I see the exact same thing with the 07s and 06s.
USYNT coaching org change aka when will US Soccer cut the internal re-org politics & get on with it?
- Thread starter Kante
- Start date
outside!
DA
I don't, but it runs counter to the BSF stereotype.
I will say that I have seen many kids that are very fast as youngers struggle with first touch and vision as olders. I have also seen the kids that are great dribblers as youngers struggle to connect a pass as olders since their default is to dribble out of trouble.
It's not that smaller kids are necessarily more technical, it's that size and strength are being prioritized over technical skills. A big technical kid is going to make the DAs and get called up, but a smaller kid has to be that much better technically to get noticed.
justneededaname
SILVER ELITE
But that is just common sense. A big, technical, high IQ player is the dream. A smaller kid is going to have to make up for their lack of size with superior IQ and technicality. IQ and technicality being equal, or even close to equal, and the larger, more athletic player should be chosen.
You are making my point about American soccer. Thank you.
Now go watch Messi or Aguero or Modric or Iniesta, but it sounds like you may prefer Lukaku and Yaya Toure.
justneededaname
SILVER ELITE
Modric and Hazard are my personal favorite players. But, I think for the US, Pogba is probably the archetype we are looking for.
Never gonna happen. Those kids in the US are already being told that technical doesn't matter and just go over the top and score. Breck Shea, Gyasi Zardes
Yep. The typical coaching approach at the younger ages is to allow these physically superior players to dominate the game with their size and speed. It's shortsighted and only hurts those players when they get into their teen years. By then, it's too late and their ceiling is limited. Outliers exist, both players and coaches that teach even the big kids proper soccer, but they are too few and far between. The ideal is to bring these physically superior athletes and professionally superior coaches together at the youngest ages. But there are so few quality coaches out there, the chances of the proper connections are slim. Make better coaches, who in turn make better players...regardless of size.
RocketFile
SILVER
I'm not sure what guys who were coached as kids 15 years ago has to do with what we are coaching kids today?
I think we have something like two dozen young Americans scouted from our youth systems over here who have been snapped up by European clubs in the last couple of years.
We have Pulisic and Tim Weah and Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie and Josh Sargent and Alex Mendez and Uly Llanez and dozens of other teenagers either playing in top leagues around the world or getting looks. Our MLS rosters are getting younger even with the addition of aging international stars.
I think you are diagnosing a problem from 5 years ago or even a decade ago. Missing the 2018 World Cup was not an example of the problems with today's youth system but yesterdays.
American soccer is on a serious uptick and with all of its flaws, the development academy system has contributed meaningfully to that momentum.
The negativity is misplaced and useless.
RocketFile
SILVER
We have an expanding and improving MLS and an expanding and improving second and third tier pro soccer structure with USL. Money is flowing into pro soccer in the US. USL games are now broadcast on ESPN+. Soccer specific stadiums are popping up all over the country. Our USWNT are defending World Cup champions and the #1 seed going into the Summer's WC. Our Men's U20s and U17s have looked impressive on the world stage. We have the World Cup coming in 7 years which will only heighten the focus.
Stop the whining.
Stop the whining.
But it's not common sense in other parts of the world because they know that this size difference isn't going to matter when they get older. Spanish and Dutch academies don't require that the smaller kids be better than the bigger ones to "make up for their lack of size". They rate the kids based on their technical ability and leave size out of the equation altogether. This means they'll loose games now but they really don't give a sh_t whether their academies win games. That's one of the big differences between the US and Europe. In Europe, all of the academies have track records and feed into professional clubs and the prestige of the academy is tied to the pro club's record and the players they produce, not how well they do in the DA standings at U15 or whatever. They can be secure taking the 20 most technical kids they can find despite size whereas in the US, where we've deluded ourselves into thinking that winning a youth game translates to anything meaningful, they take big kids who are clearly _less_ skilled because they know it'll help them win games.
Kante
PREMIER
Bump.
Senior Managers for US Soccer make about $65k in IL, which translates to about $70k in LA. Assuming that YNT coaches make about 20-30% more, best guess is that for a u14 ynt coach between $85k and $90k in LA $. Feels low. Seems like a YNT coach should be paid more than a club academy director. Any thoughts/comments?
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I said not Top 10 as a nation for the next 10 years. We will see. As for your points, 1) Avoiding the NCAA was important for the development of those kids and that's going to make us better, for sure, 2) Tyler Adams grew up in Germany, 3) Tim Weah's dad won the Ballon d'Or and 4) Pulisic started going to Europe as a kid and basically for good by 14.
