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| "I find your lack of faith disturbing..." |
I love the Star Wars movies. Darth Vadar is bad boy scary and you can become him just by sticking a trash can over your head and having an asthma attack. Kids love it. We used to play 'Star Wars' when I was at Edward Francis Primary School - the key thing was to be either Princess Leia or Luke - that way you got to kiss as the bell went for class. Of course, that's a little weird now you know the story, but hey, grab the chance when you can, right?
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| "Mmmm.... beef jerky?" |
I was only let down by one thing: Ewoks. Never convinced me at all. Look, they might have spears etc, but we are talking about space roaming hyper-speed traveling laser gun carrying humans. All you needed was a packet of beef jerky and you run the planet. I was also a little concerned with the mechanics of Yoda too - a little too 'muppet-esque' for me. Still, he had a way of making you feel inadequate with 5 words and without any visible legs.
Ah, why Star Wars? Well, here is the point. The best person in the Universe to coach the US National Team? Yoda.
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| "I said 3 at the back, you muppets..." |
I feel badly for Bob Bradley. He clearly was a genuine man with a deep love for the game and his country. I worried as he stood at the edge of the dug out and look aimlessly across the pitch whatever the stage or state of the game. 2 goals up against Mexico, and then conceding 4 following a Mexican first half substitution suggested he did not have the ability to adapt over the duration. Playing for National Pride and digging really deep only gets you so far. The recent Women's World Cup offered a group of players with that additional dimension of a team playing for something else - Japan. It wont work next time.
Bradley was dealing with multiple factors that seem to work against mens' soccer taking things to the next level. I've given my opinion on the impact of State organizations in soccer. The story in each city is also of soccer clubs working in an unfriendly and politically over cautious environment - protecting their business and a restrictive 'insular' approach to what is best for the players. I wont bother writing about the NCAA. It's always a faux pas to discuss religion and politics in polite company, but we are talking about a heavily controlling organization that seems to act in a autocratic manner with socialist undertones. Strange for a country that boasts to be the 'Land of the Free'.
Soccer is a poor mans game - around the world. On Planet Earth there were (one year ago) more countries affiliated to FIFA than the United Nations. It's a simple concept played by poor kids in ghettos with a tattered poster of (now) Lionel Messi on their wall. it used to be Pele, then Maradona etc. Soccer in the US works for the middle classes. it requires serious money and the ability to travel. I played travel soccer back home. There were two clubs in the same town as mine whose fields I could walk to. No mini-van required.
Bradley was also up against a media machine that puts soccer last on the menu. USA today had a small article on page 9C of the Friday edition, which was beaten to the earlier pages by, and I'm sorry but I am laughing at the stupidity of this, these other stories.....
1: Kissing the Bricks at Speedway (frontpage)
2: Michael Keaton is a Pirates fan (2C)
3: Mixed Martial Arts (does that come with boiled rice?) (2C)
4: Skateboarding (WTF) (7C)
5: Horse racing (and not even about a race - or a biscuit) (7C)
OK. I'm done bashing the US media and how soccer works. I will say this - the attention to ensuring girls get a equal chance in this sport is excellent. It will be interesting to see how the ladies game develops worldwide now. People have assumed mens' soccer in the US would eventually triumph over all due to the size and resources of the country. I wonder how the ladies team will fair in future years as other countries raise expectations for developing female players. Bottom line - you get good by having the lower social economic groups in your society having access to the game. Make soccer cheap, or even better, FREE, and you'll be successful. There, easy isn't it! But what if you do have what it takes?
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| Click for a report |
Over the next couple of weeks many of the talented players who attended the West Ham United International Academy Camps in Georgia and California will be finding out if they are to be invited to London next Spring. There's a chance I may be taking that group to The Academy - which would be a privilege for me. The chance for them is immense. Sebastian Lletget is a key part of the U18 West Ham United Development Squad coached by Ian Hendon. That team has some future stars and names to look out for. Robert Hall (left) is one of them and there are several more who may become household names.
At this point I would like to extend our best wishes to Dylan Tombides and his family. Dylan was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer and is undergoing treatment. I am sure he'll make a speedy recovery - but we hope he remains strong for the coming months and look forward to seeing him back in action. Neil Harris (MIllwall) went through the same experience. Neil is a legend at Millwall F.C. and despite my constant jabs at the 'old enemy' I am grateful for the support and opportunities Neil has been given by Millwall FC that he has taken advantage of.
I also want to send our love and good wishes to my Uncle John 'down under'. John has been a lifelong Hammers fan and has stood at Upton Park more times than one would care to mention. Living in Western Australia doesn't allow him to escape - we have a West Ham United International Academy there - hence Dylan Tombides! (Joanne - give Dylan's mum a hug from us, too).
OK, sorry if this blog bounced around a little. Here are some pics of the kids at the National Camps - and a final word of advice. Have a good week. Matt
Sir Alex Ferguson would pull David Beckham off the training field hours after practice had ended. He always wanted to do more - he was driven to do more. Do you have that kind of drive and determination to make it to the top grade?
Re: Bob Bradley. I'm not sure Bob is the right coach though he is a good coach and I have a lot of respect for him. The strikes against him, in my opinion, were:
ReplyDeletePoint #1: Too rigid in his tactics. Bob had gotten to the point where he was playing not to lose. The result of that was predictable: the team often went a goal (or more) down. He coached the team to react rather than drive play and that invited pressure in the midfield.
Still on the tactics point, Bradley too often told his team to drive play down the wings. The problem was that he had no true wingers. This led to the US playing in a third of the field at the time, only using the back line to switch it around to the other wing. Another result of this was frequent loss of possession.
Point #2: Staff. Bradley's main assistant was a defensive midfielder whom I never saw make a pass of more than ten yards. I won't name this man, and I respect his accomplishments, but this coach, as a player, always did the safe thing. That, combined with limiting tactics, led to a lack of creativity. In fact, it led to a culture within the squad of not doing anything creative because regardless of the badges and clinics, we're all fed by experience. This coach took his experience and said this will work... well, the US needed that twenty years ago, not now.
There is a lot more athleticism in the current group and innate creativity that we have seen from these players away from the US side, or when the US had nothing to lose. I might add that there is a lot more leadership and spirit as well. Ask any Toffee player what Donovan did for the Everton dressing room when he arrived. And I'm not a Donovan fan!
Point #3: Lack of discipline. I don't know how many times I saw the midfield line stretch out too far and open up all kinds of space behind it. When they did play disciplined, they were world beaters. When they didn't, they lost to Panama.
Another way this manifested itself was in performing badly in matches that should not have been a contest. Bradley chose the side and his side often displayed a lack of tenacity or desire. They expected to roll and that just doesn't happen in international soccer anymore. That is down to preparation and the one responsible for preparation is the head coach.
BUT...
Point #4: Hamstrung by the US Soccer administration. OK, conspiracy theory here, but I don't think he was picking the lineup, at least not the full lineup. There is nothing else to explain some of the choices made in the last World Cup. When you are a head coach that doesn't have control of your roster or lineup, then the players probably aren't going to have any of the usual fear of losing their spot. Hence their lack of fire against some opponents.
US Soccer clearly wanted MLS players to feature. This led to players like Chris Wondolowski being on the field. No offense meant to Chris, but he doesn't belong in a starting lineup for the United States. Nor did Ricardo Clark in the World Cup.
So, there needed to be a change and it needed to be a change of culture as well as personnel. I only hope Sunil Gulati can keep his hands off of what Klinsmann and Claudio Reyna (Youth Development Director) can do for the program.