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| Friday, September 14, 2001 24:19 EST |
USSF must give Heinrichs chance to succeed
By Jamie Trecker
[Special to ESPN.com]
CHICAGO -- OK, there's been a lot of scuttlebutt about April Heinrichs with regards to Lauren Gregg, and this is as good a time as any to clean up some of it:
First off: It has been (erroneously) floated that the "real reason" Tony DiCicco left his position was because U.S. Soccer Federation President Bob Contiguglia waited three months to offer him a new deal. This is false.
April Heinrichs inherits a great job at a tricky time. |
DiCicco may have well been upset that U.S. Soccer didn't want to give him a contract extension, but foremost in DiCicco's mind has been his family -- his wife has been adamant since before the Women's World Cup that he settle down and spend some time at home. There's nothing sinister about that at all. Speaking as a married man, I hate having to leave my wife for weeks on end -- imagine what a coach's wife feels like after nearly a decade of watching her
husband pressed into service. The fact is, DiCicco's departure was being bandied about before and during the WWC, so let's not make this into something it isn't.
Second: Others have seen ulterior motives in the overlooking of Lauren Gregg, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why. When an organization wants to clean house -- and USSF does -- they don't keep the departed coach's assistants on. Would you? That is the simplest and most clear-cut reason Gregg didn't get the job; the fact that some USSF officials don't think she could handle it only added onto the pile.
It should also be noted that Gregg hasn't exactly won the confidence of the players, either, and again, with simple reasoning. Under DiCicco, she was less of a coach and more of a scout. So she sat on the bench for the Olympics and the WWC -- Heinrichs is a legitimate head coach, with experience to back it up. Nothing against Gregg, but reading more into this is willful deceit.
Finally: Heinrichs has a tough road ahead of her, no doubt. But the real X-factor isn't her ability, or even the players' farcical "boycott." No, it's how USSF handles the media attention. When Steve Sampson was about to be canned, the Federation panicked, bizarrely concluding that were they to dump an American for a Portuguese guy on the eve of the World Cup, they'd be pilloried in the press. Speaking as a member of that press corps, I have to say that that flight of fancy was about as out of touch with reality as Sampson was himself. The same goes for Heinrichs: she's going to have to make some tough cuts and some big calls, but this is a national team, not a
club side. She'll do fine -- the question is, will the Fed?
Also, advance word from the women's contract negotiations have it that they are not going well. One USSF source leaked that the Fed is offering the women the same contract structure as the men, without a year-long salary clause; another high-placed person described the Fed's stance as "lowball" to me. As a result, the proposed USA-Norway game in February is in jeopardy of being scrapped, as some of the "old guard" players have reportedly begun
lobbying the younger members to fall in line.
Arsenal, sigh ...
A shameful admission: I'm a Gunners fan. No rhyme or reason for it, really, as I was raised outside of Dundee, but there you go. So, there I was, sitting on the edge of my couch at 2 p.m. yesterday next to my long-suffering wife, who, just to get me going, decided she was going to root for Manchester United. "Their goalkeeper's cuter."
And you wonder why I'm so grumpy?
Monday's game was a painful one; not because Arsenal managed to let three points slip away, but because of the fact that the end result served to legitimize Leeds United as a realistic Premiership contender. After watching Leeds coolly dismantle Sunderland -- one of the teams I've enjoyed watching most this season -- Arsenal's petering out at Old Trafford was a real letdown. But let's give credit where it's due: Man U played a fierce game in the second half and fully compressed an out-gunned Arsenal side. While David Beckham wasn't as much of a factor in this one, the fact that the Gunners
had to close down his passing lanes opened up wonderful opportunities for Roy Keane and second-half sub Teddy Sheringham.
Did Arsenal suffer from losing Davor Suker (cards) and Nwankwo Kanu (called into Nigeria's team at the African Nations Cup)? Sure, but they also failed to fully capitalize on every opportunity. Thierry Henry had two clear chances, one that was stabbed away brilliantly by that cute guy, Mark Bosnich. Freddie Ljungberg, scorer of the first when defender Jaap Stam made an uncharacteristic mistake on the edge of the box, also had a chance at the midpoint to give the Londoners three, but again, Bosnich was there.
What did I take away from this match? Manchester United, now with so many, is probably the team to take down Leeds United. Arsenal is likely out of it; this really was a must-win game despite the fact that the draw does give the Gunners hope.
Two other observations from this weekend: for critics of scoreless draws, I point to the Villa-Chelsea game this weekend that saw sometime underwear model David James make a series of brilliant late saves on George Weah. Yep, Chelsea has been soggy all year long, but this one didn't play out badly on TV, no matter what the locals say. Second, Sunderland seems to be running out of gas. Kevin Phillips has had a career year and the team has been buoyed by fevered home support and an uncanny run at the top. However, as
often is the case for newly promoted teams, that energy is beginning to vaporize: Sunderland needs to be careful that they don't begin to free-fall.
Random thoughts
Classy Chicago Fire vet Frank Klopas retired Tuesday, ending a long and distinguished career. Some have bandied his name about for a slot in the broadcast booth, and I for one would like to pile on. Klopas may not be a golden throat, but he's got to be better than the color guy the Fire currently has, Kenny Stern, through the simple addition-through-subtraction algorithm.
Speaking of TV, I hate to keep plugging a competitor, but darn it, Fox Sports World just keeps delivering the goods. Sure, the African Nations Cup has been lackluster so far, but they snagged it and are showing it, albeit a week behind the Arabic Dish package (they have the month-long series for $19.95, with no more than a two-day delay on average). Now the Pre-Olympic CONMEBOL tourney, on the other hand, is wide-open, with some great individual performances. Must-see TV, folks. Now, if anyone from Major League Soccer has read this far down, a little advice: watch how FSW broadcasts their English games. They use one announcer, have a good number of tape machines for replay and about 12-15 cameras (I'm guessing, by the number of angles they deliver). MLS can't afford that, but it could stand to drop one of the announcers from broadcasts and spend the money instead on more camera people ...
Jamie Trecker, editor of Kick! magazine, writes regularly for ESPN.com. You may e-mail him at jamie_trecker@go.com; while he guarantees he will read all letters, he regrets that he cannot guarantee a reply because of overwhelming volume.
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