Bradley Carnell’s shot at US footballing greatness - St Louis City’s head coach has the opportunity to build a legacy from scratch at the midwest club, the latest franchise added to the Major League Soccer.
Bradley Carnell is living the life many coaches – especially those working in South Africa – dream of but few get to experience. He has total control building his own team from scratch.
“Building” is a foreign term in our local game. Coaches often arrive at training grounds to find new players signed for them by the club’s owners or administrators, while being expected to produce good results nevertheless. But the game in the US is very different and Carnell, a star with Wits University and Kaizer Chiefs in his early playing years, looks set to thrive in an environment that allows him so much leeway to express himself.
Will his team reflect the player he was? “Our fans are hard-working, humble people with a great soccer history, so we want ours to be a passionate, energetic and hard to play against style. For sure it will be a fast-paced, proactive, pressing style of play. We aim to create a very attacking mentality by the nature of how we set up our defensive structure.
“The Red Bulls experience is going to be of massive help. I’m very grateful for the experience gained over there. From style of play to coaching know-how, I felt like I was always on a good path knowing the what and why “Just like any big club, I think there will always be pressure to succeed and emotions flying along with it, especially with traditional teams like Pirates. There’s got to be a balance, for sure, and I believe everyone working for a pro sports team has a responsibility for creating an infectious working environment, staff who are always pulling in the same direction, creating a feeling of worth and togetherness and inclusion.
“The soccer here is very physical, athletic and very competitive. The average age of teams is reducing every year. The MLS is no longer seen as a retirement league, with teams signing 15-year-olds to pro contracts.”
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