Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By ADAM SERRANO
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. –- Always his analytic yet positive self, Jurgen Klinsmann spoke to a group of reporters during a group interview in Los Angeles and outlined his plans for the U.S. national team.
With one eye on the upcoming matches against Costa Rica on Friday and Belgium and another on the future, Klinsmann gave his impressions on his first few weeks as U.S. national team coach. Klinsmann touched on a number of topics, including his staff and the future of a team that is very much in a period of transition.
Central to his plans is naming a first assistant and Klinsmann revealed that his choice will be former Chivas USA head coach Martin Vasquez. The USMNT coach described Vasquez as someone who will play a role similar to the role Joachim Loew played for Klinsmann during his time at the helm of the German national team.
Vasquez is not yet under contract with U.S. Soccer, but a team official states that discussions are pending. Vasquez will simply be Klinsmann's first assistant on an interim basis until a contract is finalized, with Klinsmann also revealing that there will be full-time head coaches hired to handle the Olympic and Under-20 sides.
"Martin Vasquez will play that (first assistant) role for me, he's got an exceptional amount of talent and qualities that are perfectly suited for his role here," said Klinsmann. "He knows the American landscape inside out and is connected well within the Mexican market, he has knowledge of coaching teams on and off the field."
During his brief tenure as the head of the U.S. national team, Klinsmann's focus has centered around youth development and making sure that the United States can remain competitive on the youth and senior levels. Klinsmann believes it is important for potential young national team players like Josh Gatt and Joe Corona to start their tenure at the U-20 or U-23 level, an area that Klinsmann insists will be an important feeder group for the national team.
"If I bring in a guy just because it’s reported to me that he’s a very talented kid, but maybe I don’t have the whole picture, that won’t be good for anyone," Klinsmann said. "Then you shoot where they are to suddenly high media attention and something that they can’t fulfill.”
Although Klinsmann is focused on the future of the national team, he admits that he is interested in reaching out to former U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. Klinsmann said he has a tremendous respect for Bradley, and during a recent conversation with Michael Bradley said that he'd like "to sit down with Bob and pick his brain and have a soccer talk.”
Although Klinsmann wants to make a connection to the past, he's focused on the future, which includes bringing a more "open minded approach" to the team. This even extends to the fan as Klinsmann would like when possible, to hold open training sessions for his supporters, a practice that will start this Wednesday. One thing about Klinsmann is undeniable, he's certainly enjoying the experience.
“I’m going to enjoy this job very much,” said the smiling Klinsmann. “I really enjoy every second of it already.”
Lahm’s comments are a pretty basic summary of the perception of Klinsmann in Germany and particularly at Bayern. He’s considered an innovator and motivator, but tactically inept. Find an example of something Lahm has said in the book that has been disputed by other Bayern players or even German National team ones.
He made several key mistakes at Bayern. He deployed an attacking squad that left Lucio and DeMichelis isolated in the back and never compensated tactically or personnel wise. He made no personnel improvements to a squad that badly needed some with the exception of Donovoan. While Landon’s a very good player he has a poor rep in Germany and Klinsi bringing only him in and then talking him up isolated him from his teammates and all but assured his failure in Bayern.
As far as Lahm being a “company man”, that doesn’t really jive with his criticisms of the boards transfer policy that got him into hot water with Rummenigge, let alone the publishing of the book in the first place, a headache Bayern could probably do with out.
I like Klinsi and hope he does well with the US, but this perception of him as a flawless savior is peculiar to say the least. It’s not 2006 anymore.
Nice to see all the fans keeping their feet on the ground and their minds focused. This IMO is disturbing to hear. As the USMNT head coach, I would think that his main objective is to win matches. This is just a nice way of saying we (America) don’t have the talent to win and if we all lower our collective goals and objecties, he will be there to surpass them. In the end I wish JK all success as he is leading our boys (hopefully to victory).
1. People are focusing on the two roster thing when making an exception for Altidore because he’s coming back from injury and recently joined a new team is another possibility (see Beckerman, Dempsey, etc.).
2. Bob Bradley $4.5m Qatar link:
http://www.korabia.com/news.aspx?q=56434-1-0-0
I don’t see anything bad about this, Klismann wanted to enjoy the game, I hate when player complaint about the way coaches are. Walcott just complaint about Capello been very hard and very strict but know he said Capello had change and talk to player and he is more mellow. I think these players are professional and they should know how to play in the field and do what they know best and that is play futbol. Klismann was doing a Phil Jackson approached let them play. Maybe Lahm never had a coach like that before. Remember this Coach (Klismann) has become Americanized and he want to coach like an American coach does and his mentor are (Phil Jackson, Bill Billachek, and the Duke Coach.) I see Arena do the same thing with the Galaxy, he just let them play.
