Yearning for Jurgen

US Soccer’s mistake in firing its best coach ever cost the country a World Cup berth.

International Soccer

America what were you thinking? You had the best boyfriend for you and you broke up with him. What happened? Couldn’t you see he was great? He was the best man for you but you listened to your jealous friends. They kept talking in your ear that he was no good for you. What did they know? They nitpicked and got you all riled up until you succumbed. After the break up, you made an even worse decision and got back together with your ex. And your ex led you down a hole that you will not recover from for over four years.

The United States Men’s National Soccer Team’s (USMNT) hopeful saga and eventual downfall has been in the works for years. US Soccer hired Jurgen Klinsmann in 2011 as its 35^th head coach of the national team after letting go of a competent Bob Bradley. Bradley was solid, leading us to a Confederations Cup final and top of our group in the World Cup in 2010. But the feeling was that Bradley probably could not to take us to the promise land. In fact, the truth was that we fired Bradley because we had our eye on an absolutely stellar coach. This guy once coached Germany to third in the World Cup and got hired at Bayern Munich. US Soccer had its first chance to corral a world-class caliber coach. We yearned for ultimate success so we turned to the best US soccer investment ever. Yearning for Klinsmann was a reality.

To understand what happened with Klinsmann we have to reflect what American culture has become. We now live in a Trump reality where facts do not seem to matter. We more and more cease to objectively analyze what is going on. Opinionated narratives, whether true or false, dictate far too much of our reality. We have skewed the consumption of information from what we should hear to what we want to hear. And what we want to hear derives from the lowest ideals. The advent of social media has driven this course. We have shifted to an attention economy, empowering a mob mentality. This culture is what drove Klinsmann out and brought Bruce Arena in. It hurt us and still hurts us. But we must not relent. We must fight to preserve reality, truth, quality, and decency.

First, in October 2015, I said that If You Want Klinsmann Fired, You Are Dumb. I said that because many Americans cannot stand losing to someone better. Too many Americans prioritize short-term results over long-term success and are unable to appreciate the good results achieved. Patience is a lost virtue. Then in November 2016, when Klinsmann was axed I stated Firing Klinsmann was American Stupid. This was because Americans did not comprehend the overachieving 2014 World Cup or the also relatively successful Copa America semifinal run. At the same time, Americans overreacted to losses in a Gold Cup semifinal against Jamaica (where Klinsmann was developing players), two close contests to a superior Mexico team at home (but one of those was a road atmosphere in the Rose Bowl) and away to a good Costa Rica team (where the US has never won in World Cup qualifying history: 0-8-1). Many Americans also disregarded the fact that Costa Rica made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

These are the facts of Klinsmann’s tenure that need to be reiterated to American minds:

Klinsmann’s first most desirable shift for the USMNT was to play top-level competition as much as possible. Developing requires playing the best competition. So US Soccer scheduled friendlies against the best at a higher rate than ever before. Under Klinsmann’s guidance the USMNT beat Italy away for the first time ever in a friendly. The USMNT then won in Azteca, the most hostile stadium in the world, against Mexico for the first time ever in another friendly. Then Klinsmann led us to a Gold Cup victory and qualified for the 2014 World Cup. In that competition, the USMNT advanced out of the Group of Death that included eventual champions Germany, future 2016 European champions Portugal and Ghana (who knocked us out of the previous two World Cups). The USMNT then lost to a talent-rich Belgium squad in extra time. The 2014 World Cup was a successful performance for a historically second-rate soccer nation.

Yet the USMNT head coach’s body of work for the US was not goo enough to withstand the narratives. Subjective opinions (in my belief absolutely wrong opinions) worked to chop down Klinsmann from all angles. First, the critics were quick to weaponize Klinsmann’s own statements of wanting to compete against the best teams in the world. Talking heads ignored the developmental process and said stupid stuff like “Klinsmann said he wanted to beat these guys, so go beat these guys.” What in the hell? Leading up to Brazil, the media got angry over Klinsmann’s own accurate pre-tournament assessment that winning the 2014 World Cup was unrealistic. The media said dumb things like how “un-American” that statement was and that just by saying that “we are surrendering.”

