Editorial - Over Paid And Over Here / Part 1

By Guest Columnist Frank Kuzava

England has given the world Joe Strummer, not a bad donation.  They have also produced some fine actors, poets and some marginal painters. What they haven't mass-produced are soccer players worthy of a country that claims ownership of soccer. One Steven Gerrard and one Frank Lampard does not make a soccer team. It appears England has the same problem as the U.S. when it comes to organizing a youth system that spits out generation after generation of good players. Producing players that are fluent with the ball and have vision. I am 'not having a go' at the British people, but I am 'having a go' at the coaches who come over to this country and pretend to know the game better than we do. Most are 'rubbish' or they wouldn't be in the U.S. charging to teach a brand of soccer which has brought them nothing but Steven Gerrard and a loss to Argentina. Also, they steal our women with their fancy accents. I played against a coach from England and while he looked like Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man), he sounded like Rex Harrison, had a second class first touch but he did get the girls, which is important.
 
I am 'slagging off' the English coaches because I think some are charlatans. They, like other American coaches spend too much time teaching individual moves and one-on-one tactics when they should be teaching players how to see, play with both feet and pass accurately, all with good technique. Touch and flair will come with play and practice if the player is serious at all about the game. Teach a player to see and skill will follow.
 
When Americans teach soccer as an artform, we will win everything in sight.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, Frank Kuzava, and not of the JimmyConrad.com Staff or of Jimmy Conrad, who is a big fan of Frank, his website Tip For The Day, and his first touch on the ball.