Glad to see JK is willing to have an open practice. I’d really like to know how many people attend. Years ago when they USNMT was working our prior to the 2002 World Cup Qualifying, my son and I went down the the US Olympic traning center where they were working out. There were less than a dozen people there watching.
There is no time in between the two games to practice with a whole new squad.
la liga is not weak. barca and madrid are just on another level that makes everyone seem weak.
Anything including Ream and not George John has got to be wrong at this point in time.
i agree that Klinsi definitely loves this job, but you’re wrong in that this is that much of a change. Bob may have been stonewall to the media, but there’s no doubt he loved his job, and took it very, very seriously. he worked harder than any national coach i’ve ever seen. Fabio Capello only has to take the train around England to see his talent pool, Bob spent his off time travelling the whole world to scout new talent. don’t doubt his commitment and love for his job
It’s pretty easy really. Donovan peaked as an winger at the international level in the 2010 WC, and his pace is what set him apart at that level. He’s going to be markedly slower by 2014, and if a 33-year-old Donovan is still better than Brek Shea or any number of the other promising wingers in the pool in 2014, then we’re in trouble.
But he will still be fit, have above average speed, and he has so much experience and that indefinable winning mentality that you want to get him on the field. So either you bring him on as a supersub, or you find another position for him.
Obviously the “feast” part of Donovan at LB would be the killer overlapping option he’d present on the left flank. But I don’t think he’s defense would be “famine,” and here’s why.
I’ve watched a bunch of games at the HDC, and what you notice watching him the last few years is he really has become a professional. Meaning, he works his butt off in every game, tracks back; he gives a sh*t, basically. I’ve seen him play defense, and he’s good at it, even though it’s far more advantageous for the Galaxy when he’s further up the field.
The LB experiment didn’t work with Beasley because he was always going to be too frail and he was in a major funk in his career. Donovan is tough, he’s good and he knows it, and if there is anyone who can learn that position at his age, I think it is him. He’d also provide tremendous character and on-field leadership out there.
Finally, I wish people would get out of the mentality that Donovan is somehow a superstar on the world stage and that his place in the USMNT starting lineup is sacred.
He’s the greatest US player ever, but Donovan at his peak was an above-average player on the world stage. He never would have cracked Spain’s or Brazil’s NT, and likely not England’s either. If you aspire for the USMNT to get further than the second round of the WC, then you can’t place Donovan on a Messi-like pedestal and expect him (with non-superstar talent) to carry the team that far. You just can’t
Need Lichaj at LB. And maybe Bedoya in the midfield. Donovan? lol.
BTW I dont think i showed any pessimism. Ambivalence, sure. But i did say I appreciate all that he has shown so far.
Sorry for not being more specific, but RB read my comments correctly. Winning a lot of friendly matches and dominating WC qualifying doesn’t prove anything. Although I do think those things are important if he wants to keep pressure off of him so he can accomplish what is really important…strong performance in ’14 and build a system that can sustain success at a higher level at the youth and senior level.
Vasquez was a huge failure at Chivas USA as the head coach last year and was fired after only one season…there are far better coaches such as Kries, Schmidt and Kinner for this job….who have shown what they can do as head coaches in MLS…
He meant Algeria.
I am not sure whether I would call it honest, except in the sense that it is Lahm’s perception, which may or may not be accurate. I am kind of negative on Lahm on these comments. He strikes me as sort of a back-stabber, basically attacking all his previous coaches, including Van Gaal. You gotta remember, Lahm is a company (FC Bayern) man, will basically do as Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge want him to do. And those two guys did not like Klinsmann, so they are therefore probably real happy with the Lahm’s negative comments.
Unlike Lahm, Marc von Bommel, who also did not like van Gaal, at least had the guts to confront van Gaal face-to-face before he was fired, while Lahm and other Bayern players were saying publicly what a great coach he was. A few days after Van Gaal was fired, Lahm and others belatedly attacked van Gaal fiercely. Von Bommel in June basically called Lahm and Co. wimps, saying they should have had the guts to speak up sooner. And now Lahm is saying what a great guy Jupp Heynckes is. I predict Jupp will be fired before the end of the season and, if so, we’ll see what song Lahm is singing then about Jupp.
Jesus Christ. Complete bollocks.
Luis Gil has the ability to play on the national level eventually. He was loaned out to AC St Louis (R.I.P.) last season from RSL while he was 16, came off the bench and made big impacts, i think scored in his first game even. We on;y had him for the end part of the season, but he looked like one of the best on the pitch once he caught up. As long as he keeps progressing, nothing but good things will come.
Nice interview link – thanks.
It would also be interesting if there is more from Philip Lahm’s book & his discussion of Klinsmann. From small excerpts I’ve read, it seems Lahm is pretty honest. Here’s the excerpt I read:
‘The experiment with Klinsmann was a failure. We were only working on our fitness in training. He didn’t care much for tactical stuff.’ he wrote. ‘It was up to the players to come together before a match and discuss how we were going to play. All the players knew after about eight weeks that it was not going to work out with Klinsmann. The remainder of that campaign was nothing but limiting the damage.’
I heard that MB fell out of favor because he tried to force a transfer to an EPL team, when his team was fighting to avoid the relegation. This was perceived as lack of loyalty and, if true, I agree with Borussia’s management.
A totally remodeled locker room and training facility, Buddha statues in the locker room, feng shuei consultant to balance the elements and the energy in the training facility (things I would be behind – I have been pulling for Bob Bradley to institute a little Phil Jackson zen for quite some time) – and I think too many people felt it was to much change too soon – he (Klinsman) is a reformer, a visionary, an advanced ET from an other planet – many aspects of pro soccer are mired in a medieval and Inquisitorial past and there is resistance to change, especially from old men with money. Look how long it is taking FIFA to get with simple technology like goal line cameras!
Now if we could only find us a US Soccer Michael Jordan, to go along US Soccer coaching “Phil Jackson / Bora Milutinovic.”
Day by day gentlemen, one day at a time.
“if the team had made quicker business of Morocco”
Huh?
If you mean we need to win a lot of matches right now, or that sort of thing, I’d agree with the previous posters. My impression though was that your “results” comment is really about tempering initial excitement with realism, and waiting to see how things actually develop, in a more general sense. In which case, I’d agree with you that people may not want to get too carried away yet, even if the choice of Klinsmann for coach does seem positive so far.
A German relative of mine commented recently that Klinsmann himself needs some early positive results for the move to end up panning out well for everyone. He suggested that then, Klinsmann would continue to be enthusiastic or even more energetic than he already is, and that would create a kind of snowball effect. But OTOH, early difficulties or lack of evident positive effect could sap his enthusiasm and energy and lead to a much less successful tenure.
During one of the “rare” on-line arguments over the pros and cons of Bob Bradley on Big Soccer, some years back – I asked one of the posters, “What do the players think of him, how do they feel about him as their coach?” The general consensus that rippled back was – “.. the players generally like him rather well.” Of course this is before the most recent rumors that he had lost the locker room because of over-playing his son, etc. – water under the bridge.
Klinsman will do a great job, and the face of our USMNT is going to change, so is the attitude, and so is the play on the field. It’s like learning a new challenging piece of music on your instrument. At first it feels all clumsy, impossible, daunting, insurmountable – but you get help, you practice slowly at half speed, you build on the basics you already know, and if you keep at it – the next thing you know you are performing the music with a bunch of other excited musicians and making beautiful music together and the audience is diggin’ it. Good things, good things are coming.
The results with Bayern weren’t terrible, but were disappointing considering the talent and price of the team.
More troubling is what Phillip Lahm has just written about how the players lost confidence in his tactics and took matters in their own hands.
Klinsi must know Joe stated last week that we wants to play for Mexico. I’m sure this is his way of playing mind games with the Mex Federation. Love it!
More appropriate for somebody like Tom Dooley, or Tab Ramos – maybe some US college soccer coach ready for the next step up.
Everyone can hit that nail on the head. Your complementing him for basically something every other coach can and would say. This is what people do with Klinsmann. Blinders on, as I said. That being said, I did read your “reserve judgement” bit and will take it at face value.
i heard Bayern players rip both coaches, as far as their tactical coaching awareness and ability. Of course, how much of that whining was from professional cry-babies, I don’t know. And if they were weaker then, who’s to say they haven’t grown since then. Just wondering.
Still not impressed. He can talk like a politician, but I will wait to see a better product on the field until I am happy with Klinsi as the USMNT coach.
A keeper can play at a high level at 36 – ManUtd got to the champions league final with a 40 year old in the goal.
The coach wants Jozy to stay at the club. Gotta like what that entails for his future. But this is the life if an international, and Jozy is one of the young faces of the game in this country.
Calling in two different groups would have been a better idea though.
err second. Sorry something was in my third eye.
Is it just me or does the opening sentence tell us he has three eyes?
I have pretty vocal about my suspicions about whether or not Klinsi is indeed “the answer” many are hyping him up to be, but I’m going to reserve judgement for awhile. He’s got some fundamental changes in store that are definitely beyond window dressing changes, that will take time to bear fruit.
One comment that certainly resonated, both in terms of what and has been done to players in the past and what maybe is happening to him as well:
“If I bring in a guy just because it’s reported to me that he’s very talented…, but maybe I don’t have the whole picture, that won’t be good for anyone,” Klinsmann said. “Then you shoot where they are to suddenly high media attention and something that they can’t fulfill.”
He certainly hit the nail on the head with this observation.
If I tell you you’re an idiot and then say “no offense,” does that make it ok? The fact is, it was somewhat tactless to bring up Klinsmann’s Bayern stint in the interview the way he did. Klinsmann’s not getting along with some crotchety old men who fund a soccer team can’t be directly equated with failure given Bayern’s record that season.
Don’t get me wrong, I think MB is a valuable part of the USMNT. Let’s not pretend, however, that he hasn’t had maturity and attitude issues in the past.
Yes, we should have won that game, but it didn’t happen. To say the loss was on Howard being mediocre though is ignorant of how the position is played and is a bit of an oversimplification of the result IMHO. Asamoah’s winning goal was one of the golazo’s of the tournament. A counter that was in the process of being contained by Bocanegra and an angle covered by the keeper. The striker did his job and put it where Howard wasn’t.
Secondly, if the team had made quicker business of Morocco and not had to deal having Edu’s goal called back against Slovenia the team would have been in a very differnet place against Ghana. With more gas in the tank we would have outlasted Ghana.
Sorry, meant to ask: And *you* are the same ABC who yesterday claimed Bob Bradley “turned down $4.5 million from Qatar.” I am very skeptical of that one. Do you have a link?
Calling up two different rosters does not make much sense. USMNT is playing 8 p.m. Friday in LA, which Brussels time is 5 a.m. Saturday. Even if Klinsman and coaches would fly to Brussels after the game, say at midnight, they would not land in Brussels local time until near midnight Saturday. The first chance to practice with the new roster would be Sunday. And that leaves only Monday open for one more practice before the US-Belgium game on Tuesday.
A lot of national teams have two games scheduled in the same time slots, and I would be surprised if any of them have called up two separate rosters, one for each game.
Would you mind posting links when you quote something from the Internet? And are the same ABC who yesterday claimed Bob Bradley “turned down $4.5 million from Qatar.” I am very skeptical of that one. Do you have a link?
I dont understand how everyone is so impressed with Klinsmann. So far his reign has been an utter mess. Call-ups keep canceling, club coaches are mad, he calls up people that arent eligible, and now Vasquez will be his assistant even though he said he would rotate different coaches to find the best combination. As far as on the pitch, the first half of the Mexico match was some of the most confused and boring soccer I have ever witnessed from the US. All of you wearing the Klinsi blinders will see what a mess this is going to be.
Fortunately it seems like the AZ coach is blaming Klinsmann and not Jozy.
That said, Jozy is the USA’s #1 striker. The coach has got to be kidding if he thinks he can block a call up for that kind of player.
The USSF is to blame for the travel problems anyway… they planned the camp location and scheduled the CR friendly.
I wouldn’t say he has done poorly at Borussia Mönchengladbach. He was a regular starter for awhile, then, for whatever reason, fell out of favor with the coach. Aston Villa was a disaster, but I’ll be curious to see how he does if he does land at Chievo. He’s a very good player, but has a reputation as having a bad attitude.
I think MB qualified his statement pretty clearly with “but that also is part of the soccer business.” chill out pal.
Maybe I’m alone, but I actually hoped that Klinsmann would manage the Olympic squad.
I was thinking the same thing, but… The problem is he can’t be in two different places to oversee two different camps. He also hasn’t had enough time to put together a vetted staff.
Another point… there’s less veteran leadership to head up a US/Mexico based squad. After Landon, Beckerman would be the most senior guy, and he’s going to have to miss the Costa Rica game anyway.
Blame the USSF for scheduling two matches on completely opposite sides of the world. The CR friendly should have been on the East Coast.
You don’t know that he bought it up. The reporter may well have asked. Also, this is the most famous German player of his generation coaching the most famous team in Germany – it would be bizzare if it didn’t get mentioned. I think it’s a real reach to think that Bradley was somehow disparaging Klinsmann here.
While I understand the AZ coach’s comments, this is old school anti-american bias by a European coach. Perhaps that is too strong. He has an American playing well on his team, and is frustrated by a call up for friendlies, even though it is during an international call up window. I doubt he would be so openly hostile if it were a European player for a qualifier.
I’d say Michael has been fairly successful at BMG until recently.
Klinsmann made many changes off the field that upset the bayern board. Almost Amercanized the training facility brought in yoga etc. Bayern is very difficult place to manage if the board isn’t “on board”
Plus they didn’t really like him bringing in Donovan but he still was only 3 pts. out. Bundesliga is tough to win year after year. He did well for only 9 months running the show
While in some ways Klinsy missed an opportunity to bring in possibly two seperate squads for evaluation (and I am not sold on that train of thought), I HIGHLY DOUBT that this will have any negative impact on Altidore’s standing with AZ; The guy is on pace to have a 20 goal season for them.