Kartik Krishnaiyer makes the case that the US should simply remove the “interim” from Dave Sarachan’s head coach label.
Kartik Krishnaiyer
TYAC Note: This is “part 1” in a two-part series. “The Case against Dave Sarachan” will feature Friday.
Much has been made of what is actually an ideal candidate for the vacant United States Men’s National Team (USMNT).
Is it a foreign coach with good record at the club level in Europe? Is it an American coach that understands the US player? Is it a hot young domestic product or a tried and tested European manager who has experiences with other national teams?
The reality of this situation is that many people who advocate hiring a foreign manager or one with no experience around Major League Soccer are pushing personal biases and stylistic preferences over practicality while being unrealistic about the current state of the US men’s game.
I’d like nothing more than to see the United States men managed by a top European or South American Manager that imparts a style of good possession-based, passing football. But I also know this player pool and the inner workings and current state of US Soccer better than many who openly push this hopefulness. It’s nice to dream, but before floating away in a trance, it’s important to tether your decision to reality.
The United States cannot play possession football against better opposition with the players currently available for selection. Full stop.
Even though it does not fit the preferences of people like me who like to watch good passing football, the US should be playing to its strengths: create a structure for defensive solidity and play efficiently on the counter. Even against over-matched CONCACAF opposition, the US should maintain this style, conceding possession as often as possible to establish chances to hit on the break.
Following the rapid decline of the United States men’s program under the guidance of Jurgen Klinsmann (though this cannot be entirely blamed on “Klinsmann the Manager” as it was in fact “Klinsmann the technical director” who worked collaboratively on youth development) a steady, experienced hand is needed – one that knows Major League Soccer well and does not have a predisposed bias against the league.
That said, the USMNT also needs a manager willing to look at young talent playing at European clubs, even those in second divisions. Sarachan has shown he’s able to meet each of those prerequisites in his eleven months on the job.
Sunil Gulati, the former US Soccer President who essentially appointed Klinsmann grand-exalted mystic ruler of US Soccer, craved the global acceptance and recognition the appointment would bring the US men. You can judge the Klinsmann appointment and five and a half years at the helm through any selective lens, but the bottom line remains the US didn’t advance during his tenure and now finds itself in worse shape than we were in 2011. On youth levels, the US regressed, whether you judge that on the field in the failure to qualify for multiple Olympic games or in the player pool, where Klinsmann deputized fewer new “impact” internationals and dual-nationals than Bob Bradley, despite being afforded a longer tenure. Whether Gulati and Klinsmann are directly to blame for that is up interpretation, but the fact remains the US must be realistic about its current standing in world football.
If the options are as publicly speculated, the decision at present is essentially down to current MLS Managers- specifically the likes of Gregg Berhalter, who has no particular style associated with his management and is the brother of a top US Soccer executive, or the enigmatic Peter Vermes.
If those are the two primary competitors, I believe Sarachan should be retained at least through the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Sarachan has shown a pragmatism that’s valuable for the US relative to where the player pool actually sits, has developed a rapport with the young corps of talent and has already demonstrated an ability to dig deeper to find players. He’s also tightened the US’ defense: the US look far more compact and fewer mistakes are being made at the back than during the Klinsmann era or second stint of Sarachan’s mentor Bruce Arena. It’s also worth noting Sarachan was a top assistant when the US men achieved its greatest modern run in a FIFA World Cup, in 2002. He has seen the US at its best and worst, which is to his credit.
Unfortunately, the US does not have many players at top clubs or even many beyond Christian Pulisic or Timothy Weah with the potential to achieve anything beyond serviceable status for mid-level European teams in the Big 5 leagues. There is nothing inherently wrong with this – but being secure and realistic about where the US Men’s National Team fits in the greater world of international football is key.
This formula has worked for fine for the USMNT in the past FIFA World Cups – a Quarterfinal appearance in 2002, group stage win in 2010 and knockout stage appearance in 2014 were all great achievements for the US given the talent level in the player pool comparative to other nations who didn’t fare as well in all three of those tournaments.
The US rosters in each of those competitions largely featured journeyman European-based players, who carry European-club professionalism but are committed to fighting for the shirt and a pragmatism around the tactics employed. Man management became the key to what were unquestioned successes for a team of the Americans’ collection of talent in the men’s game. At a minimum, in Sarachan you have steady hand that can continue this tradition without risking a complete collapse, into let’s say the place Scotland or Norway find themselves now. I believe those two examples of what can happen if a managerial selection is made incorrectly are very real possibilities for the US men should they botch this appointment completely.
Failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup has to be viewed in the same lens as relegation would for a typically mid-table club in Europe’s top leagues.
Do you go out and hire a Pep Guardiola or a similar coach in this situation where you’re going to need to be pragmatic and use your more limited resources well, or do you hire a Neil Warnock or Sam Allardyce? I think the answer to this question is obvious on two fronts – the Guardiola-type manager (here I just mean high-level manager, as there’s only one Pep) is unlikely to want the job and probably isn’t the right fit. As a result, you go and find a guy who is used to the constraints your personnel presents.
Money talks, but plenty of countries and clubs have cash. Financial offer aside, the United States job isn’t particularly attractive to most managers, especially with a federation whose meddling into soccer-related decisions and off-field courtroom dramas has been well documented. Sarachan is the least dangerous option and would allow the US to consolidate for the next few years, only to come back stronger and try and attract a bigger name as the United States prepares to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The author of multiple books about the beautiful game, Kartik Krishnaiyer is the host of The Yanks Are Coming podcast. He is a longtime American soccer journalist and board member of the North American Soccer Reporters. Follow him on Twitter @kkfla737.