<< When it comes to performance of both the team and the coach, are things the same in US baseball as they are in European soccer?
That is, over here when a team wins it is because it has great players, but when the team loses it is because they had a lousy coach. So, when a team wins some championship, the players get all the praise and glory, but when the team does not win, the coach gets fired. >> Well, it's not quite the same, because the manager in baseball has a lot of decisions to make during the actual game, far more than a soccer coach can make. Baseball has unlimited substitution, up to the roster limit (with the provision that a player, once removed from a game, cannot return). Managers especially have to decide when to bring in a new pitcher, as well as various other moves (bunting, stealing a base, etc.). I realize this is far more technical than anyone who does not understand baseball needs to get into, but once a soccer game starts, other than making the maximum three substitutions and yelling at the players to play better, there's not a lot a soccer coach can do to influence an actual game. There are baseball managers who excel at making changes during the course of a game, and others who aren't as good. The main similarities between a baseball manager and soccer coach are more in the realm of choosing which players should make the team, which should start, and getting the entire team to focus on playing well during the course of an entire season (which is much longer in baseball than in any other sport on the planet). Also deciding what kind of team you want it to be (which is part of choosing players): attack oriented, defensively inclined, etc. It does all come down to talent, of course, but some managers and coaches seem to be better than others at getting the most out of the talent they have on hand. Some teams seem to be successful year after year, even if the players change; others, no matter how talented, never seem to win anything. Basically, some guys can just flat-out coach, and others can't. I suppose I'm saying it's not just the players and it's not just the coach, whether a team wins or loses. It's a combination. The US men's national soccer team has much better players now than it did in 1998, when it finished dead last at the World Cup. But it also has a much better coach now than it did in 1998. You need both. All other things being equal, however, you need better players. Tom Beck www.prydonians.org "I always knew I'd see the first man on the Moon. I didn't realize I'd also see the last." - Jerry Pournelle
