Wynalda: Lalas is a liar
Frank Giase has a good piece on the recent falling out between Eric Wynalda and Alexi Lalas. Wynalda is upset that Lalas denied any knowledge of the L.A. job immediately prior to accepting the position, saying “it’s very difficult for us to believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore.”
Wynalda is also skeptical that Steve Sampson and Lalas have put aside their differences. Lalas fired back, “Steve Sampson and Alexi Lalas didn’t play a minute in 1998. Eric did,” referring to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s atrocious performance in the 1998 World Cup.
What is the deal here? I’m critical of Lalas because I’m pretty sure he has no actual qualifications, other than an ability to play the guitar and grow a beard. He’s a general manager simply because he played soccer, much as Kevin McHale is a general manager simply because he played basketball. The latter hasn’t exactly flourished in the role.
On the other hand, Eric Wynalda is just belligerent; since he was a striker, he’s at least qualified.
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[...] Now, about Eric Wynalda. First, he gets paid to make comments. Second, he is temperamental and bombastic and has a history of saying wild things. Finally, he doesn’t seem to take the wild things he says too seriously. Prior to sitting in the studio, chumming it up with Alexi Lalas during halftimes, Wynalda blasted Lalas, branding him a liar. [...]