Dunga appears to me as being a little one-dimensional, which can work when you have the talent he had at his disposal but doesnt seem a good fit for USA where to my mind a more flexible coach, such as Klinsmann, is of a higher priority.

Just read this

which reminded me that Klinsmann was pretty revolutionary when he took over as German national manager.

I dont think that he would necessarily try to force that same style onto the team, but then again would certainly not have the same remit to alter the game in America as he did in Germany.

FWIW I'd love to have him as like the technical director or head of youth development for the USSF. I think he has the desire to coach and train players, but I'd want a better all around game coach.

Agree with TSC about the technical director thing.

Also, I was thinking about something else today, I think I'll call it my "Andy Reid theorem of good coaches."

For those of you who don't follow the NFL, Andy Reid is the extremely successful coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. His team is good every year, but he makes horrible gaffes on game day decisions. Because his decision making is so obviously bad so often, he has many haters.

My theory is that he's an excellent coach at a lot of things that people never see. Practice regiment, motivation, player evaluation, player development, gameplanning, scouting, etc. Because this is a huge part of coaching, he is a good coach who enjoys plenty of success.

Unfortunately for him, he struggles on the other side of coaching, and that's the side that everyone sees.

I'm starting to think Bradley may be the same. He has taken a lot of criticism (much of it from me ITT) and rightly so for his starting lineups and tactics at times, as well as the occasional substitution mistake. Because this is so public, people think of him as a bad coach.

It's undeniable though, that he has enjoyed a lot of success as USMNT coach. That leads me to believe he's quite good at the stuff that no one ever sees (and there's A LOT that a national team coach does that fans never know about), which has led to him being underrated by many (including me).

good point Stak, I was actually wondering if BB would be willing to accept a role as head of youth development/technical director/advisor to HC since I agree with what you just said about him. He does appear to know the US soccer scene very well and I think its safe to assume he knows how to develop youth since his son is well, a good all around player. I doubt he wants what would be a perceived step back, but maybe he would.

Yeah that'd be awesome, but I think he's got his heart set on coaching in Europe, and I hope he gets a chance. I'd be happy for him. But yeah, maybe he can come out and do something in that capacity at some point.

Speaking of youth development, and the US soccer scene and all, reminds me of a funny story:

There's a professional trainer in New Jersey that I know (out of respect to him I won't name him, we'll call him "Tom") who made an "interesting" decision a couple years back. Tom was training an elite club team in New Jersey, a team that was competitive at regionals and nationals and was pretty stacked at every position.

He had tryouts fairly frequently (because everyone wanted to play on such a good team, ldo), but he thought his team was hot stuff so it was pretty rare that he would take a kid from a tryout. Well one night he had a kid come try out for the squad that was pretty good. I know at least one person advised Tom to seriously consider taking him but, as usual, he passed.

The kid's name?

Crunching to say that re: dempsey to Milan, beckham tended to play pretty centrally for Milan, who don't (or didn't) play much along the wings at all.

MB=GOAT

Klinsmann wanted more control that the USSF wasn't willing to grant him.

I want to see Bradley take a club job overseas and see how well he hangs. Perhaps a Coca-Cola Championship side.

do not not not want Klinsmann as the manager if BB is done. Sick run with Germany in 06 but was total failure at Bayern in his term as manager. It's been widely noted with people that follow the German national team that Low was the brains behind that team.

Obama needs to give Hiddink a blank check imo

Seems unlikely Hiddink will sign with us as he just inked a deal with Turkey. He'll be with them through atleast 2012.

I like Bradley, I just don't want him back because I think fresh blood is better. Arena's style, tactics, and mannerisms got pretty stale there towards the end.

Yeah I know, that's why I made the blank check statement. Hiddink was my #1 choice when Bradley got the job and I still want him in charge

I'd give Klinsmann everything he asks for.

Agreed. I think getting a big name is what is best for the program right now, because it will hopefully encourage the youngsters with multiple international career options more incentive to play for the USA. Plus, given Germany's success and entertaining run in this World Cup, I think it makes Klinsmann all the more desirable.

If not Klinsmann, think I would rather just have BB again than someone else, but I wouldn't be pleased with it.

Shouldn't it be worth something that Klinnsman was smart enough to go out and find someone who could implement his ideas while he focused on being the motivational leader?

@stakman

I agree in that I think we couldn't score goals just because we don't have quality at the striker position, we have jozy but hes young but frankly our guys just weren't putting in shots they should have been.

