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FSC: Klinsmann To Lead US Soccer

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by RocketFan007, Dec 5, 2006.

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RocketFan007 Contributing Member

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Jürgen Klinsmann will be named head coach of the U.S. men's national team within two weeks according to a number of well-placed sources with knowledge of the deal.

His appointment as coach was perhaps the worst-kept secret in American soccer: Klinsmann publicly acknowledged that he was interested in the job and there has been persistent buzz since the World Cup ended in July that the interview process for the national team job was essentially a matter of going through the motions.

Warren Mersereau, who is both Klinsmann's business partner and representative, said "no comment" when contacted for this story.

There were two sticking points in signing Klinsmann: The first was Klinsmann's long relationship with adidas. The U.S. national soccer team is heavily underwritten by Nike, and sources at the shoewear companies said talk of the appointment initially caused some concern. According to a person connected with the shoe company today, Klinsmann has left adidas, solving the issue in one fell swoop.

The second issue looks to be more contentious. Speaking on condition of anonymity granted because they were not given permission to speak about the appointment, two sources confirmed that the issue of power-sharing was a major bone of contention. Former coach Bruce Arena had carved out a wide swath for himself during his tenure, and Klinsmann has reportedly demanded that he too be essentially the sole decision-maker on national team matters.

This has not sat well with some at the Federation, who were mindful of past friction. According to several people at the team level with intimate knowledge of the subject, relations between General Secretary Dan Flynn and Arena deteriorated to the point that the two men barely spoke to one another.

Klinsmann was the toast of Germany after leading the World Cup hosts to the semifinals before falling to Italy. (JOHANNES EISELE/Staff / Getty Images)

Klinsmann, who steered Germany to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup and won the 1990 World Cup as a player, has long been coveted by the Americans to restart a stuttering men's national team program. A star with VfB Stuttgart, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, the former forward has a reputation for being a pragmatist and displayed considerable acumen and political savvy during his tenure as German national team head coach.

Klinsmann inherits a program in dire need of fresh ideas. Under former coach Arena, the men's program compiled their best-ever record of 71-30-29, and reached the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals (losing, ironically, to Germany) but Arena took much of the criticism for the team's 0-2-1 performance at the 2006 World Cup. Ranked before the World Cup an unrealistic fifth by the now-defunct FIFA ranking system, the Americans, who have never performed well on European soil, faltered badly despite high expectations.

In addition, during Arena's tenure, the national team youth programs failed to achieve notable success despite the presence of some young talent, while his abrasive manner left many cold.

In hindsight, many people have begun to realize that Arena's record was padded out with many wins — usually accomplished at home — against opposition that fell short of the top level. In particular, Arena's pre-World Cup friendly schedule — Latvia, Morocco and Venezuela — was widely mocked as insufficient; of course the USA also managed to lose to Morocco in the process.

Klinsmann, who is fluent in English and German, is one of the most "American" former European pros out there. Married to an American, Debbie Chin, he has long lived in Southern California and was actually subject to heavy criticism by the German media and Federation prior to the 2006 World Cup for spending too much time in the States.

Moreover, he was questioned for injecting "American ideas" into a moribund German side. Klinsmann hired American-trained fitness trainers and a sports psychologist and displayed a relentless optimism that seemed to overwhelm the traditionally staid German sports culture.

In that respect, he seems perfect for the modernist American soccer scene, which has long depended upon the Bradenton-based academy partnership with IMG for top player development.

Klinsmann also knows a bit about American players, and clearly has a well-developed sense of humor: He played alongside a handful of them with a California-based USL development team in 2003 under a pseudonym, "Jay Goppingen."

Klinsmann enters at a fortuitous time — but also with an extremely difficult task ahead. He has already won over the small core of "hardcore" soccer fans in America (he has been their consensus pick for months now) and is an internationally recognized name in the sport, even to the sometime removed editorial class of American sports journalism.

