Post by SoccerMom on Oct 8, 2015 9:07:21 GMT -5
Win or lose, Jurgen Klinsmann’s job is safe with U.S. national soccer team
IRVINE, Calif. – No matter how the U.S. men’s national soccer team fares Saturday against Mexico at the sold-out Rose Bowl, Jurgen Klinsmann will return home to his Orange County paradise without fear of losing his head coaching job.
He will beam with satisfaction over securing regional bragging rights and a 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup berth. Or, using his default expression in sour times, he’ll say, “It’s a real bummer.”
Either way, Klinsmann will then turn his attention to Tuesday’s friendly against Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena and the first two 2018 World Cup qualifiers next month.
To the disappointment of his noisy detractors, whose numbers have swelled since failure in the Gold Cup in July and embarrassment against Brazil in a September friendly, Klinsmann will remain gainfully employed by the U.S. Soccer Federation – even if the Americans lose to their bitter rivals in a game of consequence.
USSF President Sunil Gulati hired Klinsmann in summer 2011 – and extended his contract through 2018 before he took the team to a single World Cup – for the purpose of nurturing the program over many years.
This weekend’s CONCACAF Cup is a snapshot pinned to a wall smothered with photographs. Some are larger than others; this is a pretty big one. Through Gulati’s eyes, though, a few blurry images do not ruin the portrait.
If immediate results were paramount, Gulati would have ditched Klinsmann after the fourth-place finish in the Gold Cup, the Americans’ worst in 15 years. That’s just what Gulati did with Bob Bradley after losing to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. Bradley didn’t get the result and, in Gulati’s opinion, wasn’t advancing the cause.
Gulati is not judging Klinsmann wholly on results; in fact, some might argue, he has not begun judging him at all.
Gulati hired Klinsmann because he believed the former German player and coach would, in the long term, move the program forward.
Yes, there was an expectation to continue qualifying for the World Cup, to advance to the knockout stage of soccer’s premier competition and to show well in friendlies against world-class foes. In all cases, Klinsmann has met demands.
There also was an expectation to finish first or second in the Gold Cup. Klinsmann raised the trophy in 2013 but couldn’t manage a consolation prize this summer after a semifinal fall against Jamaica and third-place defeat to Panama on penalty kicks.
In friendlies last month, the Americans came from behind to defeat Peru but were out of their league against Brazil. Beyond the 4-1 setback, fans and media scrutinized Klinsmann’s lineup selection and tactical approach, and were alarmed by the Americans’ lack of fight and cohesion.
Klinsmann’s appointment, though, was never strictly about what unfolded on the field. So when people say defeat to Mexico should end Klinsmann’s reign, the criteria doesn’t apply here.
Retired U.S. star Landon Donovan, infamously cut by Klinsmann before the 2014 World Cup, was right in telling ESPN this week that “anywhere else in the world, if this coach had those [recent] results, and they lose this game against Mexico, they’d be fired. I think if Jurgen wants to hold all the players to that standard, then he has to be held to that standard too.”
Except, in this case, the standard is different. Klinsmann has broader duties; it’s not purely about the final score. Last year, he inherited the additional title of technical director, putting him in charge of restructuring player development and creating vertical integration to align playing styles from the youth national teams to the senior squad.
Such endeavors require years to take root, and Gulati is providing Klinsmann with many to accomplish it. Along the way, winning is a big thing but not the only thing.
There are other factors to take into account.
First, despite the feverish anticipation, the CONCACAF Cup is not going to make or break the U.S. team. Advancement to the Confederations Cup would, without question, help the delegation acclimate to Russia a year ahead of the World Cup there. And beating Mexico before a blockbuster crowd and national TV audience would lift team and fan morale. After a rough few months, both could use it.
But the outcome has no bearing on the next World Cup cycle and, if the Americans had not stumbled this summer, Klinsmann would be preparing for two friendlies this month instead of the Mexico game plus the Costa Rica exhibition. (The CONCACAF Cup pits the past two Gold Cup champions. If the same team had won both times, the match wouldn’t have been necessary. Until a few months ago, the CONCACAF Cup did not exist.)
There also is the money. Klinsmann is the highest-paid head coach in U.S. history, by a wide margin. Terms of his current deal, which runs through the 2018 World Cup, have not yet been disclosed, but the previous pact carried a base salary of $2.5 million.
