NFT: The Ringer: How USMNT Missed the World Cup

June 14 - July 15! Russia

and credit to you Terps because I can vividly remember you voicing many of these concerns on here throughout Klinsmann’s tenure. Fascinating to see many of the players and others behind the scenes were saying the same things.

Unfortunately you were right. It’s still hard to believe we’re not in the World Cup

Klinsmann was obviously a complete disaster from day 1, but for so many warning signs around him to be ignored at different times is indicative that the problem is larger than he was. I'm so worried that the same problems will remain.

For me as a sports fan this is the worst thing that has ever happened to a team I support. It's been a long, slow nightmare that is still happening. USMNT is absolutely lost in the wilderness right now.

I'm not a huge soccer dude, but do follow the World Cup & it's still inconceivable to me how we didn't make it. Just UFB.

Who is the coach, currently? Thanks for posting.

In comment 13984245 Go Terps said:

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Klinsmann was obviously a complete disaster from day 1, but for so many warning signs around him to be ignored at different times is indicative that the problem is larger than he was. I'm so worried that the same problems will remain. For me as a sports fan this is the worst thing that has ever happened to a team I support. It's been a long, slow nightmare that is still happening. USMNT is absolutely lost in the wilderness right now.

Really hope we didn’t miss an opportunity to mine some positives out of this disaster by electing Gulati’s guy to replace him. I could at least rationalize the failure to make the WC by telling myself that maybe this would provide an opportunity to take the program in a new direction and fix some of the issues that persisted and were covered up by continuing to qualify in a weak region. Some of the candidates seemed very interesting to me, Kyle Martino for instance.

But I can’t shake the feeling that we are continuing to make the same mistakes by making such an insular hire in Cordeiro. Hopefully not.

Homer- no permanent manager has been hired yet

Long time assistant coach in several places, head coach at Chicago Fire for a few years in early 2000s.

It's incredible to me that we haven't moved beyond an interim coach. It's been 7 months. And while I understand there hasn't been much soccer played in that time, I'm sure there's work that the next coach could have been putting in. Hiring assistants, scouting, etc.

In comment 13984291 Go Terps said:

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It's incredible to me that we haven't moved beyond an interim coach.

Speaks to the dysfunction at USSoccer. They should have a dynamic shortlist always ready to go. New, younger coach for a new younger squad. Sarachan has done the right thing with his call ups in my view, but get the appointment complete and let's start this rebuild in earnest.

very strange that very little has been done. It’s like everyone is scared to make the wrong decision but making no decisions is just as bad.

to advance in development, and while I don't think they should be ruled out outright, I think whoever is selected next should understand the following uniquely American soccer related concerns:

1. The geographic vastness and disparity of opportunity for talent to be identified - We aren't the Netherlands, where everyone is within 50 miles of one another - need to have regional plans to foster youth development, funneling the best into what can be world class facilities of MLS academies and similar, independent of family means (things like http://www.soccerstreets.org/station-soccer-play/ are a good start to reach everyone).

2. The NCAA is terrible for player development and should never come near the top 10-15% of prospective high school players. At the same time, you'll never get the NCAA to give an inch in accommodation - they're clearly out for themselves. College soccer needs to be viewed as a backwater and not a path to the MLS. US soccer would probably be better served

3. The MLS needs to stay in it's lane for the time being - it should be treated as a development league for young American talent (like 18-23) and also incorporate talented players from within CONCACAF/CONEBOL world - leave victory lapping aged European players to the Chinese. There's no reason with the sports science and facilities available we can't be the best league in the hemisphere, as we should be able to offer better pay than South American leagues. Poach their talents - the MLS wage structure also needs a serious revisit - the disparity and minimums are laughable.

4. Encourage the best to play against the best. You don't see Denmark FA demanding Christian Eriksen leave Tottenham and play for Midjyttland - the return of the best players to the MLS was a net negative for our national team. Our guys need to be regularly cutting their teeth in the top leagues, like every other nation has realized. I hope Pulisic never plays a competitive game in the MLS. This is where the US's conflict of interest is really apparent - MLS drawing star power vs what's actually good for the national team.

US soccer would probably be better served by an acrimonious relationship with the corrupt NCAA than trying to make things work between them - I think their competing goals make beneficial resolution impossible.

go out and get a huge name from Europe to come in and coach this time?

and why would they want this dumpster fire?

