Eric Wynalda may be coaching his last game with the Silverbacks when they host Real Salt Lake on Saturday in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Wynalda, team president Andy Smith and the co-owners will schedule a meeting to discuss not only his future, but the future of some of the players in the squad, which finished eighth in the 10-team NASL’s spring season.
“Hopefully the guys will understand that this could be the last game for more than just me,” Wynalda said.
Smith said ownership believes in Wynalda and said the decision may be up to him if he wants to continue. But it’s no secret that things have been difficult and frustrating this year after the team played for the league title last season.
Wynalda expected criticism after he added the title “coach” to his already existing duties as technical advisor and instituted a system in which he wouldn’t be with the team during the early part of each week. Instead, the assistants would run things while he fulfilled his duties as an analyst with Fox Sports. He maintained contact by phone and by reviewing practice videos.
But after he became coach, his job description with Fox Sports changed. Instead of working as a studio analyst in California, he became a game analyst, reporting from London; Lisbon, Portugal; Munich; and Manchester, England. Four-hour commutes to Atlanta from Los Angeles became 14-hour commutes from Europe.
“It wasn’t a curveball, it was a screwball,” Wynalda said.
Wynalda said he is trying to find out how Fox Sports plans to use him in the fall so that he and the Silverbacks can decide what needs to be done.
“It was extremely unfair for my guys,” he said of the Silverbacks players. “I was supposed to be away from them for three orfour days, not nine or 10. That made things extremely difficult.”
Silverbacks player Mike Randolph said it has been tough not to have Wynalda around as much as everyone expected. Randolph said the players appreciate the knowledge Wynalda has gathered during a Hall of Fame career, as well as his patience.
“Sometimes people are critical of our setup, but it’s not for a lack of trying,” Randolph said.
That is why Saturday’s game against Real Salt Lake is so important. A victory would help erase some of the bad memories of the spring.
“It’s paramount,” Wynalda said. “With everything that’s happened in the course of the season, it’s imperative that we play well and at least show that we are capable of being better than what we are.”
The team’s biggest problem hasn’t been the coaching, it’s been the scoring. They scored 12 goals in nine games and Wynalda estimates that they should have put in at least 10-12 more that would have dramatically changed the team’s spot in the standings. Feeling the pressure to score, the team would make mistakes on defense, which resulted in 20 goals allowed, tied for the most in the league.
Forward Deon McCaulay has struggled the most. Brought into the team because of his ability to score, he found the back of the net twice in nine games.
“Our results have been misleading,” Wynalda said. “I’m not a big stats guy, but when you pressure and outshoot your opponent on every occasion and lose, it starts to get frustrating.”
The key to beating Salt Lake will be to stay focused, according to Randolph. The visitors will play without three key players. Goalie Nick Rimando and midfielder Kyle Beckerman are playing for the U.S. team in the World Cup. Forward Alvaro Saborio sustained a broken foot while practicing for the World Cup with Costa Rica.
If the Silverbacks win, Wynalda may decide to give up the job as manager and return to his previous duty as the team’s technical director, which is easier to do from a distance. He said there are several situations that he is considering.
“There are a lot of people that can’t wait to throw darts at me,” he said. “But if you don’t take risks, you’ll never feel what reward means. We are putting all of our focus into this game. Hopefully it will be a good outcome.”
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