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The main reason why US Soccer is even considering the hiring of LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo as the new head coach of the US Men’s National Team is because he’s a “yes man.” Previously, Cherundolo was interviewed by US Soccer before Berhalter was re-hired in 2023. Despite this, he has less first-team coaching experience than Berhalter whose US team crashed out of the Copa America group stage earlier this month.
While he has coaching experience in the German youth development program and at LAFC, ‘Dolo’ hasn’t been tested at a high level as a manager. To date, Cherundolo’s managerial claim to fame was coaching LAFC to the MLS Cup title in 2022, where his team won in a penalty shootout.
Coaching experience aside, Cherundolo is likely the ideal candidate in the minds of US Soccer executives. He won’t rock the boat. While he’s a genuinely nice guy who World Soccer Talk has previously interviewed, he’s the type of coach who won’t say anything controversial. He’s been schooled in the industry-speak of MLS and US Soccer where he will rarely share his honest thoughts about the programs. Instead, you’ll get a “robo-coach” who will stay on message.
What makes Cherundolo appealing to US Soccer
In hiring Cherundolo, he will hide behind many systemic problems we see with US soccer. For example, the pay-to-play system prevents many of the best athletes from becoming soccer stars. Likewise, the lack of a pyramid results in too many professional clubs going out of existence. As a result, there aren’t enough players coming through the system from the bottom up. At the same time, MLS allows more than 60% of its teams to reach the playoffs. That creates an environment of mediocrity where players can coast through the season.
These are issues that a US head coach such as Cherundolo won’t discuss publicly.
While there are positives that can be drawn from US soccer, you can guarantee that if US Soccer hired a new national team…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/usmnt-needs-a-better-coach-not-a-steve-yes-man-cherundolo/
Author : Christopher Harris
Publish date : 2024-07-16 20:15:35
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