In addition, Klinsmann will benefit from a small wave of European-trained players now making their way through the ranks to challenge for positions. Jay Demerit (Watford), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), Tim Howard (Everton/Manchester United) and Jonathan Spector (West Ham) are all playing consistently and can provide the badly-needed fills for certain holes. Only Hahnemann and Howard, both goalkeepers, were included on the 2006 World Cup roster.

Klinsmann surely has his work cut out for him. His biggest job may well be reforming a stagnant culture within U.S. Soccer itself. Too many areas of the sport's growth in the United States have stalled while too few in the soccer business seem to realize that corporate sponsorship does not mean mainstream success.

Both the men's national teams and the professional league (MLS) are finding it hard to attract consistent, significant numbers of fans at the gate as well. The fact remains that outside of World Cup years, most American sports fans pay little attention to soccer. Klinsmann will have to cajole not just sponsors but the media and the fans as well. He seems well suited for the task, but it is an open question whether sports talk radio — still a bellwether for industry trends — will warm to the affable German or pay more than the occasional minute of attention to the USA's games.

Klinsmann will also have to make peace with the players. There's no question that the drawn-out selection process has irked the men of the national team, or rather, the players who feel they will be or should be on it. By sitting idle for so long, they have lost paychecks, and more than one of them has said in conversation that they fail to understand why they aren't active on available FIFA dates. January's scheduled match against Denmark, likely to showcase a squad of home-based players rather than a full team if history is any guide, has done little to quiet those rumblings.

For now, Klinsmann will have a holiday honeymoon. He will likely spend the next month or two emailing players from that Starbucks in Orange County, and hire scouts to examine the overlooked Americans toiling in Scandinavia and England's Championship. If he's smart, he'll make overhauling the youth development system a priority while his political clout is at the apogee.

And then, like all of us, he'll have to wait and see just what he has to work with. All the charm in the world cannot alter the fact that the Americans still don't have the talent to win consistently at the elite levels of the game, especially on European soil. Changing that fact will be his biggest challenge. If he is successful, it would be an admirable legacy indeed.
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http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6227768

Here's hoping this is true.

#1 RocketFan007, Dec 5, 2006

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That would be badazz...I hope its true too...

#2 rrj_gamz, Dec 5, 2006
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This would be incredible for US soccer. It won't launch us into powerhouse standards but this would definitely be a step up.

#3 professorjay, Dec 5, 2006
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LOL!

YAY! More foreigners!!!!

I'm sorry to say, man... but his experience won't help many U.S. soccer fans forget the 0-2-1 performance much... I mean, yeah, it will be an improvement. Hopefully it is.

EDIT: I am still looking to schedule that soccer get-together.

#4 SwoLy-D, Dec 5, 2006
Last edited: Dec 5, 2006
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Did someone say.............SOCCER?

#5 finalsbound, Dec 5, 2006
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finalsbound said:

Did someone say.............SOCCER?

Click to expand...

I'm a fan of Manchester United and all, BUT if you can't stand floppers in the dirk nowinski mode, then how can anyone stand ronaldo. A big momma's boy is what he is.

#6 plcmts17, Dec 5, 2006
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plcmts17 said:

I'm a fan of Manchester United and all, BUT if you can't stand floppers in the dirk nowinski mode, then how can anyone stand ronaldo. A big momma's boy is what he is.
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All I'm saying is, the man is HOT.

CALIENTE!

I don't even know what Manchester United is...

#7 finalsbound, Dec 5, 2006

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I'm sure this is what's going to happen. Klinsmann is the natural choice. I'm more glad that the rumors about Pekerman weren't true. I didn't realize that the players were so pissed about not playing friendlies over the past few months. Klinsmann was really the only available candidate that can take the MNT to the next level.

I found this part of the article kind of funny...

Klinsmann will have to cajole not just sponsors but the media and the fans as well. He seems well suited for the task, but it is an open question whether sports talk radio — still a bellwether for industry trends — will warm to the affable German or pay more than the occasional minute of attention to the USA's games.
Click to expand...

