j4remi wrote:Knicksfan1992 wrote:Yes I agree whole heartedly. Klinsmann was very stubborn too which does not help when you're not producing consistently good results which by no means he was. However, I believe he was slightly vindicated with how Arena performed with his tactics and line up calls. US Soccer got pissed that JK held our players to a higher standard and preferred European based players to MLS ones and made that known publicly. So, they call in a MLS croney and well.. you see what happened. I'm not chitting on MLS, but for international play it just doesn't have the depth of quality talent for us to consistently fill our roster with players from the league and also compete at the level we desire to compete at (or at least I think the level we desire to).
I wouldn't actually mind bringing him back for a 2nd go around with full control again. I can live with shotty in game managing as long as we are developing for the future. I mean let's face it if you look at our player pool from the ages of 23-28 there's just not much quality there... We're going to have to rely on young guys and finding talent. I think Klinsmann is the man best suited for that job amongst people who know US Soccer while having a high international pedigree. It will never happen thought. To me, hiring a top class world manager is putting a band aid on a wound that needs stitches. We need someone who will care about US Soccer for the long term not about making it out of the group stage of the next world cup and securing a 2nd contract.
Klinsmann toward the end blew it though. He was constantly playing guys out of position and that really throws a player's development. Graham Zusi shouldn't be a left back one day and a midfielder the next. Klinsmann did that sort of thing with a bunch of guys, granted the back line was a mess and also dealt with injuries but he needed to pick his guys and develop them. I'd like US soccer to bring in another international coach and personality who can help convince multi-nationals to choose US soccer and to have broader perspective, Klinsmann was big on the youth push which is paying dividends but as far as his tactics and the results...there were a lot of inexplicable decisions followed by a lot of bad results.
I agree. I don't think Klinsmann was a great game manager at all. He alienated guys, played guys in unfamiliar positions, and ultimately got a mixed bag of results. The only thing I get nervous about when looking at outside candidates and something that gets overlooked is just how complex and nuanced the US soccer system is and nuanced MLS is. As much as I feel like we should be avoiding MLS players, it's inevitable that some are going to be on the roster, we don't have the depth of talent over in Europe and around the world to field our best 22 just from over there. An outside manager is going to take time to understand how MLS being on a different schedule than everyone else effects the national team because it does. That's why I loved Klinsmann because he had spent years here studying US Soccer and understanding where it was at before taking the job.
I understand the want for a higher profile manager, but I think there are some key things you need to sort out with whomever it is. Do they care about the long term health of the national team? Can they not only guide the senior guys to victory, but also institute change in the way we approach matches tactically and how we approach youth development? Truly how many foreign guys are really going to care about these things? I think US Soccer needs to be honest with itself and understand that yes hiring a guy like Sven Goran Eriksson for example may yield immediate improvements, but at what benefit to the long term health of US soccer? Look, to me, we're still at the stage where qualifying for the world cup has got to be the main goal. Anything on top of that is gravy. That's just where our talent pool is right now and will be for the foreseeable future. Truthfuly any manager worth his salt should be able to get us there. I don't think you need to hire a Fabio Capello or a mercenary like that to get us there.
I want a guy with a vision for 10-25 years down the line that understands where we are now and can help us reach our current potential, but also knows what it's going to take to eventually become a world power. As flawed as Klinsmann was and I agree with you he was majorly flawed, he had a vision and for the first time in a long time US Soccer had a future under him. We threw that away for a short sighted attempt to just qualify... As hard as it is to say it given what just happened, I think we need to prioritize 2026 and 2030 over just getting through qualification in 2022 or else you just start the same cycle of mediocrity again.
Also it might be a harsh reality for some, but with the way our pool is set up, it's a real possibility we miss out on 2022 as well. The 23-28 age group is devoid of quality talent and they couldn't qualify for the Olympics out of the same region. It's going to be an uphill battle...
