Make That Dos a Tres

Well then ... I was in the ball park, but underestimated the frenetic nature of the contest in the closing minutes.

There has been a bunch of commentary on this match easily "googlable" on the web ... let me add a few thoughts to the mix from a variety of perspectives:

1. While even for 45' after that is was nearly all Mexico with the run of play. Yes, the US came back in spectacular fashion, but frankly it was Mexico's night despite Jurgen saying " ... we played them even." Yes I know he said in the first half before the Jurgen lovers come at me ... but why say it at all when the US was chasing for every minute after halftime.

2. Salvadorian referee Joel Aguilar did a fine job last night. I had the pleasure of watching him work live in Foxboro when the US played Brazil in the 4-1 drumming the US received. As we saw play was frenetic and was indeed the "war" I had suggested it was going to be. He did a tremendous job in the face of that pressure and I believe did well. That said, were there things he could have changed, you bet, both ways, but for me, the US nor Mexico should have any issue with the refereeing for this match.

3. Klinesman took a swipe at one of the USs' best referees, Mark Geiger during his excuse making, "it's not my fault" post match press conference. In his comments he stated that "The Gold Cup was influenced by poor referee decisions. That's why we were here tonight." (For any not familiar with the controversy, take a look here, courtesy of Bleacher Report)

Is he serious? This is akin to saying it is the referees fault we lost today. This is our National Team Coach?!?

News flash, it would not matter who we played the other night, the US is not playing well, and more specifically is not being coached any better than previous coaches if we dive into the statistics. Is it really worth the $2.5M we (crap, I with some of my registration fee) is paying him?

Just to pour some salt in the wound, take a look at USMNT fans hate Jurgen Klinsmann because he won't stop lying from SB Nation. It would seem clear I do not stand alone in my thinking.

Tick Tock President Gulati ... now would be a great time to make a move on a coach.

True Class

Coach Steve Bonastia: Seckman High

Imperial, Missouri: As soon as the ball was hit, Seckman (Imperial, Mo.) High School softball coach Steve Bonastia knew his team had just given up a tie-breaking two-run home run.

And he knew that with the game being in the fifth inning, there wasn’t much time left and his team was likely in line for a loss. What he didn’t know, though, was that the umpires – all of them – had seen the ball differently and ruled that the ball bounced over the fence. ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of The Good In Sports.

Kicking Back Comments: This story touched me on several levels. First was the fact that a coach was willing to truly correct an error that was made by a referee ... and I don't mean the type that we usually face from a coach, without regard to the actual decision, advocates for their team ... as they should.

This was the story of a team of referees who made a mistake, and a coach, to his and his teams detriment, offered a correction.

Now I say offered here, as the refereeing crew was certainly under no obligation to accept the information. Which lead me to the second touch point ... they did.

How willing are we are referees to overturn a decision to "get it right?" Are we even willing to do that? Some are not and don't even consider it at all. Some may be too easy and at the slightest bit of resistance, reverse a decision.

What about the magnitude of the play ... a lot of time is spent on incidents that result in scoring, which is the whole reason we are using GLT now. But what about the other decision that lead up to it? The penalty that was not given, the ineligible substitution that was made, a foul at midfield that prevented an attack from developing?

Where is the line that we should accept, and act on, such advise?

My friends, it is a slippery slope, and can come down to one word ... fingerspitzengefühl.

It's not just for referees

The Power of Mentorship

When I joined the U.S. Soccer Foundation staff, and more specifically the Programs team supporting Soccer for Success, I knew I walked into both a huge opportunity and a tremendous challenge. One of the main components of my job is training our Soccer for Success coaches. This season we will work with 1,500 coaches in 24 cities across the country. Through these coaches we hope to teach the game of soccer to approximately 18,000 youth. No small feat! ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of US Soccer Foundation.

Kicking Back Comments: Don't forget, just like referees and players, coaches too are learning their craft on any given Sunday.

Who does Ben Olsen have to blame?

Apparently it is the referees who are at fault for only getting 9 points in the 17 matches he has had. Which is the very worst in MLS.

He should have stopped when he said, “... nobody wants to hear the coach in last place complain about the referees.”

You're right Ben ... we don't. But that didn't stop you, did it.

You can see (and hear) the rantings here, courtesy of NBC Sports.

