Have no idea why you all are deleting my comments?! So people are allowed to attack me for giving my opinions? I know people are only being like that, because I am Black and Brown and my real face is shown. Wow Ives, not a good look. People on here don’t have to reply to everything I say and be nasty about it, do better and be more fair/professional SBI staff!
Online bully much, Bob? Striker91 is being asked to be left alone, and then you had to jump in with an extra comment putting him down? cmon.
Striker, I’m sorry that you’re feeling that this isn’t a safe space. I’ve been here a long time and have had many discussions with most of the regulars here. I don’t think anyone here is disagreeing with you on the basis of your skin color. If that’s how you feel, I hope you’ll continue to give the community a chance to prove to you that’s not the case or if you are right to educate others. I’ve learned so much about soccer from this community and it’s been a tremendous outlet to express myself and to understand others philosophies related to soccer. Like the rest of America has it become less courteous over the last 5 years, probably. However, if you stick around you’ll find common ground with almost everyone on some issues, but if you’re looking for complete agreement it’s a rarity. I wish you well and hope you stick around.
One thing I’m certain of is that Tyler Adams is one of the best US players. He can run forever, reads the game wonderfully well, and is crucial for our defense. He really is world class right now. I think our midfield is among the best in the world and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the next WC.
He really benefitted from his time at Leeds. I remember when he was rotting largely unused at RB Leipzig after Marsch was fired his form and confidence really dipped; being featured and facing Premier League competition week-in/week-out has really helped his game. Defensively he’s become far tighter and while he’s still got plenty of room for improvement you can also see he’s developing as a forward passer and has evolved his detection radar; he’s better than he used to be at sensing when he can turn and passing forwards instead of backwards too though he still does play it overly safe sometimes.
Still, I legitimately think he’s going to have a hard decision to make at the end of the season when bigger clubs come calling, because I do think they’re going to. And I definitely didn’t think that about him his late form at Red Bull.
Over the USMNT”s 2 matches the players shown their technical ability as well as their fighting spirit. Even Gregg has shown a modicum of strategic flexibility and subterfuge. What the players have failed to do is be ruthless & clinical with their opportunities. Lets hope that they can find a way to incorporate that aspect before their next match.
–
With the relative youth & inexperience of the USMNT’s Core I expect that over the next cycle we’ll see the USMNT improve and grow. We’ve got the talent, we just need a bit more experience and a better coach.
How are people feeling in the camp feeling about John Herdman, Roberto Martinez, and Tata Martino today? To be fair to those guys I’m only at 33% we beat Iran and advance and both Belgium and Mexico probably win their 3rd match and get through.
Don’t you think talent reigns supreme? You can smoke and mirror it with formations, rhetoric of toughness and discipline, and then ultra fitness to chase and defend all day. Ultimately you need to score goals and eventually more then one in a match.
Don’t get me wrong coaching is a factor but talent is vital. From there management of what you have a available at every position. You can’t start two great keepers or start three left backs. Put a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.
Sorry for the double post but having well rounded feeder system that coaches up kids with great fundamentals and most of all the nuances of expectations of positions. Such as not playing through the back of an offensive player with the ball in the 18 yard box. If you need to teach that in a WC it is too late!
“Such as not playing through the back of an offensive player with the ball in the 18 yard box. If you need to teach that in a WC it is too late!”
In the 2006 World Cup final I saw the a player who is arguably one of the top 10 best players to ever play in the World Cup head butt a defender for making innuendoes about Zizou’s sister.
He was immediately red carded and France lost a World Cup because of it.
I’m pretty sure Zidane knew long before his first World Cup that head butting a player and getting caught for it was a red card. Or maybe they don’t teach that in France. I could be wrong.
But I’m pretty sure Zidane, already a World Cup winner, knew he was in a World Cup final and that his ejection would mean France would play with ten men and that they would most likely lose what was a tight game at that point to a very talented Italian team.
But he head butted Materazzi anyway.
The point is players, even the best, most experienced players, are quite capable of doing selfish, stupid shit at the worst possible times. And for me, that Zidane incident was the stupidest, most selfish thing I’ve seen in a World Cup game.
I’m fine with sending Zimmerman home on the next plane if you want your pound of flesh. Mostly because he was worse vs. England than he was vs Wales and maybe he’s tiring and trending down. But if you think whoever replaces him might not do something just as stupid you’re kidding yourself.
If a guy as great as Zidane does it then it should not stun and shock you when a guy like Zimmerman, who has never been a Balon D’or candidate , or done a commercial with David Beckham, does it.
