In his first press conference as manager of Swansea City, Bob Bradley accused Jurgen Klinsmann of jockeying for his job as U.S. Men’s National Team during his time as a television analyst during the 2010 World Cup.
Klinsmann categorically denied ever doing such a thing.
Bradley made waves in his first press conference in England by criticizing his 2011 dismissal from the USMNT. The Swansea boss said doesn’t “appreciate the way it was done” while adding that Klinsmann “was already jockeying for the job” during his time as an analyst for the 2010 World Cup.
Klinsmann, who spoke out last week in favor of Bradley’s Swansea hiring, categorically denied those claims.
“It’s simply not true,” Klinsmann said at Monday’s press conference. “I could have taken the job in 2006, I could have taken it in 2010 and then we got together again in 2011 and we figured out a way to make this happen so I was not jockeying anything.
“I wish Bob the very very best,” he added. “I think it’s a big moment having an American coaching a Premier League club. I think it’s huge. And he’s an awesome guy, he’s a good person and I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for him.”
The U.S. returns to action Tuesday against New Zealand, while Bradley’s Swansea takes on Arsenal over the weekend in his debut match.
Bradley was dumped, unceremoniously by Gulati with no warning. I understand his resentment of anyone having anything to do with that. Gulati did not do what is usually the case, 1) give the manager a warning, 2) then fire him, then 3) start the search for a new manager.
Gulati started with 3). It is unclear who was courting whom in that process, but both Gulati and Klinsmann were sneaking around, waiting for a bad result so there was an excuse to dump Bradley. Gulati, after he and JK had an agreement fired Bradley with no warning and had JK ready and waiting.
In any case Bradley has been extraordinarily silent on his feelings about his firing. I am surprised it took so long before he let anything slip to the press. Some hurts cannot be suppressed forever.
Well,I remember a lot of fans who weren’t happy with Bradley, especially after the GC loss to Mexico. It didn’t seem like any surprise back then. I know I wasn’t surprised. You can say you think he got a raw deal, was and is a good coach, and a lot of other things in Bradley’s favor. You don’t need to rewrite history.
And what part of the narrative above represents re-writing history? If you read Jurgen’s comments, he admits up front that he was talking to USSF long before he go the job. And Gulati has been quoted more than a few times to the effect that he always wanted Jurgen to be the coach.
Klinsmann is full of it as usual. He didn’t get the job in 2006 because he wanted more than US Soccer was willing to give him (salary and control). Bob succeeded in the 2007 Gold Cup so he got the job. Klinsmann proceeded to linger around for 5 years waiting for Bob to fail and always chirping to the media about what was wrong with soccer in the US and how only he knew how to fix it and take it to the next level. He built a public narrative that US soccer had everything backward and was not capable of the next level in international soccer without his vision. He was saying this as Bradley and the US for the first time ever reached a major international final (’09 Confed Cup) and won their group at the World Cup. He was saying this as the US was having unprecedented and exciting successes. He is the one who in the face of that progress made it fashionable to criticize the direction of US Soccer. That my friends, is the definition of jockeying. He successfully detracted from any success the US and Bradley had and capitalized on it’s few failures. Jockeying.
Yet those of us who criticize the historic lows the US program has witnessed under Klinsmann’s watch are haters. In comparison “jockeying” was quite a polite way for Bradley to refer to it.
“made it fashionable to criticize the direction of US soccer” that made me laugh. It made me remember the ticker tape parades that were thrown for the last place 1998 WC team and how the 2006 team were all invited to the White House for a photo op with the President on the White House lawn.
You can argue the “jockeying” idea on both sides, but to say JK was the one who made the criticism of US soccer popular is pretty far out there.
I have already posted some links to stories from the past that support Klinsmann’s account. Bradley needs to let this go.
Easier said than done. It’s like having a gf that you really liked but then she dumped you. Your buddies will tell you to get over it, and you know you need to get over it, but easier said than done.
Along those same lines, I can see why both managers feel the way they feel. It’s like when someone gets cheated on in a relationship. Sure you will be upset at your gf but you might also hate the guy that came into her life and got her to cheat on you. But from that other guy’s perspective, all he did was meet a girl that he came on to and she reciprocated. He probably didn’t even know about you and certainly didn’t set out to screw you over. He just met a girl that he wanted. If she was already in a relationship it was up to her to reject his advances.
This was a ridiculous comparison, but it made me lol before my work day, so thank you.
Why’d you bring this up? I have been dumped and cheated on my fair share and I deal with it by not thinking about it. It’s called compartmentalizatioin and Bradley needs to do it.
Agree. And this seems so out of character for Bob Bradley. He’s always come across as steely and unbothered by petty things that would get under most people’s skin. I don’t get why he brought it up (even if a question teed it up for him), especially as he is about to embark on his dream job. The timing is just wrong.
Always been a BB supporter. But it’s time to let it go and focus on keeping this job into next season.
People don’t like that JK brought in all of the dual nationals but it did jump start competition for roster spots and also player development and that was his greatest gift to us soccer. Now with a bunch of very good young players coming up, neither they nor the established veterans can simply rest on their reputations…they must compete.
Competition? What competition? Is Bradley really the best option we have? How about Wondo, Zusi, Beckerman, it goes on and on. He will bring in guys for a camp but most don’t go any further uintil them make his good guy list.
He has taken us as far as he can and his dual national thing has not helped develop us
“He will bring in guys for a camp but most don’t go any further until they make his good guy list”…like consistently proving that they are better than the guy playing in front of them in their camp and friendly opportunities? What a progressive concept.
Honestly in 2010 I just remember Klinsmann pretty much saying the US only had 2 decent players in Landon and Dempsey, They didn’t show up against Ghana, so we lost. To me that kind of sounds like removing much if any blame on the manager. Klinsmann sold himself more on this grand idea changing the entire development system anyway, rather then being a great tactical manager.
Nothing like taking the high road, while still putting in the slight dig that if I had wanted the job you wouldn’t have had at in the first place. JK haters will scream about this just as Bradley haters did Bob’s comments last week.
Hopefully, we can move on now until JK takes a job in the same league as Bob and they face off on the pitch.
Yeah, I can’t see Klinsmann getting another club job. He might somehow trick another country into letting him take over their program, but I think he’s going to retire back into LA and just fly his chopper around. I certainly don’t see him in EPL no matter how many rumors he starts about clubs being interested in him.
If he wants one, he could probably get a job in any league he wants, not that I think he would be a very good club manager. I don’t see him getting a top EPL job without the US making a deep run in the WC, so he probably wouldn’t take just any job. The truth is he’s much more respected in England than he is over here. If he had the some assistants that were tactical guys, he could be pretty successful.
Before the last world cup, Jonathan Wilson (English sportswriter and author of several soccer books) was asked what hurdles the USA had to overcome in the WC tournament. Without hesitation, Wilson said: “Jurgen Klinsmann.”