Greetings! Now, there's a cheer you don't hear too much...."We're #15!".
FIFA's world Rankings were released, and predictably Germany is Number 1. The USA has achieved a ranking of #15. (England, by the way, dropped to #20--they'll be angry, but so what? They weren't very good.) Upon further review.....neither were we. Really.
We won 1, tied 1, and lost 2. We had moments of brilliance, we captured the hearts of the nation, but overall....we need lots of work. I've read various articles that Klinsmann is our way forward. That Klinsmann will implement the same player and coach developmental approach that was so successful for Germany. All looks good on paper. Problem is....we're not Germany. We're not Portugal. We're not Argentina. We're (as my friend Mike Fridenmaker says) 'Muricans. We do things differently. We always have. I had a discussion about this with Hank Steinbrecher--dear friend and former Sec Gen of US Soccer. During Hank's tenure at US Soccer, he hired Rinus Michels (Google him) of Holland to consult on putting a developmental plan in place for the USA to become a true world soccer power. Michels answer to Hank was, and I paraphrase, "It is almost impossible to go about player and coach development in the US based on the European model. The USA has 50 different countries--all of your states are bigger than most European countries--AND you Americans have a most rebellious spirit." Interesting. And he's 100% correct.
OK. so is Jurgen Klinsmann the man to turn around all of the above? He can help, but it is up to each and every State Association in our country to follow the lead of US Soccer in implementing the soccer infrastructure to develop our own USA 'Golden Generation'. It will be a long, winding road; but it is possible. We have GOT to find goal-scorers. We have GOT to find creative, attacking mid-fielders. We have GOT to develop world-level defenders. We have GOT to continue to produce world-level GKs. We're #15--which is good-but we can be BETTER!
OK, I gave you my thoughts.......send me yours!
As always, may the ground beneath your dive be soft, may the other guys always shoot straight at you, and may your goalposts be 3 feet wide.
All the Best--EV
FIFA's world Rankings were released, and predictably Germany is Number 1. The USA has achieved a ranking of #15. (England, by the way, dropped to #20--they'll be angry, but so what? They weren't very good.) Upon further review.....neither were we. Really.
We won 1, tied 1, and lost 2. We had moments of brilliance, we captured the hearts of the nation, but overall....we need lots of work. I've read various articles that Klinsmann is our way forward. That Klinsmann will implement the same player and coach developmental approach that was so successful for Germany. All looks good on paper. Problem is....we're not Germany. We're not Portugal. We're not Argentina. We're (as my friend Mike Fridenmaker says) 'Muricans. We do things differently. We always have. I had a discussion about this with Hank Steinbrecher--dear friend and former Sec Gen of US Soccer. During Hank's tenure at US Soccer, he hired Rinus Michels (Google him) of Holland to consult on putting a developmental plan in place for the USA to become a true world soccer power. Michels answer to Hank was, and I paraphrase, "It is almost impossible to go about player and coach development in the US based on the European model. The USA has 50 different countries--all of your states are bigger than most European countries--AND you Americans have a most rebellious spirit." Interesting. And he's 100% correct.
OK. so is Jurgen Klinsmann the man to turn around all of the above? He can help, but it is up to each and every State Association in our country to follow the lead of US Soccer in implementing the soccer infrastructure to develop our own USA 'Golden Generation'. It will be a long, winding road; but it is possible. We have GOT to find goal-scorers. We have GOT to find creative, attacking mid-fielders. We have GOT to develop world-level defenders. We have GOT to continue to produce world-level GKs. We're #15--which is good-but we can be BETTER!
OK, I gave you my thoughts.......send me yours!
As always, may the ground beneath your dive be soft, may the other guys always shoot straight at you, and may your goalposts be 3 feet wide.
All the Best--EV