Ausgezeichnet!!
…Jurgen Klinsmann.
More details to follow, but the USSF now has the man they’ve been coveting for several years and that puts the pressure on both Klinsmann and Sunil Gulati.
UPDATE: I believe Klinsmann will be the first USMNT head with any (meaningful) international experience as a player- do you think this will help him when it comes to a) evaluating talent and/or b) dealing with players?
Also, one interesting point brought up by one of the talking heads on ESPN last night (before the Klinsmann announcement was made obviously) was that in addition to the (now filled) vacancy with the USMNT, the U-23 and U-19 squads were currently without permanent coaches. I bring this up because when last offered the post one of the reasons that Klinsmann declined was that they would not give him “top-to-bottom” control of the national team program. Presumably he will now be able to bring in his own personnel at these two levels and have them play whatever style/formation he does at the senior level.
Wadda ya think?
I like it, provided he’s going to change the structure he said was backward during SA2010:
“This is the only country in the world that has the pyramid upside down. You pay for having your kid play soccer, because your goal is not to have your kid become a professional soccer player, your goal is that your kid gets a scholarship in college, which is complete opposite rest of the world.”
Obvious hire is obvious.
Not exactly inspired or earth-shattering. But long-overdue. Hopefully JK can still coach after having lounged in SoCal for the past couple years. The one I expected. Might have liked Bielsa or Kinnear better, but I think JK will be a good hire.
It will be interesting to see if we lament this move in a few years for different reasons than the ones for Bradley. Still, I like it as well. Hopefully some changes will be made for the better, and now the U.S. has a coach that has had success at the international level.
It will be interesting to see how the players react to him, and who he fills the squads out with.
To me, the style of play that wins that the USMNT could adopt is that of the Germans. We have the same style of physical players, and are much more likely to become disciplined defensively with outstanding set pieces then we are to become a Spain type team. Find our best players. Train them, and play them. Something I’m not sure was happening under Bob.
I think this is a necessary step. You can go from a pinto to a porsche, and JK has an understanding of American soccer from his residing and playing here in the states recently…
great news.
I heard that Bob was going to be Bill Belichick’s personal spokesman. They both give the same non-answer answers.
They didn’t even let Bob’s chair go cold, did they?
I think this is the right call. A year or two later than it should be? Yes. Let him come in and rebuild the system, en total. It’ll take a bit to see results, but I think results will come. At this point, it’s about the players he picks. He has a wealth of talent to draw from…does he stay with the same old lineup that has done jack shit?