Хөлбөмбөгчийн замналаа бэртлийн улмаас эрт дуусгасан Стю Холден өдгөө Фокс Спортс телевизийн шилдэг шинжээчээр хүлээн зөвшөөрөгдөж, ДАШТ-ийг өндөр түвшинд тайлбарлаж байна.
ДАШТ-ий үеэр Стю Холден болон Жон Стронг нар нийт 104 тоглолтын 20 гаруй хувийг тайлбарлаж, 20 удаагийн нислэгээр 29,173 миль замыг туулан ажиллажээ. Фокс Спортс компанийн ерөнхийлөгч Брэд Загер тэднийг талбай дээрх тоглолтыг маш сайн уншиж, бэлтгэл сайтай ажилладгийг онцолсон байна. Холден ч өөрөө талбай дээр гарах хүсэл тэмүүллээ тайлбарлагчийн ажлын адреналин, дарамттай зүйрлэж, үзэгчдэд үнэн зөв мэдээлэл хүргэхийг эрхэмлэдэг аж.
Аргентин болон Английн хагас шигшээ тоглолтын үеэр Холден Английн дасгалжуулагч Томас Тухелийг хамгаалалтад хэт анхаарахын оронд Букайо Сака, Маркус Рэшфорд нарыг сэлгээгээр оруулж, довтолгоог сэргээх хэрэгтэйг сануулсан нь тактикийн чухал зөвлөгөө болсон юм. Гэвч Тухел үүнийг хэрэгжүүлээгүй нь түүхэн алдаа болж үлдлээ. Холден өөрийн ажлыг хувийн амбицаас илүүтэй тоглолтын мөн чанарыг ойлгуулахад чиглүүлдэг бөгөөд шинээр ирсэн шинжээчдэд ч өөрийн туршлагаасаа хуваалцаж байна.
Ням гарагт болох Аргентин болон Испанийн шигшээ тоглолтын дараа түүний гэрээ дуусгавар болох юм. Тэрээр Фокс Спортс телевизэд америк тайлбарлагчдад итгэл хүлээлгэж, өөрийг нь хөгжүүлсэнд талархаж буйгаа илэрхийлжээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Fox Sports World Cup final game analyst Stu Holden had a playing career to be proud of. In 2008, he scored a game-winning goal in the Olympics for the United States. In 2010, he appeared in a World Cup and, later that year, he started a glorious Premier League campaign.
Even with all that, his career ended with “What if?” as much as “What was.” Heartbreaking injuries, especially to his knees after unfortunate tackles, limited his accomplishments.
His fire to be on the field never left and has been heard this entire World Cup as Holden, on a few occasions, has said: “What I would give to be out there.”
But what has been cathartic for Holden is becoming one of the top game analysts in the sport.
“It was an emotional bridge for me to get through all my injuries and come out the other side,” Holden told The Athletic.
The draw of the pitch was so strong that he didn’t officially retire from playing until 2016, which was a year after he joined Fox full-time.
For his superior effort over the past five weeks of this World Cup, Holden has earned The Athletic’s “Golden Mic” Award as the most valuable member of Fox’s on-air squad. (Sorry, Zlatan.)
Holden has been magnificent during games, and, according to his boss, Fox Sports president Brad Zager, just as valuable off the air.
Holden and his play-by-play partner, John Strong, will call their third World Cup final Sunday, their 21st game during the five-week tournament. That is more than 20 percent of the 104 matches. And it is equivalent to what a No. 1 NFL booth would broadcast in a full season.
To get there, the duo will have taken 20 flights totaling 29,173 miles, according to Strong’s math, including both commercial and private flights.
“Some of the days we would look at the schedule and ask, ‘Are we asking too much of them?’” Zager told The Athletic. “There was never a time when I was watching a broadcast where I felt, ‘Man, we pushed these guys too far’ and they weren’t totally prepared for the two teams that they were seeing on the pitch that day.”
