Getty Images The knotty balance of playing time for talented youngsters can be complex, a frequently unstable element attached to a series of short fuses, as we know.
They need experience. But they surely need to earn it, otherwise what’s the point?
And while “individual player development” may be ideal for the long term, does it mesh with the critical need for short-term gain, i.e. “wins?” In the absence of supporter-soothing Ws, the masses go apoplectic, revenue dries up, managers lose jobs, stadiums crumble, dogs and cats, living together! …
You get the point.
It’s all more art than science. Or at the very least, it’s quite tricky math.
Still, I think it’s fair to ask: Is Juan Agudelo getting the message?
Desire for more playing time drove the promising U.S. international’s wishes to escape New York as his professional club address.
But that familiar sentiment stands in some contrast to Jurgen Klinsmann’s message, one the U.S. national team manager has delivered loud and clearly lately. In fact, you could say Klinsmann is on something of a campaign to take this point, along with a few others, and nail it to the proverbial wall of best developmental practices here.
His message: Young players simply must earn their time on the field. It’s on them. The athletes must force the manager into handing out a starting assignment. Because, duh! …the manager wants to win.
Listen to Klinsmann’s words from an April 4 national media teleconference. (And feel free to note the irony, or read something into the situation, of the player he chooses as his example du jour). The question is about young players not always getting minutes with their clubs.
It is a big concern. We need to find ways to get our 18- to 22-year-olds, 23-year-olds more playing time and maybe here and there more help.
On the other side, they also need to realize that they have to fight their way through the system. They have to find a way to break into the team. I’ll give you an example: Juan Agudelo, who often last year was saying, ‘I want to play more. I need to play more.’ My response to Agudelo was, ‘Well, you’ve got to train harder and you’ve got to force the coach of that team until he makes you play.’ It’s not something that is given to you. It’s something that you have to work for and you have to fight your way through.
We had a discussion years and years ago after the Bosman ruling in Europe happened, everything opened up. The borders opened up. Suddenly, instead of a limited amount of foreigners, there were foreigners all over in every league. Every kind of National Team program complained and said, ‘Hey, suddenly we don’t have enough of our domestic kids playing anymore and it makes it tough for the National Team programs to develop.’ I came in and I said, ‘You know what? If I’m the player and I want to break into a team, it doesn’t really matter to me if now I have to kick out a foreign kid or if I have to kick out a domestic kid. I have to kick out somebody to play.’
That’s really the message to the youngsters. Yeah, we understand you should play more, but you have to build your case. You have to fight your way through and you have to do more than whoever’s in front of you. So if you want to pass whoever you want to pass there in the team, then you’ve got to make your case to the coach. Show the coach that you’re better and that you work harder and that you’re hungrier and you’re more aggressive than the guys in front of you. Sooner or later that coach will play you because the coach will play the players that give him the best chance to win the game.”
So there you go.
Agudelo at Red Bull Arena? He had Thierry Henry in front of him – and the famous Frenchman wasn’t going to be displaced.
But Kenny Cooper? He’s having a sensational season, the league’s second leading scorer. But if Agudelo is going to be the wow-wow young wonder of the moment, a rising international name, shouldn’t he be able to crack the lineup ahead of a guy who isn’t currently on national team radar?
And if he’s not, then why not?
Just asking. Good luck to young Agudelo at Chivas USA. Maybe the change of scenery will be just what the soccer doctor ordered. But do know this: Chivas USA manager Robin Fraser will be no less inclined to parcel minutes to the undeserving.
It’s still on Agudelo.
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- sluggo271 - May 18, 2012 at 12:42 PM
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A prime example is Clint Dempsey. At Fulham, he went through several managers and had to fight his way to the top each time.
Our youngsters could really learn something from him. On the other hand, players who have earned everything given to the(Gomez) are continually shunned.
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- schmutzdeck - May 19, 2012 at 3:01 PM
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“A prime example is Clint Dempsey”
No not really. That is a bad comparison.
He did not have a Henry, Cooper and Rodgers in front of him.
