Jurgen Klinsmann Named New USMNT Coach – Or Should That Be ‘ÜSMNT Coach’?

Chris Wright

29th, July 2011

31 Comments

By Chris Wright

First of all, apologies to everyone across the whole wide Twittersphere for half-inching that ‘ÜSMNT’ joke.

Secondly, after Bob Bradley was jettisoned yesterday the US national side have this very afternoon appointed Jurgen Klinsmann as their new head coach – an appointment that seems to have been a long time in the making.

So said US Soccer President Sunil Gulati:

“We are excited to have Jürgen as the head coach of our Men’s National Team. He is a highly accomplished player and coach with the experience and knowledge to advance the program.

“Jürgen has had success in many different areas of the game and we look forward to the leadership he will provide on and off the field.”

It’s safe to say that Klinsmann has been bought in with one eye on trying to transform the Yanks from the functional, pedestrian (is ‘tactically deficient’ too harsh?) outfit they have become under Bradley into an altogether more flashy prospect – a move that is certain to go down well with the massing legions of disillusioned/bored to tears US fans.

Any thoughts on the appointment folks?

Posted in International football, MLS

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31 Comments

  1. Red4Life says:

    Could the problems in the US international team have more to do with the kind of football played in MLS? I watched quite a few matches of the MLS Season and I was quite frankly surprised at the sheer physicality of play. While hard and fast football is all good and fine, I think it leaves that much less room for tactical nous.

    Also, I saw one too many tackles which I thought should get a yellow at the very least but the official just allowed the play to go on. Its ‘soccer’ folks, not American Football, and the kind of contacts that went unpunished would draw a yellow minimum even in EPL.

    MLS commentators often say no one is paying to watch the referee, and that the game should be allowed to flow, but if the referees were encouraged to call these blatant fouls then the tempo may adjust to better suit tactical planning over the run and gun style of play.

    That said, I really like the draft system that MLS has integrated into football (Its there in Basketball and American Football as well).

  2. georgio says:

    for what reason would there be an umlaut in ‘united’?

  3. Markell says:

    @Red4Life Hold on, there, some of us know the difference between ‘Football’ and ‘Gridiron’ over here in the States, fella, so no need to pstronize us, old chap and this is coming from a person who played American Football at a high level in college… er, university.

    I think this is a GREAT appointment. Klinsmann wants to change everything about the national team structure, and given Germany’s recent successes on the major international scene, this could be an inspired choice. Do I think we’ll win in Brazil 2014? Hell no. Will we win in Russia 2018? No. But what happend in Germany, the restructure of the game from the ground up, could happen here, and could change football’s status and results impactfully for years thanks to this appointment.

    Now, lets scrap the 4-4-2 forever, and if we stick with the 4-5-1, lets do it the right way, Herr Klinsmann. We believe in you!

  4. Satan says:

    @georgio: because it’s a silly joke. klinsmann is german, germans use umlauts, americans generally don’t…get it?…get it? *nudge nudge*

  5. georgio says:

    @satan youre right it is a silly joke

  6. Patrick says:

    As long as this means no more Jonathan “I’m burned faster than Matchlight” Bornstein I’ll be happy. Also, hopefully this will mean some of the promising young talent gets a chance to develop on the national side (Tim Chandler, Omar Gonzalez, Jose Francisco Torres, Brek Shea…).

  7. swandive says:

    @georgio lighten up, silly or not, its a joke, don’t get butt hurt about not getting it

  8. romfordray says:

    Our best player is Clint Dempsey!!!! In all fukking seriousness, how far can you go with that?

  9. kevin says:

    sure why not… and @romforday I remember when Cobi Jones was our best player… I’d say Dempsey is a dramatic improvement.

  10. Hasselhof says:

    Georgio, you can’t possibly be that dense to not get the connection of the joke.

    Jürgen Klinsmann is a good appointment. Is it the answer to the USMNT prayers? not so much. I would put more weight with Joachim Löw’s influence, with the current success’s of Die Mannshaft. As long as Klinsmann can assert some control over the US’s youth development, he’ll make a difference.

  11. Ryan says:

    The Yanks are coming !!!!

  12. dennis says:

    I’m wondering if he’ll sign Jay Goppingen as his assistant!

  13. Tinez says:

    Amerikaners, Na ja.

  14. Joe says:

    Well, well, well, the USA team has finally got a real respectable coach for the first time.
    One thing’s for sure, they’ll be out of excuses when this fails too.

  15. Tinez says:

    The American national football team worries no one in Europe, and they never will. The world’s most popular game just isn’t interesting enough in the states at professional level.

  16. paddy says:

    Personally I think its a great appointment. We have some talent and a solid core. Bradley should have gone after the World Cup, not because he did a poor job there but really the natural cycle of a National Team coach is one major tournament.

