1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Wednesday “Who Made the Mistake”

Posted by on November 23rd, 2016  •  0 Comments  • 

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“Who Made the Mistake”

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I sit there and watch the games on the Fox Soccer Channel.

I am enthralled by the flair they play with in South America, at distant places like River Plate and Rio.

I know the world dominance of FC-Barcelona, Juventus and others.

I am so impressed with the grinding demanding style they play in places like Bayern Munich.

And I know the heritage of places like Arsenal, Manchester City, Man U and what they do in England.

And yet, with the huge population we have, with the resources we have, with the training facilities we have, the US is still not a national soccer power.

1950-when the US shocked the world with a global soccer win, was a long, long corner kick ago.

The demise of the Team USA-World Cup coach Jurgen Klinsmann did not come as a surprise. He was a free spirit, eclectic, dynamic and dysfunctional. .

His credentials in Germany on the world stage spoke well of his abilities on the pitch. But it never translated to success here in the US.

We do not have the snipers like you would find if your name was Messi.

We don’t have the personalities of Wayne Rooney.

We don’t have the flair of a Chicharito-Javier Hernandez.

We have MLS, our outdoor game, as a training ground for young talent, but we are never generating greatness.

Anyone ever remember Freddy Adu? Anybody to replace our legend Landon Donovan?. Anyone seen the next coming of goalie Tim Howard?.

Klinsmann had ideas and ideas. He changed things match to match. He had some flashes of success, but never was there continuity in whatever the game plan was.

He got Team USA to a knockout round in the World Cup, thank you Donovan and Clint Dempsey.

But he failed so badly in Gold Cup games, and whatever progress was made years ago, seemed to disappear in the back to back opening losses earlier this month in World Cup qualifying.

Even his (55-27-16) record with the American side failed to protect him from this firing, because you never could figure out what he would do, or say next, and how it was supposed to link to what he did or said four months prior.

Bruce Arena will leave the LA Galaxy and join Team USA, and has four months to find the right mix of players, upfront and on the back end, before the next round of qualifying begins.

The fatality list of coaches abroad is soccer is amazing. Mexico fires coaches annually and has had little success.

Look at the heads on the chopping block yearly in the English Premeir League.

Just waiting to Team USA soccer to become a global power. Don’t know when, how and with whom.

Just know I will be watching the Fox Soccer Channel till something wearing Red-White-and Blue surfaces to tell me ‘we have arrived’.

I thought Klinsmann would have been the one to deliver the message. Not the right guy, and we’ve never had a right guy to fix US soccer.

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