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 […]
Education
Fair Warning to Our Readers
I want to take this opportunity to inform our newest readers that not only can this site be blunt at times, but there may be sparse usage of profanity as well. I’m certain some people find this outrageous – or just off-putting – and that’s ok. This is simply my way of saying this blog […]
Player Development: Accountable for What? And to Who?
I don’t know if real accountability for player development is possible. What are the metrics? Is it how many players you place in college? Is it the number that get called to youth national teams? Is it the number of professionals you’ve touched while they were amateur? Certainly these things are important. But we need […]
On Replacing Bob Bradley, Rongen, and the Whole Entourage
What are the expectations? That is key. I think people are getting it confused. Hiring a manager who actually has a clue will not get us the World Cup final, and perhaps not the quarters this cycle either. That is not the discussion we should be having. That is not the appropriate metric to use. […]
Apparently Clint Dempsey is World Class. Who Knew?
First, let’s get something out of the way; Dempsey is a quality player. He is one of the few worthy of representing our country. He has a good touch, a good brain, and is highly valuable to his club. But World Class? I know we want one of these badly, but people are reaching and […]
The Importance Of An Identity: The 13th and 14th man.
There are factors beyond the individuality of players that shouldn’t go unrecognized. And this Champion’s League final offers a good backdrop for illustrating the point. Barca has the support of an entire philosophy behind them. A very clear and precise way of playing that has been engrained and rehearsed over years into oblivion. It is […]
2 Fundamental and Objective Metrics to Judging a Coach’s Quality
How do you know a coach is any good at player development? I’m specifically addressing those coaches who are implicitly chartered with that goal. Well, here it is: 1) The coach must have a clearly possession-based style. 2) The coach must be a winning one. Metric 1 (possession) First and foremost, if the coach is not […]
US U-20 World Cup Qualification Failure: Who Cares?
I’m a bit late to the U20 topic, but this is not a news outlet; it is an education outlet. In case you’re not up to speed, we lost to Guatemala and were eliminated from the U20 World Cup for the first time in 8 cycles. And as with most US Soccer failures, many across […]
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Stop Bitching and Start Understanding!
The so-called diving. The exagerations. The ref badgering. Most of you complain about it and the players that are most notorious for it. But this is what happens when a team, in this case Madrid, decides it does not want to play straight up. And I don’t blame them – I’d certainly do the same. […]
American Invited to Join La Masia
This will go down as a mark in US Soccer history. Ben Lederman, a U-11, has been invited to join FC Barcelona’s youth Academy. He started his trial with the famed academy on April 11, 2011 and just 4 training sessions later, the Director of all 7 v 7 at the club, Andres Carrasco, had […]