Guardiola or Zidane couldn't fix this team alone

In comment 13984311 Nitro said:

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US soccer would probably be better served by an acrimonious relationship with the corrupt NCAA than trying to make things work between them - I think their competing goals make beneficial resolution impossible.

Couldn’t agree more and have said this for years.

European coach would just be a band aid at this point. I would give the keys to someone like Vermes or Porter and let them develop something over the next four years.

my wife, who has some Mexican roots but knows nothing about international soccer thought it would be cute to buy our son a Mexican National Team jersey. I’m throwing it out tomorrow.

attracting top level talent when you dont even go to the dance either. Long road back...

We're not Algeria or Mali trying to convince French nationals to play for us or England worried about Nigeria or Jamaica poaching talent - the only country where we have significant dual-nationals is Germany and they are probably the deepest nation in the world with regard to a national team; I mean they're B squad won the confed cup. I understand there's a Diego Rossi here or a Subotic there, but it's never really been nearly the issue other nations face.

Our "season" is four years long. And a lot of coaches interested would be available after the World Cup so it makes sense to not hire now. Our assistant (cant spell properly wont attempt) has only managed a few friendlies no real competitive games. If next summer during the Gold Cup hes still managing Ill start worrying

I still can’t believe we failed to qualify. I was talking with some buddies and realized the World Cup starts next week. Four years ago we were counting down to the start. What a disappointment.

I don’t have any suggestions for candidates or ideas on how to turn things around but I really hope they figure this out and get things back on track.

was a poor hire, not because he was foreign, but because his philosophy would never work here. He repeatedly tried to fit square pegs in round holes, almost to the point of being comical.

I don't think there should be any absolutes when it comes to the next coach. They can be American or foreign. They can choose to seed players in MLS or have them flourish abroad or have a mix. What USA needs right now is a coach who will take the pieces we have now and mesh them into a cohesive unit. Yes - that should be every coach's objective, but it doesn't have to be done rigidly with absolutes.

Right now, the USMNT has some veterans reaching the end of their careers and some really promising youngsters. The new coach has to develop the young players while getting the most they can and utilize the leadership of the older players.

I felt Klinsmann never really had a plan to work younger players in, so we were left with some very weak links, especially on defense.

We have the talent to compete, which makes missing the World Cup such a damn shame, but getting Gulati and Klinsmann out of here is the right direction. we actually have a pretty enticing opportunity for a coach. It would be really tough to fuck it up worse than it already has been.

I thought his continuous dissing of MLS was counter productive
US can't develop soccer culture if the head coach of USMNT believes MLS sucks and every good US Player should go to Europe

I do find it ironic that Klinsmann tried to stuff the team with German born American citizens and in the end the future of soccer is an American born superstar currently playing in Europe.

But I couldn't disagree more - the only thing Klinsmann got right was that players should go to Europe (NOT England) to boost their development - it's about understanding tactics, developing positional awareness and boosting technical skill.

There are so many problems: the symbiotic relationship between MLS and US Soccer, a development system that ignores the inner cities, etc. Nobody is blameless.

that piece is Klinsmann was a poor fit and it took too long to fire him because of bad organizational structure and unfortunate circumstances.

should never have been hired and that falls squarely on Gulati who tried his best to hook the big whale.

Even as the article points out, Klinsmann wanted to not juts change the team, but change the culture. But if Gulati had sense, he'd have seen that task as being impossible right now. Perhaps it would be something to look at years down the road, but the way soccer is constructed in the US - it would take decades to make it the way it is in Europe and South America with youth development programs and the like. That was the first red flag he missed, and not only did he miss it - it is what got Klinsmann hired - this vision of changing all levels of US soccer.

I've always laid the failures on US development at the feet of Gulati. He's as culpable as Klinsmann.

that is a stigma for soccer is that it has the reputation at least in the us for being a "pussy sport". I've defended that stance, but I've never been able to wrap my head around the fragility many teams have. Reading that article, it pops it's head up in many places, specifically in the team's aftermath of not taking Landon Donovan to the World Cup, but it happens to many international teams.

Recent examples have been France and more recently, Netherlands.

We used to get by on grit and determination under Bradley. Under Klinsmann, we started to morph into that fragile psyche many Americans use against soccer to view the sport with disdain.

4th-place finish in the 2015 Gold Cup followed by failing to qualify for the World Cup really cooled my interest in the USMNT.

