Being at a big club presents differing personnel challenges for Lagerwey
Photo: Alex Caulfield (Sounders FC)
In Part 2 of the exclusive interview with new Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey, the discussion focused more on current players. That did not stop the new boss from throwing in a few one-liners onto his answers., even in the certain knowledge they’d be used as headlines!
Lagerwey had previously spoken about development and youth, and he was asked if the incredible meteoric rise of DeAndre Yedlin in 2014 either created unrealistic expectations or, as he confirmed in his answer, merely set a very high bar for aspiring Yedlins to come:
“No question. If you think about the elements of lightening in a bottle that were captured there (in Yedlin’s 2014), with DeAndre breaking in the team and doing it in the run up to a World Cup – and then being the profile that was maybe not the strongest in the national team, and then being called in.
“People forget, before the World Cup there was no certainty he was going to make the World Cup camp, let alone the team. It all came together and obviously DeAndre had a great World Cup then was off to Tottenham. There were a number of things that were fairly unique about that.”
Lagerwey sees it all as a positive inspiration and hopes Yedlin’s story is not unique for too long.
“The good news is that it’s set a high bar for our Academy if that’s something we can replicate because I think the worst thing we can have is to be guilty of that being a one-off, a once in a life time player. (We have) to show we can push three of four players into the first team and hopefully this break-out isn’t this bolt of lightening but it becomes more inevitable over time.”
What Lagerwey said next gives more of an insight into his character and how he operates as a leader and manager. He comes to a club that has too often in the past tried to blame others for its own adversity and in the past churned out PR like the North Korean truth ministry.
Not so Garth Lagerwey, a man who throughout this interview was honest when he was ducking an issue, and honest about why.
“I like to say that I try never to have to be right. What I mean by that is if you give yourself a number of options, both in positions and in player development, then the players make the choices. It’s really important to have competition within the squad and to not have to stand on your soap box and try to announce you’ve identified the greatest player of the next generation, but to let that player emerge by competing and fighting for that spot every day.
If you get that culture right, you will have success over time. That’s really what we’re going for and what I am going for as a General Manager. “
The approach is refreshing and his openness continued onto further topics.
Having discussed at some length youth and development, inevitably the conversation turned to older heads. One of the stand out characters in Lagerwey’s Real Salt Lake team was Nick Rimando, who at 5’9″ is somewhat shorter than many MLS keepers. Again, at Seattle, his number one choice stopper fits that mode.
So how does he compare (and contrast) Sounders Swiss shotstopper with Rimando?
“Their difference is the athleticism. Nick is crazy athletic. He can reach for virtually any ball. His explosive ability is incomparable. It’s the reason he has survived as a five-nine goalkeeper where most have failed.
“Stefan, coming from a European background, coming over as a teenager to the US and then playing. The goalkeeper’s not a tremendous athlete and is a little bit unorthodox in how he moves to some balls, but again you’re talking about me ‘being new and coming to the group’. I’ve been impressed with Stefan since I joined to the group.
Lagerwey: Frei is “very effective with what he does”
Lagerwey’s impression of Stefan Frei is not based on watching him train for four days, and it is relevant to bear in mind that the new GM was once a keeper himself.
“He’s a guy that I’ve known since he was in college. He went away to Toronto and got hurt a number of times in a row and looked to me like he lost his confidence.
“(But) I thought he was very good towards the end of last year. I’ve seen him so far in pre-season so far continue to build on that and continue to get better and better.
“Again technically he can be unorthodox in how he approaches some things, but when you watch him and – again you can’t really do this in a game till you get four or five saves to evaluate, – but when you watch him in training, he’s very effective with what he does.”
However if that sounds like criticism, then that would be to misinterpret Lagerwey’s intention. He points out these quirks only to illustrate that a man in whom he placed his full confidence for many years, Nick Rimando, share some of Frei’s traits.
“That’s a quality that’s similar to Nick because if you look at Nick’s footwork, how he approaches balls or how he approaches angles, it’s not always text book. It’s not always how you would teach it in soccer camp. Nick has this incredible mentality, this toughness. reaction ability and just this belief in himself that he’s going to make the save.
“I see in Stefan, as he continues to work, hopefully he can push into that range where Nick is. Stefan had a really good end to the season. Now I’m excited to see if he can have a really good entire season.”
In the first part of the interview, it was hinted that there was one question Lagerwey was anticipating.