Sports radio gives soccer a minute? Other than Rome's constant bashing of the game, when does sports radio give soccer even 5 seconds of airtime?

#8 leroy, Dec 5, 2006
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leroy420 said:

Sports radio gives soccer a minute? Other than Rome's constant bashing of the game, when does sports radio give soccer even 5 seconds of airtime?
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790AM has a 1 hour show every week about soccer and it was sometimes 2 hours during the Dynamo season. You can downlaod it from the chron's website at http://blogs.chron.com/soccer, just look at the past entries. But you're right, most of the time soccer is brought up it's to bash it.

And I like the choice of Klinnsman, he's played/worked/coached on one of the top teams in the world and knows how things should be done.

#9 DrLudicrous, Dec 5, 2006
DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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GREAT NEWS !!!

As for flopping they need to start Yellow carding flops, and the other team needs to carry on playing......if they are going to be flopping, which is unsportsmanlike, then no need to kick it out of bounds.

PLAY ON !!

DD

#10 DaDakota, Dec 5, 2006
RocketFan007 Contributing Member

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DaDakota said:

As for flopping they need to start Yellow carding flops, and the other team needs to carry on playing......if they are going to be flopping, which is unsportsmanlike, then no need to kick it out of bounds.
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The Premiership has already adopted this rule.

#11 RocketFan007, Dec 5, 2006
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SwoLy-D said:

I'm sorry to say, man... but his experience won't help many U.S. soccer fans forget the 0-2-1 performance much...
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I had forgotten until you brought it up...

Your sig needs to change...The worst mistake was not drafting VY...

#12 rrj_gamz, Dec 5, 2006
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rrj_gamz said:

I had forgotten until you brought it up...

Your sig needs to change...The worst mistake was not drafting VY...
Click to expand...

You might need to see the Texans @ Titans thread. While I agree with you, I can't change it until after December 10th.

Well, are you interested, or what? You coming down for it?

#13 SwoLy-D, Dec 5, 2006

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rrj_gamz said:

I had forgotten until you brought it up...

Your sig needs to change...The worst mistake was not drafting VY...
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Is there not a thread in this entire bbs that Vince Young can not be brought up?

DrLudicrious said:

790AM has a 1 hour show every week about soccer and it was sometimes 2 hours during the Dynamo season. You can downlaod it from the chron's website at http://blogs.chron.com/soccer, just look at the past entries. But you're right, most of the time soccer is brought up it's to bash it.
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I know. I know Glenn Davis from my youth days of playing against his teams. We've also emailed a lot back and forth about issues, especially during the whole 1836/Dynamo fiasco. Nationally, though, there is nothing.

#14 leroy, Dec 5, 2006
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SwoLy-D said:

LOL!

YAY! More foreigners!!!!

I'm sorry to say, man... but his experience won't help many U.S. soccer fans forget the 0-2-1 performance much... I mean, yeah, it will be an improvement. Hopefully it is.

EDIT: I am still looking to schedule that soccer get-together.
Click to expand...

i'll play swols

#15 Kam, Dec 5, 2006
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This is great news for US Soccer. Wasn't there a thread about a week ago saying that Perkerman (former Argentine coach) was for sure going to be the new coach?

plcmts17 said:

I'm a fan of Manchester United and all, BUT if you can't stand floppers in the dirk nowinski mode, then how can anyone stand ronaldo. A big momma's boy is what he is.
Click to expand...

Have you watched Man-U this season at all? I hated C. Ronaldo until this season (and I am a HUGE Man-U fan) but he has not flopped this season like he has in the past. I think he is maturing and finally turning those flashy moves into something that actually helps the team win games.

#16 Rivaldo2181, Dec 5, 2006
RocketFan007 Contributing Member

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Is the U.S. National Soccer team close to hiring Juergen Klinsmann as its new head coach?

A number of media reports recently seem to point in that direction, and U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati indicated six weeks ago that he "wouldn't lose any sleep if our decision slips into the first week of December."

