Arena The Old Title Was Way Too Long: USMNT/MLS Discussion

yankee8255 - I agree. I'd love to have him as the Technical Director, or even in Sunil's job. I just think he's proven himself ill-suited to be the manager of the National Team.

heels1785 - I think you're a Eurosnob! That's not always a bad thing. But it can be. Here, I think it is. It's blinding you to the fact that Peter Vermes is a damned good tactician, has a fantastic eye for talent, and wore the red, white, and blue for many caps, helping his cause in the locker room. I do think, if JK goes (and I honestly don't think he will), the US needs to decide if they want a two-year hire for a six-year hire. I'd hope for a two-year hire.

And, I'd hope Sunil goes, too. To be replaced by JK. Or Bruce Arena. Or Ray Hudson.

 

Why would he or the manager accept such duty? He wanted to do more and the manager would afraid to become his puppet.

 

So, even ignoring the fact that Martinez was appointed manager of the much superior Belgium a little over three months ago, he's a terrible manager. I mean, I suppose he'd tell you you're phenomenal, one of the best teams ever, but let's face it, the Catalan Clown is a fraud.

But if not him, the vastly superior Hiddink? I can only assume he is second choice as you wish to keep him free for when he needs to return to Chelsea and enjoy another session of interimming in Roman's Circus ring.

I hope I have suitably destroyed your post, heelsy.

 

Im a big fan of Real Madrid and i think Ronaldo is the best player of all time.
Im also happy that there is a football thread, considering football is not very poplar is USA.

 

This isn't the football thread.

 

You wot, m8?
It says it is on the first page.

 

If you put JK as some director, then he would mostly refuse because his role is greatly reduced compare to the manager of USMNT.

It would also add difficulty to find a new coach because they would worry about JK's influence, nobody want the former manager still stay there and being put above you.

 

After that, and after glancing at your post history, I'm not sure I want to give you the link, but here it is anyway.

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...jcc-football-soccer-thread.14833362/page-2066

 

I am so lost right now. What about my post history?

 

I'm also a huge Real Madrid fan since the 00s.

 

I know better than to respond ...

sigh ...

"Some Director" - well, yes. I wouldn't ever propose giving JK (or anyone, really, for that matter) a title so vague. But, the thing is, he's already got the title of Technical Director. He's been doing both jobs - managing the National Team, and giving oversight as Technical Director for a few years now.

Would he lose a few duties? yes. He wouldn't specifically call in players, and he wouldn't formulate the tactics for the game. Now, there are some that claim now he's not formulating tactics for the game, because he doesn't understand tactics. But, I'm not willing to go down that rabbit hole. He formulates tactics. Just not very good ones. But, he'd still have a great deal of influence as Technical Director. his oversight of Youth Development would remain. his recruitment of dual nationals would remain. Really, everything he does that he's good at ... he'd keep doing.

So, sure, he might say no to it. Out of ego or pride. But, really, it would be US Soccer admitting that JK is the Technical Director, and should have been all along.

And, above and beyond that, I advocated for him to get Sunil's job. He's the President of the USSF. That'd be an upgrade for JK, and - again - probably a better use of his skills. Sunil is the one who hired JK, the one who extended JK before the World Cup, and the one who gave JK such a monstrous buy-out that it's tough to fire him for financial reasons. Sunil needs to have his feet held to the fire and be accountable just as much, if not more so, as JK for the recent failures of this team. And that includes the failures at the youth level.

And, no, there will never be difficulty finding someone to manage the US Soccer team. There aren't many National Team jobs where a) you are almost guaranteed to go to the World Cup and advance to at least the semifinals of your confederation tournament and b) you don't face high media scrutiny at every turn. There are at least a dozen coaches at various levels who would list that job as their dream job, including: Peter Vermes, Caleb Porter, Dom Kinnear, Gregg Berhalter, Steve Cherundolo, Jason Kreis. even if you offered it to them with the caveat "but you have to report to Jurgen" none of them turn it down.

 

And he will not want to be reduced to just Technical Director, I made it clear. The guy once was a big star and had giant ego, even Bayern had difficult time with him. Why would he step down from the manager position to watch over the youth system? As for USSF president, I don't think it's realistic either. Sunil was awful but JK is not a good choice for such role as well.

The new coach most likely will be annoyed by him as well, they want to bring their new way, not to be bothered by a loser in their eyes. I'm not talking about some MLS coaches, but the famous ones from Europe.

 

LOL

Not sure you know what a Technical Director does/is. And so ends the discussion.

 

I know it perfectly well, and I bet JK will not be interested.

 

Firing Klinsmann was the right call. I don't celebrate it, but I am glad to see the USA progress as a footballing nation.

I admire him, I admire his accumen, but he's a horrible manager. He doesn't do tactics well, he doesn't do player development well. He has an eye for talent, he's a great change agent. But neither of those qualify you to be the manager of the national team.

I'm hoping Arena is an appointment through July of 2018 only. If he's anything other than "get us to and through the World Cup" it's a bad hire.

 

I wouldn't go that far. I think the biggest message it sends is the federation has fears about missing the World Cup. And that would set back soccer in this county years. So, you bring in a coach that's a known factory. He knows the player pool, he knows the ins-and-outs of CONCACAF, he's been through qualifying. Sure, it doesn't give as high of a ceiling of a more exotic hire, but it doesn't come with as low of a potential floor, either. There's a zero percent chance this team finishes the hex worse than third with Bruce at the helm. And, there's probably also a zero percent chance they advance to the quarterfinals in Russia.

Still, this almost certainly spells the end of call ups for Timmy Chandler. And that, alone, is worth celebrating.

 

Just that name alone should prevent him from being called up.

Also, maybe with Klinsmann gone, I can finally get that USMNT Robbie Rogers jersey.

 

We need a new manager now! Some good coach from Europe pls.

 

After the World Cup is the time to pursue a top manager, with a new vision and a new approach. Someone who can renew and refresh the American landscape.

I'll put it to you very simply. Jurgen Klopp is probably the best coach in Europe right now. Hell, in the world. If I had to build a team from scratch and needed someone to evaluate talent, put together a staff, and instill winning tactics, I would pick Klopp. Without any hesitation.

But, I wouldn't put Klopp in charge of the US team right now. No way in hell.

Why?

Because ... there's a chance he looks at Honduras, at Panama, at Trinadad and Tobego. And he says "wow, not much talent there". Or "hey, that can't be a dangerous place to play, we can easily get a result". Just like Jurgen Klinsmann did in our trip to Honduras to open the Hex four years ago.

Because, as brilliant as he is, his system will take time.

Because for everything long term a coach as brilliant as Klopp would bring about, there is no margin for error left. The US has played 20% of the Hex, and has ZERO points. With a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Costa Rica, Goal Differential could play a factor. Fourth place isn't a something you want to shoot for, because the draw could put you in a do-or-die, home-and-home aggregate against a South American Side. Third place (or better) must happen.

And if I'm not willing to take that chance on Klopp (who sure as hell ain't coming), I'm not taking that chance on anyone lesser.

So, you swallow your damn pride. You accept a coach who isn't going to rock the boat. In both good and bad ways. Who you are confident will get you through the Hex with 17 points from the next 8 games so you can get to third place and qualify for the World Cup. because, mark my words, if the US misses the World Cup it will be an unmitigated disaster.

Then, from there, you find the best coach. Be it a European coach or an American.

And, hopefully, you also oust Sunil Gulati.