"Extra Time" on GOLTV reports Simoes MNT coach

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quote:Originally posted by trueviking

maybe he means that there are some differences between south american football and english/northern european football that the vast majority of our players are involved with on a day to day basis...not sure why you are taking such offence to his comment.

maybe, with his central american experience, he can teach our boys to roll around like they have been shot with a sherman tank everytime someone comes within 3 feet of them.

What I found odd, was the the original poster ( GL )made what I though was a fair comment in questioning the ability of coach like Simoes to adapt to the canadian realities of soccer. Whether I disagree with that or not is not my point. But the subsequent poster (Villius), just slammed that comment by simply saying that it was ridiculous but refused to say why but rather simply stating that he wanted GL to provide an explanation. Well, why didn't Villius just state why he disgree with that rather than just slam the contributor without stating why? Isnt that more interesting to read? And furthermore demanded clarification. All I did was turn the table around with my comment.

[villus]

Because I read his comment and had a few misgivings about what he said, and thought that it was slanting SA coaches. So instead of jumping down the OP's throat I wanted to allow him to elaborate as to why he held that opinion. He did and I thought he made some good points.

I don't want to start something that isn't there so when I read something that can be interpreted in a different light than that of which the poster intended I would rather let him clarify then lead the thread into a off topic discussion.

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quote:Originally posted by villus

Because I read his comment and had a few misgivings about what he said, and thought that it was slanting SA coaches. So instead of jumping down the OP's throat I wanted to allow him to elaborate as to why he held that opinion. He did and I thought he made some good points.

I don't want to start something that isn't there so when I read something that can be interpreted in a different light than that of which the poster intended I would rather let him clarify then lead the thread into a off topic discussion.

Fair enough. For what its worth, Its not an issue with me whether the coach is south american or not.

Besides, the changes that I believe you are talking about are very subtle and take a very long time to take effect onto the culture of a nataional team. Personally, I do however believe in a system that favours possession, patient buildup and using the width of the whole field. But to work, that system requires a certain skill from our players that is developed over the long term. Problem is, too many of our players are developing their game in the UK. Where its all about, pace, going fwd, hard tackling and fitness. Whether or not a coach comes from one philosphy or another, he will have to play with the cards that he is dealt. I am sure that Simoes or any other SA coach knows this and that is why when he coached Jamaica in the WC, I recall that team as looking more like (well) Jamaica rather than Brazil.

If the three current pro clubs can gain a foothold and grow on and off the field in Canada, then maybe we can create our own template for playing soccer. Thats is what I am hoping. I do not believe that the template used in the UK works in Canacaf. For a whole host of reasons which include climate, refereeing, seasons in which leagues play, fitness levels etc etc.

[RamR]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

I think Simoes would probably be a good choice. However, I think it should be clear to him that pushing his beliefs on players or holding team prayer meetings is unacceptable. I doubt he would have a problem with this since his last job was in Iran. Whatever his private beliefs are is his own business and they should remain private. We are hiring a soccer coach not a spiritual advisor or priest. If he is not ok with that he should not be hired. We have had enough problems with coaches alienating players because of their difficult personality (Ossieck) or favouritism (Yallop) and we certainly don't need the next coach to be alienating players because of religious beliefs.

I think there is one presumption being made here that possibly should be thought about. It is presumed by many that the players would not want prayers before games. It is quite a prevalent occurrence in football (American style) in the US all the way from pee wee to the pros.

For me, if I were playing on a team where most of the players took strength from pre-game prayers I wouldn't have a problem joining in. I wouldn't personally take strength from it myself but whatever helps my team mates would be good for me.

Now, that being said, if no one on the team wanted to have this as part of game preparation and the coach still went ahead with it then there would be a problem.