I've opined about this in the past, specifically about Jay Heaps and the Revolution ... do we really think referees have as much leeway as coaches? Ben has been terrible this year, and yet, DC has trotted him out at the helm 17 times.

Would a referee get that kind of response at the MLS level?

Mind mind is made up ... what say you?

Do you carry a spare?

By that I mean a spare watch, whistle, pencil ... how about cards?

May want to consider it ... take a peek here for a reason why, from The Guardian.

Mike Montgomery, please sit down

First, for some context, take a peek here:


Yes, that was University of California's basketball coach, Mike Montgomery, pushing his own player, Allen Crabbe during a timeout.

Who the (bleep) does he think he is?

Let's reverse some roles, shall we?

How about Crabbe pushing Montgomery? You can bet that is a suspension from a few folks.
How about a referee pushing Crabbe? I'd bet a battery charge was filed, and the referee suspended.
Montgomery on a referee? Have a seat coach, see you in 5 games.

So why is this different? Shouldn't everyone get the same amount of respect from each other, or face the consequences? If anything, these kids should be protected from this nonsense, not exposed to more of it from a guy "who wants to win."

Now, Montgomery's lame statement was that he was trying to "motivate" the player.

Bull (bleep). He lost his cool.

Player on player, fine. Take a look at the #35 after the shove (Richard Solomon), or the #1 (Justin Cobb) (source). Wholly appropriate under the circumstances. Referee on referee, coach on coach, player on player, fine.

Anything else of such physicality is an issue. A big one. There are exceptions for strained situations, such as a fight, but honestly, take a lesson from NHL linesmen who are unbelievably effective in managing this scenario.

His delay in finally "apologizing" was also lame, as was the canned written apology itself.

"While my intent was to motivate our student athletes, my behavior was inappropriate and I apologize for my actions." (source)

I hope his personal offering to Crabbe was better than that.

The university or the league should set an example, and sit him for at least a match. Maybe even two, as apparently this was the 2nd time Montgomery shoved one of his players this month.

Motivate ... what a joke.

Super Draft!!

Monday MLS Breakdown: News and notes from the SuperDraft floor in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS – New England's decision to make a play for Louisville defender Andrew Farrell occurred a few days before the SuperDraft.

It may have looked like a complex choice from the outside, but it carried fewer complications than one might expect. The technical staffers in New England felt this particular crop of players presented them with two stark choices. Neither of them involved entering draft day with the number four pick. ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of Yahoo News.

Kicking Back Comments: Welcome aboard Mr. Farrell. I hope it works out for Mr. Heaps. I have to believe after last year, this is his last shot.

If he was a referee, he would be banished from MLS based on performance alone.

US Soccer names new women's coach

US Soccer names new women's coach

The U.S. women’s national team has a new head coach.

As of Jan. 1, 2013, Tom Sermanni will lead America’s pre-eminent women’s sports team.

Sermanni, a 58-year-old Scot who had a modest professional career, currently coaches the Australian national women’s team, which he has brought to international respectability in his eight-year tenure. He previously spent several seasons coaching in the old WUSA women’s professional league in the U.S. ...

See the whole story here, from Fox Sports.

Kicking Back Comments: Welcome aboard Mr. Sermanni. Sadly, there is nowhere to go but down, as the best he can do is stay the same. No small challenge there.

Required reading ...

... for any who coach youth soccer, or who want to.

See l'equip petit from Paul Levy's blog Not Running a Hospital.

You can follow Paul (and I do) at the following:

• Blog: Not Running a Hospital
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pflevy
• Twitter: @Paulflevy

US Soccer Did it Right ... Willkommen Herr Klinsmann

From rigid to rambunctious: U.S. Soccer finally lands Jurgen Klinsmann

No longer will the success and failures of U.S. Soccer get pinned on the rigid American style of play. By announcing the hiring of Jürgen Klinsmann yesterday, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati not only nabbed the team’s first foreign coach since 1995, he has given the keys to an offensive-minded showman unafraid to reinvent the system.

As coach of Germany for the 2006 World Cup, Klinsmann, who turns 47 on Saturday, bucked a longstanding trend by transforming the Germans from a mechanical defensive unit to smooth attackers.