Shit happens.
“Don’t you think talent reigns supreme?”
No really. If it did then you would not have needed to write:
“Don’t get me wrong coaching is a factor but talent is vital.
If you want a successful program you need both: Talent and competent management together:
You know what Pep does ? He takes players, all of whom are very good and some of whom are great and makes them work their asses off and do what he says.
That’s why he succeeds.
He has the managerial skills and he has the players with the talent who will buy in. Haaland is a freak, a generational talent freak, but he also works his ass off and has bought into what Pep wants him to do. CR 7 was a fool to go back to Man U. He should have gone to City.
“You can’t start two great keepers or start three left backs.”
Agree on the keepers but not on the left backs.
In 1990, JK’s World Cup winning year, Germany started 4 nominal centerbacks in their World Cup final lineup.
Kohler, Augenthaler, Buchwald and Berthold. And the left back Brehme, was a converted midfielder. And they won. Since then Germany has regularly played many players “out of position”. Playing right back is practically a rite of passage for German center backs. The USMNT regularly used Geoff Cameron, a professional right back, as a center back. Geoff probably has more games at right back and holding mid than he does at center back. Stoke preferred other center backs.
When you’re doing that you need managers who can recognize the talent and are good enough managers to convince the players to do this and do it well . And of course , you need the players who are versatile enough and talented enough to make it worth the trouble.
“Put in a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.”
Easier said than done.
After two games it’s clear that the talent here is good enough to do some really good things.
It’s not clear than Gregg has figured out how to “Put in a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.”
It’s also clear that the whole is not yet greater than the sum of the parts.
It would be nice if they advance. More games gives us more chances to get answers about this team. However, even if they advance, this is not a very good team yet and it’s tough to get a good read on the players after only 135 minutes of good play.
We now have more clarity on the players. Not as much clarity on the manager though.
Less good about Herdman. He had a really, really good game plan against Belgium and the Canucks generated 22 shots; Canada’s finishing was just atrocious and they somehow lost a game they dominated. But Herdman then apparently followed that up by running his yap in Amateur Hour fashion about Croatia, and his team really got undressed by Perisic and that amazing Croatian midfield trio – Good God, Modric is ageless – and Holy Mother did Kamal Miller have a shocking game to put a cherry on top. (What was Miller doing out there? Miller had a hand in allowing all four goals though that first goal was mostly on Hutchinson, which is similarly shocking.) Not Herdman’s finest moment and they say: “act like you’ve been there”…he assuredly didn’t, there. That game definitely showed the holes in Canada’s talent pool, and Croatia sort of put on a clinic on how an elite passing midfield can just play their way through you and stick in a knife in transition.
Belgium just looks like they hit the metaphorical wall to me. Golden Generation Over, it looks like. They looked flat and like they had no legs whatsoever against Morocco, and you even had De Bruyne admitting publicly that Belgium isn’t what they once were…it was like, wut? But Martinez is a known commodity by now; you know what you’re getting with him.
Gregg’s got a chance to make it academic, though. We get out of Group he gets another cycle, whether we like it or not. If we don’t, he’s probably gone, and it probably is that simple. At which point I probably would personally go on Martinez.
“But Herdman then apparently followed that up by running his yap in Amateur Hour fashion about Croatia, ”
That’s not why Canada lost. And if I’m a Canadian player I’m glad he said that.
Canada lost because Croatia are a much better team.
They were 2018 World Cup finalists for a reason. They still have a lot of good players. They still have a Modric who is very much still at a very high level.
There’s an excellent chance this result happens even if Herdman was a mute.
“But Martinez is a known commodity by now; you know what you’re getting with him.”
Gregg is keeping the job. Martinez would be a downgrade. Roberto has taken a good but ageing team and watched them die on him while doing nothing.
The Belgium Cristian Roldan, who should be arrested for impersonating a professional National team soccer player, is still starting ( so is his brother who is almost as bad) and embarrassing the hell out of his country. They are keeping the Belgian Pulisic , Trosssard, from playing. Their two center backs are even older than Tim Ream but they aren’t near as good. I don’t want to see Roldan, Long, Ariolla, Zardes, etc. being brought in for their “experience”.
Of course Gregg could prove me wrong and rotate Roldan in to avoid having to play Gio but so far, Cristian and Ferreira haven’t played a minute.
I want Gregg to move on. He’s done well given he’s not a very good manager but he’s taken this group as far as he can.
