USMNT: Watching From Outside The Arena

Dummy Hoy

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Ah, right. I have kind of forgotten about the election because I assume it’ll just be a sham that keeps power centralized with roughly the same crew.

We should just hire Bielsa now anyways.
 

wonderland

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I’m not sure I understand the fascination with Bielsa. Years ago you could argue he worked magic but his last three stops have been disasters. I don’t see him dealing well with all the challenges of managing the USMNT - a player pool that’s spread out, weak leadership to name two.
 

Cellar-Door

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I’m not sure I understand the fascination with Bielsa. Years ago you could argue he worked magic but his last three stops have been disasters. I don’t see him dealing well with all the challenges of managing the USMNT - a player pool that’s spread out, weak leadership to name two.
3? He was amazing at Marseilles until they sold all his players. Also International may be a better fit. Most of his issues tend to be massive fights over transfers and budget
 

Titans Bastard

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FWIW, I don't believe this rumor. Maybe there was some preliminary feeler put out to Blanc's representation, but I doubt there's more to it than that.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I’m not sure I understand the fascination with Bielsa. Years ago you could argue he worked magic but his last three stops have been disasters. I don’t see him dealing well with all the challenges of managing the USMNT - a player pool that’s spread out, weak leadership to name two.
I'd like to see a manager with some tactical acumen and success working with world class players. I suppose it's possible that he's past his prime, but the man is a genius.

Edit: Lille has been a mess, but Marseille and Bilbao were both very good until his players were sold.
 

Titans Bastard

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Do you think it's one of those things that was floated by Blanc's crew?
Seems possible. Blanc also doesn't directly reference the US in his quoted comments - just something about being approached for an international job. It could just be the typical Euro sports media bullshit of taking unsupported leaps and/or making stuff up.
 

Titans Bastard

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The progress that we have seen in the central midfield over the last six months is amazing. It makes missing the WC that much more frustrating because the cavalry is basically arriving right now. I think that in the malaise of the post-WCQ hangover, US soccer fans in general haven't been fully cognizant of how fast and how aggressively our central midfield is going to turn over. Like with the early period of Pulisic's rise, I actually think US soccer fans are underhyping the situation a bit.

Weston McKennie has made 16 appearances (10 starts) for the second placed team in the Bundesliga at CM. While he has benefited from Goretzka's injury woes this year, the manager and the club very obviously trust him and his potential a great deal. He needs to be more consistent, but he has every tool you want in a box-to-box midfielder.

Jonathan Gonzalez made his debut this fall, then went on to start nearly every game for Monterrey, who won the Apertura by five points, lost in the playoff final to archrivals Tigres, and won Copa MX. In doing so, he displaced a 29 year old with ~30 caps for El Tri at DM. He's quick and he reads the game very well for his age. He could stand to get a little stronger.

Tyler Adams moved from NYRB's USL team to MLS this year and steadily improved all year. By the end of the year, he had become one of the club's more influential players. He's also very versatile; he's played RB, RWB, RM, DM, and CM. He's not as technical as the other two, but his workrate and the amount of ground he covers are off the charts. He is a defensive wrecking ball.

McKennie is 19. Gonzalez and Adams are 18.

Certain older players will need to be kept around to plug holes at positions where youngsters aren't ready and to provide some leadership....but Bradley's tenure might be coming to an abrupt end. He'll be 35 by the 2022 WC and the next generation is here, all at once, and ready to take over. A caretaker period at DM/CM looks like it will be wholly unnecessary.

(If you hate Jozy, well...I've got bad news. He's gonna be around for a while.)
 

InstaFace

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I'm fine with Jozy sticking around as long as they don't continue to pretend that his skillset is that of Olivier Giroud. Use his passing skill, not his lacklustre hold-up or heading abilities.
 

Titans Bastard

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So looks like Garber and Gulati are campaigning for Carter while pretending not to be.
Not too surprising.

I wonder how many state association presidents like Sal Rapaglia are out there. Good grief. That's our USSF presidential electorate?

EDIT: The Eastern New York state association is now embarrassing themselves on Twitter for basically criticizing Grant Wahl for being a journalist.

It's really noticeable how unaccustomed many quiet corners of the world of US soccer are to any sort of public criticism.
 
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Cellar-Door

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Not too surprising.

I wonder how many state association presidents like Sal Rapaglia are out there. Good grief. That's our USSF presidential electorate?

EDIT: The Eastern New York state association is now embarrassing themselves on Twitter for basically criticizing Grant Wahl for being a journalist.

