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US coach throws captain out of World Cup Published: April 15, 1998
United States team captain John Harkes has been thrown out of the squad and will not feature in the World Cup. Coach Steve Sampson announcing his team to play Austria on April 22nd said that Harkes was no longer part of his future plans due to his æperformances on the fieldÆ and disputes with Sampson over æleadership issues.Æ Sampson also commented on HarkeÆs lack of teamwork and always playing out of position. He cited Harkes as æattacking more frequently than he defends, and expecting others to get back and cover for himÆ, and ærefusing to play as a team unit.Æ Harkes, a defensive midfielder for the States and currently playing for DC United, has much European experience having played in England for Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County. He is one of the squads most experienced players with two previous World Cup campaigns behind him. The new captain is still to be announced although Sampson has hinted at Thomas Dooley. A past captain such as Eric Wynalda could also be chosen to fill the gap. SampsonÆs decision means that the United States squad lacks a hard running midfielder and a creative midfielder who has experience at international level. The decision to move Harkes into defence has obviously caused problems and means that not enough players get up to support the atttack, one of the reasons why the US does not score any goals. Sampson was almost dropped as coach last year by the US soccer governing body over fears that he could not control and discipline his squad. Harkes is not the only player to have been in conflict with Sampson over his position. Eric Wynalda has expressed concern over SampsonÆs past tactical experiments which have seen him playing out of position and out of his depth. |