I knew going in that Canada was in trouble. Playing Belgium and then Croatia is pretty much a group of death. They more than held their own with Belgium. They let the game with Croatia get away from them, but there really is no shame in their performance. As I have pointed out before, when it comes to quality and depth, I wouldn’t trade the US players for any other team in CONCACAF, so your argument sounds just like a poor justification for GB to escape criticism.
“John Herdman, Roberto Martinez, and Tata Martino today? ”
Herdman- Got blood out of a stone. Canada have a superstar, and two or three potential stars. After that he has a lot of anonymous scrappy journeymen who are good at forechecking . Not too many managers who could have taken this bunch this far.
Roberto- time to move on. Took a good team to Third place in 2018 and then watched it die slowly around him. Don’t know the politics at the Belgian FA regarding rebuilding the team with youth ( there are a fair amount of decent younger types out there) and perhaps he had no support to do that but this team were mostly eligible for Social Security. The team they fielded today was the Belgian version of the 2017 USMNT team we sent to Couva. One legit star ( DeBruyne instead of Pulisic) working his ass off and a bunch of has beens.
Tata – He’s history. Surprising he’s still there. That big contract must be inhibiting them from firing him but he’ll be gone soon. Terrible injury problems but they also have a pretty lean player pool.
It feels like he was a wrong fit for their politics and their player pool but the FA wanted make sure they got their money’s worth and kept him on when maybe they should not have.
Regardless, who will be the next manager? That’s the really intriguing issue.
Mexico, Canada and the USMNT are all guaranteed( I think) for 2026 so how they move forward from here could quite unorthodox.
Vacqui, insomnia sucks. While I agree that Herdman’s comments probably didn’t impact the outcome of the game, it is indication that he can’t control his emotions very well. Buddy Ryan and Jerry Glanville were two NFL coaches that took over bad teams and used emotion to achieve moderate success with lesser talent overachieving. But when the talent got better, they achieved only the same moderate success with the better talent underachieving. It remains to be seen what Herdman could do with better talent, but there is a pretty good chance his behavior, including not shaking the Croatian coaches hand after the game, will be a setback to him getting a position where he can coach a better collection of players. I personally don’t want the US to have a coach that leads by emotion as I think it is limiting. Cheers!!
Buddy Ryan was a fantastic defensive coach. His real problem was that he had Ron Jaworski, LT’s ( the real #56 not LaDainian Tomlinson) favorite plush toy, as his QB.
Jerry Glanville couldn’t get Favre to work as his QB..
Two NFL coaches who were good ( and colorful) but not great..
I never said Herdman was great but he did get blood out of a stone . He made the most out of what he had and that is what all you can expect from an international manager.
And I wouldn’t say Herdman was an “emotional” coach. I would say he had a few talented pieces. He positioned them well to do what they do best and got the rest of the team to buy in to support those guys like crazy.
Gregg hasn’t shown that ability.
And with such a sketchy talent pool the best you can do is whip them up into a frenzy, us against them and all that , the exact approach some are accusing Dalic of using to whip up Croatia against Canada. The Croatian players, a very veteran bunch probably did not give a shit. Modric has seen it all before. If the team you are playing against calls you names that added emotion might help if you’re evenly matched. But Canada and Croatia are not evenly matched. Croatia are just a very, very much better team than Canada.
See John Harbaugh in his early years and then watch him today. The thing with him is he’s learned to moderate the emotional approach BS as he’s gotten older.
Plus in the NFL, the player roster, like a college team, tends to turn over so much that Harbaugh’s style has a pretty new audience every couple of years.
Herdman’s style can last as long as he keeps bringing in fresh blood, which is something Canada needs to do anyway if they don’t want to get embarrassed in the 2026 World Cup.
Being emotional may or may not be a consideration for whoever is interested in hiring him. He just has to convince them that that is why he succeeded with Canada. Chances are any potential new bosses will care about the overall picture and whether he gets results.
Being able to make chicken soup out of chicken shit is a good start. They won’t care if he is a dick unless it bothers the new players. Do you think Gio Reyna in particular and the USMNT players in general would give Gregg a good recommendation?
My understanding is Gregg is a great guy, even though he is a consistently bad liar. In 2022 America being a bad liar seem to be SOP for leadership positions. That doesn’t mean I want Gregg to keep managing the USMNT.
Vacqui, I do remember feeling sorry for Ron Jaworski.
