Give Em Something to Talk About

I loved Brian Straus's terrific story for Sporting News on dissension within the U.S. men's national team regarding Jurgen Klinsmann's leadership.  I loved it even as a huge fan of Klinsmann's philosophy and approach and a totally over-the-top, unfair, irrational critic of Bob Bradley's regime.

In substance, Straus's reporting communicated exactly what I want to hear:  the U.S. players are being challenged to be more than automatons meant to execute strategic orders.  They are, instead, professional footballers responsible for forming a cohesive whole based on a loose structure, their own aptitude, and creative chaos.

That this challenge is being made in the wake of former conservative management of tight control and preparation is all the more perfect.  Straus's narrative walks off the silver screen of the fictionalized account of Brian Clough's doomed attempt to replace Don Revie at Leeds.  After The Damn United establishes Revie's obsessive scouting and game preparation, the film portrays his former wards directly challenging Clough at Elland Road for his failure to brief them in advance of a match against Rangers.  Clough's response?

You're professional footballers.

Stop Stan Bowles.

That's all you need to know about QPR.

And I don't have justify myself to you . . . not how or when I conduct training . . .

Of course, things didn't exactly go swimmingly for Clough in West Yorkshire.  And there is a substantial risk that Klinsmann's revolution will leave the U.S. without an invitation to the party in Brazil. 

Straus's story ignited a national conversation.  Much of it is unhelpful -- it doesn't matter who talked or why they talked and, as Greg Seltzer notes, attacking Mr. Straus's journalistic integrity is completely inappropriate.  But all American soccer fans should be talking about the culture of domestic soccer.  Klinsmann, by both word and deed, is mounting a powerful challenge to conventional wisdom.  Let the kids play.  Let them have fun.  They'll figure it out.  It's ludicrously naive and impractical.  It's also thrilling.

You can get results by industry.  The athletic gifts and talent of the elite American footballer are enough to stay on the field with the globe's powers.  But discipline and execution do not create a platform for evolution.  Creation is reined in for the sake of cohesion.  It is also miserable to watch.

D.C. United drew over 17,000 for its opening home match against Real Salt Lake.  After managing a single goal in three matches played with a mind-numbingly tedious game plan of useless possession, only 11,000 showed up for home game number two against the Columbus Crew.   That's twenty percent below last year's average attendance during the regular season (13,846).  In fact, only three out of the seventeen home matches last season had less fans in the seats -- and everyone of those games was a midweek (Wednesday night) fixture.  I was out of town and could not attend, but found three takers in my absence.  The other four season tickets in our group went unused despite being offered to any taker gratis.

United supporters and the club can keep pretending that it is the decaying stadium, the weather, or a college basketball tournament that's keeping seats freely available, but the games have made for miserable viewing (whether live or on the television).  We can also continue to endure excuses about purported failures to execute, but that's not going to convince anyone that there is an interesting product at RFK.  It is particularly hard to argue against unleashing the talent on the roster when there is little functional difference between losing matches 2-1 or 2-0 and losing them 5-4 or 6-3.

We are, nevertheless, where we are.  U.S. soccer is rigid and mechanical.  Klinsmann's critique has not been met by supportive voices amongst the coaches of the MLS.

One of the other things that makes the story great is the identity of the person who penned it.  Because the story was authored by Brian Straus and not, say, Grant Wahl, the focus is more on football than on personalities.  It is not a gossip piece.  It is reporting.  And that bodes well for the future of the sport in this country as too much of what is written about the game is short on giving fans greater insight into what they are seeing or why things unfolded in a particular way on the pitch.

Well done Brian.  Good job out of you.  

Bought In

That was a blast.

Over the last few years, I've gone to see the U.S. Men's National Team play Cuba, Jamaica, and Colombia.  Doesn't compare to last night's spectacle.

Q:  How do you enjoy a supposed 4-1 drubbing that purportedly reinforces your country's minnow status in world soccer?

A:  When the scoreline doesn't even begin to approximate the action on the pitch.

