Letter not so perfect

Over a week has passed since I applied for the job of head coach of the USMNT and I still haven’t received as much as a formal reply from Sunil Gulati of the USSF. I’m figuring he must be inundated with applications, especially after the humbling at the feet of Mexico last Saturday. However, insult is added to injury when I discover Gulati has had plenty of time on his hands to write letters. Just not to me!

The man who hasn’t found time to get back to me about my suitability to replace dead man walking Bob Bradley has published an open letter to American soccer fans. When I first heard about this, I thought to myself: ‘Well, at least he’s finally seen fit to apologize for the debacle on the field at the Gold Cup and to promise radical changes in personnel and coaching staff.’ Imagine my dismay upon discovering he’d merely written a memo about incidents of supporter-baiting at the Rose Bowl last Saturday night!! Not a word about Bradley!

Reading the missive online this morning, I come to a stark realisation. Bradley isn’t the man whose job I should be applying for. Gulati is the weakest link in this organization. How did I not see that? I mean, has he ever even run a travel team? Has he ever had to make astute tactical chances in the middle of a high-pressure game like a U-10 cup final? I don’t think so!

Decide to spend the rest of Saturday working on a new resume and finding somebody else in the USSF that I can send it to, preferably somebody who shares my belief soccer in this country is rotting from the head down, and that Gulati must go. Apart from anything else, the pressing need to do up the job application gives me the perfect excuse to avoid accompanying wife and friends to the beach. They can celebrate Independence Day weekend. I’ll stay here working for the good of the country’s soccer future. Like a true patriot.