Have no idea why you all are deleting my comments?! So people are allowed to attack me for giving my opinions? I know people are only being like that, because I am Black and Brown and my real face is shown. Wow Ives, not a good look. People on here don’t have to reply to everything I say and be nasty about it, do better and be more fair/professional SBI staff!
You are entitled to your opinions but you have ZERO soccer knowledge.
Online bully much, Bob? Striker91 is being asked to be left alone, and then you had to jump in with an extra comment putting him down? cmon.
Striker, I’m sorry that you’re feeling that this isn’t a safe space. I’ve been here a long time and have had many discussions with most of the regulars here. I don’t think anyone here is disagreeing with you on the basis of your skin color. If that’s how you feel, I hope you’ll continue to give the community a chance to prove to you that’s not the case or if you are right to educate others. I’ve learned so much about soccer from this community and it’s been a tremendous outlet to express myself and to understand others philosophies related to soccer. Like the rest of America has it become less courteous over the last 5 years, probably. However, if you stick around you’ll find common ground with almost everyone on some issues, but if you’re looking for complete agreement it’s a rarity. I wish you well and hope you stick around.
One thing I’m certain of is that Tyler Adams is one of the best US players. He can run forever, reads the game wonderfully well, and is crucial for our defense. He really is world class right now. I think our midfield is among the best in the world and I’m looking forward to seeing them in the next WC.
He really benefitted from his time at Leeds. I remember when he was rotting largely unused at RB Leipzig after Marsch was fired his form and confidence really dipped; being featured and facing Premier League competition week-in/week-out has really helped his game. Defensively he’s become far tighter and while he’s still got plenty of room for improvement you can also see he’s developing as a forward passer and has evolved his detection radar; he’s better than he used to be at sensing when he can turn and passing forwards instead of backwards too though he still does play it overly safe sometimes.
Still, I legitimately think he’s going to have a hard decision to make at the end of the season when bigger clubs come calling, because I do think they’re going to. And I definitely didn’t think that about him his late form at Red Bull.
same coach he has had more than once before
Over the USMNT”s 2 matches the players shown their technical ability as well as their fighting spirit. Even Gregg has shown a modicum of strategic flexibility and subterfuge. What the players have failed to do is be ruthless & clinical with their opportunities. Lets hope that they can find a way to incorporate that aspect before their next match.
–
With the relative youth & inexperience of the USMNT’s Core I expect that over the next cycle we’ll see the USMNT improve and grow. We’ve got the talent, we just need a bit more experience and a better coach.
Canada made it a track meet, but failed to realize that Croatia has athletes as well with more technical skills.
How are people feeling in the camp feeling about John Herdman, Roberto Martinez, and Tata Martino today? To be fair to those guys I’m only at 33% we beat Iran and advance and both Belgium and Mexico probably win their 3rd match and get through.
Don’t you think talent reigns supreme? You can smoke and mirror it with formations, rhetoric of toughness and discipline, and then ultra fitness to chase and defend all day. Ultimately you need to score goals and eventually more then one in a match.
Don’t get me wrong coaching is a factor but talent is vital. From there management of what you have a available at every position. You can’t start two great keepers or start three left backs. Put a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.
Sorry for the double post but having well rounded feeder system that coaches up kids with great fundamentals and most of all the nuances of expectations of positions. Such as not playing through the back of an offensive player with the ball in the 18 yard box. If you need to teach that in a WC it is too late!
“Such as not playing through the back of an offensive player with the ball in the 18 yard box. If you need to teach that in a WC it is too late!”
In the 2006 World Cup final I saw the a player who is arguably one of the top 10 best players to ever play in the World Cup head butt a defender for making innuendoes about Zizou’s sister.
He was immediately red carded and France lost a World Cup because of it.
I’m pretty sure Zidane knew long before his first World Cup that head butting a player and getting caught for it was a red card. Or maybe they don’t teach that in France. I could be wrong.
But I’m pretty sure Zidane, already a World Cup winner, knew he was in a World Cup final and that his ejection would mean France would play with ten men and that they would most likely lose what was a tight game at that point to a very talented Italian team.
But he head butted Materazzi anyway.
The point is players, even the best, most experienced players, are quite capable of doing selfish, stupid shit at the worst possible times. And for me, that Zidane incident was the stupidest, most selfish thing I’ve seen in a World Cup game.
I’m fine with sending Zimmerman home on the next plane if you want your pound of flesh. Mostly because he was worse vs. England than he was vs Wales and maybe he’s tiring and trending down. But if you think whoever replaces him might not do something just as stupid you’re kidding yourself.
