The Gift of Stoppage Time author thinks it may be time to give Cal FC coach and FOX Soccer Analyst Eric Wynalda his shot at the big-time.
The most entertaining moment of Seattle’s 5-0 thrashing of amateur club Cal FC in Open Cup action Tuesday night in Seattle was Sigi Schmid’s post-game comment that his team wasn’t used to facing teams who use a sweeper.
Eric Wynalda of all people, bringing back the sweeper! And why not? Unfortunately it would have been an even LONGER night had his team played flat in the back.
But tactics aside, Seattle looked fitter, stronger, more organized and plain better. The Sounders are a good club and it was refreshing to hear Sigi also say in his post-game comments that his club takes any tournament they enter very seriously. There is a reason they are the defending three-time champion of the Open Cup. Maybe you and some others don’t think it’s a big deal?
It’s still a trophy. And soccer at the highest levels is about collecting trophies. There are other clubs in MLS who DO NOT take the Open Cup seriously. In fact, there are clubs in MLS that I don’t think take ANYTHING seriously they are so bad. You’ve got to win something at some point. And the good thing about Seattle is that even though MLS CUP has eluded them, they are heavily favored every year now to win the Open Cup and that is nothing to scoff at.
Credit to Cal FC for keeping things close through the halftime whistle, but I could tell even from very early in the game that Cal FC would be chasing the game for 90 minutes. Seattle looked organized, strong, serious and confident. And once the first goal went in, the floodgates opened and they did, really, what all MLS teams should do to amateur teams…they beat them handily.
And again, this is no disrespect to Cal FC…a week earlier Cal FC sent the Portland Timbers home from the tournament in from of the Timbers HOME CROWD! What a great run by Cal FC and hopefully some of their players are given the proper opportunity at the pro level to show themselves. And credit to their coach, US Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda who engineered their great run with limited practices and resources.
Should Wynalda finally get the MLS coaching gig that he maybe deserves? Absolutely! Do you think anybody in MLS will actually take a risk on him? NO.
Why?
Because he’s not in the club (coaching club)…and we all know it. But I dare anybody to hire him (Toronto, would it really hurt to hire him at this point?) because he will win games and he does KNOW the game and he will be the first to admit that if he is NOT getting results FIRE ME!
How is Bruce Arena not under the gun in LA? Can anybody be given more resources yet not achieve anything close to the proper results this season? Why not Wynalda? Nobody will try it. But I guarantee that whoever does will see results. He’s not half the joker that some of the coaches out there are.
Mark Vincent Lincir is the author of THE GIFT OF STOPPAGE TIME
