U.S. Soccer Parts Ways with Jurgen Klinsmann

[joseephuss]

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...nt-us-soccer-parts-ways-with-jurgen-klinsmann

U.S. Soccer Parts Ways with Jurgen Klinsmann

CHICAGO (November 21, 2016) – U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced today that Jurgen Klinsmann has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team and Technical Director for U.S. Soccer.

Gulati will conduct a media teleconference call Tuesday afternoon to discuss the change. Details will be announced in the near future.

Klinsmann began his tenure as head coach on July 29, 2011, and compiled a 55-27-16 record during his tenure. In 2013, he led the team on a record-setting 12-game winning streak, the longest in program history. The 16 victories and .761 winning percentage in 2013 are all-time U.S. MNT records for a calendar year. In 2014, the team advanced out of the “Group of Death” and reached the Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup. Most recently, the MNT finished fourth in the 2016 Copa America Centenario held in the United States.

Below is a statement from Gulati on the decision:

Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jurgen Klinsmann, our head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team and Technical Director.

We want to thank Jurgen for his hard work and commitment during these last five years. He took pride in having the responsibility of steering the program, and there were considerable achievements along the way.

 

[Bigdog]

First time ever that a US coach has been fired during group stage. Rumor has it they are eyeing Arena. I wonder how this will affect the dual nationals we have on the team.

 

[joseephuss]

Bruce Arena? I hope it is only on an interim basis. That is a step backwards in my opinion.

 

[CATCH17]

I do not like the move.

Klinsmann was a big picture guy. He was really helping to develop the youth leagues in this country.

A big problem in the USA with soccer is that you almost have to be a rich kid to play because league fee's are so expensive.

Also, I was a fan of us getting German/Mexican Americans. I don't know if we'll still do that.

Hiring Bruce Arena really feels like someone just wants to get their buddy back in there.

We had the right guy. We just don't have the playmakers.

The game against Argentina was an eye opener as to how far behind we are the big clubs. Our passing vs high pressure is not up to par.

 

[CATCH17]

Bruce Arena has been named manager of the United States men's national team for a second time, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on Tuesday.

Arena replaces Jurgen Klinsmann, who was dismissed Monday after five years in charge.

Arena previously managed the U.S. from 1998 to 2006, during which time he recorded a record of 71 wins, 30 losses and 29 draws, and led the Americans to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup.

That tournament included a memorable 2-0 defeat of rivals Mexico in the round of 16 and marked the U.S. team's highest finish since reaching the semifinals of the inaugural World Cup in 1930.


http://www.espnfc.us/united-states/...cceed-jurgen-klinsmann-as-united-states-coach








Very upsetting that they hired him. That's the best we can do?

 

[BigD16]

I do not like the move.

Klinsmann was a big picture guy. He was really helping to develop the youth leagues in this country.

A big problem in the USA with soccer is that you almost have to be a rich kid to play because league fee's are so expensive.

Also, I was a fan of us getting German/Mexican Americans. I don't know if we'll still do that.

Hiring Bruce Arena really feels like someone just wants to get their buddy back in there.

We had the right guy. We just don't have the playmakers.

The game against Argentina was an eye opener as to how far behind we are the big clubs. Our passing vs high pressure is not up to par.

How did Klinsmann plan on growing academies in the states when he openly bashes the MLS and makes it very difficult for MLS players to get on the pitch for the USMNT?

The problem isn't talent. We are more talented now than we ever have been and yet we're struggling to get results because our coach refuses to have any sort of stability with formations and lineups. Playing with 3 in the back and wing backs against Mexico is an embarrassment, especially considering that the USMNT had only ever played it once or twice before. Yeah, let's use that formation against the best CONCACAF nation in a World Cup qualifier at home.

I was done with Jurgen Klinsmann after our embarrassing gold cup performance. The Mexico and Costa Rica games were just further validation that he's a terrible coach and tactician. He's openly criticized by ex players he used to coach too, it's not just me saying that. Bruce arena is just a caretaker until the next cycle.

 

[Bill Wooten]

This thread doesn't feel right without @BigDGarciaFan. Am I right?

 

[jterrell]

Klinsman had to go. Guys finally quit on him. If you don't get up for Qualifiers you just aren't gonna answer the call.

I liked JK for the most part but in Soccer managers don't last long.

Good:
Lots of really good dual nationals added.
Encouraging the young guys to go overseas and improve.
Brought some swagger.
Paid attention to their form for their clubs so knew who was playing well beyond a short camp.