If a guy as great as Zidane does it then it should not stun and shock you when a guy like Zimmerman, who has never been a Balon D’or candidate , or done a commercial with David Beckham, does it.
Shit happens.
“Don’t you think talent reigns supreme?”
No really. If it did then you would not have needed to write:
“Don’t get me wrong coaching is a factor but talent is vital.
If you want a successful program you need both: Talent and competent management together:
You know what Pep does ? He takes players, all of whom are very good and some of whom are great and makes them work their asses off and do what he says.
That’s why he succeeds.
He has the managerial skills and he has the players with the talent who will buy in. Haaland is a freak, a generational talent freak, but he also works his ass off and has bought into what Pep wants him to do. CR 7 was a fool to go back to Man U. He should have gone to City.
“You can’t start two great keepers or start three left backs.”
Agree on the keepers but not on the left backs.
In 1990, JK’s World Cup winning year, Germany started 4 nominal centerbacks in their World Cup final lineup.
Kohler, Augenthaler, Buchwald and Berthold. And the left back Brehme, was a converted midfielder. And they won. Since then Germany has regularly played many players “out of position”. Playing right back is practically a rite of passage for German center backs. The USMNT regularly used Geoff Cameron, a professional right back, as a center back. Geoff probably has more games at right back and holding mid than he does at center back. Stoke preferred other center backs.
When you’re doing that you need managers who can recognize the talent and are good enough managers to convince the players to do this and do it well . And of course , you need the players who are versatile enough and talented enough to make it worth the trouble.
“Put in a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.”
Easier said than done.
After two games it’s clear that the talent here is good enough to do some really good things.
It’s not clear than Gregg has figured out how to “Put in a system in that works with what you have with a lot of dexterity within your system.”
It’s also clear that the whole is not yet greater than the sum of the parts.
It would be nice if they advance. More games gives us more chances to get answers about this team. However, even if they advance, this is not a very good team yet and it’s tough to get a good read on the players after only 135 minutes of good play.
We now have more clarity on the players. Not as much clarity on the manager though.
Less good about Herdman. He had a really, really good game plan against Belgium and the Canucks generated 22 shots; Canada’s finishing was just atrocious and they somehow lost a game they dominated. But Herdman then apparently followed that up by running his yap in Amateur Hour fashion about Croatia, and his team really got undressed by Perisic and that amazing Croatian midfield trio – Good God, Modric is ageless – and Holy Mother did Kamal Miller have a shocking game to put a cherry on top. (What was Miller doing out there? Miller had a hand in allowing all four goals though that first goal was mostly on Hutchinson, which is similarly shocking.) Not Herdman’s finest moment and they say: “act like you’ve been there”…he assuredly didn’t, there. That game definitely showed the holes in Canada’s talent pool, and Croatia sort of put on a clinic on how an elite passing midfield can just play their way through you and stick in a knife in transition.
Belgium just looks like they hit the metaphorical wall to me. Golden Generation Over, it looks like. They looked flat and like they had no legs whatsoever against Morocco, and you even had De Bruyne admitting publicly that Belgium isn’t what they once were…it was like, wut? But Martinez is a known commodity by now; you know what you’re getting with him.
Gregg’s got a chance to make it academic, though. We get out of Group he gets another cycle, whether we like it or not. If we don’t, he’s probably gone, and it probably is that simple. At which point I probably would personally go on Martinez.
“But Herdman then apparently followed that up by running his yap in Amateur Hour fashion about Croatia, ”
That’s not why Canada lost. And if I’m a Canadian player I’m glad he said that.
Canada lost because Croatia are a much better team.
They were 2018 World Cup finalists for a reason. They still have a lot of good players. They still have a Modric who is very much still at a very high level.
There’s an excellent chance this result happens even if Herdman was a mute.
“But Martinez is a known commodity by now; you know what you’re getting with him.”
Gregg is keeping the job. Martinez would be a downgrade. Roberto has taken a good but ageing team and watched them die on him while doing nothing.
The Belgium Cristian Roldan, who should be arrested for impersonating a professional National team soccer player, is still starting ( so is his brother who is almost as bad) and embarrassing the hell out of his country. They are keeping the Belgian Pulisic , Trosssard, from playing. Their two center backs are even older than Tim Ream but they aren’t near as good. I don’t want to see Roldan, Long, Ariolla, Zardes, etc. being brought in for their “experience”.
Of course Gregg could prove me wrong and rotate Roldan in to avoid having to play Gio but so far, Cristian and Ferreira haven’t played a minute.
