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It took five years, but U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati has the coach he's wanted all along.
Juergen Klinsmann was hired as coach of the U.S. men's national team on Friday, replacing the ousted Bob Bradley.
"We are excited to have Jürgen as the head coach of our Men's National Team," Gulati said in a press release. "He is a highly accomplished player and coach with the experience and knowledge to advance the program. Jürgen has had success in many different areas of the game and we look forward to the leadership he will provide on and off the field."
Klinsmann, who guided Germany to the FIFA World Cup semifinals in 2006, has been linked with the U.S. coaching job ever since Bruce Arena left the post following that same World Cup. When U.S. Soccer did not want to concede as much power over the national-team structure as Klinsmann wanted, Gulati turned to Bradley.
After the 2010 World Cup cycle, one in which Bradley guided the United States to the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup title, 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final, first place in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, first place in its World Cup group and a Round of 16 berth, Gulati again tried to woo Klinsmann to the job, but the two failed to agree on terms yet again.
Bradley was then handed a four-year contract extension but was let go on Thursday after an underwhelming start to the 2014 World Cup cycle, one that included a second-place finish to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup with a spot in the 2013 Confederations Cup on the line.
With a rematch against Mexico on Aug. 10 in Philadelphia, it will be Klinsmann manning the sidelines for the U.S. national team. He'll be introduced to the press in New York on Monday.
"I am proud and honored to be named the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team," said Klinsmann, who most recently had been a consultant for Toronto FC and is the first non-American U.S. national team coach since Bora Milutinovic in 1995. "I would like to thank the U.S. Soccer Federation for the opportunity, and I'm excited about the challenge ahead. I am looking forward to bringing the team together for our upcoming match against Mexico and starting on the road toward qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup."
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What do you think of the hire? Think Klinsmann is the right coach to take U.S. Soccer to the next level?
Share your thoughts below.
Maybe he’ll teach our players how to dive effectively like all the other good soccer countries out there. Klinsmann was a masterful diver — anyone remember those Tottenham days?
Judging Amy, to say that Nowak has more experience than Kinsmann is irrational. Just compare their resumes and you’ll see how silly Kelly’s arguments are.
Leaving before completing a single full season is pretty much “flaming” out. His being pushed out is irrelevant, the fact is he couldn’t make it work. A failure with ownership and fans is still a failure to get the job done. Being the coach means making it work in all aspects of the job. If the people who make the hiring and firing aren’t happy, if the people who buy the tickets aren’t happy then one has failed at at least two thirds of the job.
In light of this take on Klinsman’s stay at Bayern, Bob Bradley deserves as much praise as Klinsi. Bradley’s biggest failing was losing management and the fans and being pushed out.
Earnie Stewart, John O’brien and Wilmer Cabrera (u-17) as Klinsi’s assistants!
Hire Loew as his assistant coach!
Kevin, you sound like a Bayern board member. Bayern finished third last season under Van Gaal, who previously coached Ajax and Barcelona winning the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Supercup as a coach with other clubs. Perhaps it was not entirely Klinsmann’s fault.
I stand corrected. Either way he took the team he was in charge of and got them promoted and was rewarded with a promotion from within the organization he was already a part of.
Kelly’s making clear points not based on emotion or wish fulfillment. Those points shouldn’t be controversial to anyone interested in viewing the Klinsmann hire objectively. On the other hand if you are just trying to justify your own biases, well then…
I get the feeling that some people are so excited about the hype of the Klinsmann hire they aren’t capable of entertaining possible questions about Klinsmann’s experience. Nothing personal. Nothing against Jurgen or in support of Bob. Not saying Jurgen will be a bad coach. Just trying to analyze where the basis for “Klinsmann is a slam dunk” hiring comes from.
I would dispute the claim of Turkey having him locked up if this was a few years ago… When they can sign NBA superstars, yeah, i’d say he’s probably getting everything he needs/wants
Uh, that’s sports dude. Don’t like it, then join a knitting club
Kelly wrote of Klinsman, “. . .pretty much flamed out in his only club stint.”
When he was pushed out at Bayern, he was three points off the pace with five matches to go. In the Champions League, he’d lost only one match: to Barcelona at the Camp Nou. To remind you, this is the Barcelona that won six trophies in a year on the way to being one of the greatest sides in history. Their only loss in Champions League play.