Bad:
Not great technically.
Rubbed vets the wrong way.
Had 5 years and a lot of the youth he played was forgotten and simply replaced by even more youth.

Notes:
JK was 100% correct about MLS.
It is mostly trash. The best players regardless of country play in Europe.
Mexico kicked us around with pretty much ALL Euro based players.
Argentina and Brazil... pretty much all Euro based players.
You don't win knockout world cup games with domestic products unless you are Spain, Italy, England(ok they don't win them anymore it seems).
The biggest issue for USMNT is the insane regression of guys like Bradley and Dempsey that parked themselves in MLS making 8 mil a year to enjoy semi-retirement.
There is a reason we look slow and stretched, MLS is a slower paced and less technical game by quite a lot.
MLS should be a feeder league for top guys to get seen and move to Europe.

 

[jterrell]

Arena:

He's very knowledgeable of MLS and players in it.
And he's very knowledgeable of the region and what it takes to qualify.
He was largely hired to get us qualified and through 2018 WC.
He is a better technical coach than JK and he did oversee our best ever showing in a WC.

We do need to plan for life beyond 2018 though and that means someone other than Arena has to think big picture.
We need the U21's going to Europe to get better.
And we need to keep favoring those who do when it comes time to build rosters.
The sacrifice of living overseas and making less many times to get better should be rewarded.

 

[BigD16]

Klinsman had to go. Guys finally quit on him. If you don't get up for Qualifiers you just aren't gonna answer the call.

I liked JK for the most part but in Soccer managers don't last long.

Good:
Lots of really good dual nationals added.
Encouraging the young guys to go overseas and improve.
Brought some swagger.
Paid attention to their form for their clubs so knew who was playing well beyond a short camp.

Bad:
Not great technically.
Rubbed vets the wrong way.
Had 5 years and a lot of the youth he played was forgotten and simply replaced by even more youth.

Notes:
JK was 100% correct about MLS.
It is mostly trash. The best players regardless of country play in Europe.
Mexico kicked us around with pretty much ALL Euro based players.
Argentina and Brazil... pretty much all Euro based players.
You don't win knockout world cup games with domestic products unless you are Spain, Italy, England(ok they don't win them anymore it seems).
The biggest issue for USMNT is the insane regression of guys like Bradley and Dempsey that parked themselves in MLS making 8 mil a year to enjoy semi-retirement.
There is a reason we look slow and stretched, MLS is a slower paced and less technical game by quite a lot.
MLS should be a feeder league for top guys to get seen and move to Europe.

Yeah the MLS is trash (I personally can't get into it for the same reasons you mentioned). With that said, if you're the coach of the USMNT you have to understand that a majority of your player pool is going to come from the MLS and MLS academies and then hoping that great young prospects will eventually transfer to Europe. The guy would openly bash the MLS yet he has a love affair with Graham Zusi who has no business being on the national team. He should be giving those opportunities to younger players just like he did with Julian Green with taking him to the world cup.

Also, I HATED that he would rarely ever take responsibility for results. He openly threw John Brooks under the bus for his game against Mexico when it was he who decided to start Omar freakin' Gonzalez next to him. Anyone is going to look terrible next to a player that lazy and no technical ability. Playing from the back is impossible with Omar Gonzalez. It was obvious that John Brooks took offense because he had the worst game I've ever seen him play the following game against Costa Rica. I've never seen a professional player get nutmegged so many times in one game.

All of these are decisions straight from the manager.

Yes, the MLS is trash but we need to slowly keep building it up in order for domestic soccer academies to get better. It's unrealistic to expect teenagers to give up their lives to go to Europe to play soccer. Christian Pulisic is a rare case. We need to strengthen our youth academies so that it is more practical to produce talented soccer players here in the States.

 

[csirl]

MLS would be better using its overseas player budget to attract young talented overseas players rather than over paying for semi retired ex-Internationals. Get some hungry players in who'll improve the standard and push the American players. Surely MLS is a competitive option salary wise for a Championship or Segunda player or player from a smaller countries top division?

 

[jterrell]

Yeah the MLS is trash (I personally can't get into it for the same reasons you mentioned). With that said, if you're the coach of the USMNT you have to understand that a majority of your player pool is going to come from the MLS and MLS academies and then hoping that great young prospects will eventually transfer to Europe. The guy would openly bash the MLS yet he has a love affair with Graham Zusi who has no business being on the national team. He should be giving those opportunities to younger players just like he did with Julian Green with taking him to the world cup.