Klinsmann had the temperature of where US soccer was, and how far they would need to go because Klinsmann has had international success both as a player and coach. On the other hand, talking heads largely ignored the fact that Germany winning the 2014 World Cup was a result of Klinsmann laying the groundwork. Many overlooked Klinsmann’s achievements in bringing about a cultural change and instead gave praise to new German national team coach Joachim Löw’s tactics. “Löw is the masterful tactician” they said. Yet Klinsmann, based on his coaching experiences, is the guy who hired Löw! Again, what the hell? Löw was a relatively unknown coach at the time but Jurgen brought him along to the German national team. And Löw himself acknowledged and praised the drastic changes Klinsmann implemented for Germany’s current success.

Klinsmann knew that a cultural change for soccer in the United States was necessary for ultimate success. He also knew that this was a process that takes time. Klinsmann made numerous changes to player pools, lineups, and tactics throughout the years. Because that is what one must do when one is trying to evolve a national team from historical and perpetual futility to a legitimate World Cup contender. Instead of appreciating what Klinsmann was doing, US soccer media’s narrative was that Klinsmann was experimenting too much and had no direction or coherent vision.

The fan mobs and talking heads yelled louder after the totally reasonable Mexico and Costa Rica losses. True to current American spirit, the most boisterous and angriest voices took center stage over the more educated and qualified voice of Klinsmann. The American media did not put their trust in the man who had more experience and understanding about international soccer than any American ever born. They could not find their inner 76ers fanhood and #TrustTheProcess. They could not let it be. Instead, American media bullied their way to claim that they knew better.

Throughout his tenure, Klinsmann was always fighting to reframe the inaccurate narratives stemming from Americans throwing a fuss about losing and not respecting development. For example, in 2015, Klinsmann accurately spoke about US soccer culture: “It’s a process. The game will get bigger. Fans will get more educated. Media will get more educated…We still have a ways to go.” American media would beat the hell out of the idea that “friendly results don’t matter.” Every elite soccer country in the world uses friendlies conscientiously to develop and prepare. They are a litmus test to how to get better so that you truly can compete in major tournaments. Friendlies in Italy, Germany, Holland and Azteca (and getting positive results) matter more so than a Gold Cup game “that counts.” Beating Honduras, Panama, Jamaica or even Mexico's and Costa Rica’s B-team do not matter more just because there is a shiny trophy to be had, especially when the rest of the world would laugh at the significance of that trophy.

American media always had a problem that Klinsmann was German. They reeked of anti-immigrant sentiment. The media threw a tiff when he spoke from experience and confidence when he brushed off criticism. How dare our less educated but volatile criticism not beat him down! How dare Klinsmann not take the blame for American soccer culture’s ineptitude! When Klinsmann did not succumb to the hot air it was somehow his German-ness that did not mesh with Americans. “Accountability” and “responsibility” were bombs thrown at him.

You cannot get more American than threatening job security. Forget that you hired someone far more qualified. Qualifications and achievements go out the window! Let us fire him because “we feel we do not like him.” Let us act on sentiment rather than facts. Let us create a greater firestorm because when we threaten him he says stuff like “I’m not afraid” and that he was “very comfortable” with his position.

American media had plenty of dumb analysis. Over the years, when it was apparent the USMNT faltered late in games we did not listen to Klinsmann’s explanation of the need for better fitness and cutting down on crucial mistakes (that are usually the result of a tired brain and body). Because that would makes no sense…

And when we got drubbed in Costa Rica? Klinsmann has to explain the simple concept that getting down in a soccer game leads to heads down and giving up more goals. Or that pressing to get back in the game leads to exposure and more goals. This explanation makes sense to anyone that actually has played soccer (or any sport for that matter). But no, media members want to write that the game “was indicative of Klinsmann’s no longer being able to motivate his players.”

In sports the “players quitting” narrative is BS. The media always throws it around across a wide spectrum of US sports and it is basically never true (“1-2-3 Cancun” aside). It’s a hot take that seeks to elevate the media and fans as superior so that they can deride “quitting players.” But the real truth is that framing players as quitters is juicy as it is aggressive. Outrage breaks stories in an attention economy. Outrage is money and truth is lost.

Outrage drove the whole Landon Donovan/Klinsmann feud hoopla. Leading up to the 2014 World Cup, Klinsmann left Donovan off the roster. Many Americans got angry because they puked up name recognition. They did not analyze the fact that Donovan chose to sit out friendlies, and take a four-month sabbatical during World Cup qualifications, a crucial time to be developing with the current team. The sabbatical was probably the necessary therapy for Donovan’s mental health and that is good for Donovan. But on the other hand it is fair to say that taking care of yourself and leaving the game at a crucial time affects your chances to contribute on a national team.