This is “flaming out” to you?
Wow.
Excited to see Klinsmann in. Maybe now the USMNT can enjoy playing the game and have some fun rather than the super seriousness. Would have loved to see Nowak get a shot as well at the top spot. Curious to see if he has the greenlight to revamp the youth system and tap into talent from all walks. Game on USA!
There’s no question that Klinsmann is an upgrade over BB, but I wonder if he got the control over youth development that they could not agree on before.
And Klinsman couldn’t even handle Bayern.
The bar is set pretty low for rational comments because they are mostly strong personal opinions of the subject matter.
That goes for any comments on any blog… people behind the keyboard get fierce
I wonder if Jozy Altidore, Jonathon Bornstein, Robbie Rogers, and all the other BB boys are feeling nervous now?
I hope they are.
obviously Kelly is the dumbest person here since not a single person agrees with his logic…nice try Kelly, but ur clueless…
I agree completely We should change the logo. We should use the Great Seal of the United States instead of some corporate logo that has no meaning.
About switching to Adidas…..For sooo long Nike didn’t listen to the fans and kept coming out with blue or white jerseys. Finally, though, they are listening. I really like the latest red jersey.
I had it right the first time.
Secondly, Nowak has domestic title as manager of D.C. United, and while MLS may be “sub-par”, it’s one more title than Klinsman has. Rongen as well.
Thirdly, this is a list I threw out off the top of head on the first comment from John F wonder if there were others with European experience and knowledge of the US game and writing no other names came to mind. Well there’s a whole bunch of coaches out there with more of each than Klinsman brings to the table.
Fourthly, John F said “on paper” this was a good hire. I am pointing out that there are many others with much more experience “on paper” than Klinsman possesses. Hiring Juergen may be a hunch, it may be a feeling, it may even be a wish, it may even be inspired but it’s certainly not a choice that is buttressed by evidence.
I don’t know where you go this? Pep got Barcelona B or Barcelona Atletic depending on the year, to the Segunda B, which is the 3rd level of professional futbol in Spain.
It goes like this”
1st) La Liga
2nd) Segunda Division
3rd) Segunda B
4th) Tercera Division.
Pep took over in 2008, that’s when Barca B went from Tercera to Segunda B, then in 2009-2010 season, Peps’ 2nd season in charge of 1st team Barca, Luis Enrique is the one that got them to the 2nd division in Spain after 2 seasons, he barely missed it his 1st year, top 2 get promoted and 3rd and maybe 4th go to playoff I think?
one can only hope
25-9-9 record at the healm of Bayern is running it into the ground?
Hes not qualified and has never proven anything some say?
My God! Some people are just friggin pessimistic a**holes.
As just one example of his changes, I fully expect him to seek out a lethal finisher. Bob always wanted a speedster up top to stretch the D with a long ball, but because our midfield didn’t have an effective system for breakout, the striker was usually back in his own half trying to hold the ball from defenders. Klinsi will likely prefer to keep the speed on the flanks and skill at top center. This could be a boon for Dempsey, or it could be good for someone like Salgado or Shea (who looked nervous on for USMNT but has potential).
“he’s done nothing for Bayern Munich and the brains behind the ’06 semifinal run has shown to be Joachim Low, not Klinsi.”
Boy does this argument die hard.
Prediction: If, as you say, we win the world cup, people will NOT find something to complain and moan about. Just the other 98 cents on it.
I agree!
I love this insult. You may have noticed we now have a European manager. And criticizing that makes one a ‘euro-whatever’? How’s that work, again?
Well, I wonder if Jürgen will bring in compadre
Martin Vasquez? Even though he just signed to work with Los Alamitos’s own, MikeE Munoz & Real Salt Lake’s Development Academy & Grande Sports World in AZ . . .
Right, because as everyone knows, you have to be Latino yourself to recognize good soccer skills in a young Latino player. How we all enjoyed that Neymar highlight from the other day is a complete mystery. And certainly a male coach, for example, could never lead a women’s team to a WC championship, or anything like that.
Not Likely. Good thing its only a prediction and not fact. If My memory recall is correct…wait of course it is correct. In 2010 WC Klinsy was on a pregame show and was asked what the USA need to do to win. He said that the USA stars/best players needed to step up to win. He said they were Donovan, Howard, and Dempsey. He said MB90 was not included in the best the US has to offer group. This to me sounds like jurgi is not impressed with ol captain America MB90. Not saying he wont be on the team…4th or 5th in the cm depth chart sounds about right.