Also, I HATED that he would rarely ever take responsibility for results. He openly threw John Brooks under the bus for his game against Mexico when it was he who decided to start Omar freakin' Gonzalez next to him. Anyone is going to look terrible next to a player that lazy and no technical ability. Playing from the back is impossible with Omar Gonzalez. It was obvious that John Brooks took offense because he had the worst game I've ever seen him play the following game against Costa Rica. I've never seen a professional player get nutmegged so many times in one game.

All of these are decisions straight from the manager.

Yes, the MLS is trash but we need to slowly keep building it up in order for domestic soccer academies to get better. It's unrealistic to expect teenagers to give up their lives to go to Europe to play soccer. Christian Pulisic is a rare case. We need to strengthen our youth academies so that it is more practical to produce talented soccer players here in the States.

can't argue any of that.
his lack of personal accountability got him sacked in germany.
it's his personality.
but it does rub vets the wrong way.

young players will and do go to europe to play all the time.
we need to continue to reward those that do.
i can't think of a top 10 player of the last 15 years of US Soccer that didn't play in Europe.
Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Bradley, Howard, Jones, Gooch.

People come to America all the time for better educations and lives. For Soccer you going to have to go abroad.
Locally soccer is well behind and there's no amount of money to correct it in short order.
It's decades behind england for academies.
The American academies are basically expensive programs for kids who want to look great in 6th-8th grade.
They are producing precious little elite talent.

 

[jterrell]

MLS would be better using its overseas player budget to attract young talented overseas players rather than over paying for semi retired ex-Internationals. Get some hungry players in who'll improve the standard and push the American players. Surely MLS is a competitive option salary wise for a Championship or Segunda player or player from a smaller countries top division?

I bag on MLS all the time but it's in a very tough spot.
It needs eyeballs on TV sets and butts in seats that guys like Drogba bring to advance entire league but to those guys this is basically a long American vacation.

Want a real fix? Go teach the game FOR FREE in the most downtrodden areas of US. Make it THE inner city game.
Pull those athletes from basketball and football. --both of which are played at next to no cost if you are athletic.

Problem with grabbing 2nd and 3rd tier prospects from Europe is they are tied to bigger clubs with more resources and would rather train with the likes of Hazard or Kane then Michael Bradley.

I played growing up on elite teams and played up in age but come high school I lettered in Soccer as a freshman,. started and quit to focus on football.
No one came to watch our games but football games were packed with girls.... Easy choice.

 

[Doomsday]

I do not like the move.

Klinsmann was a big picture guy. He was really helping to develop the youth leagues in this country.

A big problem in the USA with soccer is that you almost have to be a rich kid to play because league fee's are so expensive.

Also, I was a fan of us getting German/Mexican Americans. I don't know if we'll still do that.

Hiring Bruce Arena really feels like someone just wants to get their buddy back in there.

We had the right guy. We just don't have the playmakers.

The game against Argentina was an eye opener as to how far behind we are the big clubs. Our passing vs high pressure is not up to par.

I was talking to a friend of mine who is from Ireland and coaches youth soccer here and he was telling me about some of the differences from his perspective. He just got some certification to move up a level in coaching.

I know soccer is by far the most popular sport among youth, so I asked him what age and why he thought kids stopped playing here in the US.

I was surprised by his answer, he stated that at 13 or so, because it becomes far too expensive for a lot of parents, upwards of $1k for a 6 to 8 week program. Man am I naive, I figured there isn't much equipment involved so it was relatively cheap.

I guess times are changing, when I was younger, soccer, baseball, basketball coaches were mostly volunteers. I guess eventually everything becomes about the money.

 

[csirl]

I was surprised by his answer, he stated that at 13 or so, because it becomes far too expensive for a lot of parents, upwards of $1k for a 6 to 8 week program. Man am I naive, I figured there isn't much equipment involved so it was relatively cheap.

I guess times are changing, when I was younger, soccer, baseball, basketball coaches were mostly volunteers. I guess eventually everything becomes about the money.

Most underage soccer in Europe is very cheap. Mainly volunteers running local teams. Maybe $100 per year. Every neighbourhood has a couple of clubs playing every weekend at the local park. This is where most players start out.

 

[BigD16]

can't argue any of that.
his lack of personal accountability got him sacked in germany.
it's his personality.
but it does rub vets the wrong way.

young players will and do go to europe to play all the time.
we need to continue to reward those that do.
i can't think of a top 10 player of the last 15 years of US Soccer that didn't play in Europe.
Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, Bradley, Howard, Jones, Gooch.