Donovan was effectively a sub at that point because a better-in-form Fabian Johnson supplanted his spot. Klinsmann ultimately chose to take an 18-year-old Julian Green (a player in Bayern Munich’s development) over the 32-year-old Donovan. Klinsmann’s unique stamp on German soccer was the development of youth and that is what he was doing with US soccer. The future is where our ultimate success lies. Donovan may have helped in 2014. But Donovan was not going to win it all for us in Brazil. And Donovan would not have helped us in reaching Russia in 2018.

Whether no Donovan was the right decision or not is a fair argument that can go both ways. However, the legacy of this decision is rooted in the fact that Klinsmann nixed the most famous American soccer player. The “who is this German to say Donovan is not good enough” talk came out. The narratives against the German coach and German/American players got heavier. There was bogus talk like Abby Wambach talking against foreign-born Americans. Donovan got in on the chatter implying that winning a World Cup with foreign-born players would make us less proud, and that for these players playing on the USMNT does not mean as much as it does to players born in the US. The irony of saying children born to US service men/women abroad are less patriotic is disgusting.

But falsely blaming immigrants or “foreigners” is far too popular in the United States of America whether it is international soccer or other walks of life. Furthermore, Klinsmann knew where the best development takes place: Europe. He pushed for American players to develop in Europe and he ultimately called up players from there. He was not happy when Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey returned from abroad to play in the MLS. He said everything short of the MLS is garbage because guess what, the MLS is garbage. Klinsmann’s belief in European development is just flat out correct, but in the end Klinsmann was replaced by Bruce Arena who loves the MLS.

Almost all the best American internationals developed more so in Europe: Kasey Keller, Brad Freidal, Tim Howard, John Harkes, Claudio Reyna, Brian McBride, DeMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and of course the wunderkind Christian Pulisic. The only big exception is Donovan, who did have spells in Europe. Any near hope for a World Cup contending USMNT has to go through a European pipeline not the MLS. The head boss of US Soccer Sunil Gulati fired Klinsmann, the biggest proponent for European development, in favor of one of the biggest proponents of MLS development, Arena.

The combo decision of fire Klinsmann/hire Arena ultimately cost the USMNT a World Cup berth in Russia in 2018. In the beginning of the Arena return saga talking heads perceived hope not bleakness. First, American soccer media jumped on the nostalgia train to get Arena on board because Arena took the USMNT and us to the World Cup quarterfinals in 2002.  ("Good times, remember bro?") Arena did it before so he could do it again...right? What has changed in 15 years anyway?

When the Klinsmann grumblings were in full force, hardly any media dipped back into the thought of Bob Bradley. It was all Arena as the guy. Coach Bradley got us to and out of a tough group in his last world cup. Then Coach Bradley’s stints after the UMSNT were Egypt’s national team, becoming the first US coach in a European first division in Norway, and first American coach of a Premier League club. Sounds global, accomplished, experienced and exposed to top-level soccer.

But Arena was the guy. Why? Arena won three championships in MLS with the LA Galaxy. He won in a league devoid of superstar players with the only team that actually had some quasi-stars in Donovan and other last-sunset ride European vets. He succeeded within his bubble with a more advanced roster than most MLS competition. Arena loves MLS and thinks the league is the future. He believes this because his daily soccer consumption is MLS. Arena lacks the exposure to higher quality soccer. Yet his 2002 successful World Cup team was largely built on the high quality of his European based players. 

Most importantly Arena was vocal about wanting the UMSNT job. He presented himself as a ready-to-go option if they decided to let go of Klinsmann.

American soccer media, drunk off getting Klinsmann fired, eagerly drank the Arena Kool-aid. They loved boasting about Arena’s record since the Klinsmann’s firing: 9 wins, four draws, zero losses. It was a false assessment to believe the USMNT had turned some magical corner.