It's really noticeable how unaccustomed many quiet corners of the world of US soccer are to any sort of public criticism.
Also Rapaglia comes off as an absolute dinosaur calls her "a girl" and says "I found out she's not just a housewife"
 

InstaFace

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Yeah, Rapaglia, like half of new jersey, apparently thinks he's an extra in The Godfather:

“We’ve been supporters of Sunil since the inception,” Rapaglia said in a 30-minute interview on Thursday. “We’re talking about many years now, into the ‘80s. At that time he was a young man. Then with president [of U.S. Soccer], we supported him 100%. He did a great job. He took a $2 million business and now there’s $150 million. Good job. All right?

“Then he made up his mind [not to run in 2018], which I disagreed with 100%. But everyone makes his own decision. And then he says, you know, we heard about this girl from Don Garber. You know, marketing, whatever. And she approached us and said, ‘Let’s talk.’ New Jersey got the same call. And the New Jersey and [Eastern] New York delegations, we had a meeting with her. And we ask a few questions, and we are supporting her.”

Rapaglia said he was impressed that Carter had not just worked on the business side, but has also played soccer in college and in one of the leagues in his association. “She played soccer,” he explained. “She’s not just a housewife.”
Ask a few questions, ya know, like "what's my cut?". He wants a pizza the action.

Sidenote:
The restaurant, Scaletta, owned by the former New York Cosmos player Fred Grgurev, is located on the Upper West Side near the American Museum of Natural History. It serves northern Italian fare and hosts a lot of soccer-related events due to the owner’s relationships and history in the game.
I live a few blocks away, and have for a decade. I've been there once - when they had to offer a deep discount on Groupon to get some business. The restaurant is in a basement, and the food is worthy of such a setting.

Literally less than a block away is a michelin star restaurant, Dovetail, where they could have had both more privacy and far better food. You kinda wonder what operation these half-wits think they're running. Chuck Blazer never would have been caught dead in such a hole, I'll say that.
 
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Titans Bastard

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Literally less than a block away is a michelin star restaurant, Dovetail, where they could have had both more privacy and far better food. You kinda wonder what operation these half-wits think they're running. Chuck Blazer never would have been caught dead in such a hole, I'll say that.
Yeah, but is Dovetail owned by a former Cosmos player? (No way of knowing for sure, but I'd guess Scaletta's owner and Rapaglia go way back.)

US soccer became an insider's club because a small group of insiders was more or less what existed back in the day. They did the jobs because nobody else was going to do the work. It's a generation of administrators who moved the ball forward, but the job has outgrown many of them at this point. What we're seeing in Gulati and a lot of lower-profile guys is a combination of:
  • A chip on their shoulder from the days of stepping up and growing the game when no one else would, but this has evolved into a sense of entitlement
  • But the demands and scope of the job have changed and expanded; does it sound like guys like Rapaglia are on the cutting edge?
  • With those changes, there's also increased scrutiny and criticism, which is deeply unsettling and uncomfortable for the complacent old guard

It's a volatile mix.

Even Don Garber. Although he is used to being somewhat unpopular among USMNT-only fans and very unpopular among the tin-hatted NASL crowd who think there's a Vast Conspiracy keeping their league down. I think Precourt's league-backed rationale for moving is convincing very few MLS fans and is deeply unpopular. If the league doesn't move forward and make progressive changes to their internal rules to develop American players while also spending bigger and bigger on foreign imports, I'd expect that unrest to metastasize.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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The progress that we have seen in the central midfield over the last six months is amazing. It makes missing the WC that much more frustrating because the cavalry is basically arriving right now. I think that in the malaise of the post-WCQ hangover, US soccer fans in general haven't been fully cognizant of how fast and how aggressively our central midfield is going to turn over. Like with the early period of Pulisic's rise, I actually think US soccer fans are underhyping the situation a bit.

Weston McKennie has made 16 appearances (10 starts) for the second placed team in the Bundesliga at CM. While he has benefited from Goretzka's injury woes this year, the manager and the club very obviously trust him and his potential a great deal. He needs to be more consistent, but he has every tool you want in a box-to-box midfielder.

Jonathan Gonzalez made his debut this fall, then went on to start nearly every game for Monterrey, who won the Apertura by five points, lost in the playoff final to archrivals Tigres, and won Copa MX. In doing so, he displaced a 29 year old with ~30 caps for El Tri at DM. He's quick and he reads the game very well for his age. He could stand to get a little stronger.

