“The job of coaching the national team is difficult enough without having to worry about all the different levels underneath.”
Success at U.S. Cup ’95 and Copa America jostled U.S. Soccer into hiring interim national team coach Steve Sampson to the full-time, permanent position.
SOCCER AMERICA: When you took the interim position, you said you’d coach the team as if you were the permanent coach. Did that change how you prepared the team for U.S. Cup and Copa America?
STEVE SAMPSON: As strange as it may sound, no, it did not. With the games coming so fast, with the exception of U.S. Cup when you had a few more days between games, I didn’t have much time to think about what was happening outside of the actual preparation.
Did it irritate you at all that Hank Steinbrecher and Alan Rothenberg kept stressing the need for a foreign coach even as you and the U.S. team were winning games?
No, not at all. I wasn’t paying attention to what was being written in the papers. Those were all completely out of my control. If you spend too much time thinking about it, you lose your focus for the games.
All I could offer them was the best job I could do. The players gave a great effort, and so I guess I was in the right place at the right time.
What other coaching offers did you consider?
There was interest expressed internationally, and there were offers from two MLS teams.
Did you consider the national team job to be a fait accompli in light of the team’s success this summer?
Not at all. Prior to an offer coming forward from the federation, there was very strong consideration to coaching in the MLS. The offers were very, very fair.
So there were times when you thought perhaps there wouldn’t be an offer forthcoming from the federation?
Certainly, of course. I don’t know what went on in the minds of Alan Rothenberg and Hank Steinbrecher. The instant you take something for granted is when you really need to be concerned.
My first priority is to provide for my family, and I was given no guarantees from anybody.
What did you learn from U.S. Cup and Copa America, both personally and as a coach?
Managing playing time is probably the most difficult task when you have your full team. It’s a nice problem to have. Preparing a tactical plan that is specific for each and every opponent was a challenge.
We played differently against every single team, whether it be different formation, or different personnel, or players playing out of position, or in a different position.
Some of those were decisions of risk, but I was convinced they were good ones.
What are some examples of those decisions, and your justification for taking those risks?
Playing Mike Burns at right back against Nigeria. He hadn’t played that position for the national team, and I had never seen him play that position. As time went on, he played extremely well.
Changing from a zonal system in the back to a man-to-man marking system in the back. That was done because we felt we matched up better against Argentina with Alexi Lalas marking [Gabriel] Batistuta and Burns matching the other frontrunner.
Playing with a sweeper, we knew we’d have at least two people to the ball, and additionally, we pushed five in midfield, which matched up against Argentina much better.
That was a departure from what we done against Chile and Bolivia. It was important to see this team could not only have a different look from game to game, but personnel could play in different positions.
Aside from the example of Burns, what other players adjusted well to new positions?
Ernie Stewart playing on the left side instead of the right side. He plays on the right side for [Dutch club] Willem II, but in a three-man, front-line system. We had to use his experience, his speed and his ability to cover the flank.
Quite frankly, if we don’t have a player like Cobi Jones or like Ernie Stewart who can cover the flank, then we play a different system altogether.
Paul Caligiuri hasn’t swept for this team in a long, long time, but I knew that he had experience doing that in Germany and could fill in for Marcelo [Balboa]. He did an outstanding job at sweeper as opposed to playing left back or as a man-marker.
Could the team have made these adjustments and played so well, say, two years ago?
Two things have to be in place. The coach has to be willing to take the risk of allowing the players the freedom on the field, and the players have to be experienced enough to be able to adapt to positional and tactical changes.
What you’re seeing is the natural progression of players that have experience and bring it back to the national team. Now, the challenge is to take the younger players and give them that same freedom. I’m not so sure that’s going to happen.
Your decision to play both goalkeepers, particularly at Copa America, also carried some risk.
For me, it was more important to see how those two keepers played under very tough match conditions than it was to make the decision to play one player and give him a whole tournament.
I thought Brad Friedel deserved a shot at being the No. 1 goalkeeper coming into the summer, and I also have a lot of respect for what Kasey Keller has done at Millwall. I saw both of them under very difficult match conditions to see how they respond.
What I needed was more information, and what I have know is more information, not only about the goalkeepers but about a lot of different players.
Why did you not pick Tony Meola for the Parmalat Cup?
Let’s not forget Juergen Sommer — he has a shot at the No. 1 job as well.
I have three very good goalkeepers, and it’s not a position where I have to make changes. Tony Meola remains in the pool of players.
I would hope that he would try to play at a higher level in a much more demanding league.
It was apparent at U.S. Cup and Copa America that the drop-off from the top 13 or 14 players to the rest of the squad is considerable.
I’m not going to disagree with that, but if people are going to look at the Colombia [third-place] match, that was so ridiculous, with one day of rest and so many of our players being injured.
Motivationally, Americans play to win, and they’re not crazy about playing third-place games. I hope people don’t see that match as an example of what our players 12 through 22 can do.
Having said that, it still needs to be a priority to identify players that can play at the international level, give them the experience they need, and it’s very difficult to give them that experience on the national team.
They should bring that experience to the national team, not get it with the national team.
Hopefully, that’s what MLS will provide for those players not signed with foreign teams.
That’s right.
Clive Charles has proven be a popular choice as assistant coach, but he is occupied with the men’s and women’s teams at Portland this fall. Will he be assisting you over the next few months?
I would like Clive to be the assistant coach, and for Milutin Soskic to be the goalkeeper coach. I would like them to continue in those roles.
I would like to have Clive as much as possible over the next few months without it impacting his Portland program, then come January, if Clive can work out an arrangement with his school where can be with us on an on-going basis, great. If he can’t, then we have to look elsewhere.
Now that you have the national team job, what should that job be? What is best for American soccer and what is the best use of the national team coach?
The national team coach should focus on the national team as his single greatest priority.
He should work with the director of coaching and assist him in player development.
The national team job and that of director of coaching should be handled by different people?
Absolutely. The job of coaching the national team is difficult enough without having to worry about all the different levels underneath.
The American coaching community, and specifically the national team staff, should have access to the national team coach, so they can discuss philosophy and the scheme that will drive the developmental process for the players we desperately need at this level.
But not to have the national team coach running around the country doing clinics. Just worrying about one team is extremely demanding.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney