On July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Philipp Lahm raises the World Cup trophy and somewhere in California, Jürgen Klinsmann is smiling. Eight years earlier, Klinsmann coached many of those German players in the 2006 World Cup. The 2014 World Cup was something that Germany had worked towards for over a decade. Klinsmann played a large part in that process. Now Klinsmann has a new challenge in a different country, with a different history and different expectations.
Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Mexico has put Klinsmann on the hot seat, and many are calling for his job. But just how bad of a job has Klinsmann done with the USMNT? In 2014 they got out of a group with Ghana, Portugal and eventual champions Germany. This summer, his side beat Germany and the Netherlands in friendlies. But a poor showing at the Gold Cup and the loss to Mexico Saturday night overshadowed these results. Klinsmann’s critics say that he’s mismanaged the team, alienated some of USA’s greatest players and been too dismissive of how the United States plays the game. The last point might be Klinsmann’s biggest problem.
Klinsmann is by no means a bad coach. You don’t get the job with two of the biggest soccer teams in the world by accident. His time with Bayern Munich was a bit of a disaster, but that was in part due to the club going through a transition at the time. The USMNT is now in a different kind of transition, much like Germany was in 2006, albeit without the same kind of resources or history. Comparing the German national team to the USMNT is pointless. One country has won 4 World Cups, the other has gotten past the round of 16 once. Klinsmann isn’t trying to make his team play like Germany, that would be silly, but he knows how to build a program for sustained success better than anyone who would possibly replace him. That’s the big challenge for Klinsmann. He wants to change the system in the U.S. He’s certainly ruffled a few feathers in MLS front offices in the process.
Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – JUNE 27: Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann of the United States speaks to the media during training at Sao Paulo FC on June 27, 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
It seems like the best next step for Klinsmann and the USMNT is building a real philosophy. It seems like the philosophy is built around a blue-collar attitude. These aren’t things that happen overnight. Critics of Klinsmann aren’t asking the right questions about the state of U.S. Soccer. It’s not a matter of what to do to make the players we have now better, it’s how to get better players later. Honestly speaking, the team now isn’t good enough to win on an international level. Yes, the USMNT should do better within CONCACAF, like the game against Jamaica. But worrying about those results are not going to help. I’m sure Klinsmann really wanted to win the Gold Cup, but to the rest of the world, it’s small potatoes.
Bad results don’t always need to result in a manager losing their job. In 2001, England humiliated Rudi Völler’s Germany. A year later Völler was coaching Germany in the World Cup Final (though arguably more because of Oliver Kahn’s stunning World Cup). Völler eventually resigned after a shameful performance in the 2004 Euro tournament. He was replaced by Klinsmann, who immediately set about fixing a lot of what was wrong with the DFB. Klinsmann wanted to bring in younger players for Germany. Along with Joachim Löw the two started to change the way Germany played on the field. They wanted the team to play in a less pragmatic manner, and have more attacking. In short, they wanted attractive soccer. As time went on, and Klinsmann left for Bayern, then the USMNT, Löw continued the work. Löw stole philosophies from teams like Spain and added it to a long-standing tradition of the hard-working German team. Germany’s coaching changes felt like a natural succession of managers. Firing Klinsmann now would seem like an abrupt change of direction.
Now in the United States, Klinsmann has to find an American identity that he can mold. It wont be something that will happen immediately. The point is, Klinsmann has experience here. The USMNT needs to mold a style that is uniquely theirs, but that doesn’t mean that can’t look at other countries for ideas. Everyone steals from each other in sports. There is no shame in it. One thing to be critical of Klinsmann here is that he probably should have an idea what kind of philosophy he wants his side to play.
During the last World Cup, the USMNT ran a lot. They were considered scrappy. No one gave them much chance to get out of a tough group, but they fought tooth and nail to advance. They even kept it close with Germany, something 5-time winners Brazil were not able to do. Running alone isn’t going to get you very far though, and the USMNT eventually ran out of ideas against Belgium. It showed promise, but it was still without something more. Klinsmann needs time with the USMNT to find that something extra.
SALVADOR, BRAZIL – JULY 01: (L-R) Goalkeeper coach Chris Woods, assistant coach Tab Ramos and head coach Jurgen Klinsmann of the United States look on during the National Anthem prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Round of 16 match between Belgium and the United States at Arena Fonte Nova on July 1, 2014 in Salvador, Brazil. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
A Little Help From His Friends
Klinsmann isn’t going to be able to do this alone, and that might be his biggest hurdle. It seems like the heads at the US Soccer Federation trust him for now, but a lot of organizational changes need to be made. The elephant in the room is MLS. It’s hard for a country to build a successful national team without a strong domestic league that gives the country’s players quality competition every weekend. Just ask England. The problem with MLS though is that the competition isn’t good enough. Foreign players aren’t keeping homegrown talent on the bench like in England. This is why Klinsmann is so adamant that his best players go to Europe to have their talents really tested. The two goals the U.S. scored Saturday were scored by players playing in Europe.
The role, and quality of MLS and its effect on the USMNT is a subject that could be endlessly written about. Keep in mind that Klinsmann is from a country that emphasis player development in its domestic league a lot more than it does in the U.S.
To me, growing up following Germany, Klinsmann is the best choice to lead the USMNT forward. I don’t know if he’s going to be coaching the USMNT for the long term, because maybe he’s just a builder. He began to rebuild Germany when he took over from Völler in 2004. After the 2006 World Cup, he left what he started with Löw, who finished the job in 2014. Maybe that’s how his American adventure ends as well. When he’s built the team up, he’ll step aside and let someone else take over. Or maybe Klinsmann wants to be there to finish the job himself this time. Who knows?
What Klinsmann needs to find out is what will signify that his job is done in United States. In Germany, his job being done meant a world championship. To German fans, the 2014 victory is owed in some small part to what Klinsmann started in 2004. The baker’s son from Stuttgart will need more than two years to get the USMNT to the same level, and it will need some major changes. The United States has the resources to become a great soccer country. Getting there will be difficult. Maybe Klinsmann is taking up a fool’s errand trying to get this team to compete with the biggest names in international soccer. If that’s the case, then fire him and get someone who will beat the Mexico’s and the Jamaica’s. Anything more than that is going to take some time. Klinsmann might not be the coach that, years from now, gets the USMNT to the top, but he’s the best option now to get them started.
He did it Germany. It will just take longer if he’s going to do it in the United States. Be patient. Think bigger.
