Jurgen Klinsmann to Replace Bob Bradley

A brief update on the position of USMNT head coach which I wrote about yesterday upon hearing the news that Bob Bradley had been relieved of his duties:

Jurgen Klinsmann has been named as Bob Bradley's successor today. Yesterday I gave three skills that I thought absolutely imperative to any new head coach: elite-level experience, tactical nous, and the ability to accurately assess skill levels of players.

Regarding the first of these, elite-level experience, Klinsmann more than fits the bill. Not only was he a world-class player in four elite leagues for a decade and a half, he also managed the German national team to a World Cup semifinal (and eventual third place) on home soil in 2006. Bruce Arena coached the USMNT to a solitary point that year. Klinsmann, then, has far more experience at the highest level than any head coach in recent history.

With respect to the second qualification, tactical nous, Klinsmann's resume is a little more unclear. It's been written in a number of places that Klinsmann's assistant with the German national team in 2006, Joachim Low (now head coach), was the man primarily responsible for the brilliant tactics played by Germany in that tournament that saw them go so deep into the knockout stages. Nobody had been expecting Germany to progress particularly far in the tournament, but they played brilliantly. The fact that Low has had such immediate success (Euro 2008 finals, World Cup 2010 semifinal - lost to champions Spain in both competitions), has lead to even more speculation that it was he, not Klinsmann who was the mastermind of the 2006 team.

Finally, the third skill set I deemed imperative was being a capable judge of talent. Although Klinsmann's ability to judge talent hasn't ever been tested in the way it will coaching the USMNT, he compensates for this unknown with the fact that he was the only foreign head coach on the market who has significant experience in American soccer. Klinsmann has lived int he US for some time, and has been consulting with Toronto F.C. in MLS. Klinsmann's additional experience in American soccer does give him that added edge.

But Klinsmann possesses another skill in great abundance that I think may result in his success as head coach of the USMNT: Klinsmann is an excellent motivator. He consistently gets the best out of his players, something that many, myself included, felt Bob Bradley failed to do with alarming consistency. Bradley never seemed to be much of a disciplinarian and Klinsmann may be stricter, but he is also, undoubtedly more motivational. Nobody could possibly have less charisma than Bob Bradley and fans always got the sense that his lack of charisma probably accounted for some less than fully motivated displays by the team. Again, this is an area in which Klinsmann will not have such problems.

In many ways, Klinsmann's appointment was inevitable. If the rumors are to be believed, Sunil Gulati, president of the USSF, had approached Klinsmann twice previously, first in 2006 when Bob Bradley was hired, and again when Bob Bradley signed a new contract just last year. Klinsmann was always going to be Gulati's man. Time will tell if the fact that Gulati got him was actually a good thing for American soccer.

Bob Bradley Fired by USSF

Fans of the US Men's National Team (USMNT) have long been divided over the performance of coach Bob Bradley. Some think he's one of the best coaches the team has ever had, while others think he's not worth the Gatorade the team drinks during one friendly match. His departure offers us the opportunity to take that issue in more depth and to think about what the team needs to move forward and be successful during the next World Cup cycle.

Bob Bradley has presided over a number of thrilling moments for the USMNT over the last five years. Starting with the Gold Cup victory over Mexico in 2007, which qualified the US for the 2009 Confederations' Cup, Bradley produced a series of good results. The Confederations' Cup looked all but lost in the group stage until the US pulled out a miraculous 3-0 victory against Egypt in the last match to proceed on goal difference. Then in the knockout stages, the US upset world number one Spain 2-0 to reach the final against Brazil. In the final, the US took a 2-0 lead in at the break, but a bit of bad luck saw Luis Fabiano equalize less than a minute into the second half and the Americans would eventually capitulate 3-2. It was a wonderful run, and even the group stage game against Italy (which the US lost 3-1) had seen them up for a period of time.

And the USMNT's performance wasn't too shabby at the World Cup this past year either. They did well to squeak out a draw against number one seed England, and then effectively won the game against Slovenia, although the final scoreline read 2-2 courtesy of hallucinating referee Koman Coulibaly. And who could possibly forget the win against Algeria? It must rank among the best ever moments in USMNT history.

But the World Cup was marred by allowing a succession of early goals. Steven Gerrard scored inside 10 minutes for England, the Slovenians scored an early goal, Algeria hit the woodwork early on, and Ghana scored inside ten minutes in both regular time and extra-time. Ricardo Clark never played well (and was the man primarily responsible for the early goals from England and Ghana), yet continued to play throughout the tournament in spite of Maurice Edu's consistently solid play.

Bob Bradley provided similarly perplexing roster selections at this year's Gold Cup, deciding to bring Landon Donovan off the bench for a series of knockout stage games. Jermaine Jones was preferred alongside Michael Bradley in the middle of the park which meant that again, Maurice Edu was left off the pitch. The US promptly blew a two-goal lead in the final against Mexico. When the US went up 2-0, Bradley should have realized that it was a lead that should have been defended. Both US goals went against the run of play, but instead of making defensive substitutions he made attacking ones.

All of this points to a mixed track record for Bradley at the helm of the USMNT. Some players have performed well - Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, son Michael Bradley, and Carlos Bocanegra have been quite consistent under coach Bob Bradley, but others who promised much have fizzled out. That list includes Jozy Altidore, Maurice Edu (due to lack of opportunities), Stuart Holden (due to injuries), Benny Feilhaber, Oguchi Onyewu, and most famously, Freddy Adu.

So what does the USMNT need in a new head coach?

1) Elite level experience. The US hasn't had a coach who has been well-known anywhere but the United States in recent memory and it's time for that to change. Bradley and Bruce Arena, his predecessor, both had long histories in US soccer, but neither had the boatloads of experience abroad required to be highly successful at that level. With a majority of the starting 11 playing overseas and the demands being more than regional success, an international coach is the only option. The third reason is that there isn't a qualified American candidate.

2) A tactician. The USMNT has capable players. Everyone in the soccer media is talking about it as a transition time for the USMNT, but that seems a little bit premature. Clint Dempsey will be 31 at the next World Cup, Donovan 32, and Tim Howard 35. They should still all be excellent players then. The lackluster performances of the last year have not entirely been due to lack of talent; some of the blame must be in the tactics the US has employed. Someone who can bring tactical nous and discipline to a squad of good players, then, is a must.

3) A good judge of talent. So many players have been used by the USMNT during Bob Bradley's tenure as head coach that any new coach will certainly have to be aware of the plethora of options available. Bradley has undoubtedly left out many good players and, as is clearly the case, included some who are not up to par.

I think a more interesting question is how the USSF will go about hiring a new head coach. Their decisions have frequently been more about making money than about the success of the team on the pitch. Scheduling the Gold Cup Final, a game always likely to pit the US against arch-rivals Mexico, in Pasadena, CA, among the regions of the country most highly populated by Mexican-Americans is only the latest in a long line of such financial decisions. Back in 1985, during qualifying for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the US needed only a draw against Costa Rica to progress to the final round of qualifying. Nevertheless the USSF scheduled the game in an area densely populated by Costa Rican-Americans and marketed the game to them. The US lost 1-0 and didn't qualify for the World Cup. That is to say, I have my doubts that the USSF will go out and hire a top tier coach because a top tier coach will coast top tier money, and that's money the USSF has never been ready to part with. We'll know soon enough, I'm sure.