After that, though, today is one for speculation - whether about the future of the U.S. coaching position, The Big Bruce’s (Bruce Arena’s) tenure in the Big Apple, or something as straight forward as who will win tonight’s match between Red Bull New York and the Columbus Crew (I’ll take care of this one right off the bat; I think/want the Crew; and here’s a preview).
To begin (outside the parentheses at least) with the Bruce, a couple of items look at the obstacles now confronting America’s former #1. For what it’s worth, I think ESPN’s Kristian Dyer does a better job than the New York Times' reporter, but the latter contains an interesting comment from Arena about the players he intends to build around:
"'The team is already at the bottom, but there are some players to build around like Amado Guevara, Todd Dunivant, Marvell Wynne and Seth Stammler,' Arena said. 'But there is only so much you can do this year. There is only so much we can do in the short term.'"
Any thoughts? Misgivings? Expressions of disbelief or contempt? I get two of those. Building around “Mad” Amado Guevara strikes me as folly and Marvell Wynne is just a rookie; maybe there's some there there, but I'd wait before rearranging the furniture. In any case, as both articles point out, The Bruce has got his work cut...out.
Sticking with the league, a pair of players should see their MLS debuts this weekend: Columbus has Ryan Coiner coming on as a forward, while the Kansas City Wizards bring on one of the more interesting signings I’ve seen in a while: Chris van Den Bergh. I’d never heard of the guy, but he’s played for some high-profile outfits in his native Netherlands. With KC struggling for offense as they are, he could provide a lift; at worst, he can’t hurt can he? In any case, good luck to both; make the league look good.
One last note on the domestic league: have I mentioned the All-Star roster that will face FC Chelsea on August 2nd? If I have, I doubt I explained all the nuances. Because it’s an All-Star game, though, I don’t have much interest in doing so now and will instead leave that to the Chicago Sun-Times (LINK). Just to let you know, the nuances come with who was selected by whom (fans/media/commissioner etc.) and who will actually start (don't know this, barely care).
Turning the job opening with the men’s national team, I suspect we’ll see a hell of a lot of WAGs (wild-ass guesses) and chatter until the position is filled - after that, of course, the ensuing chatter will focus on one person instead of dozens. Still, being in the days before the appointment, people now busy themselves talking about who they’d like to see and why. The pair I came across today - one from ESPN’s Jen Chang and the other from FOX Soccer’s Jamie Trecker - are borderline contemptuous of the domestic scene: for both of them it’s a foreigner or nothing.
Chang throws a couple new names into the hat (well, new to me as candidates, anyway) - even as he’s pretty sure we’re going to end up with Jurgen “Klinsi” Klinsmann. The new names, though - Bruno Metsu, who led Senegal into Japan/South Korea 2002, and current Galatasaray manager Eric Gerets, who, given that job, knows from pressure - are intriguing enough. Chang also mentions the familiar long-shots: Luis Felipe “Big Phil” Scolari and Guus Hiddink. With these two, he at least acknowledges the problem posed by their current employment, though he glosses over the same a bit cursorily for my liking; after all, what kind of self-regarding coach would take the U.S. job on the understanding that he’d lose it once either of these guys came free?
Trecker, for his part, strays even further from the real world. Check out the names on his shortlist: in addition to Metsu, Klinsmann, etc. he suggests Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho, Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard, even Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger. Yeah...right...
As, well, silly as his shortlist is, Trecker’s column contains one pretty sound suggestion: making a technical director position separate from the coaching/manager job. As he sees it, this would obviate the need for any coach we hire to understand the “American player” and the American scene. I like this idea even if we find a coach who understands the American player as if he married one. Basically, get past the fantasy in Trecker’s column and there’s some good in there.
One last thing on the coaching carousel: the Colorado Rapids’ Fernando Clavijo would like to volunteer his name for the job. No, I can’t see it either, but do like his moxie. But, if you turn to Trecker’s technical director notion, he might do well in that spot.
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