Placing blame on others is easy. Taking responsibility for yourself is empowering.

I put myself around good people, including my assistant coaches. A lot of head coaches are intimidated by their assistant coaches, they'd rather get people that are far less talented than them because it's not threatening.

Coaching soccer, like disciplines including journalism, you'll always learn if you're open to it, you'll learn from your players. If that's being smart, fair enough.

The smartest thing is knowing that I don't know it all and that there's more to learn.

Overseas, kids grow up in a soccer culture. The German player sees the game eons above the American player the same age.

Have a vision and then create your own reality. Otherwise, someone else may create it for you.

Chemistry is a contribution that teammates make to each other, but it's also something a coach can create or facilitate.