MLS hero on World Cup changing soccer in USA - with help from France
Former Philadelphia Union hero Sebastien Le Toux believes the World Cup will transform the soccer landscape in his adopted homeland of the United States - with his beloved France team spearheading the revolution.
Frenchman Le Toux played nearly all of his career in Major League Soccer, mostly with the Union, and has seen the game transform from his arrival in 2007.
But as he says himself, there is further to go and the World Cup, he believes, will propel that growth. He hopes that Kylian Mbappe and his team - the favorites to lift the trophy at New York/New Jersey Stadium in July, where he is speaking to Daily Mail - can lead the way.
'Football is like a religion in France,' Le Toux says. 'Obviously they’ve won more World Cups than most countries, so expectations are always high. France has a very strong squad and a lot of talent. Other countries are scared of that.
'But like anything else, everything has to click. If it does, and they avoid injuries and everyone plays their part, I really like their chances.
So far, it has been pretty good. France were one of three teams to advance from the groups with three straight wins and begin the knockout rounds on Tuesday against Sweden.
Kylian Mbappe leads France into the last-32 of the World Cup on Tuesday against Sweden
Mbappe has four goals to his name and is the undoubted star of the team. But it is the supporting cast around the star that has Le Toux feeling so optimistic.
'I think Michael Olise is someone people don’t know enough about,' Le Toux adds. 'He’s had an amazing year with his club, Bayern Munich, and finished the season really well. You can see he's in great form.
'He’s young and hasn’t played in a major international tournament before besides the Olympics. I think France will rely on him a lot now and in the future.'
But Le Toux also wants to see Mauricio Pochettino's United States team advance further and build a new era of soccer fandom in the country. They face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 on Wednesday night in the San Francisco Bay.
'I really hope the U.S. national team does well because when your national team succeeds it brings people together,' Le Toux says.
'Soccer isn't the number one sport in the U.S., but having millions of fans from all over the world come here lets Americans experience how important the game is globally.
'They'll see supporters wearing jerseys from everywhere and realize it's much bigger than just one country. I think it can really change people’s perception of soccer.'
One key indicator of the game's popularity will be when the World Cup is over and Major League Soccer resumes. The difference from his 2007 arrival to today, Le Toux explains, is extraordinary.
'MLS has expanded from around 13 teams when I got here to almost 30. Television rights have become much bigger, bringing more money into the league. Franchise values have increased dramatically, stadiums have been built, and ownership groups are committed for the long term,' Le Toux says.
'One thing I noticed is that in America people often become fans because their parents or grandparents supported a team. That’s how sports traditions are built.
'When I first played here, a lot of today’s young adults were kids. Now they’re bringing their own children to games. That's how you build lifelong supporters. MLS doesn’t have the century-long history of clubs in England or France, so it takes time, but you can really see the fan bases growing.'
Le Toux, now 42, retired from soccer in 2018 and remains in the game through coaching. But he also flies the flag for one of France's most famous exports in the world of sports - the muscle pain relief brand Arnicare, by Boiron.
Sebastien Le Toux spoke to Daily Mail as an ambassador for Arnicare by Boiron
Le Toux used the cream all the time as a kid and when he got to America, he was at first surprised to discover it wasn't as commonly used as he had anticipated.
'My mother always kept it in the medicine cabinet, and she’d use it whenever I got hurt playing soccer,' he said. 'Later, when I became a professional, it was something you’d always find in the training room. It was just a normal part of recovery.
'When I came to America, I didn’t really see the product very often. After I retired, I met the CEO of the U.S. business. They’re actually based near Philadelphia, which I didn't even know.
'For me it’s a great product that helps me feel younger and recover after activity. I'm happy to be an ambassador, it's a great product.'
Ford's AI experiment backfires as car giant rehires humans
Ford has admitted its push to rely heavily on AI fell short, revealing it has hired hundreds of veteran engineers after concluding the technology alone could not deliver the quality improvements it expected.
The US automaker has hired more than 350 veteran engineers over the past three years to help address quality problems that have cost the company billions of dollars.
Ford, however, insisted it is not abandoning AI and said the improvements have come from combining the technology with decades of engineering expertise.
'This reorg allowed us to look at the entire lifecycle of a vehicle – from software development to suppliers on our plant floor - as one continuous and collaborative flow,' a Ford spokesperson told the Daily Mail.
'At the same time, we have rallied the whole company around a clear vision: Quality Comes First. We've built a culture of relentless problem-solving and recognizing our teams when they prevent issues from reaching customers.
'Using AI is just a small part of this. One tool in a toolbox and culture that relies on experience and expertise as it does modern manufacturing tools.'
The so-called 'gray beard' engineers - many of them former Ford employees or recruits from suppliers - were brought in to reprogram the company's AI tools and tackle quality problems that have cost Ford billions of dollars.
'Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it,' Charles Poon, Ford's vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told Bloomberg and other reporters on a call Wednesday.
Ford has admitted its push to rely heavily on AI fell short, revealing it has hired hundreds of veteran engineers after concluding the technology alone could not deliver the quality improvements it expected
Chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra told the outlet the company implemented mandatory meetings to troubleshoot quality issues and reprogrammed AI tools to identify glitches before they occur
The US automaker has hired more than 350 veteran engineers over the past three years to help address quality problems that have cost the company billions of dollars
'Over prior years, we didn't pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers that have been with us through many product cycles.'
Chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra told the outlet the company implemented mandatory meetings to troubleshoot quality issues and reprogrammed AI tools to identify glitches before they occur.
Galhotra acknowledged Ford's reliance on automated quality systems alone did not produce the 'desired results,' prompting the automaker to bring back technical specialists to 'hunt for failure points before a part ever reaches the plant floor.'
Ford says pairing experienced engineers with its AI tools has helped improve vehicle quality.
'We're seeing our warranty coverages come down. We're seeing our recall costs come down,' Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said Thursday on Bloomberg TV.
'These are all contributing to literally hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of a tailwind for Ford on cost.'
The company also remains on track to achieve its goal of cutting $1 billion in costs this year.
Ford learned that AI could not replace the expertise accumulated by longtime engineers.
Ford says pairing experienced engineers with its AI tools has helped improve vehicle quality
Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said the company is seeing warranty and recall costs decline, helping drive hundreds of millions of dollars in savings
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'Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that that would produce a high-quality product,' Poon said.
He added that the only way to get the most out of the company's automation, machine learning and AI tools is to ensure 'they were trained by the most experienced individuals.'
The strategy appears to have paid off. Ford climbed to the top of J.D. Power's closely watched Initial Quality Study among mainstream brands, finishing ahead of rivals Toyota and Honda and behind only luxury brands Porsche and Genesis overall.
The result marked a significant turnaround after Ford ranked 10th among mainstream brands and below the industry average in last year's survey.
Three Ford models - the F-150 pickup, Super Duty truck and Mustang sports car - ranked highest in their respective categories.
Ford nevertheless remains the most recalled automaker in the US despite the improved quality rankings. The company said it expects about $1 billion in warranty and material costs this year.
Galhotra said recalls are a 'lagging indicator' of vehicle quality and predicted they would decline as newer models reach customers.
By focusing on preventing issues 'upfront,' he said Ford expects recall numbers to 'steadily come down with the newer vehicles.'