  17. Jose says:

    We’ll get eliminated in the GS in 2014 as per the pattern from 1990: GS, R2, GS, QF, GS, R2… Besides, no matter what he might do to the system, until wages get closer to the NFL, MLB, and NBA our best will never play soccer past 12. MLS revenue is still only 10% of the NHL’s

  18. Anonymous says:

    Disaster waiting to happen – Klinsmann was just a figurehead for Germany – Jogi Low was always the talent in the partnership.

  19. Anonymous says:

    He´s everything else but a good coach. If he doesn´t find a tactical genius like Löw to work with, the US team is doomed.

  20. Ceezer says:

    Finally they hired a knowledgeable foreigner to coach the team, it can only get better. The MLS is the most “unpussy” league there is, even the prem has gotten too soft. Lastly why would you knock Clint Dempsey? He scored as many goals as Drogba did and he plays in the midfield most of the time for Fulham. I’m pretty sure that in 4 to 8 years the US team will be a top 5 team in the world, they have resources and the coach now to change the style of ball they have played for the last 12 years.

  21. sex god says:

    I find the euro trash on here talking shit very funny.

    “The American national football team worries no one in Europe, and they never will. The world’s most popular game just isn’t interesting enough in the states at professional level.”

    really?… because you live in America and know what the fuck you’re talking about right?

    I’m willing to bet 100 US dollars (thats 61 GBP’s) that the USMNT will advance further then England in 2014 and if by some chance they get knocked out at the same stage as the limeys it’s more then likely that the USMNT will have scored more goals then England.

  22. Swipe says:

    Dempsey is awesome! and part of the reason soccer is the world’s most popular sport is because unlike many other sports, you don’t need to have as much equipment. Less equipment allows for less expenses and therefore the accessibility of the sport increases. This opens up avenues for poorer countries to take part in the sport.

    Being an American I never really got into any American sports but I absolutely love Soccer/European Football. And Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t we win the group stage in 2010 when paired in the same group with a country who’s supposed to contain one of the best leagues in the world? We may be underdogs in the worlds most popular sport, but we’re on the rise.

  23. Murray says:

    @sex god As an American myself, I feel inclined to agree with the so-called “euro trash”.

    I’d bet 100 US dollars that the USMNT couldn’t even beat the US Women’s squad–not now and not in 2014.

  24. TravisKOP says:

    good sign, now if only england followed their lead and dropped crapello too

  25. SDM says:

    I find it kinda funny that ppl refer to the USMNT as a “failure” when they won their group in the last World Cup….a group that included England. Just sayin’.

  26. James P says:

    Well, well, well typical fucking SMUG analysis from the Brits – just remember we won the group – hope fabio has you guys working on penalties and choking in big games

  27. Michael D says:

    I’m happy with the appointment and not so much for Klinsmann’s tactical nous (which can certainly be debated) but moreso for his training, emphasis on technique and most importantly on his desire to revamp the whole system from the youth academies on up.

    There is actually loads of talent in the US, the problem is that while we make brilliant athletes our overall technique is deficient and not up to par with countries like France, Germany and of course Spain. No offense, our ceiling right now is England, and I think any of you Brits who are honest with yourselves will agree with that. I think you have already started making moves in the direction of emphasizing more technique and the like so you will remain a step ahead of us. But, that could change in 5-10 years if we can develop our youth properly and uniformly. Also, we need to start moving away from the “pay-to-play” system that feeds alot of the universities and MLS academies; there is loads of talent that plays in leagues that are, well, “off the radar” so to speak because they’re largely poorer or “ethnic” leagues but have more emphasis on creativity and technique. If we could start incorporating more of that then we’ll see the US begin to blossom more (and of course, a more adventurous formation). But one step at a time and I think this is a step in the right direction

  28. lisa says:

    hooray!!!!

  29. says:

    At least we won’t have to suffer through Michael Bradley with the automatic start at center mid anymore. Things can only get better if only for that.

    I asked why Fabio decided to start Green in 2010, he did it for the lulz

  30. @sex god You will not advsnce further coz you are crap and your best player (dempsey) had to come to england to fufill his potential and he only plays for a medioca EPL so that says it all also i visit the US alot and you can tell “soccer” is crap and a minor sport just by walking around i mean in england people where football (soccer) shirts with pride and you sre alot of people wearing them but in the US you dont see any soccer shirts mainly basket ball jerseys and baseball hats and also when we drew 1-1 coz of a keeper mistake a US paper said “USA win 1-1” which sums it all up when you lose you say oh well i hate soccer any way but if you win you’d say ha we beat you when you dont really care plus stop going on about your better than us coz you know your wrong.

  31. *well crap in comparrison to us* ^ adding to my previous post

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