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All I Want For Christmas Is A New U.S. Coach 05/12/06
by Andrea Canales
The holidays have always been a time of wistful longing tempered by reality. Most of us realized long ago that Santa Claus only existed in mall pictures and in the hearts and wallets of our own parents. We learned to balance out our deepest hopes (the pony) with the existing conditions (plastic pony).
Sunil Gulati can perhaps relate. Not only does he have young children who might put the “the moon” on their Christmas wish list, but there are definitely U.S. soccer fans who have already done so, and are eagerly awaiting for the economics professor/US Soccer Federation president to deliver around the holidays.
“If you had an ideal candidate, there would be a hundred things on the checklist,” acknowledged Gulati when speaking of the dream coach’s top attributes.
“It'd be great to have somebody who was captain of the World Cup team, and won the World Cup; it’d be great to have someone with coached a World Cup team to the final, it’d be great to have someone who speaks five languages, it’d be great to have someone inspirational, eloquent, and charismatic and successful, and all those things, and who also wants to be a technical director, and coach the Olympic team and advise the youth teams. And in his spare time, wants to advise Greg Ryan on things we might do with the women’s team.”
The reality had already set in for Gulati
“That's not going to happen,” he admitted. “You start ticking off characteristics.”
The final choice may come down to who really wants the job.
Jürgen Klinsmann has indicated to some outlets that he wants rest from the stress of coaching.
Jose Pekerman is rumored to be mulling other offers, including one from Columbia, where he already speaks the language.
Carlos Quieroz has indicated before that he is content to stay on at Manchester United, where he serves as #2 to Alex Ferguson.
Perhaps all the usual suspects are just trying to save face and treat the position, if they are rejected for it, as one they never wanted anyway.
Desire goes a long way. Hugo Sanchez, for example, openly campaigned for the position of Mexico’s head coach, even while the team was contracted to another coach.
Absolutely no one wondered if he really wanted the job, and no one was thus very surprised when it fell to him. The passion that someone has for something is often very contagious.
His faults and shortcomings, whatever they were, notwithstanding, Bruce Arena usually indicated very clearly that there was nowhere he would rather be than coaching the U.S. squad. Sure, after eight years, there were rumblings of him returning to club coaching and perhaps coaching a team abroad, but he always took great pride in coaching the American squad and that helped instill the same in his players.
I’m not of the jingoistic mindset who believes only a coach of the same citizenship as the players can guide the U.S. team well.
In fact, I think a fresh eye on emerging talent and a new approach will be welcome. But whether it’s because taking on a team that is traditionally overlooked is a challenge, or whether it’s a point of personal pride to the candidate to do a good job, it’s important that whoever is chosen really wants to deal with all that’s involved.
For England, that means blanket press coverage and constant second-guessing. Phil Scolari probably did that country a favor by realizing he didn’t want to deal with those aspects.
For the U.S. coach, the opposite situation exists. Practices routinely end with just a few fans present, perhaps a single reporter, and no television cameras. The team makes the evening newscast about as often as a comet flies by earth.
That might be the ideal situation for some coaches, but the fact that the US coach will be expected to raise the team’s profile may not be.
Regardless of whether a foreign coach is indeed in line for the position, Gulati has also made clear a preference for som
by Andrea Canales
The holidays have always been a time of wistful longing tempered by reality. Most of us realized long ago that Santa Claus only existed in mall pictures and in the hearts and wallets of our own parents. We learned to balance out our deepest hopes (the pony) with the existing conditions (plastic pony).
Sunil Gulati can perhaps relate. Not only does he have young children who might put the “the moon” on their Christmas wish list, but there are definitely U.S. soccer fans who have already done so, and are eagerly awaiting for the economics professor/US Soccer Federation president to deliver around the holidays.
“If you had an ideal candidate, there would be a hundred things on the checklist,” acknowledged Gulati when speaking of the dream coach’s top attributes.
“It'd be great to have somebody who was captain of the World Cup team, and won the World Cup; it’d be great to have someone with coached a World Cup team to the final, it’d be great to have someone who speaks five languages, it’d be great to have someone inspirational, eloquent, and charismatic and successful, and all those things, and who also wants to be a technical director, and coach the Olympic team and advise the youth teams. And in his spare time, wants to advise Greg Ryan on things we might do with the women’s team.”
The reality had already set in for Gulati
“That's not going to happen,” he admitted. “You start ticking off characteristics.”
The final choice may come down to who really wants the job.
Jürgen Klinsmann has indicated to some outlets that he wants rest from the stress of coaching.
Jose Pekerman is rumored to be mulling other offers, including one from Columbia, where he already speaks the language.
Carlos Quieroz has indicated before that he is content to stay on at Manchester United, where he serves as #2 to Alex Ferguson.
Perhaps all the usual suspects are just trying to save face and treat the position, if they are rejected for it, as one they never wanted anyway.
Desire goes a long way. Hugo Sanchez, for example, openly campaigned for the position of Mexico’s head coach, even while the team was contracted to another coach.
Absolutely no one wondered if he really wanted the job, and no one was thus very surprised when it fell to him. The passion that someone has for something is often very contagious.
His faults and shortcomings, whatever they were, notwithstanding, Bruce Arena usually indicated very clearly that there was nowhere he would rather be than coaching the U.S. squad. Sure, after eight years, there were rumblings of him returning to club coaching and perhaps coaching a team abroad, but he always took great pride in coaching the American squad and that helped instill the same in his players.
I’m not of the jingoistic mindset who believes only a coach of the same citizenship as the players can guide the U.S. team well.
In fact, I think a fresh eye on emerging talent and a new approach will be welcome. But whether it’s because taking on a team that is traditionally overlooked is a challenge, or whether it’s a point of personal pride to the candidate to do a good job, it’s important that whoever is chosen really wants to deal with all that’s involved.
For England, that means blanket press coverage and constant second-guessing. Phil Scolari probably did that country a favor by realizing he didn’t want to deal with those aspects.
For the U.S. coach, the opposite situation exists. Practices routinely end with just a few fans present, perhaps a single reporter, and no television cameras. The team makes the evening newscast about as often as a comet flies by earth.
That might be the ideal situation for some coaches, but the fact that the US coach will be expected to raise the team’s profile may not be.
Regardless of whether a foreign coach is indeed in line for the position, Gulati has also made clear a preference for som