Steve Nicol, the longest tenured coach in MLS, will coach the 2008 MLS All-Star team against West Ham United on July 28 in Toronto. In 2007 with Nicol at the helm, the MLS All-Stars defeated Celtic FC 2-0. While a defender and midfielder at Liverpool, Nicol helped the team win four English League Titles, three F.A. Cup Titles, the 1984 European Cup, and in 1989 was voted Footballer of the Year by England’s soccer writers.

ASN: Are you looking forward to the All-Star game?
Nicol: Absolutely. We’ve got a couple of games before then that we need to take care of, but yeah, West Ham’s a real good team.

ASN: You have a lot of history with them.
Nicol: Just the fact that we [Liverpool] played against them for 15 years. A wee bit. West Ham’s reputation is basically just for good football, good soccer. They were known as a football club that brought up young players the right way to play the beautiful game the way it was supposed to be played – all the gentlemen’s game, you know, passing the ball. They’re just known for knocking the ball around, kicking the ball, they’re not known for being physical or any of that nonsense. When you talk about the game of soccer, West Ham usually comes in the same breath because of the way they used to play.

ASN: So, how did that style of playing carry through when coaches changed?
Nicol: Well, it has changed slightly over the years, probably since – certainly since there’s a lot more money involved in the game. I guess I’m talking up to, probably the middle nineties, towards the end of the nineties. They started changing because a lot more foreign players were coming in and obviously the money changes, then the mentality a wee bit.

ASN: How do you stand on the six plus five issue, FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s plan that clubs should have six native players in the starting eleven?
Nicol: I think that’s an ideal situation, but yesterday is never going to happen.

ASN: What will derail six plus five?
Nicol: Just with the money that’s in the game and the different laws, with the trade unions and that kind of stuff. Like I said, that’s the ideal situation because it means that you can bring in half a dozen of the world’s best players but you also have to produce players. That’s a great combination, but it’s probably a fantasy.

ASN: Over here, college soccer coaches are required to have at least a four-year degree, but some say the lack of top professional coaches diminishes the level of college soccer. Do you think degrees are necessary?
Nicol: Over there, players get professional contracts when they’re 16 and now, they have to get licenses [to coach], but no [not four-year degrees]. You’re talking about two different environments – one is a professional environment, a la it’s all about money, but the other one’s not a completely professional environment because the players are at college more than they’re on the soccer field. I’m not from here, but what does a bachelor’s degree got to do with coaching soccer?

ASN: The colleges need to be accredited by organizations that require instructors to have a minimum of a four-year degree.
Nicol: But I’ll ask the same question, what does a bachelor’s degree, in say, history got to do with coaching a soccer team?

ASN: Hard to say. What are some of the better qualifications to have, then?
Nicol: I don’t think there’s a complete formula. There’s many great coaches around the world that come from completely different backgrounds – whether it’s a playing backround, whether it’s a non-playing background. There’s not a designated formula where you can say where if I get this, this, and this, it’s going to work.

ASN: So, what makes you a good coach?
Nicol: I guess first and foremost, experience. And I think you have to be able to translate that on the field and in your training. What you think is the right way to do it and the wrong way to do it, and why. I think you have to be able to relate to your players while you’re asking them to do something – or telling them to do something. I guess it’s the experience, no?

ASN: So what are you working on personally as a coach, or are you satisfied?
Nicol: You’re never satisfied. I think you’re just walking around with your eyes and your ears open, and take in what you think is right and what you think is wrong. Same as it is as a player. There’s loads of people telling you what to do and what not to do.

ASN: Do you listen?
Nicol: I suppose – if it’s something you think is worth thinking about. Then you store it, and if you don’t, you get rid of it.

ASN: The controversy regarding compensation for teams playing in the SuperLiga. There’s a $1 million dollar prize that a Mexican team would split, but an MLS team would only get 15% of that. How do you feel about this?
Nicol: To be honest, it’s none of our business. It’s up to the players’ union to sort these things out. That’s what they’re for. What I think doesn’t really make any difference to them.

ASN: Taylor Twellman is not playing in the SuperLiga game tomorrow, is he?
Nicol: Yeah, he’s still injured. We’ve got a few injury problems, to be perfectly honest with you. We’ll wait and see tomorrow morning, see how everybody is.”