UNREACHABLE POTENTIAL Ex-Metros coach Zambrano laments about the continued and incredible fall of Mathis
Octavio Zambrano on Clint Mathis: "I was treated as though I had insulted Mother Teresa by saying that Clint needed help." MLS photo
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
No one is more disappointed or perplexed about the incredible fall from grace of Clint Mathis than his former coach, Octavio Zambrano.
Zambrano, who coached Mathis at two clubs -- the MetroStars and Los Angeles Galaxy -- after drafting him out of college, lamented about the troubles of the player whom many observers thought would be the next big thing in American soccer as recently as three years ago.
Mathis was in the news again -- for the wrong reason -- on Wednesday, when he was given an addition two-game suspension to go with his automatic one-match ban after his ill-advised red card in Real Salt Lake's win over C.D. Chivas USA on Saturday. He has been fined for the incident $5,000.
In a recent interview given before the incident, Zambrano talked about Mathis's great potential, which he has squandered the past several years.
"I went through all those tribulations while I was coaching Clint," Zambrano said by telephone from Miami before he journeyed to his native Ecuador last week. "Obviously I was watching him every day and admiring his natural ability to do anything and everything effortlessly. When he was part of (the Galaxy) in '98, there were already signs of that something was not quite there."
Zambrano selected Mathis in the 1998 MLS draft. He played part-time on a talented Galaxy side that finished 24-8, collecting five goals and 10 assists.
"I had my issues then," Zambrano said. "I put him on the bench for two-three weeks. Then Dan Calichman had to come to me and say, 'Coach, OK, he understands that he did wrong.' That kind of thing. I brought him back in and he did well eventually."
Zambrano figured 2002 could have been the turning point of Mathis's career.
"I think when he went to the World Cup and that was going to be his breakout year, breakout moment," he said. "It was his moment really to shine. He had all the media behind him. He was on top of his game."
While Mathis scored a vital textbook goal in a 1-1 first-round draw with Korea, he did not play regularly, coming off the bench. He started the Cup in coach Bruce Arena's doghouse due to his questionable training habits at the time.
"When that didn't happen and he came back, I remember having dinner with Nick (Sakiewicz, former Metros GM) and we were both saying two things can happen here: He comes back and he says that 'I'm going to show Bruce and everyone that I shouldn't have been benched and I'm going to play great.' Or 'I'm just going to go the other way. Obviously, the latter happened. I can tell you right now without hesitation it is a shame that nobody really stepped in."
For Zambrano, it call came to a head in a 2-1 loss to D.C. United as Mathis stomped on an opponent, received a red card and missed the final game of the season.
After that game, Zambrano said that Mathis needed the help of a psychologist or sports psychologist.
"I was treated as though I had insulted Mother Teresa by saying that Clint needed help," he said.
"I was not wrong. I was right and what has happened since has proven me right. I didn't say that out of spite. I loved Clint. I was amazed. I was entertained by his ability. But I think somebody somewhere decided not to tell him the truth and decided to just let him go, let him go.
"Maybe because I was too blunt with him all of this happened. But people need to understand that this is a kid I saw from the very beginning. I drafted him. I basically saw his evolution, his genesis as a player to what Clint Mathis is. I was able to witness it first hand. There was no one else more qualified than to say whether this kid needed someone to help him.
"I never said anything like a psychiatrist. I said a psychologist. He wasted two or three more years since. Clint will always be one of the greatest talents that this country has ever produced. I certainly tried. I know many have tired and I know Bruce probably tried as well and everyone else. It is not until you look into the mirror and accept it. This is going on. You are going to fix what is going on."
Zambrano admitted there was a time when he realized he could not handle Mathis, now 28, anymore.
"I had gone through every single possible way that I could try to get into his head to make him realize what he needed to do. But he was beyond me," he said. "One of the few instances when you as a coach say to yourself, "You know what, this need is beyond my reach. I cannot reach him.'
"I remember reading (RSL coach John) Ellinger's quote when he got Clint Mathis. 'Oh, I know I can reach him.' I just chucked. Everybody thinks that they can."
Looking back some three years from the incident, Zambrano wishes Mathis had gotten some help.
"Had he at that moment said, 'You know what? I'm going to really going to go and focus.' You call them focus coaches, sports psychologists -- someone that helps you look at things and make you realize what you need in far as to maximize your potential as a player. There's nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately people took it the wrong way and look at where we are.
"People are thinking, 'Hey, we missed out on a great, talented player that could have entertained us. At the moment, people chose to believe I got him. I know what happened. Clint went on a tirade saying that I didn't do this and I didn't do that, that I was this, I was that, I was the other thing. It happens. I think this league is a little biased in what players say (which) has a little more weight in what coaches say. Now, it is all history."
Since then, no coach has been able to get through to Mathis, whether it was Bob Bradley, who succeeded Zambrano, Hannover 96 coach Ewald Lienen, with whom Mathis had a controversial goal celebration with, or Ellinger.
Mathis has a paltry two goals and four assists in 15 games for Real Salt Lake this season.
"When you look at the record, Clint's better years were with me," Zambrano said. "People said, 'OK Octavio's gone. Now Clint is with Bob. He's a great coach and Octavio is such a bad coach and he is going to really flourish. He is going to do well because he is with the best coach in the league. In other words, people believed it was me. In fact, the record shows the last part of the season we needed a point to go into the playoffs, Clint (didn't come through).
"Unfortunately for us, we didn't have a lot of experienced players in the locker room to be able to withstand that and everything collapsed at the end. I take my share of responsibility for that. At the end it was my team. I put it together. I decided to get rid of the veterans. When (Lothar) Matthaeus left, when (Thomas) Dooley left, when (Adolfo) Valencia left, when (Alex) Comas left, when all these mature, experienced players left, I decided to stick with the young guys, (Mike) Petke, (Steve) Jolley, (Daniel) Hernandez to run the show. They were not quite ready yet and that was my mistake.
"That made me a better coach as well. I learned that I made a mistake. The team needs talent that is balanced between older players and younger players. Especially in this league because a lot of players who come into this league come ill prepared for the rigors of professional soccer. You need an older, mature experienced voice from a player at that standpoint to be able help you along. If you don't have that element, you won't be able to succeed in this league. There is no way."
At the moment, Zambrano is not in soccer. He runs Pro Talent, Inc. a company that helps talented artists showcase their talents. His latest discovery is Ecuadorian Leonardo Hidalgo from Miami.
"We have had an incredible success with him," Zambrano said. "I am having a blast."
But Zambrano said he hasn't buried his coaching aspirations just yet. He hopes to return to the sidelines in the not-too-distant future. He said he has received offers from First Division teams in his native Ecuador.
"Don't count me out," he said. "I feel I have another go. I still have enough wherewithal in me. I've kept up with the game. I know what's going on in MLS. I know what's going all over the world."
He even talked with the Panamanian federation about becoming national coach. Panama finished second in the recent CONCACAF Gold Cup, losing a penalty-kick shootout to the champion United States after playing to a scoreless tie in the final at Giants Stadium.
"It was an issue of money in the end. Now I'm a little bit sad that I didn't take it," he said with a laugh, "because it would have been a blast to be at Giants Stadium to be with the Panamanian team against the United States. That would have been something."
Michael Lewis can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. He will only answer letters and e-mails that are signed.
