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Goal.com Special: There's No Need To Pick The Next USA Coach Quickly
Noah Davis says that speed is not the only thing that matters in picking the USA's new boss.
Aug 27, 2010 1:49:00 PM
By Noah Davis
I think I may have been wrong.
Throughout the entire "Who's going to head the United States Men's National Team" saga, I've advocated for the United States Soccer Federation to get its coaching situation figured out quickly. While I still believe speed is important, I'm not sure a decision needs to be reached before the October friendlies.
While it would certainly be nice to have a permanent head -- either Bob Bradley with another four-year contract or a different man -- installed by the mini-camp, little will be accomplished during that week no matter who is in charge. The World Cup qualifying cycle doesn't start for at least two years. The 2011 Gold Cup roster will consist mostly of veterans from this summer's World Cup. The best we can hope for is that a couple players with potential get some experience.
Not to take anything away from the national team manger -- it's a demanding, difficult job -- but most Goal.com commentors could make the right decisions about player personnel for the camp in six weeks: Bring in Omar Gonzalez as well as Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron if their club commitments don't intervene; get Jermaine Jones and Eric Lichaj from Europe, along with Sacha Kljestan; call a solid crew from Europe while giving some guys (Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra) a rest. Maybe give Michael Hoyos and Mikkel Diskerud a shot if they want one.
The point is that there's only so much work that can be done during a weeklong camp that's four years out from the World Cup and nine months before the Stars and Stripes play their next meaningful match. Even if a new coach was installed tomorrow, which isn't going to happen, he would be consumed with learning the ins and outs of the U.S. system and, heck, the player's names, not implementing a new system, finding a forward and solving the squad's other problems. That would come later.
On the other hand, there's no reason to re-up Bradley quickly unless both he and the USSF are absolutely sure that's the play. Which, it's clear, they are not. The coach knows his squad, his facilities, and everything else about the program. As a result, the difference between signing him now and signing him in October, November, even December is negligible. He'll still be well ahead of where any other manager would be.
After the 2006 World Cup, the USSF openly pursued Jurgen Klinsmann for months before negotiations blew up and they settled on Bradley as the interim manager in December. This time around, the federation is keeping its cards close, with only the current coach's name really being thrown around. (The German seems to be a candidate as well, but there's little solid evidence supporting the fact that Gulati and co. are interested in him.)
They are obviously determined to keep this situation from turning into the public relations nightmare of four years ago. But also, the lack of names hints at just that: There aren't a lot of great candidates out there. Bradley has his obvious flaws. Klinsmann doesn't shine as brightly as he did post-Germany. The next level -- Sigi Schmid, Steve Nicol, Jason Kreis, Candidate X -- are worse choices than the previous pair.
While U.S. fans talk about the need to find the next great American striker, the bigger problem is locating the next great American manager.
Getting the coaching situation resolved fast would be nice. Getting it done correctly is vital.
(But Mr. Gulati, you should be able to achieve both.)
Noah Davis (@noahedavis) covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
Throughout the entire "Who's going to head the United States Men's National Team" saga, I've advocated for the United States Soccer Federation to get its coaching situation figured out quickly. While I still believe speed is important, I'm not sure a decision needs to be reached before the October friendlies.
While it would certainly be nice to have a permanent head -- either Bob Bradley with another four-year contract or a different man -- installed by the mini-camp, little will be accomplished during that week no matter who is in charge. The World Cup qualifying cycle doesn't start for at least two years. The 2011 Gold Cup roster will consist mostly of veterans from this summer's World Cup. The best we can hope for is that a couple players with potential get some experience.
Not to take anything away from the national team manger -- it's a demanding, difficult job -- but most Goal.com commentors could make the right decisions about player personnel for the camp in six weeks: Bring in Omar Gonzalez as well as Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron if their club commitments don't intervene; get Jermaine Jones and Eric Lichaj from Europe, along with Sacha Kljestan; call a solid crew from Europe while giving some guys (Michael Bradley, Carlos Bocanegra) a rest. Maybe give Michael Hoyos and Mikkel Diskerud a shot if they want one.
The point is that there's only so much work that can be done during a weeklong camp that's four years out from the World Cup and nine months before the Stars and Stripes play their next meaningful match. Even if a new coach was installed tomorrow, which isn't going to happen, he would be consumed with learning the ins and outs of the U.S. system and, heck, the player's names, not implementing a new system, finding a forward and solving the squad's other problems. That would come later.
On the other hand, there's no reason to re-up Bradley quickly unless both he and the USSF are absolutely sure that's the play. Which, it's clear, they are not. The coach knows his squad, his facilities, and everything else about the program. As a result, the difference between signing him now and signing him in October, November, even December is negligible. He'll still be well ahead of where any other manager would be.
After the 2006 World Cup, the USSF openly pursued Jurgen Klinsmann for months before negotiations blew up and they settled on Bradley as the interim manager in December. This time around, the federation is keeping its cards close, with only the current coach's name really being thrown around. (The German seems to be a candidate as well, but there's little solid evidence supporting the fact that Gulati and co. are interested in him.)
They are obviously determined to keep this situation from turning into the public relations nightmare of four years ago. But also, the lack of names hints at just that: There aren't a lot of great candidates out there. Bradley has his obvious flaws. Klinsmann doesn't shine as brightly as he did post-Germany. The next level -- Sigi Schmid, Steve Nicol, Jason Kreis, Candidate X -- are worse choices than the previous pair.
While U.S. fans talk about the need to find the next great American striker, the bigger problem is locating the next great American manager.
Getting the coaching situation resolved fast would be nice. Getting it done correctly is vital.
(But Mr. Gulati, you should be able to achieve both.)
Noah Davis (@noahedavis) covers the United States Men's National Team for Goal.com.
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