I want Gregg to move on. He’s done well given he’s not a very good manager but he’s taken this group as far as he can.
I knew going in that Canada was in trouble. Playing Belgium and then Croatia is pretty much a group of death. They more than held their own with Belgium. They let the game with Croatia get away from them, but there really is no shame in their performance. As I have pointed out before, when it comes to quality and depth, I wouldn’t trade the US players for any other team in CONCACAF, so your argument sounds just like a poor justification for GB to escape criticism.
“John Herdman, Roberto Martinez, and Tata Martino today? ”
Herdman- Got blood out of a stone. Canada have a superstar, and two or three potential stars. After that he has a lot of anonymous scrappy journeymen who are good at forechecking . Not too many managers who could have taken this bunch this far.
Roberto- time to move on. Took a good team to Third place in 2018 and then watched it die slowly around him. Don’t know the politics at the Belgian FA regarding rebuilding the team with youth ( there are a fair amount of decent younger types out there) and perhaps he had no support to do that but this team were mostly eligible for Social Security. The team they fielded today was the Belgian version of the 2017 USMNT team we sent to Couva. One legit star ( DeBruyne instead of Pulisic) working his ass off and a bunch of has beens.
Tata – He’s history. Surprising he’s still there. That big contract must be inhibiting them from firing him but he’ll be gone soon. Terrible injury problems but they also have a pretty lean player pool.
It feels like he was a wrong fit for their politics and their player pool but the FA wanted make sure they got their money’s worth and kept him on when maybe they should not have.
Regardless, who will be the next manager? That’s the really intriguing issue.
Mexico, Canada and the USMNT are all guaranteed( I think) for 2026 so how they move forward from here could quite unorthodox.
Vacqui, insomnia sucks. While I agree that Herdman’s comments probably didn’t impact the outcome of the game, it is indication that he can’t control his emotions very well. Buddy Ryan and Jerry Glanville were two NFL coaches that took over bad teams and used emotion to achieve moderate success with lesser talent overachieving. But when the talent got better, they achieved only the same moderate success with the better talent underachieving. It remains to be seen what Herdman could do with better talent, but there is a pretty good chance his behavior, including not shaking the Croatian coaches hand after the game, will be a setback to him getting a position where he can coach a better collection of players. I personally don’t want the US to have a coach that leads by emotion as I think it is limiting. Cheers!!
Buddy Ryan was a fantastic defensive coach. His real problem was that he had Ron Jaworski, LT’s ( the real #56 not LaDainian Tomlinson) favorite plush toy, as his QB.
Jerry Glanville couldn’t get Favre to work as his QB..
Two NFL coaches who were good ( and colorful) but not great..
I never said Herdman was great but he did get blood out of a stone . He made the most out of what he had and that is what all you can expect from an international manager.
And I wouldn’t say Herdman was an “emotional” coach. I would say he had a few talented pieces. He positioned them well to do what they do best and got the rest of the team to buy in to support those guys like crazy.
Gregg hasn’t shown that ability.
And with such a sketchy talent pool the best you can do is whip them up into a frenzy, us against them and all that , the exact approach some are accusing Dalic of using to whip up Croatia against Canada. The Croatian players, a very veteran bunch probably did not give a shit. Modric has seen it all before. If the team you are playing against calls you names that added emotion might help if you’re evenly matched. But Canada and Croatia are not evenly matched. Croatia are just a very, very much better team than Canada.
See John Harbaugh in his early years and then watch him today. The thing with him is he’s learned to moderate the emotional approach BS as he’s gotten older.
Plus in the NFL, the player roster, like a college team, tends to turn over so much that Harbaugh’s style has a pretty new audience every couple of years.
Herdman’s style can last as long as he keeps bringing in fresh blood, which is something Canada needs to do anyway if they don’t want to get embarrassed in the 2026 World Cup.
Being emotional may or may not be a consideration for whoever is interested in hiring him. He just has to convince them that that is why he succeeded with Canada. Chances are any potential new bosses will care about the overall picture and whether he gets results.
Being able to make chicken soup out of chicken shit is a good start. They won’t care if he is a dick unless it bothers the new players. Do you think Gio Reyna in particular and the USMNT players in general would give Gregg a good recommendation?
My understanding is Gregg is a great guy, even though he is a consistently bad liar. In 2022 America being a bad liar seem to be SOP for leadership positions. That doesn’t mean I want Gregg to keep managing the USMNT.
Vacqui, I do remember feeling sorry for Ron Jaworski.