He was a “tweener” and it seems his issue was finding the right role to use him in. And at Fulham he played 12 games his first year, scored that famous relegation saving goal and then after that always had lots of playing time to make his case..
By comparison, Agudelo has not been getting any playing time. In three years Agudelo has a total of 36 appearances for NYRB.
Dempsey had 12 in his first year at Fulham then at least 40 every year afterwards.
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- arjanroghanchi - May 18, 2012 at 1:16 PM
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S. Davis gets it man. Agudelo wants it all handed to him. Garber put that fool in the All-Star team…he couldn’t get a starting spot on his own club side!
You would think having the chance to train with the man I consider the greatest striker of all time would be an opportunity Agudelo would cherish. Guess not.
Aaron Rodgers rode the bench for 3 years waiting and learning. Now he is a champion.
The formula is not very complicated.
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- schmutzdeck - May 19, 2012 at 2:15 PM
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“You would think having the chance to train with the man I consider the greatest striker of all time would be an opportunity Agudelo would cherish. Guess not.”
Agudelo has frequently mentioned how lucky he is to have spent time with Henry as a teammate.
But Henry is not paid to coach. How many of Henry’s young understudies are now world class strikers because of him?
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- jolo2000 - May 18, 2012 at 1:22 PM
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That’s a fairly simplistic way to view this don’t you think? It’s not like Cooper and Agudelo are the same type of player, so you need to factor tactics into his not playing too. It’s not as simple as saying oh he’s a forward and they are forwards, he should beat them out. I don’t think NY style ever really suited his play anyways.
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- Steve Davis - May 18, 2012 at 1:54 PM
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Well, you saw the part where I said its complex stuff, right? You can’t say I’m over simplifying when the first sentence acknowledges that these things have lots of moving parts.
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- sportsviking - May 18, 2012 at 1:36 PM
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Sluggo271 makes a great point about Dempsey. Another prime example is Michael Bradley who’s earned everything, working his way up to now being courted by some of the biggest teams in Italy.
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- chadmoon1 - May 18, 2012 at 2:33 PM
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Well that leads us to another question completely: Why isn’t Kenny Cooper in the running for a call up? He’s scoring goals, he’s a target forward who can play with his back to goal, and he’s obviously hungry. Get him into the nats shirt and see if it translates. He’s already been there and had a modicum of success.
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- wesbadia - May 18, 2012 at 3:50 PM
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Let’s put this into perspective: Agudelo is 19 years old. Luis Gil is 18 years old. Agudelo has been lauded as the next striker of the USMNT, along with all the other glorification he’s received over the last year and a half. Gil, on the other hand, has had a rather low-key rise into the lime light of SLC, having to work hard for a spot on the RSL line up because he’s been behind Morales, Johnson, Grabavoy, and Williams for the last three seasons.
The contrast between the two players is stark. Gil has been making regular starts and subs this season, and has been a regular bench player last year. Agudelo, though, was given starts right outta the gate, and while he has seemed to excel at first, he certainly has waned over the last year, definitely in 2012.
So, why the difference between the two? They’re both very skilled players. No doubt they should be regulars on the USMNT lineup one day. In my opinion, the coddling that’s been done to Agudelo has stunted his development, while Gil has been forced to take the tougher road, earning his spot. So I’m echoing what others have been saying — that Agudelo needs to earn his spot on whatever team he plays on.
And let’s not forget that JPA, Moreno, Townsend, and Correa are all in Chivas. Agudelo will STILL need to earn his spot, so maybe this is a good decision, even though it’s not Cooper/Henry he’s battling for time. Still a competitive environment, and I think the best thing for him was to get out of NY and away from the management of Backe and Soler.
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- larryang - May 18, 2012 at 4:50 PM
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Last year, it was Luke Rodgers running off the ball. This year, it’s Kenny Cooper all around play.
When Agudelo has played since coming back, he’s looked very good. But the way he plays (whether unwilling or not savvy enough to change) doesn’t mesh with what NYRB is doing for Agudelo to start most games.
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- metroplexfrog - May 20, 2012 at 5:18 PM
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Agudelo just needs to realize that he’s not going to be “given” time on the pitch. He needs to grow up some and he should be fine.