Tyler Adams moved from NYRB's USL team to MLS this year and steadily improved all year. By the end of the year, he had become one of the club's more influential players. He's also very versatile; he's played RB, RWB, RM, DM, and CM. He's not as technical as the other two, but his workrate and the amount of ground he covers are off the charts. He is a defensive wrecking ball.

McKennie is 19. Gonzalez and Adams are 18.

Certain older players will need to be kept around to plug holes at positions where youngsters aren't ready and to provide some leadership....but Bradley's tenure might be coming to an abrupt end. He'll be 35 by the 2022 WC and the next generation is here, all at once, and ready to take over. A caretaker period at DM/CM looks like it will be wholly unnecessary.

(If you hate Jozy, well...I've got bad news. He's gonna be around for a while.)
As frustrating as it is, I can’t help but think it may have been even more frustrating to watch Arena trot Bradley out there anyway in Russia while better options watched from the bench.
 

Titans Bastard

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The USSF is doing a combined U20/U19/U18/U17/U16 camp in Florida in early January. The five rosters are here. That's a lot for me to absorb!

This is the first official camp for the next U20 cycle:

GK
Eric Lopez, 99 (LA Galaxy II)
George Marks, 99 (North Carolina FC)
Trey Muse, 99 (Indiana)
Brady Scott, 99 (Köln)

DF
Gideon Davis, 99 (JMG Association Barcelona) <-- whatever the hell that is
Jaylin Lindsay, 00 (Sporting Kansas City)
Jack Maher, 99 (Saint Louis FC U19)
Mark McKenzie, 99 (Wake Forest)
Glademir Mendoza, 99 (RSL U19)
Manny Perez, 99 (NC State)
Matthew Real, 99 (Bethlehem Steel)
James Sands, 00 (NYCFC)
Aedan Stanley, 99 (Saint Louis FC U19)
Angel Uribe, 99 (Club Tijuana U20)
Sam Vines, 99 (Colorado Rapids U19)
Carson Vom Steeg, 99 (Stanford)

MF
Christian Cappis, 99 (FC Dallas U19)
Andrew Carleton, 00 (Atlanta United)
Jose Carranza, 99 (unattached)
Chris Durkin, 00 (D.C. United)
Anthony Fontana, 99 (Philadelphia Union)
Chris Goslin, 00 (Atlanta United)
Brian Perez, 99 (Club Tijuana U20)
Paxton Pomykal, 99 (FC Dallas)
Brandon Servania, 99 (Wake Forest)
Greg Tracey, 99 (Colorado Rapids U19)
Juan Pablo Torres, 99 (Lokeren)
Noah Verhoeven, 99 (Vancouver Whitecaps U19)

FW
Jonathan Amon, 99 (Nordsjælland)
Simon Becher, 99 (Oakwood U19)
Shaft Brewer, 99 (RB Leipzig U19)
Griffin Dorsey, 99 (Indiana)
Justin McMaster, 99 (Wake Forest)
Chris Nicola, 99 (Pateadores U19)
Nebiyou Perry, 99 (AIK U21)
Justin Rennicks, 99 (Indiana)


Some of the top players in this age range aren't here right now, like Jonathan Gonzalez (Monterrey), Tyler Adams (NYRB), Nick Taitague (Schalke), Josh Sargent (Werder), and Timothy Weah (PSG). Of the players who are present, there's a few who jump out to me:
  • Amon, a small and very quick winger who has broken out in Denmark. His club seems very excited about him and he's been producing in a small sample so far.
  • Carleton, who has a ton of flair, creativity, and skill. With Atlanta's new USL team, he'll get a lot of minutes in 2018 one way or the other. The big question is what sort of ceiling his athletic limitations will place on him. He might wind up as a central player and not a winger.
  • Pomykal. Classy midfielder who also could wind up centrally or on the wing. All the noises from Dallas are that he'll have a much bigger role this year.
  • Durkin, who really impressed me as DM with the U17s. Strong defender and very composed on the ball. A bit slow of foot, though.
  • Muse, who put up otherworldly numbers as a freshman in Indiana's run to the championship game. He's a Sounders academy kid who doesn't seem likely to last the full four years in the NCAA.
 

Titans Bastard

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An interview with Jonathan Gonzalez:

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/76232/californian-jonathan-gonzalez-reflects-on-his-rema.html

When the full national team played Portugal in a friendly last November, you had already been starting for Monterrey for more than three months, but you were not on the U.S. roster ...

