Wynalda Tells It All (Drunk)

I ran across this article from FulhamUSA about a conversation/interview/drinking with ESPN and former USMNT striker Eric Wynalda.

I have to say it is one of the funniest things I’ve read all week. Most know I can’t particularly stand Wynalda in a broadcast but he does in fact tell it like it is most of the times even if he is just bitching to bitch.

You will see how passionate he gets and probably just how drunk he is.

Here is some random samplings from the interview:

CF: U.S. Soccer, what’s wrong, what’s right?

Eric Wynalda: I absolutely have an opinion on that. I think we are very solid and deep at keeper, and very solid and deep on defense. What we are missing is that midfield engine, that can hold the ball around a couple of players and distribute well, and I think we are missing a world class striker. I honestly don’t believe Donovan is the answer. I’d love to see Taylor Twellman and Kenny Cooper playing up top together tomorrow against Ecuador.

Wynalda typically is known to love on Twellman too much. You hear it every game. I know he is a big Revs fan but the man-crush on Twellman gets annoying after a while.

CF: Let’s do a quick name association; Sunil Gulati.

Eric Wynalda: Sunil Gulati is a great businessman and incredibly intelligent professor. He knows soccer backwards and forwards. He knows the business of soccer. The problem is he stopped asking the people who know the answer to the question, those questions. He is relying on the people who will just give us a revolving door of the wrong information.

CF: Bruce Arena.

Eric Wynalda:Bruce Arena is probably one of the best managers of people that I have ever seen. He is a winner through and through. He has proven that with his results.

In and out, the guy is arrogant, he rubs people wrong, he made some bad decisions in 2006, and that guy [Arena] has moved on. He’s going to say, “you know what, I’m going to figure out a way I can do it again, because I know I’m good at this.”

The only thing with Bruce is he thinks he has the answer to a question, but maybe sometimes he doesn’t. Bob [Bradley] is a little bit better at that, where he will rely on people who he knows know the answer to his problem, then solve the problem. Bruce’s answer to the question is to just make the problem go away.

CF: Bob Bradley.

Eric Wynalda: Bob’s a smart guy. Bob is a solver. Bob is a guy who will, in my opinion, not get the job. They will not hire him. When you listen to Sunil Gulati talk in Arizona when he was talking about plans, we learned a couple of things. We learned he has no intention of hiring Bob Bradley. He [Bradley] is the Olympic Coach. The second thing is, he is not going to make a decision until June, which has nothing to do with results, but who he is able to talk to, someone who is currently under contract, so he will be able to talk to him when his European season is over. And we learned that Bob Bradley is the back-up plan behind the back-up plan. He [Sunil] is not going to hire an American. If he was going to ***** hire an American, he would have done it already.

You typically hear him say that Gulati needs to remove the interim tag from Bradley’s name but quite frankly you have to believe a drunken bastard like Wynalda on this that they won’t hire Bradley or did they ever have any intentions to hire him.

I love that he said Bruce is arrogant and rubs people the wrong way. You always get a sense in a broadcast that those two have butted heads one too many times.

Best part of the conversation is the end:

CF: If you could pick one name, besides yourself, who is going to be a big influence on soccer in the U.S., who would that be?

Eric Wynalda: I hope, I hope, it is ESPN. ESPN has the power, they are pulling the strings, they have the influence now to say, “You want to market this thing, let’s market this thing.”

You will never get a guy, in me, who is more of a believer in the American player. Jim Rome can suck my dick! And he should be very afraid, because I’m the kind of guy, if I get too many drinks in me, I will club his ass. I’ve been on with Jim Rome, and I said, “Let me get this straight, you’re more impressed with water polo???”

Where is the avenue that the real soccer people can [gravitate towards]? Where is it? You and others are sick and ***** tired of being told we are a sleeping giant. We can kick everybody’s ass, if we figure it out.

It’s guys like you and your buddies who are the real American soccer. I play in an over-30 league and say my name is Derek. Why? Because I enjoy playing.

Alright, let’s go take a piss and get another beer.

In all there were some good questions and some funny answers like this one. I do agree and love the passion that he has with soccer. That is one thing I can most definitely agree on and understand when it comes to Wynaldo but sometimes his tell it like it is mentality is a little much. And as far as Jim Rome, I can totally understand where he is coming from.