excuse should this team falter.

In this case, the assurance of stability was not as strong as the desire to change and move forward. I think it will make for fascinating viewing this summer.

Here’s Klinsmann talking about leaving Donovan off the roster.

 

And Klinsmann taking a little longer during a press conference

To make the move Klinsmann made on the roster takes guts. By Steindy, (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

Established Leaders

It’s not like the team has no experience. Tim Howard, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey are all proven veterans of the team. Bradley, in particular, seems to be poised to have an outstanding World Cup this year. Howard wasn’t pleased with the Landon Donovan exclusion, calling the former national team captain one of the team’s best players.

No Landon Donovan? This is what Tim Howard had to say Monday: "If Landon is on the field he is one of our top one or two players." #USMNT

— Joe Lago (@joelago) May 22, 2014

Any way you slice, it, players like the polarizing Kyle Beckerman, the inconsistent Jozy Altidore or even **shudder** Jermaine Jones will have to play some kind of key role. Maybe Aron Johannsson or Julien Green get opportunities and do something cool.

Does this team really have that kind of depth?

While an easy argument to make is that not a lot of players on the roster are better than Donovan, there is something to be said for this team’s depth. In looking at the roster, there are a number of players who can play varying roles and in various formations. Klinsmann prefers players who are testing themselves in top European leagues, and his choices reflect that.

There is no question that Donovan’s absence will leave both a psychological and emotional gap for this team. That being said, I don’t think Klinsmann would be making this decision if he didn’t think that the other players on the team could fill that gap and then some. They have a little more than three weeks to figure it out.

It’s easy to have an instant opinion on this move, but let’s wait until the actual World Cup to judge this team, and Klinsmann’s move. Other teams have come in with more hype and fallen on their faces (1998, 2006). Maybe this year’s team could be the antithesis of that.

‘Bout to find out!

Maybe I’m mistaking depth for general world-class mediocrity… . I guess we’ll see come the World Cup. For now, I’m going to choose to see the glass half-full. For all you LA Galaxy fans who are upset, turn that frown upside down. Your best player is back and he’s probably going to be kind of motivated.

Also, people get hurt. Don’t forget that Donovan might be an injury away from being right back in the mix. In an event like the World Cup that is always steeped in drama, and for a player who has made his home in Los Angeles, that would truly be the Hollywood ending.

Speaking of Hollywood and Landon Donovan’s team, TMZ Sports caught up with Robbie Keane, who said he’d be pissed off if he were in Landon’s shoes.

Robbie Keane — If I Were Landon Donovan … I’D BE PISSED!!!

]]> http://www.fansmanship.com/the-time-to-judge-the-usmnt-world-cup-roster-is-not-now/feed/ 0 http://www.fansmanship.com/the-same-old-thing/ http://www.fansmanship.com/the-same-old-thing/#respond Thu, 31 May 2012 03:48:15 +0000 http://www.fansmanship.com/?p=5546 Wednesday evening was a fansmanship rarity for the end of May: an evening full of at least three major national sporting events worthy of viewing.

In Miami, the Heat came back from a huge deficit to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. In New Jersey, the Devils hosted the Kings in game one of the bicoastal Stanley Cup Finals.

But what I was really excited about was the United States Soccer team playing at home against Brazil. The Americans had reeled off five wins in a row including a road victory over Italy and a 5-1 drubbing of Scotland last week and I couldn’t wait to see how they would fare at home against a world-class team’s second unit. Full disclosure, I saw none of these games, but

With another great performance, coach Jurgen Kilnsmann could have put the world on-notice that the new ball-control style the team has adopted is a force to be reckoned with. There were 70,000 people on-hand dancing, making noise, and ready to be excited about a great United States performance.

Instead, the US team was outplayed, outshot, and outclassed by something resembling Brazil’s olympic team. In other words, Brazil’s B or C team dominated our best guys. 4-1 in soccer is like losing by 20 in the NBA. It’s like losing by 4 touchdowns in the NFL. It is not good.

This writer is no soccer genius. I played until I was 12 or 13 and only started watching the game on television in 2003 or 2004. But here are five observations about the US team I saw on Wednesday night.

1) There are some players who struggle every time I watch. It seemed as though nothing had changed from the poor performance I saw in the last World Cup from players like Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, and Jose Torres.

2) While Carlos Bocanegra has meant so much to the team, I think his time has come. Does the US not have a better alternative? The lack of up-and-comers at some of the midfield and defensive positions make me think that…

3) Maybe the system just doesn’t have better guys. While Clark, Edu, and Torres all seem to me like liabilities, perhaps the fact is that there just isn’t anyone better in the system. I know there have been American players who have had promise, but they have generally faded. What is Jonathan Spector doing these days? What about Freddy Adu? Are they even options?

4) New faces are really good to see. They give me hope for a truly different outcome. Twenty-four year-old Fabian Johnson was awesome. This is a player with some world class athleticism and poise. He is an upgrade over whatever the US had there before. He is young and is a defensive player to put around Onyewu for the next few years. A defender who can get up the pitch and help offensively is always a good thing too. Johnson and Cherundolo  are a fun pair of outside defenders.

5) Some of the players on the US squad are really, really good. Donovan still has it, Bradley is world-class, Howard is Howard, and Hurcules Gomez had an impressive performance. Altidore was still rehabbing and Dempsey was not 100 percent, but the US has a nice core.

The potential problem, though, is that, in soccer you have to have a “next” group to take the mantle. By the next World Cup, we will be talking about Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, Bradley, and even Altidore as getting old. In a country that has a good soccer program, there are not huge fluctuations generation to generation.

As a fan of the US Soccer team, I don’t need them to be Brazil. I don’t need 22 year olds on my second or third team to go out and put a licking on another country’s “A” team.

I won’t presume to have the answers. Honestly, I don’t really know what they can or should do. But I do know that performances like Wednesday night aren’t it.

 

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