I'm not a soccer diehard, but I have enjoyed rooting for the U.S. to make a name for itself on the world stage in international play.

Being an underdog is one thing. Being an underachieving, rudderless, inconsistent mess without a clear plan is another thing.

It's much more fun to root for the former than the latter.

However, the fact that Italy didn't qualify is the thing that is inconceivable to me. The laundry list that had to happen for both teams I like to watch, the US and Italy, to not qualify was pretty pretty crazy

was an awesome read. While I'm no fan of BA, I wonder if they had hired him that April if they make the WC. I have to imagine they do.

Thanks for posting. The last few games were fun to watch, just seeing the young kids. Sure, there are blemishes, but its not any worse than what we have seen the previous two years.

I don't think MLS or its teams should be allowing USMNT to influence their thinking. Every team should be acting in its own self interest. As a Red Bull supporter I'd be thrilled if they put the money together to go get Pulisic, for example.

USMNT needs to spend less time worrying about where people play, and more time on picking the right players when the time comes. Player selection and deployment has been the number one problem since Klinsmann got here. There simply hasn't been a recognition of who is in form, and how to play to the strengths of the players after they've been picked.

wasn't too impressive either.

In comment 13984622 Go Terps said:

Quote:

I don't think MLS or its teams should be allowing USMNT to influence their thinking. Every team should be acting in its own self interest. As a Red Bull supporter I'd be thrilled if they put the money together to go get Pulisic, for example. USMNT needs to spend less time worrying about where people play, and more time on picking the right players when the time comes. Player selection and deployment has been the number one problem since Klinsmann got here. There simply hasn't been a recognition of who is in form, and how to play to the strengths of the players after they've been picked.

Terps, maybe you can help me, but isn't the MLS owned as a collective by investors? So each team's decision ultimately isn't really in its self-interest - i.e. each team gets a cut of a player transferring overseas?

I'm asking, not questioning.

I think it depends on the player. If he's homegrown, I think the team gets to keep all the money from a transfer. For example, RBNY is about to sell Tyler Adams. Because Adams came up through RBNY's academy, they'll keep 100% of the transfer fee.

I could be wrong though, MLS's transfer rules are a labyrinth and I don't know if anyone fully understands them. I'm hoping that at some point the league moves away from the single entity model and lets the teams sink or swim accordingly.

Things are equally ridiculous in Europe, where Financial Fair Play is a myth. Manchester United is almost 600M Euros in debt, yet they can sign Diogo Dalot today for 19M Euros. PSG was nearly 200M Euros in debt when they spent another 200M on Neymar. It's a complete joke.

In comment 13984680 Go Terps said:

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I think it depends on the player. If he's homegrown, I think the team gets to keep all the money from a transfer. For example, RBNY is about to sell Tyler Adams. Because Adams came up through RBNY's academy, they'll keep 100% of the transfer fee. I could be wrong though, MLS's transfer rules are a labyrinth and I don't know if anyone fully understands them. I'm hoping that at some point the league moves away from the single entity model and lets the teams sink or swim accordingly. Things are equally ridiculous in Europe, where Financial Fair Play is a myth. Manchester United is almost 600M Euros in debt, yet they can sign Diogo Dalot today for 19M Euros. PSG was nearly 200M Euros in debt when they spent another 200M on Neymar. It's a complete joke.

Thanks - Milan is actually going to be kicked out of Europa League over FFP. You hear PSG is in trouble FFP-wise but who knows.

hired as CEO of USMNT. I guess that means he will get to pick the next manager.

The revenue share from transfers or loans for clubs is as follows:

A club shall receive three quarters (3/4) of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses), from any transaction involving a player that is NOT a Homegrown Player, Generation adidas Player, or player acquired via the MLS SuperDraft.

If a Designated Player is transferred or loaned, the club will receive all amounts of the transfer or loan fee revenue until it has recouped all out-of-pocket cash payments made by the club in connection to that player prior to any sharing arrangement with the League. After such recoup, the transfer or loan of the Designated Player shall be treated as any other transfer with the club receiving three quarters (3/4) of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue.

A club shall receive 100 percent of the corresponding transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses) from any transaction involving a Homegrown Player (regardless of service years).

