Thierry Henry, Clint Dempsey and Charlie Davies discussing perception of American players in Europe
Read that a few years ago. Now, I’ve only been following football since '07 which is around the time time Dempsey made his move to Fulham. He was a thrill to watch and I’d reckon he def helped change some opinions around US players at the time with the likes of Pulisic or McKennie continuing to this day.
But just curious for a discussion, how prevalent are the stereotypes of US players today? Is it simply just banter or are there still managers who just don’t rate US players all that much.
I am a USSF coach- and I can firmly say how surprised I was to see the USSF revamp their youth ways - to emulate Europe.
We no longer focus on “do 29 laps and sprint everywhere”… no more “boot it up field and hope”
It’s “how well can you manage the ball under pressure” … “how well can you as a team technically play”…
There’s a huge change. It’s just began recently and hopefully in years to come it will produce talent.
May I ask how you got started as a USSF coach?