People come to America all the time for better educations and lives. For Soccer you going to have to go abroad.
Locally soccer is well behind and there's no amount of money to correct it in short order.
It's decades behind england for academies.
The American academies are basically expensive programs for kids who want to look great in 6th-8th grade.
They are producing precious little elite talent.

I agree. I wasn't saying that the best USA prospects should be playing the MLS right now. What I am saying is that the success of the MLS is vital in order for the USA to improve its quality of players. It needs to keep growing, even if it's slowly.

More kids will play soccer domestically if they know that they have the opportunity to grow here in the states. For example, there was a kid about 6-8 years ago from a local high school who was a hell of a player. I don't remember his first name but his last name was Stephens. He was amazing at soccer from a technical and athletic level, but he chose football over soccer just because of opportunities. Quick google search found this article:

https://n.rivals.com/news/there-s-nothing-generic-about-bradley-stephens

Never know what could of happened if he stuck with soccer. Hopefully 10-15 years from now, our elite athletes won't have to make decisions like this. They will be able to pursue what they love with equal chances for success. At least soccer is in a positive trend in the USA.

 

[jterrell]

Most underage soccer in Europe is very cheap. Mainly volunteers running local teams. Maybe $100 per year. Every neighbourhood has a couple of clubs playing every weekend at the local park. This is where most players start out.

Benefit of having decades worth of players is those who coach it often do so for the love of the game.
Basketball and football get taught well in the US by volunteers. Baseball too. --parents can find good teams with volunteer coaches.

IMHO if MLS wants to improve its product they should offer free coaching classes monthly to parent volunteers in virtually every major inner city.
Get basics in place.

I have a friend with a daughter that played for an English tied academy here locally. His daughter was a forward and she'd never been taught to kick banana kick or any style that involved bending or curling it.
They were paying 3k a year to basically do a bunch of speed/agility/conditioning drills then put good athletes out there playing very basic techniques.
Not exactly giving average kids the best chances to succeed and also not drawing form large enough player base to get elite level athletes regularly.
Basically they were set up to dominate middle school and keep parents paying 3k yearly based on those results but by 9h/10th grade they were still lacking technical skills or soccer IQ.

I blame a lot of this on England TBH. We've had so many Englishmen come here to the US and monetize what they know. It's certainly a free market and all but it's definitely not provided the best product to the most players.

I have a 6 year old niece who scores about 7 goals a game if anyone locally knows a great young club team for girls in DFW.
Her current coach doesn't really speak English.

 

[BigD16]

Benefit of having decades worth of players is those who coach it often do so for the love of the game.
Basketball and football get taught well in the US by volunteers. Baseball too. --parents can find good teams with volunteer coaches.

IMHO if MLS wants to improve its product they should offer free coaching classes monthly to parent volunteers in virtually every major inner city.
Get basics in place.

I have a friend with a daughter that played for an English tied academy here locally. His daughter was a forward and she'd never been taught to kick banana kick or any style that involved bending or curling it.
They were paying 3k a year to basically do a bunch of speed/agility/conditioning drills then put good athletes out there playing very basic techniques.
Not exactly giving average kids the best chances to succeed and also not drawing form large enough player base to get elite level athletes regularly.
Basically they were set up to dominate middle school and keep parents paying 3k yearly based on those results but by 9h/10th grade they were still lacking technical skills or soccer IQ.

I blame a lot of this on England TBH. We've had so many Englishmen come here to the US and monetize what they know. It's certainly a free market and all but it's definitely not provided the best product to the most players.

I have a 6 year old niece who scores about 7 goals a game if anyone locally knows a great young club team for girls in DFW.
Her current coach doesn't really speak English.

The problem with American players is not so much about bending the ball or fancy flicks. It's first touch. USMNT first touch is dreadful compared to top countries. I do agree with everything else you said though. I can't wait to see the day that the USA catches up to other top countries. 3k a year is an absurd amount to pay, wow.

 

[joseephuss]

The problem with American players is not so much about bending the ball or fancy flicks. It's first touch. USMNT first touch is dreadful compared to top countries. I do agree with everything else you said though. I can't wait to see the day that the USA catches up to other top countries. 3k a year is an absurd amount to pay, wow.

I agree. Learning to control and protect the ball is very important.

 

[csirl]

I blame a lot of this on England TBH. We've had so many Englishmen come here to the US and monetize what they know. It's certainly a free market and all but it's definitely not provided the best product to the most players.
.

Interesting. Certain parts of Europe where football is expanding are full of Americans claiming to be coaches also trying to
monetize - taking advantage of the surge in interest. Different sports, but you can see the parallels. In my experience most of them are frauds - little more than snake oil salesmen.