You know him, you love him but Eric Wynalda has always been opinionated. Yet no matter what you think, the man is U.S. footballing greatness. With over 100 caps for the United States national team and the first goal scorer in MLS history, Wynalda's place in our football history in secure. And now he's taking aim again.
The living legend recently gave this wide-ranging interview with philly.com on a number of topics, including why the Bundesliga is better than the Premier League, why Christian Pulisic should stay with Dortmund and why he doesn't rate new MLS designated player Alejandro Bedoya.
You should read the interview but here are some highlights:
On the Bundesliga and Premier League:
"All the numbers would indicate that you'll get more goals, that the games are just more wide open [in Germany]. Far more goals are scored in England on set pieces, and not really in the run of play. The main difference is in England, many of the opponents are trying to deter the other team from playing, as opposed to trying to play themselves. That's "park the bus" and all those little defensive clichés that we come up with. But it's just [that] German games are far more open."
The Phantom's Take: Wynalda is 100 percent right. Bundesliga matches are high-octane affairs with young talent being allowed to flourish. Premier League games are stodgy, kick-it-long borefests that bring to mind managers like Jose Mourinho and Sam Allardyce and players like Andy Carroll and Phil Jones who simply regress over time.
On coaching young talent: "As a manager - and my experience is with very young, talented players - stop trying to think as a manager that you're making it happen. Just throw your ego out. Yeah, prepare them to play on the defensive side of things, and give them some ideas. But "Let it happen" is really the phrase we need to see more of. We need to see more managers allowing their players to express themselves.
"You see this at the youth level all the time. The ball will go to a young, talented player, and every single one of the parents, and the coach, and everybody, is yelling: "Pass!"... The child is influenced by the 12 voices that he hears from the sidelines, not the one voice he should be hearing in his head."
The Phantom's Take: Wynalda is 100 percent right. Football is an instinctual game. Yelling at players while they make split-second decisions is inane and idiotic. American coaches are imbeciles to do this. You yell at the players off the ball to get into good positions. In fact, yelling at teammates who have the ball in general is a dumb idea. You won't see The Phantom do this in his over-35 matches on Thursdays and Sundays. Instead it's communication on space that is transmitted verbally. You must trust the player with the ball - otherwise his football mind will never develop if he can't read situations or figure out how to deal with pressure.
On why Pulisic should stay at Dortmund: "We all tell ourselves, "Well, he should go somewhere where he could play, because Götze is so good," and "He can't beat out Shinji Kagawa" or "He can't beat out Marco Reus." [Adrian] Ramos is now in there. Instead of just throwing in the towel and saying "I'm out, I've got to somewhere that I can play because I'm not good enough," if he puts both fists up and says, "I'm good, coach - I'll prove it to you how good I am; I'll prove to you that I want to be here; I'm going to bring the right attitude every day," then when he gets his chance he might make the most of it."
The Phantom's Take: We couldn't have said it better ourselves. U.S. players always whine and complain they they aren't taken seriously in Europe or that the coach doesn't like them. Landon Donovan himself admitted he did this as a young player. Well, guess what? Football is serious business and it's about the survival of the fittest. Former U.S. great Steve Cherundolo played for umpteen coaches at Hannover. The U.S. needs players who want to stick it out and beat out top-level players to earn a spot.
On Alejandro Bedoya: "Well, I've never wavered on this: I don't really feel that he's that great of a player. I've always questioned - well, not always, but at least at times, I've questioned his selection to the national team [for] some of the bigger games that he's had, even at the Gold Cup level."
The Phantom's Take: Harsh but somewhat true. Bedoya isn't that great of a player. Saying that, should he have been in the national team XI? Probably given that injuries and absences have necessitated a player of his pedigree in there. Having said that, are you going to pay big-money MLS prices to watch Alejandro Bedoya play for Philadelphia? I don't think you need me to furnish an answer.
There is more great stuff from Wynalda about why Germany is great, why Pep Guardiola may be overrated and why you can question many things Jurgen Klinsmann does. Thanks to Wynalda for his insights!
No comments:
Post a Comment