Candidates Forum for Presidency of U.S. Soccer

[Mr.Right]

Actually I like the idea of this Steve Gans getting the job. With his experience I have a feeling he will be in the Top 3 of votes. Not sure he is well known enough to get over the finish line though. Here is the link and he has some interesting ideas. Nothing radical but certainly sensible. His father's story is absolutely amazing.

http://stevegans2018.com/

[bestfancle]

It seems as if Kyle Martino is now in the running for president as well. I remember him fondly from his couple years at the Crew.

He's more popular as an analyst for NBC sports coverage of the Prem.

I like him a lot, he wants to increase commitment to the game, especially from a parent's perspective. He also wants the USSF to be more transparent (but most are running on this promise).

I need to see a little more... but I like him.

[blooter442]

It seems as if Kyle Martino is now in the running for president as well. I remember him fondly from his couple years at the Crew.

He's more popular as an analyst for NBC sports coverage of the Prem.

I like him a lot, he wants to increase commitment to the game, especially from a parent's perspective. He also wants the USSF to be more transparent (but most are running on this promise).

I need to see a little more... but I like him.

Genuine question: how much administrative or business experience do we think a USSF president should have? I think it's great for former players like Martino and Wynalda to want to lend their perspective and help out, but (and this is just glancing at their Wiki pages) both have, since retirement, worked as TV pundits, which is not exactly the same as running an organization. Then again, they may well know "the system" well enough to not need said experience, so I am curious as to what others have to say. There are guys like Edwin van der Sar, who became CEO of Ajax last year, so it is certainly not unheard of to have former pros step into administration. However, I wonder how that may be (or may not be) different than running a country's federation.

While I was initially curious to learn more, I've read up quite a bit on Gans and his platform, and I like him (while fully acknowledging that, assuming there are a number of equally-qualified candidates, my alma mater connections may make me less-than-neutral in terms of who I'd support).

[jknezek]

I think it's very telling that Gulati came out the other day and said after meeting almost all of the candidates that most of them were going to be incredibly surprised at how little of the job actually involved the National Teams.

[Ejay]

Precisely why I like Gans.  He's a soccer guy with business experience.

[Mr.Right]

It seems as if Kyle Martino is now in the running for president as well. I remember him fondly from his couple years at the Crew.

He's more popular as an analyst for NBC sports coverage of the Prem.

I like him a lot, he wants to increase commitment to the game, especially from a parent's perspective. He also wants the USSF to be more transparent (but most are running on this promise).

I need to see a little more... but I like him.

If that gets Martino off of NBC then i am all for it. He was an overrated midfielder for the Columbus Crew and really never played for the US National team or was never a factor. His analysis to me is just plain obvious. The 2 Robbie's are more enjoyable and tactically more in depth. They have the EPL experience and know the league very well. Martino offers none of that. He has improved after 5 years because when he first started he was in way over his head. He would not be the answer for the USSF either as how would, "increasing commitment to the game especially from a parent's perspective", change anything? I do not even know what that means but any ideas to increase parents involvement can only make things worse but atleast we would not have to listen to him anymore. I still think this Gans character has the best experience as EB2319 stated

[blooter442]

If that gets Martino off of NBC then i am all for it. He was an overrated midfielder for the Columbus Crew and really never played for the US National team or was never a factor. His analysis to me is just plain obvious. The 2 Robbie's are more enjoyable and tactically more in depth. They have the EPL experience and know the league very well. Martino offers none of that. He has improved after 5 years because when he first started he was in way over his head. He would not be the answer for the USSF either as how would, "increasing commitment to the game especially from a parent's perspective", change anything? I do not even know what that means but any ideas to increase parents involvement can only make things worse but atleast we would not have to listen to him anymore. I still think this Gans character has the best experience as EB2319 stated

LOL. 😂 I agree about his analysis being rather obvious. At least he is better than Gus Johnson (although I guess this call wasn't that bad)!

[Mr.Right]

Yea I agree but that is a bit different cause Gus Johnson was a play by play guy. Still curious why he was tried in this role as he did not have a clue about soccer. I think I remember reading they forced him to play in adult leagues to learn the game..If we only had video for that. Yea he was AWFUL and got replaced rather quickly.

[jknezek]

Well that was both unsurprising and uninspired. A win for the status quo. But at least we can get on with the business of finding a coach for the men's team.

[blooter442]

Well that was both unsurprising and uninspired. A win for the status quo. But at least we can get on with the business of finding a coach for the men's team.

Agreed. How exactly does the voting process work? I saw there are multiple rounds (seems to be elimination of some sort) but no idea beyond that.

Have to say I'm somewhat glad that Wynalda and Martino didn't win. Of course, they have experience at the highest level, but their lack of administrative/business experience had me somewhat skeptical.