Also I wanted to talk about our early game lapses, its quite clear we struggle at the start of the game and like to give up a goal early. I see this as a mental problem and for some reason Bob B. could not get our guys to come out of the gates strong and without that early goal. What I'm saying is I think Bob B. was responsible for it and our main goal with finding a new coach is someone that can get rid of that.

Absolutely. You can guarantee that if Klinsmann got the job he would bring in some very smart people in as assistants.

except that he only did that for 6 or 7 matches and didn't do that at munich. I agree with people wanting him in a technical director's role or something like that. He was out matched tactically against a decent amount of clubs when he was the munich manager

http://twitter.com/CharlieDavies9/status/17976904651

Howard just confirmed that he intends to play through 2014 in Brazil at least, confirming what most people thought...that he would stay on as the GK for the next cycle.

It was expected, but definitely good news nevertheless!

The Final drew 26 million viewers, a US soccer record. The US game against Ghana set the USMNT record. ESPN did a good job with the coverage and was rewarded.

I don't know if people saw this article from a week ago (I didn't til just now) but 19yo Danny Mwanga has said he is very open to the idea of playing for the US.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/...contributions-

But perhaps most encouragingly for American soccer fans is Mwanga’s excitement at the prospect of playing for the USA. When asked about playing for the nation of his birth, he was somewhat apprehensive, understandably so. Although he has yet to be fully naturalized, and hasn’t spoken with anyone from the U.S. Soccer Federation, he was much more upbeat on the subject of the U.S. national team, saying it would be "an honor" and a "wonderful opportunity" to represent the country his family has come to call home.

"Yes, (playing for the U.S.) is something I’ve thought about," Mwanga admitted. "My family lives here. It would be an honor to represent the United States. Playing for the U.S. in a World Cup would be a wonderful opportunity."

...

For now, Danny Mwanga isn’t yet an American citizen. But he does have a U.S. refugee travel document, a U.S. green card, and resident alien card. Coupled with the unlikeliness of a reconciliation with the DRC and being surrounded by American players and coaches at the Union, and it looks probable that Mwanga will suit up for the Yanks someday.

Would be pretty awesome if so.

Has earned a starting spot in 11 games. 15 shots, 9 on goal, 5 goals and 2 assists in 588 minutes so far this year.

Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVWDWkh-RTA

Yes please to Mwanga. I've seen a bunch of Union games this year and really really like what I've seen from him.

I hope he stays in the league for a year or two and bangs in a bunch of goals and then makes the jump overseas.

Obviously it's impossible to be sure when you're talking about 19 year olds, but he definitely has potential to be an important player for us.

We really do need the national program to do a better job 'recruiting' these guys.

Because of practical realities regarding immigration and how the USA is, the US has a remarkable % of our talent that could either choose to play for us or choose to play for someone else. Maybe one of the highest %s in the world. We're a country of immigrants and US immigrants typically like soccer more than your average american anyways. We need the national program to be placing these guys in USA development programs early, capping them for the U-whatever teams, etc. Just show them the interest and that they are wanted and we'll have fewer ****ing Giuseppe Rossi mother****ers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/soc...ory?id=5385338

great article about all the recruiting the US is currently doing. We pulled several players from mexico's youth system, we might steal a gem from portugal, etc. Basically they do have a guy who travels around america and the world like a CFB recruiter trying to get commitments to the USMNT.

we still lose players like Rossi and Subotic obv. We're losing a kid to Argentina, but can you blame him?

Four Players To Watch

Gale Agbossoumonde, central defender -- A towering defender born in Togo but raised in upstate New York, "Boss" -- as he is known for short -- will be among the leaders of the U-20 team after starting for Rongen in Egypt as a 17-year-old. Agbossoumonde is currently with Portuguese club Sporting Braga.

Omar Salgado, forward -- A talented Mexican-American player, Salgado recently left the youth ranks at his former club, Chivas de Guadalajara, because of its Mexicans-only policy. The club refused to accept Salgado's decision to play for the U.S., so he moved on. U.S. U-20 coach Thomas Rongen said Salgado will figure prominently among a talented group of forwards.

Alex Zahavi, midfielder -- A creative winger, Zahavi is a top youth prospect for Portugal. Snatching him would be a coup for the U.S. Rongen expects Zahavi to make the switch soon.

Amobi Okugo, defensive midfielder -- Rongen sees the current U-20 team playing in a number of formations, many of which would be built around the box-to-box strengths of Okugo. The Philadelphia Union midfielder just missed out on the 2009 under-20 World Cup team.