In his last post, Jacques posed an interesting question: Is it acceptable/effective to select experienced players with incomplete skill sets and little tactical malleability? Or, is the system Klinsmann seeks to implement better served by selecting players with less pedigree but with skill sets better suited to succeed in a possession based system? Experience or […]
USA vs Belgium: Dempseyfication
This is a guest post by Jacques Pelham. You can find more of his soccer writing at the Football Garden. Predictably, there are still many outstanding questions regarding Juergen Klinsmann and the US national team after Klinsmann’s second and third games as US coach. On Tuesday, the US demonstrated sustained effort for 90 minutes and […]
USA vs CRC: Turbulence
This is a guest post by Jacques Pelham. You can find more of his soccer writing at the Football Garden. On Friday, the US showed signs of progress and promise through its possession play and aggressive tactics without the ball. The revamped central midfield looked far superior as compared to the game against Mexico and […]
3four3 Turns 2! Thank You Guys!
Today marks 2 years of 3four3! When I first started, the idea was really just to get my thoughts on paper, flesh them out and refine them over time. I thought I would systematically deconstruct all the issues I saw with the sport in the U.S., and methodically build up solutions. Surely that would be […]
The Klinsmann Era , Game 1 (USA-Mex): Seeking consistency
This is a guest post by Jacques Pelham. You can find more of his soccer writing at the Football Garden. The Klinsmann era of U.S. Soccer began in earnest Wednesday with the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team facing Mexico in a friendly match just weeks after a deserved 4-2 defeat against the Mexicans in the […]
Klinsmann: Will He Go German on Us?
My Worry is German Soccer Everyone knows Germany is a consistent international power. They’re always a contender. Gary Lineker* once said: “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.” I think that would suit most people just fine. But you know what, German […]
Klinsmann: The Upgrade
World Cup champ, Euro champ, Germany 2006 coach, Bayern Munich, blah, blah, blah. Looks great from 10,000 feet, huh? That’s the resume/pedigree trap. Don’t fall into it, because it loves to claim victims. Hopefully it’s understood by now that sparkling player resumes don’t correlate with quality coaching. And coaching resumes? Well, we need to be […]
Klinsmann: What are the expectations?
This is the first of a multi-part series I’m doing on Klinsmann. I want to stay focused and only talk about one specific theme per post. Now is the time to clearly set up expectations. Be specific! What should his charter be? I’ve stated this before, but let me repeat not only what I think […]
Why Bob Bradley Got Fired
CONGRATULATIONS! Whether you’d like to believe it or not, this is your triumph. I believe Bob was relieved of his duties in large part due to your collective voices. Like the last point in my optimistic piece, 5 positive influences on US Soccer in 2010, suggested, I had never witnessed such a strong and sustained […]
A Letter to Our Players
We have several recently turned 20 year-olds from our first ever boys team that have true professional-level quality. Years ago, I predicted with 100% certainty that one kid in particular would go all the way. I actually have standing bets with people on this (most notable are $500 on one, and a lobster dinner every […]