John Strong, right, and Stu Holden will call more than 20 percent of the World Cup games Fox has broadcast. (Fox Sports)
As a 10-year-old from Scotland, Holden moved to Sugar Land, Texas, and early in his career, he helped his hometown Houston Dynamo win a couple of MLS titles.
But if not for awful tackles by the Netherlands’ Nigel DeJong in 2010 and Manchester United’s Johnny Adams in 2011, Holden may have finished with a playing resume closer to Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey or Michael Bradley.
Between those devastating knee injuries, Holden starred in the Premier League, earning the “Player of the Year” honors for the Bolton Warriors as Bolton finished 14th that season.
By his mid-20s, Holden’s playing career basically ended, which is why his broadcasting journey is one that he is patterning after two of his favorites, college football’s Kirk Herbstreit and Joel Klatt, who were good college players, went into TV early, then developed into the two leading game analysts of their sport.
While nothing can compare to putting on a United States kit for Holden, calling these games on TV gets his juices flowing.
“The first time I stood in front of that red light and got to speak on camera, it was a rush and type of adrenaline and pressure similar to when I played,” Holden said.
What makes Holden, 40, stand out in the booth is a passion in his voice that is matched by his deep knowledge of the games and teams and his willingness to take a stand. He can point things out without pointing to himself.
“It’s not about me,” Holden said. “John and I say this continually. It’s not about us. It’s about the game.”
He still makes his voice heard. There have been many highlights for him during the tournament, including when the United States stunk against Belgium. With his U.S. Men’s National Team roots, Holden wanted the Americans to win badly, but he quickly realized that it wasn’t their night.
One of the most important jobs of an analyst is identifying the post-match stories in real time. Holden quickly zeroed in on Christian Pulisic looking tentative, ceding the ball and failing to track back on defense.
“That, in all honesty, was the hardest game I’ve called in my career because you know you have a game that is going to be the largest audience in soccer history in our country and, at the same time, the U.S. team is laying one of the biggest eggs they have laid,” Holden said. “It was pretty evident from the start the team was shell-shocked. But I have to be honest to the viewer.”
Fox’s Stu Holden has become a fan favorite for his on-air game analysis. (Fox Sports)
Adding to the difficulty, Holden is working off the world feed as, unlike for NFL games, for example, Fox has no control over what viewers are seeing, preventing any coordination between Holden and a producer and director. Holden has to react in the moment and has mastered explaining what’s happening so it makes sense to the viewer.
During Wednesday’s Argentina-England semifinal, there were Mick Jagger references, Jordan Pickford calling for a water break and, probably most importantly, in the 63rd minute, with England up a goal, Holden said that Thomas Tuchel must avoid being too defensive and should consider Bukayo Saka or Marcus Rashford.
“Inevitably, you will be deeper in moments,” Holden said on air as England began its retreat into a defensive crouch. “But you still have to have an ability to get up the field, so that is where I think Tuchel can freshen it up potentially with the wide areas to keep guys like Saka or Rashford.”
Tuchel did not until England trailed, which will go down in history as a huge tactical mistake.
While Fox did a skit during their coverage in which Zlatan Ibrahimović received “Employee of the Month,” in reality, it may be Holden. Zager could not stop raving about Holden as a teammate.
Prior to the World Cup and even during it, Zager and company have purposely had the positive Holden around new analysts, like Ibrahimović, Thierry Henry and Javier Hernandez, to show them how Fox Sports operates.
“He just makes everyone looser,” Zager said.
On Sunday, Fox will have the final between Argentina and Spain. Like most of the on-air folks, Holden’s contract ends, and FIFA has yet to start negotiations for the 2030 and 2034 TV rights. Fox may have it or it may not.
“I owe a lot to Fox,” Holden said. “They invested in me and they invested in American voices when it was not the trendy and cool thing to do. They had the conviction in myself and John to be the lead voices on the tournament. As you know, for many, many years, everyone just defaulted to the British accent because it felt safe.”