I wasn’t called in, in November. Personally, nobody came and talked to me and let me know about that friendly. I just wasn’t called in.
Gonzalez has played with US youth teams for years and has said he wants to play for the US, but he's a breakout young star in Mexico and he's under a lot of pressure from fans and media down there to play for El Tri. And you don't even give him a phone call? That's rank incompetence.
 

InstaFace

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In their defense, they have neither a national team coach nor a president who can do anything but campaign show up to events for the election over the next month.

Not that Tab Ramos has a packed schedule or anything.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see the US lose some relevant dual nationals over the next cycle that should have been in the bag. Price of international irrelevance.

Edit: Full disclosure, I’m drunk and US Soccer is probably the thing I’m least optimistic about in 2018. By default it’s going to be a dreadful year.
 

InstaFace

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Would someone near Jed please go give him a hug?

It's a new year and a new era in US Soccer. Gulati is out, Klinsmann is out, the pipeline is as good as it's ever been. It's 2018 and all things are possible. Don't make me bust out Kevin Garnett.
 

Cellar-Door

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Would someone near Jed please go give him a hug?

It's a new year and a new era in US Soccer. Gulati is out, Klinsmann is out, the pipeline is as good as it's ever been. It's 2018 and all things are possible. Don't make me bust out Kevin Garnett.
Don't get his hopes up. He'll just be more disappointed when Kathy Carter wins, makes Tab Ramos manager and institutes an MLS only policy for national team players like the USWNT's old one for NWSL
 

Titans Bastard

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The January camp roster is coming on Monday:


Wynalda is being funded by Riccardo Silva (owner of Miami FC) which is not surprising:


Carter is clearly the MLS/status quo candidate and Wynalda is clearly the NASL/edgy "burn it all down" candidate. I hope neither win.
 

Cellar-Door

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Wynalda's "we need pro/rel" with no mechanism for reasonably creating it, and no plan is the worst position of any candidate.
 

Senator Donut

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Wynalda's "we need pro/rel" with no mechanism for reasonably creating it, and no plan is the worst position of any candidate.
At least Silva is paying him to hold that position. Mandating MLS move to a winter schedule doesn’t benefit anyone. Imagine matches in New England last weekend or next? I honestly think that position is worse. Pro/rel may bilk MLS owners out of hundreds of millions in franchise value, but may at least be fun to watch. Winter soccer would just be miserable for everyone, especially the players it is purported to help.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states/story/3236812/eric-wynalda-set-to-stand-for-us-soccer-federation-presidency
 

Titans Bastard

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At least Silva is paying him to hold that position. Mandating MLS move to a winter schedule doesn’t benefit anyone. Imagine matches in New England last weekend or next? I honestly think that position is worse. Pro/rel may bilk MLS owners out of hundreds of millions in franchise value, but may at least be fun to watch. Winter soccer would just be miserable for everyone, especially the players it is purported to help.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states/story/3236812/eric-wynalda-set-to-stand-for-us-soccer-federation-presidency
So Wynalda is giving Wynalda a run for his money in the race for worst idea in the USSF campaign?


I appreciate Steve Gans for being basically the only candidate with a specific platform. It's hard to imagine that he's even in the top tier of contenders. But who knows - the general public, myself included, has a very poor understanding of what actually matters to USSF voters, in no small part because we barely know who these voters are. Gans looks like he's trying to use an esoteric issue that matters to state associations (the centralization of referee registration) to gain some support.

Among the more likely candidates, I'd have to choose between Martino and Cordeiro. Cordeiro is a USSF insider, but at least seems willing to upset the apple cart without acting like a Wynalda-style mindless rebel. Martino is inoffensive, but has been very vague. It's hard to draw conclusions about him.
 

Titans Bastard

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Jonathan Gonzalez and US Soccer's Lingering Communication Problem

“We [the US] have been late to the party numerous times and have gotten players,” said former USMNTer turned ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez, himself a dual-eligible, this week. “So it's fair game when it comes to this. The question is, what does Jona want to do? ... FMF [the Mexican federation] does a phenomenal job of recruiting Mexican-American talent in the United States. They see value in that player. … US Soccer, they see value in that player when OTHERS see value in him.

“You're 18, you're young, it's your first taste of top-flight football. And you're impressionable,” Gomez added. “You have the [Rayados] coach, Antonio Mohamed, who’s now vouching for FMF, trying to pressure you into playing for the Mexican national team. You have what you identify with, what you want, and you haven’t been committal either/or, because you don't want to burn a bridge. This is where it gets murky, this is where it gets difficult for a player of that age.”
 

