Top Stories

Wood credits Klinsmann with helping him through struggles

Before Bobby Wood turned himself into a prolific scorer for both club and country, he needed a boost of confidence from someone that was keeping close eyes on him, and that man was former U.S. Men’s National Team manager Jurgen Klinsmann.

“He’s very important to me,” Wood said, per Bild. “I think if Jürgen had not been a US coach, I might have stopped playing football or played somewhere in the fourth league. ”

Wood, who had to take himself off the current USMNT roster with a back injury, made his international debut in 2013 under Klinsmann and scored his first goals for the Yanks in 2015.

Before a loan spell at Erzgebirge Aue helped his confidence, scoring three goals in nine matches, Wood struggled at 1860 Munich. The Hawaii native only scored three times in 50 appearances for 1860. Even during his struggles, Klinsmann was one of the forward’s top backers.

“I was in a deep hole – it was really hard,” Wood said. “But Jürgen Klinsmann gave me a leash in this situation so I could get out of there again. “

Since moving to Union Berlin for the 2015-16 campaign, Wood’s stock has been on the rise at all levels. He is one of the primary choices to start at forward for the USMNT, and he is garnering interest from all over Europe thanks to his current production for Hamburg.

Comments

    • Bobby went thru a bad patch, in 2012 iirc, with what was initially described as a career-ending injury. And before that he was injured in an U20 callup. Actually, I think he got injured twice when called up for US duty. So, he was in a very very dark place, and somehow he recovered, and it’s clear Jurgen really helped him thru the tough times.

      Reply
  1. This is the exact type of story we need to move on. This and a tweet from JK hoping the US does well. This, the tweet and scoring 6 goals in a WCup qualifier.

    Exactly what the US needed.

    Reply
    • …but they really need to play for an MLS Championship to validate their patriotism. Otherwise, what’s it all for, really?

      Reply
  2. I’ll give it up…Jurgen was (and maybe still is to a certain extent) great for our player development especially when moving to new teams, and Wood is a prime example.

    Reply
    • No need to feel bad to admit it. This is one of JK’s strengths. But unfortunately he needed to be able to coach as well. And that was not one of his strengths.

      Reply
      • Agreed. His best skills were identifying players and being able to recruit dual nationals. That being said, he did miss some players worthy of inclusion and he never figured out what to do with some of those like Nagbe.

Leave a Comment