U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM STAFF
How the does the US prepare? What is the role of the Support Staff?I was looking at the US team selections on their website:
http://ussoccer.com/ and wondered how our staff in T&T compare with them. Look at this lineup:
Head Coach: Bob Bradley (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Mike Sorber (St. Louis)
Assistant Coach: John Hackworth (Bradenton, Fla.)
Goalkeeper Coach: Zak Abdel (Laverne, Calif.)
Fitness Coach: Pierre Barrieu (Redondo Beach, Calif.)
General Manager: Pam Perkins (Redondo Beach, Calif.)
Trainers: Ivan Pierra (Los Angeles), Dave Andrews (Seattle), Jim Bollinger (Philadephia), Kevin Sells (Los Angeles)
Doctors: Mike Morris (Seattle), Arthur Bartolozzi (Philadephia), Adam Bennett (Chicago)
Chiropractor: George Billauer (Los Angeles)
Equipment Manager: Tim Cook (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
Videographer: Alejandro Becker (Hollywood, Calif.)
Video Coordinator: Mark Liskevych (Chicago)
Press Officer: Michael Kammarman (Chicago)
Now we may not have the financial resources, but does it not make a big difference when the team of coaches and doctors, trainers, conditioning experts, videographers, etc. work hand in hand for the development of the team and all areas of development are covered? Until we adopt that thorough approach to training and preparation, we will never be able to consistently compete at their level. There is no doubt that our players are equally talented, but we seldom put a team on the field with consistently good performances. We hit the jackpot at WC 2006, only because we had a coach who willed us to victory and a group of players who believed in him. It is my opinion that if we are to be successful, we have to take conditioning and teamwork more seriously. Individual skill alone will never do it for us.That is the example the US can provide and why we will rarely have the opportunity of beating them.