Infield Infidel

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This is where USMNT can take a page from colleges. Recruiting is a 24-7-365 job, they should have abundant staff to scout, contact, and sell the program to dual nationals. They should also reach out to current and former dual-national players like Gomez because recruits follow other recruits. We would be lucky if Gonzalez is just waiting to see who the next coach will be, but he might go to Mexico simply because they have more of their program figured out.
 

Titans Bastard

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This is where USMNT can take a page from colleges. Recruiting is a 24-7-365 job, they should have abundant staff to scout, contact, and sell the program to dual nationals. They should also reach out to current and former dual-national players like Gomez because recruits follow other recruits. We would be lucky if Gonzalez is just waiting to see who the next coach will be, but he might go to Mexico simply because they have more of their program figured out.
Or because Mexico is going to the WC and the US is not...

I think the media is ginning up a little more panic than the situation currently demands, but it's obviously not being handled very well by the USSF either.

I know the USSF is in disarray with a lame duck president and a caretaker NT manager, but it's not like Dave Sarachan has a packed schedule. A five minute phone call or two isn't too much to ask.
 

Infield Infidel

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I don't disagree, but I think we've relied too much on the manager to do this stuff when it should really be a full court press. Managers come and go (especially lame ducks), and have other things on their plate. There should be a layer above or outside the manager that recruits dual-nationals for the program.
Edit- this is a place where a GM would would be beneficial.
 
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Titans Bastard

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The January camp roster is out. I would have been excited about this, given a number of new/young/interesting players if not for the disastrous USMNT news earlier today.

GK
Alex Bono (Toronto FC)
Bill Hamid (Midtjylland)
Cody Cropper (New England Revolution)
Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew)

RB
Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes)
Matt Polster (Chicago Fire)

CB
Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake)
Ike Opara (Sporting Kansas City)
Tim Parker (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Walker Zimmerman (LAFC)

LB
Danny Acosta (Real Salt Lake)
Justin Morrow (Toronto FC)
Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire)

DM/CM
Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls)
Russell Canouse (D.C. United)
Marky Delgado (Toronto FC)
Ian Harkes (D.C. United)
Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew)

AM
Paul Arriola (D.C. United)
Marlon Hairston (Colorado Rapids)
Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake)
Kelyn Rowe (New England Revolution)
Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

FW
Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution)
Dom Dwyer (Orlando City)
Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders)
Christian Ramirez (Minnesota United)
Rubio Rubin (unattached)
C.J. Sapong (Philadelphia Union)

  • This camp is always restricted to players in MLS + Scandinavia due to the scheduling
  • FC Dallas declined to release any of their players because they want to prep for CCL. Jesse Gonzalez, Kellyn Acosta, and Matt Hedges probably would have made the roster otherwise.
  • Obviously, there aren't any real vets here. At 30, I think Morrow is the oldest player and most are in early 20s.
  • I expect the real GK battle to between Hamid and Steffen. Not sure what Cropper has done to merit inclusion.
  • Lima and Polster are interesting enough RBs, but both are of an age with Yedlin and would only ever be his backup.
  • Opara is the reigning MLS Defender of the Year. Always been a good prospect, rarely is healthy all season. Good player, but at 28 he's not really a part of the future. Glad is the CB to watch here.
  • D. Acosta is a LB conversion project who grew into the position a lot last year. Not clear what his upside is, but my expectations for him rose in 2017.
  • Adams is very good and can play RB/RWB/RM too. Roldan needs to seize his chance sooner rather than later. Trapp and Canouse are the true DMs in camp. There's suddenly more space at that position....
  • AM is weak (Zardes?) but that part of the domestic pool is weak right now. Some prospects on the horizon, so we'll see. Hairston is athletic, but calling him up is a stretch. Lennon is one of those guys who will probably be converted to RB too late to be truly awesome at it.
  • Glad to see Ramirez get the call. I don't have super high expectations for him, but he's earned it. He's scored everywhere he's gone.
 

Senator Donut

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I'm impressed that Agudelo and Zardes have convinced yet another USMNT manager that they're still prospects.
 

Titans Bastard

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I'm impressed that Agudelo and Zardes have convinced yet another USMNT manager that they're still prospects.
This is the year for Agudelo!

It's not the year

Zardes is an extremely uninteresting call up, but the sad reality is that we'd be hard-pressed to identify a young player who's been snubbed. There are some interesting attacking midfielders in the rising U20 class and a few young ones abroad, but there aren't any other MLSers who are obvious picks here.