That time is now. And last week, U.S. national team member Steve Cherundolo told the German television station Premiere that Klinsmann -- the 2006 head coach of the German World Cup team -- would be named the team's new coach "according to my information."

But a U.S. Soccer Federation source told ESPN on Tuesday that: "I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that no deal has been reached with any of our coaching candidates at this time."

Klinsmann's name as been hotly speculated as the next U.S. soccer coach since he quit his post as coach of the German national team following the World Cup. He's married to an American and lives in California.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena quit after the World Cup.

Last Thursday, soccer legend Pele endorsed Klinsmann for the job. "He'd be good for the U.S. boys," Pele said at a news conference during a business trip to Duesseldorf, Germany. "He's an excellent trainer who led Germany to an incredible World Cup this year. He didn't quite have the luck he needed to win the title. I think he would be the right man for the job."

Over the weekend, the German newspaper Das Bild reported that U.S. Soccer had decided on Klinsmann.

Tuesday, a column on FoxSports.com reported that Klinsmann would be named the head coach "within two weeks," citing unnamed sources.

"No deal is done, nor [is one] a forgone conclusion," the U.S. federation source told ESPN. "And a date to announce has not been set."

In October, Gulati said: "I wouldn't lose any sleep if our decision slips into the first week of December. But it's our intention still to name a new coach in November."

In early November, a Washington Post blog item by Jason La Canfora said that Klinsmann was the choice, but he wouldn't take the job until early 2008.

All indications are that the choice will be Klinsmann, the German legend who led the country to the 1990 World Cup title and was Germany's national team coach until resigning on July 12. Germany finished a surprising third in the World Cup last summer.

About the only dissenting view on Klinsmann's impending hiring is a Nov. 17 story in La Opinion, a Spanish-language daily in Los Angeles, which said that former Argentine national team coach Jose Pekerman had a contract in hand and would be named the coach. The rumor was strongly denied.

The U.S. national team program has planned a training camp for January, with a Jan. 20 international event against Denmark on the schedule.
Click to expand...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=394740&cc=5901

US Soccer denies that a deal has been reached or that one is forthcoming.

#17 RocketFan007, Dec 5, 2006
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Rivaldo2181 said:

Have you watched Man-U this season at all? I hated C. Ronaldo until this season (and I am a HUGE Man-U fan) but he has not flopped this season like he has in the past. I think he is maturing and finally turning those flashy moves into something that actually helps the team win games.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have. Many games, in particular the "penalty" he earned for Manchester against Middlesborough. Tell me that wasn't a dive. If it wasn't, he deserves an oscar. I don't think he's stopped and the "dive" against Boro doesn't help his image much.
I also remember the open goal he totally blew not long ago. Giggs gave him a perfect pass and he had no one to beat and shanked it over the bar.

I'm still hoping he has a good game tomorrow regardless, it would be a shame for Manchester to go out again in the CL stages.

#18 plcmts17, Dec 5, 2006

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RocketFan007 said:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=394740&cc=5901

US Soccer denies that a deal has been reached or that one is forthcoming.
Click to expand...

BOOOOOO

#19 Uprising, Dec 5, 2006
RocketFan007 Contributing Member

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plcmts17 said:

Yes, I have. Many games, in particular the "penalty" he earned for Manchester against Middlesborough. Tell me that wasn't a dive. If it wasn't, he deserves an oscar. I don't think he's stopped and the "dive" against Boro doesn't help his image much.
I also remember the open goal he totally blew not long ago. Giggs gave him a perfect pass and he had no one to beat and shanked it over the bar.
Click to expand...

The Boro penalty wasn't a dive. Why would he dive when he had already rounded the keeper and had a wide open goal? He rounded the keeper, stumbled, clearly tried to regain his balance, then fell.

I've been strongly against Ronaldo in the past, if you don't believe me go back and check some of my posts on this BBS. He has turned a corner this season has been absolutely brilliant. If he keeps playing like this he could be the best player in the world ina few years.

Now, can we please keep this thread about US Soccer and its coaching search?

#20 RocketFan007, Dec 5, 2006

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