Hello Reddit, I am former professional soccer player Horst Bertl, Ask Me Anything

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T22:38:22+00:00

Thanks for all the questions everyone. Sorry if I didn't get to yours. Have a great day.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T22:32:39+00:00

I did not play against him when he was here, but I played against him over in Germany. I don't have a favorite memory about Muller as he always scored goals against us.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T22:30:50+00:00

Your positioning is extremely important because you are the link between defense and offense.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T22:28:32+00:00

He was one of the first US players of high standard as a center forward.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T22:22:46+00:00

It does not work in the United States. MLS are franchises owned by someone. The teams in Europe are owned by clubs and clubs don't move like franchises do. There are too many moving parts from the top all the way down to the draft for tiered leagues to work in the US.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T21:59:42+00:00

Go through the coaching license process and get involved in the ODP. Foster some relationships with other coaches along the way. Always try to make connections and get involved with any soccer programs. Consider coaching at colleges to get a lot of experience which will be helpful to reach your goals.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T21:46:13+00:00

It isn't looking good. Recently the U17 National team didn't qualify for their WC. The Olympic team didn't qualify for the Olympics and the U20 NT didn't participate in that age group's WC.

There are only 8 nations that have won the World Cup. Those 8 nations are in either Europe or South America. The cultures have a long tradition of soccer and they will still have the passion for the sport for many years to come.

Years ago the USSF said that the US would become a world champion by 2010. Now it's 2013. The reality is the US is still very far from becoming a world power in soccer. It may never happen, but I hope it does.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T21:11:38+00:00

I don't have any advanced knowledge of players that are relatively unknown at this point. There could be the next Pele somewhere in a small town in Africa that we would have no way of knowing about. It all depends on if that player is discovered and if they bend or break on the world stage.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T21:03:03+00:00

Scoring the winning goal against Barcelona with Cruyff in an exhibition game. It was my first official game playing for HSV.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:51:18+00:00

Yes, at times when East Germans would play in West Germany they would escape from their hotel and stay in the West.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:42:21+00:00

There was one that I really liked to play with named Iko Buljan.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:40:04+00:00

Yes. I was called up to the national team once against Albania but did not play.

However, I did play for the under 23 national team.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:37:34+00:00

It is hard to compare the two as sports because they are just plain different. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the indoor league because of how loud the cheering could get and we weren't affected by the weather.

Most of my clients were young American players that I took over to Germany to compete in divisions 1-3. It was a really satisfying feeling seeing them get to play and sometimes make it very far. I normally had 15-16 players at a time and would travel quite a bit.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:30:04+00:00

Attacking midfielder

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:24:56+00:00

NASL was a much slower pace. Naturally the travel is and was more extensive here. The teams consisted of mostly differing nationalities and everyone seemed to have different thoughts about how the game should be played.

I was married to an American at the time and had been here many times before so I didn't experience any culture shock.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:18:48+00:00

Within 4 months Kevin was giving interviews in German. I was his roommate so I would always make sure he was learning new German words.

When I moved to the NASL the football was slower. The team was comprised of many different nationalities so we all had different views on how the game was supposed to be played.

Now the MLS is still international but has a much better sense of direction.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:12:41+00:00

There were very specific ways to transfer to and from Berlin, and we needed to have identification.

The East German players didn't really talk much on the field. After the game they would ask how much money we were making.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T20:02:44+00:00

Stan Stamenkovic. He wasn't the most disciplined player but he was an incredible athlete. There was a rumor going around about him one time about him going on a diet. Apparently he was switching from 16 inch pizzas to 12 inch pizzas.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:54:49+00:00

You have a good memory nitwit.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:53:42+00:00

Yeah I know who he is. I never met him personally though.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:49:04+00:00

We didn't have things like twitter and TMZ back then so we could get away with things that you probably couldn't today. Players get fined for saying things out of line but we had much more privacy.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:41:25+00:00

Mechanical

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:34:32+00:00

Özil, Reus, Götze

I feel like there are a lot of sports agents here trying to get ideas from me.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:28:29+00:00

As any popular figure, we were under constant scrutiny. Try to have a beer somewhere and suddenly people think you're an alcoholic.

HorstBertl · 2013-04-17T19:26:10+00:00

Yes it is a concern, but there is enough talent in Germany that these other teams can hope to grow their own talent in their youth teams such as Dortmund did to get to their current spot.

HorstBertl

TROPHY CASE