A club shall receive the transfer or loan fee revenue (including agent fees and other expenses) from any transaction involving a Generation adidas Player or player acquired via the MLS SuperDraft based on the number of MLS service years:

MLS Service Years
Transfer/Loan Fee Revenue to Club
1- 1/3
2- 1/2
3+- 3/4

All remaining portions of the transfer or loan revenue fees are retained by the League.
Link - ( New Window )

Here is a Q&A he did earlier today. Nothing too telling. Lots of talk of culture and and style of play...you get the sense that those two elements have been a complete disaster.

Also, check out the goal he scored against Colombia in '94 (starts at :26). Great movement and passing capped off with an excellent one touch finish. It's like something Spain or Germany would do today.
The quality has always been here - ( New Window )

In comment 13984309 Nitro said:

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I hope Pulisic never plays a competitive game in the MLS. This is where the US's conflict of interest is really apparent - MLS drawing star power vs what's actually good for the national team.

This is just a stupid thing to say. Pulisic is basically unknown in the U.S. and way more well known in Germany. ESPN doesn't talk about him on their shows. U.S. sports radio and news outlets are not following or talking about him. He basically doesn't exist to the U.S. sports fan cause he plays soccer in Europe. We don't follow him like we do our NBA, MLB, and NFL stars. Hell even the NHL.

Yes, we know the best soccer leagues are in Europe. But we have the best leagues in every other sport, so until MLS is one of the best soccer leagues in the world, soccer will always be a niche sport here that is mostly ignored. So MLS going out and getting a Pulisic or other elite players is a good thing. Why should the soccer world revolve around Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City, etc? Why can't it revolve around New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, etc like it does here? The next step is for MLS to be a world class league like the NFL, NBA, MLB etc. Make Europe dream about us.

And very time consuming to truck the kids to soccer practice and games.

I have two, teens now, but unfortunately the girl, who is strong as a bull and super coordinated does not do sports (out of shape sadly but great at art) and the boy is so damn uncoordinated that his middle school baseball coach once entreated the other sides coach 'go easy on us, we have a retarded kid'. Which he's not and I know hurt him.

But I digress. In the USA , soccer seems like it's only truly available for the upper middle class, which itself is maybe shrinking or jetting into big money, ergo. How many kids climb that soccer skills ladder?

There's got to be a way to start such as:

- a free kids indoor barefoot soccer league,

to save shoe cost (with semi deflated volley balls so toes don't get crunched. Also to teach that it's not just a kick game, great players scoot or slide the ball as much as kick it) that could function more like little league or mini minors. For the under 12 set.

In comment 13985133 Deejboy said:

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This is just a stupid thing to say. Pulisic is basically unknown in the U.S. and way more well known in Germany. ESPN doesn't talk about him on their shows. U.S. sports radio and news outlets are not following or talking about him. He basically doesn't exist to the U.S. sports fan cause he plays soccer in Europe. We don't follow him like we do our NBA, MLB, and NFL stars. Hell even the NHL. Yes, we know the best soccer leagues are in Europe. But we have the best leagues in every other sport, so until MLS is one of the best soccer leagues in the world, soccer will always be a niche sport here that is mostly ignored. So MLS going out and getting a Pulisic or other elite players is a good thing. Why should the soccer world revolve around Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man City, etc? Why can't it revolve around New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, etc like it does here? The next step is for MLS to be a world class league like the NFL, NBA, MLB etc. Make Europe dream about us.

Pulisic is not an unknown in the US. Really not worth commenting on much of the drivel you posted after given that baseline, but suffice it to say, until that magical day where the MLS surpasses 100+ year history and prestige those leagues have, our best players should be there, not here, full stop.

In comment 13984767 Pete in MD said:

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hired as CEO of USMNT. I guess that means he will get to pick the next manager.

I hope no one person has that responsibility

Totally Football Show has done three preview podcasts. Guardian has an exhaustive guide.

Amazing how much attacking talent France isn't bringing to the tournament.

In comment 13984634 PatersonPlank said:

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wasn't too impressive either.

Yeah they were actually playing in Ireland, not at home.

Very unsettling, if you support Spain, just 3 days before their group stage opener. I'm not sure it destroys their tournament, but it feels like it has the potential to be destabilizing. It is absolutely crucial that Spain plays well on Friday and exits that match with positive feelings. Anything less and the potential for problems to snowball is huge even if they beat Iran and Morocco and go through anyway.

And the man Lopetegui is replacing at Real Madrid, Zidane, did this today in a testimonial match to the 1998 France World Cup champion team. Ridiculous.