Djordje Mihailovic of Chicago maybe would have been chosen if he hadn't blown his ACL, but that would have been a stretch. Others who might be considered next year if they have a breakout in 2018: Carleton (ATL), Lewis (NYC), Pomykal (DAL), Ferreira (DAL), da Silva (ORL), Kunga (ATL), Jamieson (LAG) but no one is anything close to a sure thing to be NT ready by that point.
 

Dummy Hoy

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The Gonzalez thing is embarrassing. As is this:


Did we know this? We knew there was a 100m kitty...what could the6 possibly spend that on that makes more sense than scouts?
 

Titans Bastard

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The Gonzalez thing is embarrassing. As is this:


Did we know this? We knew there was a 100m kitty...what could the6 possibly spend that on that makes more sense than scouts?
It's bad.

Doyle got a statement from the USSF here:

On #USSF and #USSDA scouting: There are 12 fulltime technical advisors & 130 part-time scouts to cover the boys – 11,000 players in all (this info via @ussoccer).
"The main role of the Technical Advisor is club support. Our goal is to help clubs improve their everyday environments. In addition, they are an integral part of Talent Identification and they manage scouting networks in their respective markets." – @ussoccer
Here's what this means:

1. There's only one full-time salaried employee who is focused on scouting. (Thomas Rongen)

2. These Technical Advisors may well be doing a reasonable job scouting the DA, but....

3. Who from the USSF is looking outside the DA? The answer is probably nobody.

4. The USSF has been engaging in empire-building at the youth level through the DA. The biggest clubs are all part of it and it's extended to younger and younger ages. That's all fine; consolidating talent and giving the best players better competition is a good thing as long as travel and costs don't get out of control. However, the USSF needs to be less insecure about their empire-building project. It's okay if there are good players that sometimes are found in other players. Acknowledging that doesn't necessarily undermine the credibility of the DA. Recognize that the US youth soccer scene is big and complex.

When I see DA-heavy rosters at the U15 national team level, it gets my attention. Below the U17 level, there are still a lot of metro areas that don't have any representation in the DA. (They don't add divisions at younger levels until there is a critical mass of clubs - understandable with travel concerns.) USSF needs to look beyond just their DA.
 

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their own graphic is damning. Basically they only scout the DA, which is a tiny number of players, probably less than 5,000 kids across all age levels. They scouted only 40 games outside the DA...... FORTY!!! for example that means they couldn't even have scouted all the HS state championship games (yeah HS is late, but that makes it even worse).

To clarify for those who don't know how DA works, to join the academy, you need to join a DA approved club, the club. Not too bad right?
Oh wait, the club has to apply, and selections are made (yep not all clubs can join) based on a set of criteria which include.... US Soccer license levels (hard to get and expensive), financial resources (no poor people please), facilities (really for U-12?), staff to player ratio, history of past youth making the national teams or becoming pros, market, proximity to other clubs that have already joined (ie bought territory).

If you are selected (ie you are a rich pay to play club) you pay $2,500 bond then register at $50 per player and per coach.

So, basically the USSF is saying that they will only scout players who pay them for the priviledge of being scouted, and only if they pay their cronies who run these clubs hundreds of dollars per year for the opportunity.

It's amazing that they find any players at all.
 

Titans Bastard

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The Athletes' Council has collected the results of an extensive questionnaire from all eight candidates. Responses can be found here:

https://ussfathletecouncil.com/

I haven't read them yet, but wanted to pass them on.
 

Cellar-Door

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The Athletes' Council has collected the results of an extensive questionnaire from all eight candidates. Responses can be found here:

https://ussfathletecouncil.com/

I haven't read them yet, but wanted to pass them on.
Gone through 2 so far, will post thoughts as I read the rest:

Kathy Carter:
Strong points: Experience in leading a fairly large corporation, strong understanding of how the SUM relationship works
Weak points: really light on details on just about every level, did not seem to have a handle on what needs to be fixed in youth soccer, defense of SUM criticisms was really weak.

Kyle Martino:
Strong points: comprehensive transparency response, strong focus on and understanding of youth level issues, very interesting answer re: mission statement. Interesting thought on single Union for both national teams. I also like his ideas on USSF internal structure/positions.
Weak: pushed some answers to his January 15 release, got a little conspiracy theoryish on SUM (I did see on twitter that SUM and USSF denied it and he stood by that he had been told by Arena that he wanted it moved and multiple USSF employees told him SUM and Sunil wanted it kept there for ticket sales).