I think this move is great and a long time coming. Those who quesiton his coaching history, I believe that one thing that led to the tiff with Bayern Munich involved him traveling back and forth from the US. They wanted him German-based. Based on this, maybe he has not entertained other offers because of the travel away from his home in LA. I have read that he loves it here. I also think this is the job he truly wants and he is the only foreign coach that I know of that truly wants to transform soccer in this country – not here just for a paycheck. He knows our players and system very well. I hope Sigi becomes the assistant! I am a long time US fan and I feel that this move is one that will take us to that next level. We saw a glimpse of what kind of counterattacking team we can be vs. Spain and Brazil in ’09. That is the direction we need now.
even better…not that Canada is a superpower, but he knows how to beat the Conca-team as well
Please define “he ran Bayern into the ground”. Do you know what you’re talking about?
Well if we’re going to nitpick where meaning is obvious, when did Toronto (and Vancouver and soon Montreal, for that matter) become part of the US?
Toronto is looking good right now, it is a matter of time before they a contender in the East
Klinsmann was NOT a failure at Bayern, please sto being lazy and do some research.
I think you need to learn more about Klinsi’s past stated opinions on US Youth development, not to mention research his time leading Germany and the changes he implemented with youth deveopment there, and learn about what caused his USA hiring to take so long to begin with…
really, you just dont know what you’re talking about, sorry.
This might be the best and most rational comment I’ve seen on this story all day. I gotta say, I completely agree.
I am all for freedom of speech and opinion and whatnot, but the point I was making is that most of the (air-quote) “fans” I see on here are just busy making rants and know very little about soccer, at least based on the apparent depth of their understanding. Personally I don’t care who is the coach, I want to see the program succeed and move forward. If that means JK, awesome. If that means Chad Ochocinco, I’d be fine with that too, provided it worked out. But there seems to be a large population segment that believes the only way we can move forward is by hiring a foreign coach, and that an aging former striker who managed not to destroy a soccer super-power in his only international managing stint so far is somehow the second coming of Sir Alex Ferguson on the international level, are sure to be disappointed no matter what happens unless we win a World Cup. Which, according to the popular opinion I read here, should be followed with a prompt firing of JK so he doesn’t get stale. I am sure of one thing…it should be an interesting ride, as Klinsmann is almost certain to enrage a sizable portion of the US fans with his “my way or the highway” approach. Not intended to be a buzz kill, just an humorous observation of the “fans” fair-weather approach.
Ahh, and we get to the heart of anti-Bradley hysteria. His name is Bob and he doesn’t wear Italian suits.
So Yelldell and Chandler are why (or part of why) Klinsi was hired?
Pfffft.
He lead the Germans to a third place finish at a time when the German team had hit an all time low. They had just failed to get out of the group stage in the previous Euro – expectations were very low for that team. After the world cup, I recall, he chose to step down, but in a poll, something like 90% of German fans wanted him to stay on…
“He’s far more accomplished than any American born coach.”
That’s setting the bar kind of low, don’t you think? 🙂
F**king idiot I’m far from it. I’m a fan of college soccer, playoffs, no pro/ rel, allstar game, the draft, I go to every usmnt game in tampa, I watch every mls game I can, I have no allegiances to any european team but I guess that means I love europe.
“Would Rossi have spurned us for Italy so easily had Klinsmann been the man instead of Bradley?”
You have reason to doubt Rossi’s explanation of his choice?
pedant
I’m happy about this as well. Although, its surprising there aren’t more anti-MJ comments- guess you need to go to espn for that. My crazy prediction: Michael Bradley is named captain by Klinsman before the next world cup. You heard it here first.
Great comment. You know Klinsmann has been around the US for a fair amount of time – specifically recent years. He’s better suited than any other European candidate as he’ll have a decent understanding of the US system. That being said, is his lack of coaching experience a concern? Sure. But someone mentioned that sometimes you have to take a chance. I think this is the right time to do that. Besides… if anything, you know he’ll command respect in the dressing room. He’s effing Klinsmann!!! Dude was nasty.
There will be Latin and Canadian connections, no doubt
I totally did that too, but I didn’t post it.