Eric Wynalda for USSF President: MAGA…in lederhosen
Eric Wynalda is a pretty familiar figure to anyone who has been paying attention to US soccer in any of its various forms for any part of the last 30 years or so. That’s not all necessarily to the good either. But he does seem to have touched all of the bases in the US game at all levels.
The question is, does that experience qualify him to be elected USSF president next spring (2018)?
“You’re fired!”
If Wynalda chooses to run for that office it is certain that he will face opposition. What is uncertain is if any of the competition would come from sitting president, Sunil Gulati. There is presently a lot of reason to believe that Gulati would like to keep his current job. But there is also much pressure encouraging a change. A voluntary change would likely be preferred by many of those seeking same.
Gulati has been USSF president now for over 10 years. Casual fans might believe that the great failing of that term was the hiring of Jürgen Klinsmann as manager of the US men’s national team. Even on the basis however, an honest assessment would have to conclude that Klinsmann did pretty well. Bruce Arena is surely more well-liked. However, measurable success on the field for both Arena and Klinsmann is/was frankly about the same.
The latter’s tenure, in fact, strengthened the bond between Germany’s top flight domestic “Bundesliga” and US pro and international soccer. Something which is still paying dividends for both MLS and for the USMNT and Arena as they seek qualification to Russia 2018.
The art of the deal
On the other hand, Gulati’s greatest achievement thus far is still in the future. The USSF joined the federations of Mexico and Canada this year to put together a co-hosting bid for the 2026 World Cup finals. It would be the kind of thing that an outgoing president could look to as his “legacy”.
But it isn’t all red hats and golfing weekends for Gulati either. He may not be to blame, but some bad times and “bad hombres” have haunted his watch as well. The regional federation—CONCACAF—is now the target of a US Justice Department investigation. FIFA itself is implicated in that investigation. The aura of invincible good feeling engendered by the game’s universal appeal seems permanently tarnished. Even in the Americas—one of soccer/football/fùtbol’s two greatest strongholds—there is dissension.
The USSF also faces coming legal battles over equality of compensation for the men’s and women’s national teams as well as alleged inequity in its league certification process. In sum, 2026 is still a long ways off.
MAGA=”Make Another Guy Accountable”
Gulati’s current position then is between his possible future legacy on the one hand and a lot of trouble on the other. That has to tempt the sitting president to yield to pressure to quit his office and let someone else suffer the heat.
Wynalda says he would like the job. It would be the latest in his lifelong string of jobs. In fact, he seems to wear a lot of hats even now. He manages a team in California and annually—or so it seems—publicly daydreams of winning a US Open Cup. And less than a week after the rumor surfaced that he might yearn to be Gulati’s replacement he was on broadcast television wearing lederhosen and celebrating Oktoberfest in Germany.
To Wynalda, it’s all about the tweets
With apologies to Vince Lombardi…taking the heat isn’t everything the USSF president does. Now and for the foreseeable future however it looks to be about the only thing that that person will do.
And that’s what he will have to overcome for Eric Wynalda to be on next spring’s USSF ballot. He is a performer: a player, a coach, and a sportscaster. Performers seek black and white results. They only understand wins, losses, goal differential and the number of retweets they get.
To be ready to be USSF president, conversely, is to be ready to compromise. It is a world of negotiations, half-measures, and settlements. If you’re lucky you’ll get a lot of retweets. Real success comes when your followers outnumber those whom you follow.
USSF presidents do also sometimes wear lederhosen of course. But then only because someone asked them to choose between pants and shorts and choosing chafes them more.
Bigly.