It was the inevitable Sounders v Salt Lake question, the comparison between … guess who; Osvaldo Alonso and Kyle Beckerman.
“I knew you were going to bring this one!
“You know what? I think they play in different systems. I’m going to duck this one entirely.
Then, in true Lagerwey style. The urge to talk soccer overcame all.
“They’re different types of players. Ossie’s a little bit more physical. Kyle’s a little bit more of more of a passer. Both players suit the systems in which they play perfectly. Believe it or not, I’ve not had a chance to watch Ossie play. He’s been banged up and not trained a bunch this pre-season. So I don’t have any insider scoop to use as a means of comparison but they are both excellent players.
Alonso underwent successful right groin surgery on Friday. The procedure was preformed by Dr. William Hutchinson Jr. in Santa Monica, California. He is set to begin rehabilitation immediately following the procedure.
“I feel really lucky to have Ossie on my team. I think I’m going to like him a lot better with him on my team, as opposed to playing against my team. It’s a good thing to have him.
“With Kyle, I’ve known him since he was 17 years old, so that was a special relationship to me personally. But again, that’s what the transition is all about – to build new relationships with a new organisation; trying to lay the foundation to be successful both short term and long term.”
If those players have more similarities than differences, the opposite is true when you measure the core DNA of Lagerwey’s current and previous franchises.
Real Salt Lake famously billed and regarded itself as a ‘team without stars’. That was not to say they did not have great players. The tagline meant that there was an inherent undertone of equality in the squad and that no one player was more important or influential than the other.
Lagerwey prefers to have this man on his side!
Now Lagerwey has arrived at a very different club.
Sounders FC have some internationally famous players who have graced World Cups and perhaps the largest disparities in wage structure than any in the league.
For the same money Sounders FC paid Zach Scott for each full 90 minutes of soccer in MLS ($2709) in 2014, they got just one minute from Clint Dempsey based on regular season and play-off minutes.
So how is Lagerwey going to meet the challenge of managing a team where there are clearly stars and inequalities?
“I think it depends on what kind of pain in the neck Clint is!” cracked Lagerwey.
“I say that jokingly and even lovingly. He’s still with the national team. I’ve not met Clint. I’ve had no interactions with him. I look forward to meeting him.
“When Clint was coming up in his first stint in the league, I was doing TV for DC United. I did talk to him in the context of that at some point. I think that anybody who comes from humble beginnings is fairly likely to be grounded and to have a good core.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about Clint, and expect nothing but good things from him in terms of how he handles himself. I’m actually looking forward to that.
“I’ve gotten to talk with Obafemi Martins another quote/unquote star. For sure, it’s another challenge, a management challenge. You want to start to get to know these guys and understand them but when you have a strong culture and a strong group as we do here at Sounders, you can start to integrate that type of player.
“At RSL, the methods were inverted. At Sounders you use stars in part not to create the culture as the culture was there, the stars came and modified the culture a little bit. At RSL you grew up with a basic core of guys together and kind of developed our own stars from within; the Kyle Beckermans, Nick Rimandos, Javier Morales, Alvaro Saborio etc.
“In Seattle, the balance for all of this stuff is great. You have more resources. You have the ability to shout for a Clint Dempsey which maybe I’ve never had before. But likewise we have to grow players from within.
“Ossie Alonso is a good example. He’s a player that has grown from within and has been a major contributor. There’s a number of core guys .. Brad Evans .. that have been here for a long time and (have been) major major major contributors, so hopefully that can continue. Lamar Neagle’s another one of those guys, local guys, who has done really well.
You need these core guys. You need the star guys. You get them on the same page, you’re going to be successful.
In Part 3, Lagerwey responds to Alan Hinton’s assertion that free agency benefits the big clubs and fends off a past quote from his own lips about the salary cap, as well as addressing the inherent problems working for the man who just vacated his job, owner and former GM Adrian Hanauer.
He tells an amusing story of the day he first met Joe Roth and totally misjudged the atmosphere. He addresses a supporter culture issue and faces the inevitable Prost trap question at the end.
Related:
Lager than life Part 1. Sounders new GM vows to ‘listen but be an independent voice’.
Lagerwey – The Best in the Business
Sounders should hire Garth Lagerwey – October 2013
More Sounders FC Pre-season Coverage:
Sounders: Is 2010 repeating itself?
So it’s wide midfield for Roldan then?
Ockford takes VERY early lead in race for 2015 break-out star