Paul Caligari:
Strong Points: Push for 2027 WWC, Interesting approach in wanting to use Olympic development program, note on reducing travel requirements for youth to decrease cost. Calling out lack of transparency.
Weak: dodges SUM question, light on details, weird definition of responsibilites of role. No clear plan on transparency.

Carlos Cordeiro:
Strong: Clear grasp of USSF as expected, by far the best answer on equal pay, brings up many issues that need addressing.
Weak: SUM answer was super-weak, a lot of "we need to fix this" without much in terms of how, pay for play answer was not great.

Steve Gans:
Strong: Identified Solidarity issue as part of pay for play, pretty comprehensive goals, some strong experience.
Weak: transparency and SUM questions artfully dodged, generally lawyered the shit out of a bunch of questions saying a lot without actually saying anything, also he's annoying.

Michael Winograd:
Strong: Addressed coaching costs which many skipped, call for clarity in youth area reducing costs.
Weak: very light on details, 1 path to national teams is an awful idea.

Eric Wynalda:
Strong: Competitive bid transparency section, mission statement needs to be more broad,
Weak: THE PYRAMID WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING TRICKLE DOWN SOCCER.

Hope SOLO:
Strong: Some interesting Transparency ideas,
Weak: not a lot of reality and/or understanding of resources/market forces, doesn't appear to have many positions on youth soccer or anything other than transparency and SUM.



Overall thoughts:
Solo/Wynalda/Winograd don't feel like serious candidates based on their answers, maybe they didn't take it seriously, but seriously lacking overall. (yes I know Wynalda is actually a major player, but his answers were some of the least thoughtful and detailed).

Most impressed with Cordeiro/Martino though with more details the others could have impressed me too, all had significant strong areas.

If I had a vote, I'd vote Martino simply because I think he had the best platform of the outsiders and I wouldn't trust Cordeiro/Carter to insitute real reform farther than I could throw a Volkswagon.
 
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Titans Bastard

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their own graphic is damning. Basically they only scout the DA, which is a tiny number of players, probably less than 5,000 kids across all age levels. They scouted only 40 games outside the DA...... FORTY!!! for example that means they couldn't even have scouted all the HS state championship games (yeah HS is late, but that makes it even worse).

To clarify for those who don't know how DA works, to join the academy, you need to join a DA approved club, the club. Not too bad right?
Oh wait, the club has to apply, and selections are made (yep not all clubs can join) based on a set of criteria which include.... US Soccer license levels (hard to get and expensive), financial resources (no poor people please), facilities (really for U-12?), staff to player ratio, history of past youth making the national teams or becoming pros, market, proximity to other clubs that have already joined (ie bought territory).

If you are selected (ie you are a rich pay to play club) you pay $2,500 bond then register at $50 per player and per coach.

So, basically the USSF is saying that they will only scout players who pay them for the priviledge of being scouted, and only if they pay their cronies who run these clubs hundreds of dollars per year for the opportunity.

It's amazing that they find any players at all.
This interview with Brad Rothenberg is related to this point. It's blistering and worth a read. Rothenberg runs Alianza, an organization that has been instrumental in connecting young Hispanic players with Liga MX opportunities. (They aren't affiliated with Liga MX, it's just that many MLS clubs just don't pay much attention to them).

Alianza isn't a club, it's just a platform for players to get noticed. Every year they hook up 15+ kids with trials down in Mexico and many of them go on to sign. Jonathan Gonzalez was one such player. Like all cohorts of prospects, most kids don't amount to anything but Alianza should constitute proof to those in US soccer who are in denial that players can fairly easily fall through the cracks.

Rothenberg knows Gonzalez and talked to him as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Rothenberg's organization has been (unjustly IMO) ignored by much of the US soccer establishment so he does have a bit of an axe to grind, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

BTW, I've been familiar with Alianza for a long time but had no idea that Alan Rothenberg's son was the co-founder.
 

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Cellar-Door

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It was on the athletes council questionnaire up thread, most dodged it or had platitudes. Cordeiro/Gans/Winograd suggested throwing surplus money at it because for sure the clubs that charge 5 grand won't increase prices if USSF is picking up part of the bill.

Caligari suggested localizing and using Olympic development as a partner. (also tearing down the DA model which is a great idea)

Martino reduce early age professional focus, reduce travel, over/under and other infrastructure building with surplus particularly in underserved areas, council for best practices, fix YSOs.
 

Titans Bastard

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Overall thoughts:
Solo/Wynalda/Winograd don't feel like serious candidates based on their answers, maybe they didn't take it seriously, but seriously lacking overall. (yes I know Wynalda is actually a major player, but his answers were some of the least thoughtful and detailed).