Kante
PREMIER
Here's the announcement of the new u17 USYNT coach, Raphael Wicky.
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/ussf-finally-hires-a-ynt-coach_aid45943
Here's the interview with Wicky.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2019/03/08/17/17/20190308-u17mnt-raphael-wicky-new-head-coach-qa
Here's a solid article from SoccerAmerica that is critical of the hiring.
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/81556/swiss-coach-gets-a-gift-from-us-soccer.html
be interesting to see the cultural fit. it's good that the new coach speaks spanish but with Mexico holding their March u17 team camp in SoCal, and including at least two Americans - Efrain Alvarez and Diego Letayf - in that camp, seems like there's a lot of player attrition risk bringing in a European coach, given the amount of US coaching talent available.
And it's not just u17 where there's an issue. Three u15s Americans were also just called up by Mexico as well for their u15 camp.
Last item, after wondering who was running the show for USYNT, very clearly it's Nico Romejin and Jared Miklos, and behind the scenes work by Asher Mendelsohn w/ support from Earnie Stewart and Greg Berhalter. What's missing? TR.
Here's updated status for YNT coaching staff:
u14 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who left to become u15 coach))
u15 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who then left to go to NCFC)
u16 YNT coach = tbh (was Tsakiris)
u17 YNT coach = Wicky (was Hackworth)
u18 YNT coach = tbh (was Namazi)
u19 YNT coach = van den Bergh (was Friedel)
u20 YNT coach = Ramos (under contract thru 2021?)
u23 YNT coach = tbh
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/ussf-finally-hires-a-ynt-coach_aid45943
Here's the interview with Wicky.
https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2019/03/08/17/17/20190308-u17mnt-raphael-wicky-new-head-coach-qa
Here's a solid article from SoccerAmerica that is critical of the hiring.
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/81556/swiss-coach-gets-a-gift-from-us-soccer.html
be interesting to see the cultural fit. it's good that the new coach speaks spanish but with Mexico holding their March u17 team camp in SoCal, and including at least two Americans - Efrain Alvarez and Diego Letayf - in that camp, seems like there's a lot of player attrition risk bringing in a European coach, given the amount of US coaching talent available.
And it's not just u17 where there's an issue. Three u15s Americans were also just called up by Mexico as well for their u15 camp.
Last item, after wondering who was running the show for USYNT, very clearly it's Nico Romejin and Jared Miklos, and behind the scenes work by Asher Mendelsohn w/ support from Earnie Stewart and Greg Berhalter. What's missing? TR.
Here's updated status for YNT coaching staff:
u14 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who left to become u15 coach))
u15 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who then left to go to NCFC)
u16 YNT coach = tbh (was Tsakiris)
u17 YNT coach = Wicky (was Hackworth)
u18 YNT coach = tbh (was Namazi)
u19 YNT coach = van den Bergh (was Friedel)
u20 YNT coach = Ramos (under contract thru 2021?)
u23 YNT coach = tbh
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Why would players leave because of a European coach instead of of a US coach? Aren't European coaches better, in the main?
Kante
PREMIER
fair question. would argue the socal soccer cultures are unique, and it might be difficult for a European to make connections and/or communicate effectively, with both the players and the families.
having said that, DTK and Mexico's YNT man on the street - Sacha Van der Most Van Spijk - are both Dutch and doing an excellent job connecting. could be wrong about this concern. hope so.
there is also a reasonable question about whether or not regional (East coast vs West coast)/personal (the new USSF vs legacy) rivalries within US Soccer are getting in the way of picking the very best coaches available. Check out the SoccerAmerica article. good read. would love to see the list of who else applied for the gig.
i will read the article. thanks.
They clearly hired him cuz he looks like Beckham.
Kante
PREMIER
had the exact same thought
Kante
PREMIER
Solid article in SoccerAmerica.com
U.S. Soccer names boys U-17 assistant coaches and 'per diem' head coach for U-15s: by Mike Woitalla
U.S. Soccer has assigned its Director of Coaching Education and a youth national team program newcomer as U-17 boys national team assistant coaches to Raphael Wicky, the Swiss who was hired as head coach last month.
Barry Pauwels, who arrived from Belgium in 2018 to take charge of U.S. Soccer coaching schools, and former Canadian international Ante Jazic, will be assisting Wicky during the Concacaf U-17 Championship (May 1-16) that serves as qualifying for the 2019 U-17 World Cup, which kicks off in September.