67,000+ people in the stands, overwhelmingly good-natured, and largely enthralled for the full ninety.  I regret not taking my kids despite what would have been a late night; it was fantastic -- expensive, but fantastic.

I listened to all kinds of commentary on the team and its performance on the metro ride home and couldn't participate because... well...  I just sat back and enjoyed the game.  I did walk out with a real appreciation for Herculez Gomez, who was terrific for the first seventy minutes and still was tracking back and winning balls late in the game.

Plus, why have an opinion when someone, in this case TSG contributor Joshua Wells, can write what you want to say in a much more interesting manner?  Lots of head bobbing during this read.  Wells:

Sure, Brazil is more talented, but Klinsmann knows that as of right now, there’s no reason the USMNT should feel inferior or be intimidated to step on the field with anybody in the world.  Now he’s pleading with his players to buy into that and be bosses because of it.  As American soccer fans, it’s time we bought in as well.

Exactly.

I'm a believer.  Done and done.

In Training

I started this blog five years ago as a personal response to the negative and often hostile tone that is pervasive in sports commentary.  A goal was to create a diary of sorts cataloging and memorializing love for athletic contests as a spectator.

It turns out that it has not been difficult to remain appreciative.  Despite the distance between our new home and the teams of my childhood, my interest in sports has grown in large part due to our close proximity to the University of Maryland.

Monday afternoon presented another unexpected (and undeserved) treat, with the University hosting the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team for a training open to the public at Ludwig.  The team's official blog quoted Oguchi Onyewu as characterizing the crowd for the event as "awesome" and the University's website reported that nearly 2,500 people turned out to watch American soccer players practice.   

I would have guessed that the number was higher because of the line to get in and the dense crowd in the open areas of the stadium.  Regardless of the total, attendance was spectacular.  My daughter and I recognized Joseph Ngwenya going to stand behind us in a large line to enter Ludwig to watch American soccer players practice.

Substantively, I got nothing out of the experience.  I have no idea what players ought to be doing in training and spent most of the time just hanging out with a near-four year old on a hot afternoon sitting on a grassy hillside.  But I will not soon forget the atmosphere.  Virtually everyone around us was thrilled to be there, to have had the opportunity to get up close to these athletes (American soccer players) and obtain some measure of insight into the Juergen Klinsmann era.

I would guess that the day -- both the open event and the public response -- does not happen without Klinsmann.  Come what may in World Cup qualifying, Klinnsmann's early returns have been fantastic in terms of developing a compelling style of play and an entertaining brand of football.  The strengths of the squad's most beloved players (Dempsey, Howard, and Donovan all received raucous applause entering the pitch from the bus) have been highlighted and new stars are emerging.  And we will head to FedEx this evening in a celebratory mood.

Thanks very much to U.S. Soccer and to the University of Maryland for an enjoyable afternoon.

Happy Father's Day

Sandwiched around a trip downtown to watch a soccer game, I had a terrific father's day with our little one.

As much as I enjoyed the day with her, I am also grateful for having been afforded the chance to see the U.S. - Jamaica game. Thanks to El Salvador's bare qualification out of the Gold Cup's group stage, RFK was popping and the atmosphere was without precedent for me at the stadium.

The blue wave that descended on the stadium prior to the first game of the doubleheader surprised me. I had (wrongly) assumed that most of the Salvadoran partisans would stay outside the grounds tailgating until the ES - Panama tie grew closer, but, instead, tens of thousands of fans wearing blue filled seats and rooted loudly and forcefully for the U.S. men's national team.



The unique nature of the day should not be understated. For Salvadorans throughout the region, today offered a rare opportunity to show simultaneous love and loyalty both for the country left behind (but by no means forgotten) and for the country that has become home. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

On the field, an early injury to Jozy Altidore left the USMNT with a team that featured Juan Agudelo along with Sasha Klejstan, Alejandro Bedoya, and Eric Lichaj, and all four performed very well. Everyone around me provided better analysis of the game than I ever could, so I'll just memorialize photos of a day at the park: