By RYAN TOLMICH
With the team’s final friendly of 2014 in the books, Jurgen Klinsmann has turned his gaze toward a 2015 campaign that the U.S. Men’s National Team head coach insists will present a new set of challenges.
As the team heads into a busy 2015 season, Klinsmann is now looking forward to continuing the team’s learning process the began with the conclusion of this past summer’s World Cup. With new players, coaches and tournaments to look forward to, the U.S. head coach is looking forward to continuing to progress to start off the new World Cup cycle.
“2015 will be a year of developing talent on and off the field. The theme will be education. Education wherever we can,” Klinsmann said. “We want to educate more on the coaching side, we want to educate on the players side, we want to educate on the parents side about what it really takes to become a professional. What’s exciting for us is we’re building our own counseling office with Nelson Rodriguez leading it. This is a huge step. It’s something we copied a bit from the universities where we try to establish contact with the players and their parents early in order to help them understand what you need to know to become a pro. So there will be a lot of educational topics out there.
“We want to improve coaching education wherever we can because it’s crucial, and we want to challenge our players and not let them settle, not even for a second, for whatever they have achieved up to that point. We want to grow our program and one day compete with the best in the world, so it means a lot of hard work in 2015.”
Klinsmann is already planning ahead for next summer’s Gold Cup, which the head coach understands could prove to be troublesome given the current handling of international dates by MLS. As a tournament that will present the U.S. with an opportunity to earn a highly-coveted spot in the 2017 Confederation’s Cup, Klinsmann insists that he will look to work with MLS to bring the strongest team possible.
“Looking forward to 2015, obviously there’s an exciting Gold Cup on the agenda in July, which we want to badly win because it takes us to the Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia,” Klinsmann said. “Certainly there are challenges with the FIFA fixture dates. The calendar is not in sync with MLS, so hopefully we’re getting closer with MLS to solve that situation so that we can always call the strongest team possible for senior National Team games, which is very important to us because we want to do well and we want to get the results. We can’t always compromise our players on this side or the other side, so having that calendar together would help us tremendously.”
That process will begin with the team’s annual January camp, which will give Klinsmann and the rest of the U.S. staff a chance to look at the team’s domestic-based players ahead of the MLS season.
“With the tricky situation that we have in the United States that now we have the season for the MLS players going towards the end and a lot of them having a break of almost two or three months,” Klinsmann said. “We are forced to hold a January camp to try and get the players in early in order to build their foundation for the season. It probably will go with the theme we had the last couple of months, bringing experienced players, bringing a lot of younger players in and kind of meld them together and have that mentorship for the developmental aspect of it.
“We want to explain a lot more what it takes to get to the international level – that you have to be on top of your game on the field, but you also have to be on top of your life off the field. With that schedule that we carry in the United States that we only get a nine, nine-and-a-half month season, we can’t compete with the nations that go 11 months through. We’re missing two months basically, so we try to bridge that with camps. We keep working, we keep explaining, we keep educating, which is very important on the field and off the field. It’s going to be an exciting January camp like all the other ones in the past.”
For the team’s non-domestic players, Klinsmann remains adamant that earning a starting position is paramount, as the head coach once again reiterated his frustration regarding his European players’ current status within their respective club teams.
“For us it’s a tricky situation. MLS players are pretty much done, NASL players are done, the college season gets to an end, Mexico plays its own agenda and the Europeans now are going full steam basically until the end of May,” Klinsmann said. “We’re monitoring all of them, their club teams, we’re keeping in touch with their coaches and with themselves as well. It’s a lot of scouting.
“It’s a lot of communication, a lot of tracking down the right people to get the right information,” Klinsmann added. “What we hope from them is absolutely to establish their starter position stronger and stronger. This is the biggest challenge for them. This is what quite a lot of them lost after the World Cup. For us this is a bad situation to develop a National Team program with players not starting in their club situations. Hopefully they get that done over the next couple weeks and we can look at it a little bit calmer.”
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What do you think of Klinsmann’s views of 2015? Who would you like to see called in to the January camp? What players do you expect to step up in 2015?
Share your thoughts below.
OK,I screwed up. I had promised myself that I would not read any more of Jurgen’s pop philosophy, but in a weak moment… wall you know the rest.
I suppose the guy means well, but the USA is not some isolated country with no professional sports. Americans in general and the Americans involved in coaching soccer know as much about preparing players as anyone in the world. After all, Europeans regularly come to the USA to study American methods for fitness and training, nutrition and all the rest. In the US university system, we have as many experienced, trained coaches in all sorts of sports as any country in the world.
My own sense is that even American methods for training soccer players in soccer skills are about the same as those in Europe. After all, USSF and various US clubs have spent a fortune sending people to Europe to study their best practices.
These sermons about better preparation and training strike me as more than a little condescending and naive. I really wish someone, maybe Frau Klinsmann, could give Jurgen a hint that he should walk the other way the next time he sees a microphone and give us all a break.
Many of your perceptions of what has happened, unfortunately, very much incorrect– although you seem to have a good handle on what we *should* be doing. Historically, we have not spent nearly enough in ensuring maximum knowledge transfer amongst ourselves and more experienced and succuessful soccer powers. Although our domestic expertise in other sports has indeed helped us stay at the forefront in areas like fitness & diet (as well as ensuring first-class physical infrastructure), we have actually been very much isolated in our coaching development.
Training methods and best practices are constantly changing and evolvoing, Believing “we’re good here” and attempting to maintain the most advanced methods “in house” is a trap, particularly as we have very few people working within the universe of US Soccer or MLS who have ever actually worked at the sport’s most successful cubs and countries. . Constantily incorporating and individuals individuals who have worked in the best and most diverse environments is key to ensuring teams are not “left behind” (a la England). It is why well-travelled guys like Guus Hiddink and Bora MIlutinuvich have been so successful in guiding inexeperienced countries to and in World Cups.
The U.S.has figured out it should be doing more here,and has begun to think this way. MLS teams would do well to follow suit, and I’m guessing they likely will now that their financial resources are becoming more significant.
Bora as the solution to the USA’s problems, really???
I really don’t see that Jurgen has introduced much of anything in the USA. The USSF has begun talking about using the same approach at every level, but I suspect that was already the case in most instances. Other than sermonizing about whatever is on his mind, what exactly has Jurgen done? Nothing that has happened on the field indicates any significant change in USA methods. When Jurgen’s teams have had some success, they have used the tactics that Arena and Bradley have used in the past.
“what exactly has Jurgen done?”
In the Bradley era if Landon was not on the field or was doing his occasional disappearing act, the US was not going to get a positive result in a game against a tough opponent in a game that really mattered.
In the JK era while there are obviously important players such as Dempsey and Jones, this dependence on one man is clearly less true. The USMNT plays with more confidence and they do not wait for one man to save them to the same extent. It is no longer a one man team.
“I suppose the guy means well, but the USA is not some isolated country with no professional sports. Americans in general and the Americans involved in coaching soccer know as much about preparing players as anyone in the world. After all, Europeans regularly come to the USA to study American methods for fitness and training, nutrition and all the rest. In the US university system, we have as many experienced, trained coaches in all sorts of sports as any country in the world.
My own sense is that even American methods for training soccer players in soccer skills are about the same as those in Europe. After all, USSF and various US clubs have spent a fortune sending people to Europe to study their best practices”
JK is more than few years ahead of you.
Ironically, JK was savagely criticized by the Germans for bringing those revolutionary American methods with him to Germany’s 2006 World Cup effort. You know, more California craziness. In particular JK brought in the same kind of fitness methods that Arena and BB used with their teams. That criticism subsided dramatically after the World Cup was over and I’m fairly certain Germany still uses much of what he brought. Those same revolutionary American methods were also brought by JK to Bayern and the resistance to them and his crazy idea of bringing in Landon was part of the reason he was eventually terminated. You could say JK was too “Americanized” for Bayern.
It would be interesting to see how much of that methodology was/is retained by Bayern.
Wow, this gets confusing. We should applaud Jurgen because he brought American fitness training methods to the USMNT???
I suspect this discussion is off the mark. If you want the U.S. to get better, attracting better athletes would seem the best course. I doubt that soccer training methods represent the difference between the U.S. and most of the superior soccer countries. We can assume that the US’s non-soccer training approach is at least as good as any other country. And I also suspect that the soccer methods Bradley and Arena used look very much those used by other decent soccer countries. After all, there are really no mysteries here, no magic bullet that Jurgen brought with him from Munich.
Ian Woodville
“Wow, this gets confusing. We should applaud Jürgen because he brought American fitness training methods to the USMNT???”
Wow, you are easily confused. No one asked you to applaud anything.
You know all that stuff that JK preaches about belief, commitment, lifestyle and proper diet, etc., etc.?
All that stuff you think is condescending and patronizing?
JK got a lot of it from American coaches and managers that he studied with, guys like Coach K, Pete Carroll, Phil Jackson, Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley and so on. And he combined it with what he had learned in Europe.
Of course there is nothing particularly revolutionary about any of it nowadays. Almost all of these techniques are available to any aspiring manager for any pro sport to reference and learn.
You could do it if you wanted to.
However the difference between you ( or Bradley or Arena) and JK trying to sell all this stuff to the USMNT players is that he can speak from personal, successful experience in terms of what it takes for a player to get to the highest level and what it takes to do it on a regular basis. I had not noticed that any of the players in the US pool have anywhere near the level of accomplishment as player that JK has had. So it might not hurt them to pay attention to what he has to say.
JK has not won a World Cup as a manager but besides winning one as a player, he has managed a team to Third place in a World Cup. Which is a lot more than any other USMNT manager has ever done, if that matters to anyone.
At least initially, that sort of credibility, if JK knows how to use it, matters to players.
I suspect the USSF and the majority of the USMNT fans would be very happy if he could do that for the US.
His act will wear thin with the players eventually but for JK the good thing about this national team is that he got the job during a major transition phase. That made it easier for him to weed out the guys who were not buying into his program. It also helps JK that playing for the USMNT can be a major career boost for an American player and lead to more opportunities for them to add to their revenue stream.
This means that potential candidates are more likely to listen to JK. The more tools a manager has to incentivise a player, the easier it is for JK to do his job. And of course JK is most likely not going anywhere which adds to his control over the players. He is about as secure in his job as any USMNT manager is likely to be. Unless the team completely implodes in the competitive matches (Gold Cup, Copa, Confed, if we get there and so on) he is almost certainly safe until the 2018 World Cup is over because the USSF is too heavily invested in him at this point and more importantly, he is doing what they asked him to do.
The down side of the job for JK is, of course ,that in theory, National team managers have issues with personnel that club managers do not have because the player pool in inherently much more limited. You can’t buy a goal scoring forward if you don’t have an eligible one. This is why so many of them occasionally have to play their guys “out of position”.
“I suspect this discussion is off the mark”
That is because this is not really a discussion.
When posters answer you, you are not particularly interested in discussion in the sense that you aren’t really interested in what the other party has to say other than to use their posts as jumping off points for stating reasons why you don’t like JK. There is no real back and forth. For you there is only “JK s**ks”.
However, sorting out the vagaries of your posts is good practice.
For example, on your notion that JK has done nothing, there is a whole other soccer world out there besides SBI and in that world, especially abroad; very few people if any seriously thought the US would get out of their 2014 World Cup group.
They did get out so JK exceeded expectations.
Is that an improvement over what has gone on before?
To me that question is flawed.
The World Cup is every four years. The reality is the US players and the coaches, the opposition and the venues are so different every time that each World Cup is a separate entity
Bruce Arena led the 2002 team to the US’ best showing ever. Then in 2006 he led the team to the bottom of the Group. Did he become suddenly less competent? I doubt that. His 2006 team was maybe a little weaker and the opposition significantly stronger and, because of 2002, the US were not going to sneak up on anyone anymore like they did against Portugal.
So it’s not a question of improving the last World Cup team. It is almost always a question of building a new one. And the expectations vary accordingly
The 2014 edition was expected to finish last. It made 2nd. The 2010 team was considered to have a good chance to get out of the Group. It finished first. In 2014 the other qualifier was Germany, the eventually winner. In 2010 the other Qualifier was England who did not go on to win the 2010 World Cup.
So it seems JK did a slightly better job with meeting expectations than BB did. Why do I think that?
Because if the various media reports are to be believed the USSF, wanted to fire BB after the 2006 World Cup because they felt BB missed a great opportunity in the Ghana game. And eventually they did fire JK.
The same media are reporting no such desire on the part of the USSF to fire JK at this time. So if you go by the actions of JK’s bosses, it would seem they feel JK did a better job with his World Cup team than BB and Arena (who was also fired after the 2006 WC ) did with their World Cup teams.
I would say means his bosses think JK is an improvement on the previous two managers.
Actually I think Jurgen is a cute guy. If we were all going out for a few beers, he would be fun to bring along. He is always good for a lot of talk.
On the other hand, no one has yet identified exactly what it is that Jurgen has brought to the USMNT that others have not or could not. Allegedly he likes American training methods. OK, but surely there are Americans who share that view? (And yes, it is naive and condescending to lecture people about something they already know about.)
Does the fact that Jurgen was a successful player make him a more effective coach? How many international caps do the 20 BPL coaches have? Did Wenger or Mourinho ever play at a high level? To switch sports, was it Billy Martin or Mickey Mantle who became an effective manager? I think history suggests that really good players don’t make good coaches — perhaps, unlike bench warmers, they have not watched the game much and because. although they can do wonderful things, they often can not explain how to do them to less gifted players how to do them.
Ian Woodville,
“On the other hand, no one has yet identified exactly what it is that Jurgen has brought to the USMNT that others have not or could not.”
That’s not JK’s fault.
That is also unanswerable. No one can tell you what others COULD have done that JK could not have done in a way that makes any sense. How are you to know that? If Ian Woodville were USMNT manager, I don’t know what the chances would be but he COULD lead them to winning the 2018 WC tournament.
But in terms of what JK actually has already done could I just told you. He managed Germany to a 3rd place finish in the World Cup. No USMNT manager has ever done that. Could Arena and Bradley have done that? Maybe, but they didn’t did they?
And as a player, JK has won the World Cup in addition to having a long club career of success at the highest level, a career no US player has ever come close to matching.
So JK is trying to educate his players in achieving something none of them have ever done. Therefore, the topic on which he is lecturing them is not, as you claim, “something they already know about.”
Does his playing resume help with his management career?
In this regard the US program in particular has never had anyone with JK’s level of actual high level experience so I don’t see why it would hurt. It did not hurt Johann Cruyff, one of the architects behind Barca’s long term success. It did not hurt Franz Beckenbauer an all time great who won the World Cup as a manager and as a player.
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Being a good to great player should not be any more of an advantage or a disadvantage to being a good manager than anything else.
From what I have seen the theory you support on that topic is a gross over simplification.
One reason good to great players rarely become successful managers is they usually have a lot more attractive options after their playing careers. When Mantle retired, he could have made pennies trying to become a manager. Instead, he pursued a far more lucrative career with various “business” opportunities. These days a guy like Jeter will have any number of lucrative media opportunities (something Howard and Donovan are pursuing).
However, I see no reason to doubt that Jeter could be as least as good a manager as LA’s Don Mattingly or even Joe Torre, two ex players who were pretty high level players themselves, if Derek wanted to be. But he’d have to take a huge pay cut.
Also, perhaps you did not follow JK as a player. I did. He was more like Billy Martin rather than Mickey Mantle.
Just look at JK. He’s not particularly big, strong, fast, quick or athletic. He was not born a great player like Mantle was. The man was punching above his weight class and made himself into a great player. He was and remains above all else a great competitor who hates to lose. He won by any and all means necessary, another trait he shares with Billy Martin. He refuses to apologize for having re- introduced diving to the English when he went to Spurs. You might have noticed JK is quite combatative, just like Martin.
You also might have noticed similarities between the Martin –Reggie relationship and the JK- LD relationship.
You wanted a soccer version of Billy Martin? Well you have him now. Hopefully, he hits the same championship level.
ronald, here is what Lowe said about JK and his time with Germany. I’ll take his word over yours:
“You and Jurgen Klinsmann have mutually helped shape each other’s careers and you will be reunited on 26 June in Recife when Germany play USA. How does it feel to suddenly be on opposite sides?
It’s not the first time it’s happened as we faced the same situation on our USA tour last summer, but of course this time there’s a lot more at stake. I’m always happy to see Jurgen and we’ve stayed in close contact. I value his opinion and it’s always interesting to hear what he thinks about certain situations and ideas, away from football too. Jurgen is a very good coach with some outstanding qualities. He’s such a positive character and is always open, but is meticulous and wants to win above all else. We worked well together as a team and it was an unbelievably eventful and influential period of time. I know that I owe Jurgen a great deal. ”
in the end, ’06 was successful for them and it was JK who brought in Low.
Here is what Low said:
“In 2006 you were Jurgen Klinsmann’s assistant at the World Cup on home soil. What special memories do you have of that tournament? And now that Brazil are in the same situation as hosts, will the increased levels of expectations on them be a disadvantage or will the sheer amount of enthusiasm in the country by advantageous to them?
I don’t have any specific memories because the overall impression the tournament made on me was so huge and diverse. The tournament was a special experience for everyone; it was an intense, incredible and successful time, right from the Opening Game in Munich through to the emotional highlight of the Match for Third Place and the atmosphere in Stuttgart, as well as the reception we had in Berlin. We were carried through the whole tournament on a wave of enthusiasm. The situation’s different for Brazil though, because they are everyone’s favourites to win the title. Back then we gave everyone a pleasant surprise and exceeded all expectations. The best Brazil can do is live up to what’s expected of them. ”
Some more reading:
“When Low became the head of the German national team, he chose to continue promoting and teaching his buddy’s coaching style. Klinsmann was particular to developing a strong offensive in opposition to the coaching style of the previous German national team coach.
The distinct style of coaching can now be seen on both German and U.S. national teams.”
And lets not forget what JK said when he did not renew his contract with Germany after ’06:
“My big wish is to go back to my family, to go back to leading a normal life with them … After two years of putting in a lot of energy, I feel I lack the power and the strength to continue in the same way.”
While he isn’t a saint, most of the time he speaks the truth. And he does here.
It is interesting that JK basically sings the same tune as Bob Bradley, only louder and with less tact. Bradley tended to call it a process and called bringing in new players to learn how we do things.
BB was a lot less likely to say negative things in public. Of course he did say players should move to the best team they can, that the whole international soccer thing is a learning process and like JK he tended to demonstrate more faith in veteran players than the fickle US fans liked.
This was a WC year, so it is not surprising that JK did not call up as many different players as BB averaged per year, but, I expect JK to get back to around 100 different players as he brings in guys to see how they fit in with the team.
Both JK and BB, I think have made mostly reasonable decisions, sure there are some I question and some JK might regret and some BB might regret, but that regret is something all coaches have to deal with.
I do think JK does need to be educated about how to better express himself to US sensibilities.
It’s not 100 or 200 players, it’s about how to put your best 23 roster together on the field and allow them to play the most efficient, smart., and simple way possible to be competitive. Make the most with what you have without making excuses and stop trying to perfect the last game…be more progressive minded.
Doesn’t this whole coaching gig come down to results? There has to be a threshold in place. If the USA failed this summer in the gold cup, we can have a better understanding of our coaching situation. It’s fair to say, not advancing from group play at the gold cup would not be acceptable, not at this gold cup, nor the following summer in copa America. Coach klinsmann has some hurdles to get over before we even get to qualifing for 2018. The best thing for coach klinsmann and his future with US soccer, is less excuses, more results.
Great post David. I’ve watched a couple of Bayern’s and Germany under JK and compare them with the USA
Although the USA does not have the same talent level, the common theme on display was confusion which created lack of fluidity of play. All the Teams excelled after he left. Does this ring a bell?
Yes. At least with the empty bucket counter attack we made that work, but we need much more. Central, short passing, compact play can be done with lesser talent level. It’s a more efficient system of 2 on 1, 3 on 2, give and go, 1 and 2 touch passing, etc….every soccer skill is performed just a little quicker.
The US can play park the bus and counter with speed on the wings and hope the goalie does not allow them to score first in the process…this formula tends to be the USMNT national focus on playing the fundamental game. This is the empty bucket Milutinovic, Arena, Bradley, and Klinnsman have all used the empty bucket. Arena was too laid back, Bradley was too defensive minded, Klinnsman plays players out of position, and has no clue why.
So, after following this team for so many years I know we can defend and double team in a compact manner against world class teams, and hold them off until they score a goal. I also know, with the right players with speed on the wings we can blow past some of the best teams in the world and get a goal or more out of it.
On offense from the center half to the final third we continue to be dysfunctional, lost, confused, not creative, not penetrating the defenders space…the best feeble and attempt at creativity is crossing the ball out wide…we cannot get any kind of sustained possession long enough to pressure the other team in the final third and get shots in the penalty area or just outside the penalty area…we need much more than pass the ball, run into the penalty area, and look for a cross. That is too ENGLISH and enough is enough. Try and play compact. Give it a freaking try Klinnsman. If anyone saw the recent Austria and Brazil game (maybe on ESPN 3) you will get a full education because both teams played the same compact style of game…I loved that game. Compact style of soccer is ALL OVER EUROPE right now….it’s being played everywhere and with different formations too…
The last 3 USMNT coaches were not ummmm progressive and stuck in there ways…Klinnsman is doing the same darn thing…thing is…he knows this and he knows better…for some reason beyond me…he plays the dumb card.
My apologies..the Austria-Brazil game was on BeIn Sports, but I am nice enough to provide a Youtube link of the full game in Russian..it’s alright you can lower the volume or mute it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSOjYuhJbb8 Full match
If you want to compare the previous two coaches to Klinsmann… Watch again the US-Germany game at WC-2002 and compare that to the US-Germany game in Brazil. In the first game, the US played very attractive, attacking soccer, outplayed the Germans who won only thanks to Hugh Dallas. A few months ago in Brazil, the US had no intention of even going forward. Compare the round of 16 game at WC-10 with the round of 16 game at WC-14. What was our strategy against Belgium? Have Howard stop a hundred shots and hope for some lucky break or deflection?
Mr. M,
You choose to compare Arena to JK based on their games vs Germany in the World Cup? Put that in context.
Arena had better players in 2002. He definitely had much better attacking players.
He had Reyna and JOB playing at their best. The US still has no equal replacements for these two. He had arguably the best version of LD paired up with a top form McBride. The 2014 team had no one as good.
The US- Germany game in 2002 was a knockout game.
The US- Germany was a group stage game all about advancement where the idea was to draw or at least secure a narrow loss. If not for Portugal’s last minute equalizer the US probably would have rested several regulars.
Finally the 2014 Germany would blow the doors off the 2002 Germany so Arena’s boys were facing opposition inferior to what JK’s guys were facing.
The players the US has are not up to the kind of central, ground-passing type of attack you would like to see. Arena had maybe the best chance for it with O’Brien, Reyna and a young Donavon,but that was fleeting at best.
No national team coach “develops” players, the best they can do in that regard is communicate what they want to players and coaches and wait for the players to figure it out as coaches push them along. Bradley (and I suppose) Arena spoke to the national team youth coaches frequently and they had long discussions concerning what they wanted to see from the youth players and how best to achieve that.
It seems JK is trying to do some of the same by “educating” the coaches and players. It will be interesting to see if he has more success with his “direct style” than Bradley had with his more Socratic method. Of course given the time span players learn and develop over (say ages 12 to 22), it may be hard to tell which was better based on actual data.
Folks, do you guys watch JK ‘s body language when he speaks. He always look like a deer caught in the glare of a headlight. He is like Obama who got the keys to his dad’s porche and does not know what to do with it. Canada’s Manager was hired after JK. He is able to put a more cohesive Team on the pitch than JK. JK has been experimenting with the squad from day one and continues to do so. I think JK needs to move on. There are individuals who can get more out of the Team than JK can. Is it possible that they are no longer listening to him? The Team looks less motivated than they previously did. JK is out of ideas and should be out of time. Come on Gulati, time for a change. I’m sure some of the MLS Owners will pay JK to disappear.
Great post
I think MANY players have kinda tuned him out…beginning with Tim Howard after the WC. HE needs to move on from Chapter one, but no he goes back to the Preface and hires a band camp counselor.
MikeG,
You make an interesting choice of Howard as a player who may have “tuned out JK”.and consequently, stepped away from the USMNT.
I doubt JK had anything to do with Timmy stepping away and I doubt you will ever see Timmy in a US shirt again, barring an emergency
.
Timmy is 35 and is unlikely to be the US’ #1 in 2018 when he will be 39-40. Not because he will be too old but because it seems he may not be that motivated. And because Guzan will probably be a better option. And I doubt Timmy will want to be a backup or even an active player in 2018.
In the last year he has talked frequently about the next phase of his career and has increased his involvement with NBC as a pundit.
It is easy to forget that the USMNT, especially for an England based player, is a very intensive,draining, time consuming PART TIME gig.
Taking time off allows him to focus on his real job, which pays him the money that allows him to support his current lifestyle and the many options that lifestyle now affords him. It also gives him time to focus on preparing for the next phase of his life. Just look at how much international retirement did Freidel’s club career.
Does Timmy think JK is a twerp? Does he hate him for cutting LD?
I don’t know and neither do you but it seems to me that all the other factors I cited would have far more weight in the choice to step away from the USMNT.
Kinsmann wasn’t nearly as criticized before the Donovan cut and y’all were praising him when we got out of the group death only to demonize him after losing to Belgium. I’m not really a fan of kinsmann but I have less problems with him then I do with some of the childish sentiments I hear from our teams supporters. Criticize me all you want that seems to be your go to option when things aren’t to your liking at every possible moment.
I have written this before, but will repeat it because it bears repeating. Too few Americans have critical thinking skills and can think in nuanced terms. They tend to see things as all one way or another. You see this today especially in politics, but it is obviously true in other areas of public interest, including sports. When judging a person or a performance by a person or team, you need to look at the larger picture, put things in context, both historically and within the confines of the environment within which they work;. I like Teddy Roosevelt’s definition of success because it does just that”Success is doing the best you can with what you have, where you are. When you look at Klinsmann in these terms, I think that objectively has has done far more good and bad and has had generally better results than previous coaches. While he has a deeper pool to work with, one reason for that deep pool is how Klinsmann has used players in different positions so that almost every player can play in at least 2 or 3 different positions. Klinsmann’s teams have achieved results no other US teams have and that is a fact, not just an opinion. Almost no one outside the US thought the US would get out of its group this WC and JK is much more highly thought of outside of the US than within for this fact alone. Because he has done some things which some people don’t like, myself included, then some people overlook or negate the whole performance. That is a foolish mistake.
“It should read” . . . far more good than bad”, not far more good and bad.
What results has Klinsmann’s team achieved that no other manager had before him? Other then a friendly win in a half empty Azteca I can’t think of any. Certainly none that match beating Spain in the Confederations Cup.
Ghana (WC). Italy (away). Bosnia & Herzagovina (away). Czech Republic (away). There will be more.
Beating Spain was a great achievement. Doesn’t happen every day. But to say we haven’t done anything under JK is just incorrect.
Klinsman has lost all credibility in my view and that of many other fans. The guy is a joke. Anything he says goes in one ear and out the other.
Agreed. I can’t read anything he says anymore. Total drivel. Meaningless platitudes. All his pronouncements can be summed up as 2+2=4 and US players are not good enough.
1. Klinsmann says something obvious like “the sun rises in the East”
2. Fan boy SBI posters “OMG, he’s SO right. He’s a genius! Just look at his record versus teams that start with the letter Z in July of odd-numbered years on the third Fridayof the month! We’re lucky to have him”
3. more rational SBI posters ” yeah, and?….”
what exactly is Klinsmann DOING about it, as opposed to just pointing out obvious flaws like USMNT talent level and college system, etc…
if USSF is willing to pay someone $4 mil per year to wite down a laundry list of how US player development and current talent level differs from Euro/Lat Am they can cut each SBI commenter a check for $100,000 and get the same response
what Klinsmann fans miss about the obvious as “Sun rising in the East” statements is that he’s not doing anything of substance about it, except for complaining and whining…
Here’s a litmus test-had you dropped into a coma after the 2010 WC Ghana game and woken up in time for Dempsey to score the goal in the 2014 WC Ghana game you would be wondering why Bradley is still coaching the team and why the U.S. went backwards and became even more defensive than before- 2014 WC was played more like the 2009 Confed Cup-bunker and rely on Howard to bail the team out while hoping for a set piece or a counter-attacking goal-five years and no progress in style.
Whereas the 2010 WC had the US attack more (to make up for early deficits)-just think back to Algeria game, Ghana game, Slovenia-US was the aggressor in all three…
So what has Klinsmann done different? The only thing he has done is complain louder about all the structural issues plaguig US Soccer-knowing that unlike Bradley, Gulati will never fire him after wooing him three separate times, because that would signal a massiv eloss of face
Hahaha I like how you set up your argument with point no. 3, while killing any response with point no. 2. Nice way to set the table for a debate.
So, rational SBI poster, I see what you are trying to say and I disagree with it – I guess that makes me a fan boy (LOL). What rational posters, such as yourself, usually miss is that while it’s not all golden (yes us fan boys do admit that, I know shocking) what you and your rational arguments fail to acknowledge is that this is a process that will take some time and that JK has made some gains (but you wouldn’t see that based on the highlights you selected to make your rational argument).
I can accept a true rational argument that is open to exchange and acknowledges both the good and the bad, but that is kind’a missing here.
What exactly has JK done to develop the young American player? I haven’t followed US Soccer as closely as before, but what revolutionary changes has he implemented or has planned to get us on level terms with other nations? He’s recruited heavily from Germany though.He has connections and access to Europe and European clubs that no other American coach has ever had. How is he leveraging that to improve U.S. development other than recruiting dual national players.
“revolutionary changes?” common keep shifting the goal post. You guys make it seem like we are some soccer power and we have all this wonderful infrastructure in place and are just the right coach away from being a super power. We are not!
You guys act like you know the entire structure from top to bottom and know the plans (long-term and short-term) of the program, and you don’t though.
Sunil and the top brass have an idea and a plan and I think they see it playing out and that’s why JK is here and been re-upped. I don’t have the entire timetable but because I cannot list it to your satisfaction on a blog does not necessarily validate your position.
“JK has made some gains”
what gains are you referring to?
Oh yeah, it’s been a total debacle and that’s why people in the know doubled down and re-upped his contract. This is the classic response when one suggests that JK has done some good work. To listen to you guys he’s completely set us back and destroyed our future. Please.
What specifically good work has Klinsmann done? What has he accomplished as the US coach, making megabucks, that his predecessors, making anything but megabucks, didn’t?
Well jeez… I guess I can’t really think of much. Except for…
-That time we recaptured the Gold Cup for the first time since 2007, with unprecedented ease and a record 20 goals
-That unprecedented 12 game winning streak
-That all-time record winning percentage in 2012
-Ditto 2013
-That first ever win in the Azteca
-That first ever win away to Italy And the Czech Republic. And Bosnia & Herzagovina
– Four goals in a win vs.Germany might’ve been a new one for us.
– Oh yeah… forgot Ghana.
– 22 points and first in the Hex (although admittedly Arena had done this)
So I guess there are a few things after all. And the true work product remains in progress– I really don’t understand what people want here that isn’t being delivered..
Wow, I wonder why FIFA hasn’t yet declared the US the world champion in meaningless friendlies? Let’s schedule a few more home games against the likes of Belize and Antigua and Klinsmann will rise to new heights! Oh yeah, and let’s make sure other top CONCACAF countries don’t bring their A teams to the Gold Cup.
Nice backpedaling….
So you don’t value Gold Cup games, you don’t value World Cup Qualifiers, and you don’t value friendlies. Doesn’t leave much, does it?
Recall that we didn’t bring out A team to the Gold Cup either.
Please send my check for $100,000 to the following address….
if USSF is willing to pay someone $4 mil per year to wite down a laundry list of how US player development and current talent level differs from Euro/Lat Am they can cut each SBI commenter a check for $100,000 and get the same response
…and yet, no one was really making a point to say it or shed light on why it may be an issue going forward, something we should correct, and stop ignoring it.
As much as I respect the work Don Garber has done. Any type of questions about the structure and he cries foul. Garber is a part of the problem with US Soccer and many of the dolts that believe they know better than someone who has forgotten more soccer than they’ll ever know.
Garber probably cries foul because he and MLS have actually done a lot for youth development in the US. MLS has youth teams and academies thanks to him. Additionally, instituting the reserve leagues and some collaboration with the lower tiers of US Soccer. MLS is far from perfect but it is disrespectful and shows a lack of tact to deny the progress that has been made and being made.
I still don’t know what JK has done for youth development. I may have missed an article here or there so I would definitely like to know. The USSF had the Project 2010 blueprint so many years ago. At least that was a goal to strive for. Right now, I’m not sure what the direction of US player development is, other than “go to Europe, go to Europe, GO TO EUROPE!”.
And many people have addressed youth development in the US. Ives even wrote an article back when he worked for ESPN about the pay to play issues.
As i remember, MLS started in 1996. Youth teams and academies started only a few years ago and a lot of MLS teams still don’t have hardly anything developed in that area. MLS has been slow to develop this infrastructure because it is expensive and the league has taken a very conservative financial approach from the start. So, no, MLS has not done much for youth development because they wanted to make sure the league survived financially and decided to put any extra money first into DP’s.
Such a great post
Blokhin,
““if USSF is willing to pay someone $4 mil per year to wite down a laundry list of how US player development and current talent level differs from Euro/Lat Am they can cut each SBI commenter a check for $100,000 and get the same response”
It is 2.5 million less incentives which he may or may not have reached:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/juergen-klinsmanns-contract-with-ussf-pays-him-25-million-in-base-salary/2011/12/08/gIQAspE7gO_blog.html
“Here’s a litmus test-had you dropped into a coma after the 2010 WC Ghana game and woken up in time for Dempsey to score the goal in the 2014 WC Ghana game you would be wondering why Bradley is still coaching the team and why the U.S. went backwards and became even more defensive than before- 2014 WC was played more like the 2009 Confed Cup-bunker and rely on Howard to bail the team out while hoping for a set piece or a counter-attacking goal-five years and no progress in style”
JK beat Ghana in the 2014 World Cup. The only team in the 2014 tournament who did NOT lose to Germany.
Arena couldn’t do it, and neither could Bradley. I’d say that was an improvement.
Blokhin,
““if USSF is willing to pay someone $4 mil per year to wite down a laundry list of how US player development and current talent level differs from Euro/Lat Am they can cut each SBI commenter a check for $100,000 and get the same response”
It is 2.5 million less incentives, which he may or may not have reached
“Here’s a litmus test-had you dropped into a coma after the 2010 WC Ghana game and woken up in time for Dempsey to score the goal in the 2014 WC Ghana game you would be wondering why Bradley is still coaching the team and why the U.S. went backwards and became even more defensive than before- 2014 WC was played more like the 2009 Confed Cup-bunker and rely on Howard to bail the team out while hoping for a set piece or a counter-attacking goal-five years and no progress in style”
JK beat Ghana in the World Cup. Ghana was the only team in Brazil that did NOT lose to Germany in the Tournament. And the US beat them.
Arena couldn’t do it, and neither could Bradley. That is an improvement.
He’s referring to the manner in which we played and I completely agree with him. In the 2010 game against Ghana i thought we actually had the upper hand during the run of play and were unfortunate to lose, where as in 2014 we were beyond fortunate to win that game. We were much more defensive in this world cup then the previous two and I believe that simply comes down to Klinsmanns piss poor tactics.
Amru,
Let me get this straight.
In 2010 the US lost to Ghana but the way they played in that loss appealed to you more.
In 2014 the US beat Ghana but the way they played in that win did not appeal to you so you see more merit in a US loss that a US win.
That is fine for a connoisseur such as yourself (you might have been more at home in the Gladiator games in ancient Rome) but unfortunately a manager like JK does not have the luxury of being able to exist without producing positive results.
If he shared your attitude he would soon be just like you i.e. not the manager of the USMNT.
JK could have set up the 2014 team to attack from the get go and maybe you would have had some exciting games but Ghana, Portugal and Germany, if you let them get on their horse by going mano a mano with them, are all perfectly capable of tearing the heart out of any USMNT lineup that decides to forget about defending.
Did you see what Germany did to Brazil? That is what happens if you decide to forget about defense and decide you can slug it out with a team like that. And Brazil has far better talent than the USMNT, which was, by far, the least talented team in its group. The best tactics in the world can only make up so much for a talent deficit that dramatic.
Let’s hope Klinsmann’s “coaching education” includes himself. His tactics range from poor to “can anybody say what he’s trying to do here?” And as far as “bringing in the strongest team possible for the gold cup,” perhaps he could have tried that with his World Cup team last summer.
LOL 🙂 I thought I was the only one..not anymore.
This is a LONG TERM project. The US is still a team that fight on based on athletic ability, conditioning and heart. It is amazing to watch us play and see how most of our players do not fully understand movement on and off the ball and the pace and rhythms of the game. This is what our players need to learn and this will take time since most American coaches and players do not understand this. When to counter, when to press high, when to hold possession. In possession we are very one dimensional. We need players to be able to understand where to make runs off the ball to open space and why. We also need ALL of the players to understand the movement and how that opens up space and ball movement. We have individuals that understand this but until the team knows as a whole it will be difficult. Watching us play, especially in going forward we often see 1-3 players on one page with another 2-4 players on a different page. The players need to understand how movement works like chess and that they all need to see how plays develop. And the most important thing to this is playing time.
“What’s exciting for us is we’re building our own counseling office with Nelson Rodriguez leading it”
OK, now he’s just trolling the MLS, right?
I hope the education extends to himself as well. Like not playing guys out of position for instance.
+10
If it’s the same one I recall from years ago, I haven’t seen the username inkedAG in ages.
Just Win Baby!
I hope the intent is to call in all the best MLS veterans (Jones, Dempsey, Bradley (assuming the foot is o), Besler, Zusi, Omar, etc). Leaving them out would seem like a missed opportunity to me. There should still be plenty of spots for the new guys.
Klinsmann is looking forward to continuing education in 2015. He must be going to university then, because he has a snowball’s chance in &%§€ of being either the national team coach or technical director of U.S. Soccer in 2015. I wonder if it will be UCLA or S. Cal.
lol. Ok dude.
Gulati is his boss. Gulati is never going to fire the guy who led us to our best win percentage, best away record (outside of our region), and all the media attention.
Gulati judges Klinsi on two things: 1. Does he provide results? When they matter, Klinsi does. 2. Is he driving up awareness of USMNT soccer? Yes. At home, abroad, within soccer circles, within the media, and within fans.
What Gulati doesn’t have time for is a prissy MLS commissioner who has a problem with Klinsi voicing mostly facts.
MLS isn’t the best league in the world and in order for USMNT players to get to the level they need, they have to go abroad. Outside of Donovan, name a single US attacking player who has had an effect at the global level outside of our region.
MLS’ calendar is a massive pain in Klinsi’ neck, and was for past coaches. It’s also not as aggressive.
And MLS academies aren’t up to standards yet.
Rubin said as much two weeks ago. He said, “In US academies you play for a starting role. In European academies you play for your job.” It’s that mentality that’s missing in MLS academies. The level of competition isn’t there yet at the youth level.
BS. Our team is not any better under Klinsmann than before. We didnt get any further in the WC and we didn’t look any better getting as far as we always do. That “possession soccer” he talked about so much is nowhere to be found and we still import more players than anybody.
He has the best record of any national team manager for the United States. Let that sink in.
Either you’re saying we’re not talented and indirectly praising his performance or you’re saying you have no concept of reality.
100 quid to a doughnut says he won’t finish with the best record. The ship is listing badly.
Gulati doesn’t know jack. He is 50% of the problem. The other half is, well you know, the German “Missionary.”
That is so well said my friend
Sigh. Does the D stand for drivel?
You are so far off base it is comical
Please no more. You are putting me to sleep
Deuce. Big season for Fulham with more than 20 goals. Scored in three straight WCs. More combined WC goals than CR7 and Wayne Rooney combined.
LOL.
All JK has to do is say something and then all manner of crazy talk happens.
All press is good press?
Seriously though, I don’t remember another USMNT coach getting as much attention as JK.
No such thing as bad publicity.
There was a time, not that long ago, when the only time you heard the word soccer in a major American sporting context was in reference to the revolutionary “soccer style kickers” in the NFL.
Now everyone kicks that way in the NFL and college and you don’t hear “soccer style” anymore. It’s just kicker.
JK has raised the profile of the game dramatically in this country and the USSF and even Garber, who nobody had ever heard of before his little handbag incident with JK, has got to love that.
We Don’t Need No Education…
LOL
This dude never misses a chance to call us Americans ignorant.
When it comes to soccer / football, do you dispute his contention?
Americans, in general, don’t have a good understanding of the sport (spacing, movement, etc). It will come over time, but let’s face it, we are a few years / decades behind in our knowledge.
We don’t yet have a good model for player development to ensure that, regardless of money, good players get the coaching and skills/tactics they need.
That’s not to say we can’t catch up nor that other countries seem to be lagging. Brazil seems to be a country that hasn’t played jogo bonito for quite a while, while Germany, Spain and Argentina seem to be ahead of them. Heck, I’d put Belgium ahead of Brazil right now in terms of development and style.
Do you support Bell’s statement? I certainly do!
I was just going to say the same thing.
I am like a broken record, but only because he is. He constantly talks down to us.
“What we need to look for…”
Now he comes out a say he needs to educate us….ok. We would win without him too.
He will do fine, but I have started to hope that happens. Seriously.
Yeah, you’re right he should sing us sugar coated lullabies while telling us our gaseous emanations smell like flowers…sweet beautiful flowers.
That’s certainly one way to look at it. Though I doubt you’d have that view if it was an American saying this.
we all know what he means and what he is saying in this case and when he says we need to get more nasty. But then folks like to take those comments at pure, raw face value and twist them to suit their own agenda.
Then again, if you think we know everything about the sport that there is to know the you should really get to know the game a bit better.
We are ignorant. Twenty years ago we had a team of mostly college guys, with a handful of guys who were playing in Europe, and only 1-2 of them were starting anywhere.
Let me repeat that: twenty years.
MLS hasn’t even been around two decades. IMHO we have absolutely nothing to apologize for with MLS, and Garber’s vision of building a parity-based league that lives within its means is going to reap immense benefits, over the long term. Over the short term it’s kind of hamstrung us because we’ve got a very young domestic league that only NOW has reached 20 teams, only about half of which have soccer specific stadiums built, that has seen a good half-dozen franchises contract over the years, and still has a paltry $3 million salary cap.
Top Euro leagues spend that on one bench player.
The fact that we’ve crashed the party and made two straight Round of 16’s in the World Cup is nothing short of amazing, given where we were 20 years ago, but it’s not like we’re remotely in a position to re-invent the game yet. We’re still very much building up our infrastructure and finding our way…and, honestly, figuring out who the heck we are as a soccer nation.
I actually agree with Bruce Arena that eventually we’re going to have to find a solution that is “American” – but in the meantime borrowing as much as we can from the current top soccer nation in the world right now – and one of the primary architects of its current system – seems wise, if we can get over the fact that Klinsmann doesn’t always respect us. Which I know irks some people…but hey, the guy is bought into building something here…and is he WRONG?
Have we produced a Lionel Messi, a Xavi, or suchlike yet? Are we winning the big tournaments? Can our domestic league teams even get out of CONCACAF Champions League against their Mexican counterparts?
We got a ways to go. And for all the invective from people who don’t always like his style, Klinsmann and what he’s bringing is priceless because he’s showing us where the benchmarks are.
Are we good enough yet that we can just be too proud and ‘Merican to hear him?
Great post, agreed.
+ 1
NOW THAT’S A POST! Thank you for this.
I am going to copy this post and paste it into future comment sections (as my own comment… just kidding). Very good points.
+1 Elegant post.
well said
With the exception that Klinsmann doesn’t respect us, everything stated is spot on. Great post…
If you think US soccer has come a long way in twenty years, that’s nothing compared to how far we’ve come in the 35 years since I went to my first MNT match. It was the 6-0 pasting that France gave us at Giants Stadium.
Soccer is relevant in this country (at least the World Cup). It will probably never surpass football, baseball, or basketball. I do think a reasonable goal is to make it the 4th most popular sport ahead of hockey.
You may disagree with Klinsmann over tactics, personality, player selections, etc. but I think you have to agree he is audacious. I think we need that in a leader right now. We shouldn’t be satisfied with just getting out of group. We should want to make the final 8.
He has a vision and he thinks he can get it done. I think the Ireland game exposed some fundamental weaknesses both tactically and with our current personnel.
I want to see a serious infusion of youth at the January camp. Not only should we be thinking about the GC, but about Olympic qualifying too. Let’s get as many U-23 players experience on the senior men’s team. When is qualifying for Rio, late winter or early spring? We need teams to release players unlike four years ago. IF we qualify, I think we can do some damage in the Olympics. I’m curious to see which 3 overage players to take. I would imagine that might be Guzan, a leader type CM or CB, and a forward (Wondo or Jozy?)
The payoff probably won’t happen for at least 20 years from now. With an American coaching the team. Could it be Jay Heaps? Maybe. Our someone who has yet to make their mark.
oh brother. If you go looking for insults you can find them anywhere.
Bell,
He isn’t talking to you. He is talking to young players who want to become the best they can be and reach the highest levels. They can.
You are not part of that conversation.
my advice?
Get thicker skin or jump on the bandwagon after the USMNT wins a world cup final. We’re a top 20 team trying to build a program that can win the toughest tournament out there.
We have a lot to learn, yet have a fan base that buys MLS hype as real assessments of progress and quality. These are dangerous times in terms of the kind of expectations building within the growing fan base. Expectations that are largely fantasy based until we have players competing on teams that play at as high a level week in and week out 11 months out of the year as Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich. Why did I pick those teams? Look at the rosters of the world cup finalist teams, that where the majority of their starters are playing — clubs at that level of competition. Peak skill peak fitness peak instinct honed by peak competition. These are clubs that do not exist in the USA and won’t for another 10 years. We may get there that quickly, but it takes time to build it right, which is exactly what MLS is doing.
Yet we actually have folks who believe that MLS is currently on par with the top 4 European leagues and get their hackles up as soon as someone starts pointing realities like these out. So I ask, in light of that what other would should he use? stupid? stubborn? naive? I think ignorant is the most diplomatic word he can use.
So go on JK, keep talking. I may agree or disagree with you, but at least you’re challenging us to think bigger in terms of where we currently are and where we need to be.
If we’re basing opinions off the average SBI-poster that whines and complains about Jurgen breathing air wrong, most Americans are ignorant.
Luckily, they’re only a vocal minority as several polls (including SBI’s very own a few months back) show they’re heavily outnumbered and actually support this team and it’s manager.
Or on the other hand, it can just as easily be said, if we’re basing opinions off the average SBI poster that whines and complains about anyone who dares to even question Jurgen, most Americans are ignorant.
Unfortunately they are a vocal majority as has been demonstrated over and over again. But fortunately Klinsmann is screwing up so bad and there are some SBI posters who see through all of his bs and see what he really is. A divisive blowhard and an vindictive one at that.
How is JK divisive?
He talks a good game about what he will do in the future. What he was quoted as saying now, today, as quoted in the this article is almost exactly what he said when he was in Germany, when he went to Munich and before he was hired for the U.S. At no place did he deliver.
Divisive? Every locker room he was a part of, both as a player and a coach, turned into factions. The only place he stayed more than 3 years was his first team, Stuttgart. All the other places he wore out his welcome within 2 years with the team is shambles.
He simply can not get along with others, his team mates or his players. He refuses to believe there is anyone who has something to contribute.
Just check out his history. And ask yourself, why did he cut Landon from the team?
I don’t understand. What posters are you talking about?
Oh, please. Read what he said. He included coaches among those who will get education. He also said that one thing he will institute is a feature which he got from sports in US colleges. I remember reading an article about Klinsmann a few months after he was appointed US coach. Remember he had already coached a young German team to 3rd place and had coached Bayern Munich, yet after he got the US job he was going to coaching clinics, visiting coaches in different countries, and so on. Anyone who aspires to succeed in his or her field should have a continuing education about their field. One thing I think he mentions that is important and often overlooked is educating parents so that they know what it takes for their son to be successful at the highest level. JK is becoming like a college recruiter here and he is doing just what the successful ones do.
He did not coach the German team to 3rd place. Loew did that, Klinsmann was a coach in name only, Loew ran the team. Klinsi was almost sacked one week before the start. He was actually sacked shortly after the cup (forced retirement).
You do realize that Germany does give JK for helping rebuild the system that has produced all of the players that just won the World Cup right?
No they don’t. That started in 2001, when the DFB made in mandatory that every team in first div. had to form a youth team, and a year later every team in the 2nd. div.
Klinsmann had nothing to do with that. However, he does certainly lead others, read:Americans, to believe that it was 100% due to him.
Yep and I never miss the chance to call out how ignorant Klinnsman is of his tactics and approach to the fundamental game…I was of the opinion the USMNT is a finished project team…development of players come from the professional club level and amateur youth team level. The USMNT is a tournament focused team. You have a best 23 with two players at each position and 3 goalies. You have a depth list beyond that from all over the world. Your best players at each position either comes from MLS or Worldwide clubs. So, what’s this I hear about a band camp?
I’m not really sure what you are driving at here, but my reading is that it’s something to do with “Why isn’t our senior team better yet after JK’s three years in charge?”. Sound about accurate, or am I misreading?
Really, this question has been answered plenty of times, but the answer remains “It’s the same group of players… exactly what did you expect?”. Sorry to disappoint, but there is no tactical tweak or formational change that is keeping our $30 million team from playing like 1970 Brazil against $200-300 million teams like Germany and Belgium. I’m highly confident that Biesla, Pekerman, Low, Guardiola, or [insert presumed tactical genius here] would tell you the same. Our most valuable and experienced midfield — where games are typically decided — is probably worth less combined than a single player in the first choice midfield of most any elite European or South American power. By a lot.
Until we get a full generation of youth players to pass through the development system (which I hate to report will take more than 3 years), you are kidding yourself if you expect much different.
Further, to suggest — as some have– that the U.S. has failed to play attractive attacking soccer under Klinsmann is really an exercise in selective memory. The 2013 Gold Cup was won (for the first time since 2007) with an ease and style that we had never shown in that competition. Or perhaps people do not recall the 4 goal performances vs Germany and B&H. Or the three pre-WC friendlies, particularly the final match against a Nigeria side who qualified for the knockout round. On the eve of the WC, we utterly dominated their first choice side with countless well-worked attacking moves. Yes, we hit our wall against the exceptional teams we played at the WC, but to be surprised that we couldn’t dominate those teams is really hard to understand.
As a fan who has followed the MNT since 1979, that was the only other time we’ve executed the jogo bonito besides those wonderful 45 minutes against Brazil in the first half of the 2009 Confederations Cup.
Clearly, it is a much easier doing it against the likes of CONCACAF minnows like El Salvador or Cuba, but must get credit for giving us confidence. I really thought we were going to beat Costa Rica in San Jose. Bradley getting injured in warmup destroyed any chance of that, and we still were a crossbar away from tying the match
Go join the ASN community. Their writer posted in the headline that JK took “one more jab at MLS.” Sounds like you both came away with the same hurt feelings.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with what he said. He’s trying to build something. As a coach in the youth ranks, I’ve seen his impact at even the lowest levels. Sometimes it’s hard to hear constructive criticism, but his methods are changing the game in this country and it’s for the better.