While the U.S. youth national team program still has four head coaching vacancies, PA Classics Director of Coaching Steve Klein has been assigned to head coach the U-15s on a per diem basis at the Torneo Delle Nazioni in Italy April 27-May 4. Klein will be assisted by Christian Gonzalez (New York Soccer Club Academy Director) and goalkeeper coach Russell Payne (West Point head coach). All three have previously served as national team program assistant coaches on a per diem basis.
Pauwels, who served in the Belgian federation’s coaching education department before coming the USA, was as head coach of Belgium’s U-15 boys national team in 2017.
Jazic is a Canada native who represented its national team 36 times. He began his 18-year pro playing career in Croatia, from where his parents hail, and also played in Austria and Russia before finishing his playing career with eight seasons in MLS, with the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA.
Upon retiring after the 2013 MLS season, Jazic worked for the Canadian federation, running identification camps for the U-15 national team. He joined Arkansas’ Little Rock Rangers Soccer Club as a technical advisor in 2016 and became its Director of Soccer Operations and Youth Academy in September of 2017.
Jazic’s time at Chivas USA overlapped with Wicky’s during the preseason of 2009. Wicky, who played five games for Chivas USA during his injury-plagued 2008 season, retired before the start of the 2009 season.
Mike McGinty, the former St. Louis University head coach and frequent YNT assistant, will serve as the U-17s goalkeeper coach.
Assigning Pauwels and Jazic as assistants is a departure from U.S. Soccer’s recent practice of having continuity within the program and having at least one head coach from a younger team serving as an assistant. The latter, however, wasn’t an option because U.S. Soccer no longer has a fully operational youth national team program.
Five head coaches of the seven youth national teams left between November 2017 and February 2019. Only one, U-17 head coach John Hackworth, who left in July of 2018, has been replaced, by Wicky.
The coaching vacancies have led to U-20 head coach Tab Ramos doing double-duty with the U-18s, and a shuffling around of coaches. Shaun Tsakiris (left in December 2018) and Dave van den Bergh had stints as interim U-17 head coaches in the wake of Hackworth’s departure.
For the current U-17s, one of the highest-profile teams in perhaps the USA’s most talented generation of young American talent in history, Wicky became their fourth head coach.
U-15 coach Van den Bergh led U-19 camps when that position became vacant with Brad Friedel’s departure in November 2017. Wicky was hired after U.S. Soccer failed to come to terms with Tsakiris or Van den Bergh for the U-17 head coaching position. (Clint Peay, who coached U-14s and U-15s, left last February and Omid Namazi departed in June of 2018.)
Two years ago, the USA was one of only two nations -- besides England, which won both -- to reach the quarterfinals of the U-17 World Cup (with Hackworth coaching and Tsakiris assisting) and the U-20 World Cup (coached by Ramos).
Despite the unprecedented success during past few years, upheaval ensued because of the Federation’s requirement that YNT coaches live in Chicago and its refusal to trust the leadership of Ramos, the Youth Technical Director.
The team in urgent need of a head coach is the U-16 national team, which will compete at a UEFA Development Tournament in Prague in mid-May. A U.S. Soccer spokesman said that team will, like the U-15s, be handled by a coach from a Development Academy club.
The U-16 squad will comprise of 2003s, while the U-15s headed by Klein are 2004s. This year’s U-17 World Cup is for players born in 2002 or later.
Ramos’ U-20s qualified for the U-20 World Cup that kicks off in Peru in May by winning the Concacaf U-20 Championship last November.
__________
Here's updated status as of this article for YNT coaching staff:
u14 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who left to become u15 coach))
u15 YNT coach = New: Per Diem: Steve Klein PA Classics DOC (was Peay who then left to go to NCFC)
u16 YNT coach = tbh (was Tsakiris)
u17 YNT coach = Wicky (was Hackworth)
u18 YNT coach = tbh (was Namazi)
u19 YNT coach = van den Bergh (was Friedel)
u20 YNT coach = Ramos (under contract thru 2021?)
u23 YNT coach = tbh
U.S. Soccer names boys U-17 assistant coaches and 'per diem' head coach for U-15s: by Mike Woitalla
U.S. Soccer has assigned its Director of Coaching Education and a youth national team program newcomer as U-17 boys national team assistant coaches to Raphael Wicky, the Swiss who was hired as head coach last month.