He’s undertaking a similar task with the Americans, who have never produced a great striker and were outclassed by rival Mexico in the last three matchups. ...

See the whole article here, courtesy of NY Daily News.

Kicking Back Comments: Excellent hiring decision. It does give me a bit of pause however. Everyone is excited about this and is signaling it as a turning point for the US National team. OK, fair enough.

But, is there no domestic coach that can handle this? Or does just putting a "foreigner" at the helm (he lives in CA after all), our saving grace? Now that is not the whole picture to be certain, Klinsmann was an accomplished international soccer phenom as a player. Interesting however that our last two coaches really had no international playing experience. Bob Bradley had none. His playing career seemed to end at Princeton. Bruce Arena had very limited, making a single appearance for the US National Team in 1973, and player professionally for the Tacoma Tides in 1976 as a goalkeeper.

Please note, I'm not knocking here, just observing. I only played college ball too, so Arena's accomplishments are significant to me. But were they the crack in the US Soccer domestic armor ... we don't have anyone yet who can coach the US Team with significant international experience.

Prior to these guys was Bora Milutinović, who assembled and led an inspired US Team in 1994. Bora too has significant playing experience.

It makes me wonder. When will a domestic coach "be ready", to bring the US forward as a soccer power? Is it really when this generation of US MNT players gets older, and joins the coaching ranks?

That said about our coaches ... what about our referees?

Overdue, or Right On Time?

Bradley era ends as U.S. stagnates

Three thoughts on the firing of U.S. men's soccer coach Bob Bradley on Thursday:

• Is it finally Klinsmann time? Two times the U.S. has come achingly close to hiring German legend Jürgen Klinsmann, and two times Klinsmann has left the Americans at the altar. Might the third time be the charm? ...

See the whole article here, from SI.com.

Kicking Back Comments: My jury is still out on this one. IMHO Bradley sadly had to go. If it is timely will depend on how quickly US Soccer announces a replacement. If they do so in the next couple of weeks, they were timely. If they delay any longer than that to communicate a decision, again IMHO, they should have waited to get the act together before tipping over the apple cart. If they really wanted to do it right, the two would have been announced simultaneously. If they really, really want to do it right, they will hire Klinsmann.


ESPN had some interesting choices, and odds, here.

Read and Reflect

U.S. Club Soccer has changed radically in 10 years

This year marks the 10th anniversary of U.S. Club Soccer, which since gaining U.S. Soccer Federation membership in 2001 has served as an alternative to U.S. Youth Soccer. We spoke with U.S. Club Soccer chairman Phil Wright about the past, present and future of the organization that now has member clubs and leagues in 50 states, runs national and state cup competitions, a player identification program (id2) and the girls Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).

SOCCER AMERICA: I’ve heard it said that U.S. Club Soccer’s aim is to drive U.S. Youth Soccer out of business. …

See the whole article here, courtesy of Soccer America.

Kicking Back Comments: So lets think about this for a second ... Here is an excellent example of how THE game has changed over just the last 10 years. Do we as referees believe that we have adapted to that change? Is this change that we as referees need to worry about (e.g. organizational changes for youth soccer)? Has the refereeing organizational world kept up, or exceeded its mandate making sure its population is well cared for?

Granted some goals are different between the two entities, but the root of the question remains ...

Do US Soccer referees get what they need to evolve with THE game?

Looks like refereeing is not the only "boys club" in soccer

Early in February I ran a short series of posts commenting on the state of refereeing in the US as it related to women ... or the lack thereof. One such notable post can be found at: Neil Buethe Speaks on women referees at the professional level.

It would seem this is not a problem that only refereeing has in the US. Take a look at the Soccer America piece, 'Coaching still a boys club,' says Vardar's Miriam Hickey. In it Hickey briefly details why in her opinion that is true. I wonder if those same reasons translate to refereeing?

She makes another interesting observation as well. From the article:

SA: Why is American youth soccer so much more expensive than in other countries, such as the Netherlands?

MIRIAM HICKEY: Only the professional clubs and top amateur clubs have professional staff. Everybody else can do with volunteers, but the sport has been there for a 150 years. In my family everybody played. My uncles, my father, my grandfather. That’s how it is in every family. So you have knowledgeable people directing the sport and so you don’t spend a whole lot.

