Monday, October 23, 2006

Steve Nicol wants to be US national coach

Liverpool great and New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol says he would love to be US National coach, but he thinks his time has yet to come.

"I'd be crazy not to be interested, but I think it's done and dusted. Hopefully my time will come but I won't sit up worrying about it."

Of all the American based coaches mentioned, Nicol would be one of the best. He has a great understanding of the American game and knows the international stage. In addition, he nailed one of the big reasons for the US having trouble on the international stage.

"In America the kids don't leave school until they are 22, so they lose out on a couple years of development.

"Back home (Scotland/England) between the ages of 18 and 22 is when you see who is going to make it and who is not.

"MLS is only 10 years old. It's a long way off the standard of the Premier League.

"Kids are now thinking of going straight into professional football, but you're fighting against a cultural barrier of parents wanting their kids to go to college."

Until kids have a chance to earn both a quality education and get much better play then is available currently in college, we will continue to suffer from this problem.

By the way, Nicol thinks Chicago Fire striker Chris Rolfe is going to be big.

"He has a real striker's brain, scores goal, and links up with players well. He is somebody that I think will push through and make his mark in the national team."

In about a month, we should know if Nicol will have anything to do with the new US men's team.

Labels: ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home