Barry Pauwels, who arrived from Belgium in 2018 to take charge of U.S. Soccer coaching schools, and former Canadian international Ante Jazic, will be assisting Wicky during the Concacaf U-17 Championship (May 1-16) that serves as qualifying for the 2019 U-17 World Cup, which kicks off in September.
While the U.S. youth national team program still has four head coaching vacancies, PA Classics Director of Coaching Steve Klein has been assigned to head coach the U-15s on a per diem basis at the Torneo Delle Nazioni in Italy April 27-May 4. Klein will be assisted by Christian Gonzalez (New York Soccer Club Academy Director) and goalkeeper coach Russell Payne (West Point head coach). All three have previously served as national team program assistant coaches on a per diem basis.
Pauwels, who served in the Belgian federation’s coaching education department before coming the USA, was as head coach of Belgium’s U-15 boys national team in 2017.
Jazic is a Canada native who represented its national team 36 times. He began his 18-year pro playing career in Croatia, from where his parents hail, and also played in Austria and Russia before finishing his playing career with eight seasons in MLS, with the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA.
Upon retiring after the 2013 MLS season, Jazic worked for the Canadian federation, running identification camps for the U-15 national team. He joined Arkansas’ Little Rock Rangers Soccer Club as a technical advisor in 2016 and became its Director of Soccer Operations and Youth Academy in September of 2017.
Jazic’s time at Chivas USA overlapped with Wicky’s during the preseason of 2009. Wicky, who played five games for Chivas USA during his injury-plagued 2008 season, retired before the start of the 2009 season.
Mike McGinty, the former St. Louis University head coach and frequent YNT assistant, will serve as the U-17s goalkeeper coach.
Assigning Pauwels and Jazic as assistants is a departure from U.S. Soccer’s recent practice of having continuity within the program and having at least one head coach from a younger team serving as an assistant. The latter, however, wasn’t an option because U.S. Soccer no longer has a fully operational youth national team program.
Five head coaches of the seven youth national teams left between November 2017 and February 2019. Only one, U-17 head coach John Hackworth, who left in July of 2018, has been replaced, by Wicky.
The coaching vacancies have led to U-20 head coach Tab Ramos doing double-duty with the U-18s, and a shuffling around of coaches. Shaun Tsakiris (left in December 2018) and Dave van den Bergh had stints as interim U-17 head coaches in the wake of Hackworth’s departure.
For the current U-17s, one of the highest-profile teams in perhaps the USA’s most talented generation of young American talent in history, Wicky became their fourth head coach.
U-15 coach Van den Bergh led U-19 camps when that position became vacant with Brad Friedel’s departure in November 2017. Wicky was hired after U.S. Soccer failed to come to terms with Tsakiris or Van den Bergh for the U-17 head coaching position. (Clint Peay, who coached U-14s and U-15s, left last February and Omid Namazi departed in June of 2018.)
Two years ago, the USA was one of only two nations -- besides England, which won both -- to reach the quarterfinals of the U-17 World Cup (with Hackworth coaching and Tsakiris assisting) and the U-20 World Cup (coached by Ramos).
Despite the unprecedented success during past few years, upheaval ensued because of the Federation’s requirement that YNT coaches live in Chicago and its refusal to trust the leadership of Ramos, the Youth Technical Director.
The team in urgent need of a head coach is the U-16 national team, which will compete at a UEFA Development Tournament in Prague in mid-May. A U.S. Soccer spokesman said that team will, like the U-15s, be handled by a coach from a Development Academy club.
The U-16 squad will comprise of 2003s, while the U-15s headed by Klein are 2004s. This year’s U-17 World Cup is for players born in 2002 or later.
Ramos’ U-20s qualified for the U-20 World Cup that kicks off in Peru in May by winning the Concacaf U-20 Championship last November.
__________
Here's updated status as of this article for YNT coaching staff:
u14 YNT coach = tbh (was Peay who left to become u15 coach))
u15 YNT coach = New: Per Diem: Steve Klein PA Classics DOC (was Peay who then left to go to NCFC)
u16 YNT coach = tbh (was Tsakiris)
u17 YNT coach = Wicky (was Hackworth)
u18 YNT coach = tbh (was Namazi)
u19 YNT coach = van den Bergh (was Friedel)
u20 YNT coach = Ramos (under contract thru 2021?)
u23 YNT coach = tbh