Most impressed with Cordeiro/Martino though with more details the others could have impressed me too, all had significant strong areas.

If I had a vote, I'd vote Martino simply because I think he had the best platform of the outsiders and I wouldn't trust Cordeiro/Carter to insitute real reform farther than I could throw a Volkswagon.
So Martino is your favorite and Wynalda is in your bottom tier? Buckle up, Goff reports that they may be forming some sort of alliance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2018/01/12/with-ussf-election-a-month-away-perhaps-a-deal-between-eric-wynalda-and-kyle-martino/?utm_term=.384f845d01ae

With the U.S. Soccer Federation’s presidential election a month away, Eric Wynalda has approached Kyle Martino about forging an alliance to help ensure that one of the candidates is elected, multiple sources told the Insider.

In separate interviews Friday, both confirmed they have spoken to one another recently but both declined to offer details.
It’s unclear how exactly an alliance between those two candidates would work. USSF candidates do not have running mates. Cordeiro is the current vice president and is not up for reelection this year.

Presumably, one would step aside and urge his supporters to vote for the other while accepting a role in implementing shared ideas. For Martino, it would allow him to resume full-time work for NBC Sports while having a voice in the USSF’s new direction. Similarly, Wynalda would re-focus on his role as a Fox Sports commentator and coach while helping enact Martino’s plans.

Here's an interview with Carter. I find her statements in interviews to be mind-numbingly corporate - just totally vague, saying almost nothing at all. A lot of candidates have answered certain types of questions with vague generalities, but she seems to take it to the next level.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/optimistic-kathy-carter-plans-on-being-first-female-u-s-soccer-president/

What's the biggest problem facing U.S. Soccer?

Carter: I more so look at it that there is such great opportunity ahead of us. Like anything, when you have a misstep, in this case the men's failure to qualify for Russia, it allows us the opportunity to ask a lot of questions. Are we doing things not just well, but are we doing them good enough? What I would say about myself in terms of self diagnoses, I'm never satisfied.
I don't get quite as fired up about the USSF/SUM/MLS business as some do, but it's obvious that the USSF needs to get more transparent and communicate better on this issue and in many other areas. Carter has done zilch to ameliorate concerns about that, given the obvious questions that come with her professional history.
 

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That's a classic by carter, pure marketing strategy 101. I don't like the question so i'll 'reframe it' and answer the question i came prepared to answer.
 

Titans Bastard

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ESPN posted a bunch of Q&As with candidates here.

Martino's is totally reasonable for the most part, then there's this

What are your thoughts on promotion/relegation? Do you think it's viable given that MLS is against it?

In my Progress Plan, I layout a road map for an open professional soccer league called the 2030 Project; a 12-year strategy for creating an open-tiered professional structure:
1. Freeze MLS, USL, NASL and Adult League expansion starting in 2024.
2. Transition single entity contracts and home offices responsibilities to clubs by 2024 deadline.
3. Aim to be on European competition calendar with winter break in next five years.
4. Allow promotion and relegation between USL and NASL from 2024-2030.
5. Start bidding summer of 2026 for six-year escalating TV contract linked to accelerators for rights to the top division for 2030-2036 seasons.
6. Start bidding summer of '18 for six-year NASL and USL TV contract for 2024-2030 seasons.
7. Open system to adult leagues in 2038 to create six-tiered professional soccer league (any creation of clubs after 2024 deadline will be recognized as "non-league" without possibility of promotion into the professional soccer league.
Woof. Some questions/thoughts.

1. Can we stop with the winter season talk? It doesn't even have anything to do with pro/rel, anyway.
2. Why in the world would you both freeze expansion after 2024 AND prevent new clubs from working their way from the pro soccer system after that point?
3. Can we stop pretending the NASL will exist in 2030...not to mention, say, 2019?
4. Six tiers of professional soccer seems unnecessary and unrealistic, especially considering the US is a very large country so the pyramid should be "fat" with lots of regionalization rather than "skinny" like England.
 

Cellar-Door

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I actually just came to post the Martino/Wynalda rumors.

IF it's true, I think it moves Martino up significantly. I can absolutely see the Wynalda block (NASL, USL, some athletes, maybe youth) being willing to vote for the young former athlete calling for more gradual/less extreme change in order to keep one of the MLS/establishment candidates from winning.

I'm less convinced that Martino could get his block (A big chunk of youth and Adult council, some athletes) to vote for the most radical candidate especially since so much of his platform is focused on pro and athlete level, and so little on YSA and ASA.