By Sean Quinn
Juergen Klinsmann seems like a fine coach. Klinsmann seems like a good man. But so is Rumpelstilskin. And whether the next coach of Team USA is the former leader of the German National Team or the mythical German dwarf doesn’t really matter. Coaching doesn’t matter right now. Players matter and for America, unlike the rest of the world, our best athletes aren’t playing soccer. And until they do don’t expect anymore progress from our national team.Dwyane Wade. LeBron James. Michael Vick. These are our country’s best athletes. They play the major sports, the major-revenue sports that athletes long for and spectators long to watch.
Landon Donovan. Clint Dempsey. DeMarcus Beasley. These our country’s best soccer players. They are the best we have, so cheers to them. But once international play begins, they aren’t good enough to compete with the world’s best.
Ronaldhino. Zinedine Zidane. Thierry Henry. These our the world’s best soccer players. They are the Wades, James and Vicks of their craft. The whole world knows it, including Donovan, Dempsey and Beasley.
It’s not a knock on Team USA’s best, it is anything but entirely their fault. It’s the culture of this country. The collection of soccer talent here is made up of sons of soccer moms. Young men who reside in the classes of the rich, the upper middle class or middle class suburbia. Boys who grow up playing in travel leagues, club teams and prep teams. That’s not a bad thing, for one the ladies love them. They are the reason I didn’t have a date to prom. Well, that and my ridiculous obsession with the ’80s television character ALF. So it may not be all bad but it won’t produce a World Cup.
The talent pool that a Klinsmann had in Germany is like the body of water Shamu calls home, while here in the states it’s more like a kiddie pool. The international elites might even want to request Americans wear orange floaties.
The talent in Germany or Brazil can be found in the inner cities. The next Ronaldo or Pele can be found in Brasilia dribbling in the street. Here in the states some once-in-a-lifetime talent can be found on the urban playgrounds, as well. Only here, that next great talent usually has a basketball or baseball in his hands.
After an adolescence of dreaming, those same poor, hopeless, third-world “all I have is this futbol” kids start realizing their potential when they start playing with grown men. Some teams in the top European leagues, like the English Premier League boast players as young as 16. The same is true for the “B” leagues overseas. There’s no comparison back here, where almost all of our players go to college and play against future bankers, lawyers and the occasional podiatrist.
Nearly half of the 2006 U.S. Team plays overseas but they didn’t grow up in those leagues. Many joined well into their twenties. By the time they have raised their game to compete with the elite international players they are just about done with their career.
And for those who stay at home to play in the MLS, well, it’s almost laughable. The MLS is growing, although times at a Rosie O’Donnell marathon pace, but it can’t be measured on the same level as World Cup soccer or the European Champions League. Some of our best players, like Donovan are playing in the MLS, which is most comparable to a lower division European league. One step below the best players in the world, just like our team is one step lower than the international field.
So come Klinsmann, come all. It won’t really matter. Not yet, anyhow. Team USA and Bruce Arena jumped a huge hurdle in 2002 by making it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. But the reality is it will take at least two more World Cups before Team USA can be called a true title contender in international play. This is, after all, a team that’s history is about as rich as Mike Tyson. Team USA has advanced out of the first round of the World Cup just twice since 1930.
Americans, though, suddenly have a selective memory. We now want the success of 2002 to be at the very least what we should expect in 2010. That’s what we do in this country, expect the best and forget the worst. As oppose to what France does, expect mediocrity then surrender.
The firing of Bruce Arena, because for all intensive purposes that’s what it was, was the right one. He topped out in 2002. That high-water mark, though, set a new standard for soccer in this country. And while the crop of talent in this country may take some years to develop as soccer progresses to more than a minor sport with a major culture, the next head coach of Team USA will have a new battle. He will not only have to deal with a minor-league talent pool but face an American public eager to see major league results. And that can be blamed on Bruce Arena. Or rather, he should be thanked for that and what he has done for American soccer.
2 replies on “Blame Bruce for setting a higher standard”
very good article… good sense of humor.
You too with the ALF thing , huh?
I liked that people are starting to care enough about soccer here to demand Arena’s removal. He had a great run, but he did a poor coaching job in the Final, no arguing there.
The strides this team has taken since 1990 have been remarkable. They will make some noise at a future World Cup, as long as we avoid a Group of Death, or get a ridiculously easy route to the champ. game like Italy did.
yes Good points. It became clear in the World Cup that the U.S. didn’t have the talent to match the real contenders. A coach can only do so much. We need the next Lebron James to play soccer rather than basketball if we’re to have any shot at winning a world cup. Until that happens, we’ll be a middle-of-the-road soccer nation.