US Mens Soccer still shows no urgency of going anywhere

US Soccer Federation needs to seriously ask who or where they are finding its coaches whether it is for the mens or the women’s team.

No other country in the world would consider someone as a coach if the candidate does not have international player experience.

I’ve heard many Americans think they can coach a soccer team just because they are tacticians.

At the AYSO level, where no one gets to play if no one steps up, sure. But at the national team level, US Soccer the federation needs to get a clue.

It's sad that the federation can't see what is so painfully obvious here. Here are a list of coaches Bob Bradley, Bruce Arena, Steve Sampson and womens' coach Greg Ryan. None of them played on the international level. Surely that can't be so difficult a qualification to ask.

The federation has become so bogged down by the bureaucracy and politics that an actual former national player can get in. Only an "insider" stands a chance.

Something is becoming obvious here. When you hire a coach who has never played soccer at a level he/she is supposed to coach, how can you expect them to command the respect of the team?

The outburst of national women’s team goalkeeper Hope Solo following their loss of 4-0 to Brazil might not have happened if the coach was someone she respected.

While it’s easy to comment and critique in hindsight, there is a reason coaches in international soccer are former great players themselves.

Once the squad sees the federation has paid top dollar to a coach who is a former international player like Juergen Klinsmann, Hugo Sanchez, Dunga and the list goes on, players in the squad will behave accordingly.

When you get a clown like Greg Ryan who has never played international soccer, it easy to see how his every move is questioned. So come on Sunil Gulati, get serious for the sake of US soccer.

And on the subject of star players, it is great to see that Chicago Fire now has the 2nd highest paid player in Major League Soccer. Cuahtemoc Blanco, the former Mexican forward, with his salary of $2.49 million is however, not one of my favorite players.

His propensity to “dive” or fake being fouled during the game ruins whatever talents he has. But that’s just my opinion. Obviously he is a big draw for the Mexican crowds.

Gamemanship or diving is so much of the modern game. The LA Galaxy must be seething to see their co-tenants, Chivas America, at the Home Depot Center doing so well.

It’s should be a lesson to those big spenders who coughed up the millions to make the deal and convince David Beckham to sign with the Galaxy.

Barely two months after his debut last season, Beckham was out for the season and the Galaxy never made the playoffs.

The owners of Chivas America must be having the last laugh. Their fans are ecstatic they didn’t raise their ticket prices unlike their counterparts the Galaxy and now they are in first place in the West.