Serbia friendly:                                                            draw

Jamaica friendly:                                                         win

Honduras World Cup Qualifier (WCQ) home:             win

Panama WCQ away:                                                  draw

Venezuela friendly:                                                     draw

Trinidad & Tobago WCQ home:                                  win

Mexico WCQ away:                                                    draw

Ghana friendly:                                                           win

Panama Gold Cup home:                                           draw

Martinique Gold Cup home:                                        win

Nicaragua Gold Cup home:                                        win

El Salvador Gold Cup home:                                      win

Costa Rica B-team Gold Cup home:                          win

Jamaica Gold Cup final home:                                    win

The “unbeaten” and “undefeated” drivel was everywhere. Look at that schedule. Do people think Klinsmann could not do that? Those games are jokes except the Mexico and Panama WCQs away. Need I remind that USMNT drew in Azteca with Klinsmann before? And how we barely avoided embarrassment by skirting by Martinique. That game was awful. But the results meant that the ship was still afloat until the storms ahead.

The home stretch of WCQ was integral. Competent CONCACAF competition for the final spots.

Costa Rica WCQ:                  home

Honduras WCQ:                    away

Panama WCQ:                      home

Trinidad & Tobago WCQ:       away

Costa Rica at home in WCQ: 

It is a quality opponent on home soil, but arguably a too pro-Costa Rican crowd. The USMNT loses. The Tim Ream and Geoff Cameron center back pairing was atrocious withkey crucial mistakes leading to the goals. (30 min, 2:37 video; 86 min, 6:07 video) The Darlington Nagbe center midfield pairing with Bradley is analyzed skeptically. Nagbe is far from the defensive enforcer Jermaine Jones played in that role. Our prized possession Pulisic gets absolutely pummeled by Costa Rica. In my opinion the only one who had a solid game was Bobby Wood. He held up the ball well had the few creative and aggressive plays.

It was a bad loss at home, but we lost to a good team. It is not the end of the world. It is puzzling that a loss to Costa Rica at home is more acceptable than losses to Mexico home and Costa Rica away. It is not more acceptable in truth, but talk of firing the new coach is not an option this late in qualifying. Don’t forget the first guy was German and the replacement is American.

Off to Honduras whom we previously dispatched 6-0 on home soil.

Away in San Pedro Sula, Arena talks about how the European players are not as fit and ready for the conditions. Arena subsequently benches Fabian Johnson and Wood yet starts Pulisic. It is a no-brainer to start Pulisic because he is our best player. You start the best players! Where is Wood? 

The center backs Ream and Cameron are obviously swapped out after that terrible outing to Costa Rica. The new pairing is an old pairing from Klinsmann in Matt Besler and Omar Gonzalez. Nagbe is put out back wide and Kellyn Acosta, a more defensive sound center midfielder, becomes Bradley’s midfield partner again (after their successful tandem in the Gold Cup). The USMNT does not look good and concedes a goal. Gonzalez gets burned by poor positioning and his atrocious foot speed.(27 game minute, 1:27 video) It is an all too repetitive sight. But a sub and a late Wood equalizer saved us. Our best striker the past two years did not even start that game, but he eked out a point for us. Wood has proven he is dynamic by scoring in the clutch on several occasions. He deserves to be on the field as much as possible. Alas a 1-1 result means the USMNT is still alive with two more games to go.

Panama home:

Panama is thrashed by some quick magic from Wood, Altidore and Pulisic. Panama falls apart in that game and our midfield is not truly tested. The formation goes back to a diamond with Bradley in deep lying midfield, Nagbe and Paul Arriola on the wings and Pulisic at the top of the midfield underneath the strikers. Offensively we dump four on Panama but we do not look that sound defensively. 

I have been preaching and adamant to my friends and family asking why Arena is obsessed with Arriola. I think Arena likes him because he is an up-and-coming MLS player. But Arriola has no business being on the field currently. He is clearly our weakest offensive player and it feels like we are down a man with Arriola running around seemingly aimlessly. Other guys that have worked before and can still work are Fabian Johnson, Alejandro Bedoya, even Gyasi Zardes on that wing. Johnson has better skills, finishing, and defensive prowess (but he is too German). Bedoya’s style is similar to Arriola but Bedoya for years has proven he can be the extremely high work rate wing. Zardes has more offensive sizzle but defensively could an issue on the wing. There are better options than Arriola.

Trinidad & Tobago (TNT) away:

The idea is that a win and the USMNT are through to Russia. A draw might do it too, but a loss would be a disaster. Avoid the disaster. The USMNT is flat-out a better team than TNT. Omar Gonzalez flubs a clearance into our own goal. Disaster one. Arena employs a dumb tactic in conceding the midfield enforcement yet again by utilizing a one-man Bradley coverage. Bradley can run for days but he cannot cover multiple men while trying to play a clean facilitator game. The midfield control is exposed. Then TNT’s winger, Alvin Jones launches a scorcher from the wing and BOOM, back of the net. Down 0-2 on the road. Disaster two, critical disaster time. It is now a big hole. However, Pulisic has a moment, scores a goal and now we are only down 1-2. One more goal to stave off grave disappointment and one half to go.