The fields are city fields, and you don’t have to pay for them. There’s only one association that leads all the different leagues. So you have a really good pyramid going from 4-year-olds to 60-year-olds. And, of course, it’s a smaller country.

This comment was telling for me and led me to a question. How rich is our soccer heritage here in the US? Most folks who want to get involved (bless them) generally have never played the game before. Makes me a little scared as I get ready to open another youth season this Saturday.

I channel those newer referees who have played their whole life, getting yelled at by parents who have never kicked a ball before. What's wrong with that picture?

Four More Years For Bob??

Check out Grant Wahl's thoughts here on the topic, FIFA's here, and US Soccer's spin here.

Lets see what happens next ... I don't think we're quite done yet.

Bradely Watch Continues ... Now Looking At Aston Villa

Bradley confirms interest in Aston Villa job

United States coach Bob Bradley says he is keen to hold talks with Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner about being their next boss following Martin O'Neill's exit earlier this month.

Bradley, who led the USA to the last 16 of the World Cup, has had no formal talks with Villa's American owner but his representatives have made contact with the club.

"I think Aston Villa is a massive club with great history and a great following and those type of opportunities would of course be of interest," Bradley told BBC Radio Five Live. "I would certainly be honoured to have that conversation but I'm impressed with the way things have been handled so far and we'll see what the future holds." ...

Full story here, courtesy of ESPN.

Gregg who ??

Kicking Back Comments:
In a poor attempt to be edgy or sarcastic Greg Doyel I believe misses the biggest picture of all in his below article. If the US MNT wants to do well on the international stage, they are going to have to seek a coach likely not from this country to get it done. Xenophobia aside, the bottom line is to get the best person for the job, not the best American for the job. 


I'd hire Marvin the Martian if it would help our cause.


After all the bottom line is winning ... right Gregg? What counts is that the players are US born, not the coach. Besides, if we follow Greggo's logic, the US could not use glue, because it was patented in Britain in the 1750's. How about beer ... nope, not here either. How about THE GAME itself? Nope ... Japan 1004 B.C. Why are we sullying ourselves with such things Gregg?


Read on friends, and just see how myopic an opinion can get ... that is to say in my own myopic opinion.


Ugly truth: U.S. soccer team needs American coach

This is not a soccer story. This is an American story, and as it happens, I'm an American. Jurgen Klinsmann is not. And for me, that's where the story starts, and ends:

Klinsmann is not an American, so I don't want him coaching the U.S. soccer team.

Let him coach Germany if he wants to coach a national team. Maybe Germany won't have him back. Maybe I don't care. That's their issue, not mine. Germany has a national team. America has a national team. Let theirs coach theirs, and ours coach ours. ...

Full rant article is here, courtesy of CBS Sports.

I heard a rumor ...

Bob Bradley Set To Depart As US Manager

United States head coach Bob Bradley looks set depart as US manager following Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Brazil..

World Soccer Reader has learned that United States manager Bob Bradley will not stay on as manager for the next World Cup cycle. According a source, Bradley gave a short farewell speech to players and staff, thanking them for the last four years following the United States’ 2-0 loss to Brazil on Tuesday night.

We have also heard that Bradley’s departure could be revealed at a press conference as early as this week.

Bradley led the United States to a second round exit after a 2-1 extra time loss to Ghana. Contract negotiations with the United States Soccer Federation had been suspended till after the US-Brazil friendly. ...

See the whole post here, courtesy of World Soccer Reader.

Today is Bradley's Day

Bob Bradley's U.S. Future Will be Decided After Tuesday's Brazil Friendly

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley confirmed Monday afternoon that he was in touch with English Premier League club Fulham during its recent search for a new manager, and that his future remains up in the air as substantive discussions with the U.S. Soccer Federation have been pushed back until after Tuesday's match against Brazil.

"People spoke to Fulham on my behalf. I did not actually speak to anyone at Fulham. I think that's simple and straightforward," Bradley said in response to a question from FanHouse here at New Meadowlands Stadium, the $1.6 billion, 82,500-seat facility that recently opened just off the New Jersey Turnpike. Fulham wound up hiring former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City coach Mark Hughes, but Bradley's name has surfaced again today in connection with another, more high-profile English club -- Aston Villa.

Full story continues here, courtesy of soccer.fanhouse.com.