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Checking In with Steve Sampson With U.S. soccer on the rise, MLS not so bad after all
Former coach Steve Sampson successfully led the United States through qualification for the 1998 World Cup, where he and the team lost close matches to Germany, Iran and Yugoslavia. Replaced by Bruce Arena after the World Cup, Sampson is now the technical director of the California Youth Soccer Association South, overseeing the Olympic development and scouting programs for 100,000 players. CNNSI.com recently checked in with Sampson regarding his whereabouts and the progress of soccer in the U.S. Do you have plans to continue your coaching career at the professional club or national team level? What transpired with the Costa Rica job? Yes, but since the World Cup I have been trying to reconnect with my family, which I saw very little of during the previous seven years. The Costa Rican federation offered me the job and I turned it down after talking to my family. The timing just wasn't right. The offer and the support were good from the Costa Rican federation, but I felt that I just hadn't spent enough time with the family. I am sure that in a year or so that I will be in a position to make a commitment at the professional or international level. What is your opinion of the U.S. Olympic team and its performance in Sydney? Did they underachieve or overachieve? What did they do right and what did they do wrong? I felt the U.S. team did an outstanding job. They did not overachieve. They attacked with confidence and they worked very hard collectively on defense. Coach Clive Charles and his staff did an outstanding job of putting together a solid team that believed in themselves and believed they could accomplish something great. Even though they did not get a medal, what they achieved was historic. It should be heralded as a great sign that the United States is showing slow, steady growth at the international level and that MLS is a positive environment for the growth of our young professionals. How do you rate the progress of the U.S. national team program, and has the Olympic team's success done anything to improve that standing?
The growth of the U.S. national team, much like the Olympic team, is showing slow and steady growth. Defensively, the US has grown significantly, especially in midfield. The team gets very good pressure to the ball in the middle third of the field and is winning a higher percentage of tackles than in the past. Chris Armas, when healthy, has been a great addition to the team. He is willing to play the role of defensive midfield behind Claudio by filling gaps and winning tackles, but equally important is his good timing of runs in the attack. The Americans continue to demonstrate that they can create goalscoring chances against anyone. What needs to happen for the U.S. to beat the best in the world is to be more accurate with their crosses and to put their shots on target. The other challenge is for Bruce to find the right combination of two forwards that can combine effectively to get behind defenses. This will not be an easy task but will be essential to their success. The Olympic team will add some depth to the U.S. national team, but it will be difficult to integrate those players into the squad during this first phase of qualifying. Between the semifinal phase and the final phase of qualifying, I am sure Bruce Arena will be looking very closely at who can help the U.S. national team. Timing is everything when introducing young players into the national team. The Olympic experience will give the players the added confidence needed when confronted with the pressures of World Cup qualifying. You were quoted as saying after World Cup '98 that MLS had a negative effect on that team. What role do you think the league has now for player development for the Olympic and national teams? In 1996 and 1997 I did not believe that it was in the best interest of the national team for the European-based or Mexican-based players to return to the United States. I understood that for the MLS to be viable that this had to occur. The level of MLS at that time did not compare to the leagues in Europe or Mexico, but for professional soccer to survive in the U.S. we had to have our best players here. The level of the league is much different now than in 1996 and 1997. The teams are more compact now than before. Teams are doing a much better job of defending as a unit. Teams are more tactically aware than before. The younger players in the league are much more prepared to enter a professional environment and are seeing more playing time. The league is doing a much better job in the development of players for the U-20 national team to the full national team. However, the development process can be accelerated if the league creates a reserve team for each one of its clubs. This would create a larger base from which the club coaches and national team coaches have to choose and would provide invaluable experience for players entering into the league. How closely do you follow MLS now? What are your opinions of the 2000 MLS season? I follow it very closely. There are more good teams and fewer weak teams this year. There seems to be much more parity on the field. Many teams have had to deal with the release of players for World Cup qualifying or have had players traded away which has impacted their chemistry on the field. But overall I have seen substantial growth in most of the teams and substantial growth in players like Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff, Mike Petke, Steve Ralston, Dema Kovalenko, Danny Califf, Pete Vagenas and many others. What is your assessment of the U.S. national team's run in World Cup qualifying so far? Few people understand how difficult it is to compete in places like Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Mexico. Even with all the experience our players now have playing in Central America there is still the pressure the fans place on the decisions of the referee, which is completely out of anyone's control once the game begins. It takes a very strong referee to not be influenced. I believe the U.S. will qualify to the final phase and for the World Cup, but the road will not be easy. Costa Rica will again be challenging, as will Mexico, but the most improved country is Honduras. Honduras is playing well enough now to qualify for the World Cup. Jamaica is playing with great confidence and is always tough at home. The draw will be a critical factor, as will the dates of the matches. The U.S. has had to deal with many factors in this first phase of qualifying. Whenever you have a mix of players playing in Europe and the United States, you are going to get players whom are in different playing forms because of the time of year their club teams play. The first Guatemala match clearly showed that the European based players were not in their ideal physical condition. But even with this concern, it always comes down to who finishes their chances. The US will undoubtedly create many chances. If our precision in front of the goal is good, we will certainly have an easier time of it during qualification. What does the U.S. team need to do to win against Costa Rica on Oct. 11 in Columbus, especially with the absences of Bruce Arena, Claudio Reyna, Eddie Lewis and Earnie Stewart? Although the loss of Bruce and the three players for the game is significant, I believe there is plenty of talent in the U.S. squad to make up for their absences. Players will step up their games over their performance against Guatemala. And playing in front of a great home crowd in Columbus will certainly add to their motivation. Many times a team will play better when a player gets ejected from a game. They all know they have to work harder and smarter to get the job done. I believe it's the same case with the Costa Rica game. I believe you will see a very inspired team and a team that will work very hard. The last thing they want is to have to go to Barbados and get a result. Bruce would much rather have the qualification in hand before the Barbados trip so that he can experiment with some younger players. Everyone knows this, and they will play like it. The bottom line is to finish their chances early. The longer the game goes on the more of an advantage it is for the opponent from a psychological point. In addition to his work with the California Youth Soccer Association South, Sampson: is a consultant with Pueblo Corporation in the development of a $12 million soccer complex; works for two Internet companies as a consultant and contributing author -- EoSports and TheSportsCoach.com; and is a consultant with Costa Rica's soccer federation on the restructuring of their national teams programs.
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