TNT hunkers down, the score remains so it is time to throw our best offensive forces out there. All hands on deck. Dempsey, capable of artistry, replaces the outclassed Arriola. Acosta, a skilled midfielder with exquisite set pieces ability replaces a defender. And the last ditch sub? BENNY FEILHABER! He is a playmaker type midfield player who plays in MLS and has been basically non-existent on the USMNT since 2014. THAT BENNY FEILHABER? NOT A STRIKER? Not even Wondolowski? Not another striker like a (Left off the roster but has been clutch before) Jordan Morris? Not a defensive replacement move so that we can send Gonzalez up front to do his elite aerial damage? WHAT!!? NO, THANKS TO ARENA, BENNY FEILHABER WAS THE USMNT’S LAST GASP EFFORT TO QUALIFY FOR THE WORLD CUP! And the best thing he did on the field (best for TNT that was) was thwarting a heading effort in the box by our own Wood (87 min game, 7:24 video).

Disaster Achieved.

Arena was done. He was done when pre-match he was insinuating "hotshot" European teams' ability to come to CONCACAF. "Hotshot" European teams do not lose to TNT-level opponents in tough conditions when the match carries a must win importance. Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, and Cyprus do not take down the Germanys of the world because of tough travel, hostile stadiums, and poor conditions. They certainly do not complain about it. The "hotshots" get the job done. Arena was also done when he decided to blame the refs for not protecting the prized Pulisic. Arena could have been jockeying to influence future games. But Arena needed to act on what he had control over. That is to place a defensive midfield enforcer to protect Pulisic like a Casemiro (Real Madrid and Brazil), a good defender and ball controller like Sergio Busquets (Barcelona and Spain) or like Italy's famed Gennaro Gattuso (aka growl or snarl). Acosta was the best option, but any option was necessary to protect Pulisic and control the midfield with Bradley. Arena did not do that.

After the loss, Arena knew he failed and bowed out of national team duties.

US Soccer must rebuild:

Here is the catch: The best man for the rebuild is Jurgen Klinsmann. He builds national team programs from the ground up, and progresses with solid results. Analysts wielded overreactive hindsight to skewer Klinsmann, but they lacked the foresight to appreciate the progress and direction he was taking our country and his home. 

Klinsmann is married to an American women. He lives in America. He has American children. Klinsmann is passionate about bringing soccer immortality to our country. 

On the Bill Simmons podcast I heard Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri give some management advice: "Be more passionate than ambitious." Passion breads success at all levels and across all industries. Jurgen has enormous passion about taking US soccer to the top. When he spoke accurately and directly people scoffed at him being German. Our country will never be elite until we infuse elite soccer culture like the rest of the world. The beautiful game requires culture.

Pulisic gets it and eloquently said it. Until we get that culture we need learn from the best. That means importing foreign talent to run our programs and exporting domestic talent to develop in superior environments. Klinsmann knew this. Stop pretending that America is best at everything.

We could go with Tab Ramos, or other foreigners like Tata Martino, Laurent Blanc and Sam Allardyce. Stay away from the MLS guys and stop pulling for a domestic based coach. Our domestic coaches are not qualified enough. None compare to Klinsmann.

Be true to American spirit (not this faux American nationalistic clamor) and hire the highly qualified immigrants. That diversity built this country and carried us to far greater achievements than we imagined. And after you have all the qualified candidates choose the guy most passionate. Choose the guy you once let go. Forgive yourself of past mistakes and own up to the right move. Correct the mistake and rehire. Apple hired Steve Jobs back because the talent was undeniable (Klinsmann/Steve Jobs blog reference #2). US Soccer should hire Klinsmann again. Great coaches took time to build their dynasties. Believe in the man, believe he knows more than you and #TrustTheProcess. And support him with enough patience so that he has a chance to get us there to take us on a victory ride.

In reality, America and US soccer media is too stubborn to openly walk back their mistake. So Klinsmann part two will probably never happen...

I’m Yearning for Jurgen.