If, for argument’s sake, he is now earning $3.5 million, the guaranteed compensation adds up to more than $10 million. The USSF does not want to pay out that kind of cash (or a multi-million dollar settlement) while also paying a new coach.
And then there is this: Klinsmann is Gulati’s guy. Gulati wooed him for years before securing his services. They are intertwined. This is not to suggest Gulati is stubbornly sticking with Klinsmann for the sake of his own reputation, but Gulati is not going to give up on him without extraordinary cause, either.
And Klinsmann would have to do much worse than lose to Mexico before a pro-Mexico crowd to lose his job.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2015/10/08/win-or-lose-jurgen-klinsmanns-job-is-safe-with-u-s-national-soccer-team/
IRVINE, Calif. – No matter how the U.S. men’s national soccer team fares Saturday against Mexico at the sold-out Rose Bowl, Jurgen Klinsmann will return home to his Orange County paradise without fear of losing his head coaching job.
He will beam with satisfaction over securing regional bragging rights and a 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup berth. Or, using his default expression in sour times, he’ll say, “It’s a real bummer.”
Either way, Klinsmann will then turn his attention to Tuesday’s friendly against Costa Rica at Red Bull Arena and the first two 2018 World Cup qualifiers next month.
To the disappointment of his noisy detractors, whose numbers have swelled since failure in the Gold Cup in July and embarrassment against Brazil in a September friendly, Klinsmann will remain gainfully employed by the U.S. Soccer Federation – even if the Americans lose to their bitter rivals in a game of consequence.
USSF President Sunil Gulati hired Klinsmann in summer 2011 – and extended his contract through 2018 before he took the team to a single World Cup – for the purpose of nurturing the program over many years.
This weekend’s CONCACAF Cup is a snapshot pinned to a wall smothered with photographs. Some are larger than others; this is a pretty big one. Through Gulati’s eyes, though, a few blurry images do not ruin the portrait.
If immediate results were paramount, Gulati would have ditched Klinsmann after the fourth-place finish in the Gold Cup, the Americans’ worst in 15 years. That’s just what Gulati did with Bob Bradley after losing to Mexico in the 2011 Gold Cup final. Bradley didn’t get the result and, in Gulati’s opinion, wasn’t advancing the cause.
Gulati is not judging Klinsmann wholly on results; in fact, some might argue, he has not begun judging him at all.
Gulati hired Klinsmann because he believed the former German player and coach would, in the long term, move the program forward.
Yes, there was an expectation to continue qualifying for the World Cup, to advance to the knockout stage of soccer’s premier competition and to show well in friendlies against world-class foes. In all cases, Klinsmann has met demands.
There also was an expectation to finish first or second in the Gold Cup. Klinsmann raised the trophy in 2013 but couldn’t manage a consolation prize this summer after a semifinal fall against Jamaica and third-place defeat to Panama on penalty kicks.
In friendlies last month, the Americans came from behind to defeat Peru but were out of their league against Brazil. Beyond the 4-1 setback, fans and media scrutinized Klinsmann’s lineup selection and tactical approach, and were alarmed by the Americans’ lack of fight and cohesion.
Klinsmann’s appointment, though, was never strictly about what unfolded on the field. So when people say defeat to Mexico should end Klinsmann’s reign, the criteria doesn’t apply here.
Retired U.S. star Landon Donovan, infamously cut by Klinsmann before the 2014 World Cup, was right in telling ESPN this week that “anywhere else in the world, if this coach had those [recent] results, and they lose this game against Mexico, they’d be fired. I think if Jurgen wants to hold all the players to that standard, then he has to be held to that standard too.”
Except, in this case, the standard is different. Klinsmann has broader duties; it’s not purely about the final score. Last year, he inherited the additional title of technical director, putting him in charge of restructuring player development and creating vertical integration to align playing styles from the youth national teams to the senior squad.
Such endeavors require years to take root, and Gulati is providing Klinsmann with many to accomplish it. Along the way, winning is a big thing but not the only thing.
There are other factors to take into account.
First, despite the feverish anticipation, the CONCACAF Cup is not going to make or break the U.S. team. Advancement to the Confederations Cup would, without question, help the delegation acclimate to Russia a year ahead of the World Cup there. And beating Mexico before a blockbuster crowd and national TV audience would lift team and fan morale. After a rough few months, both could use it.
But the outcome has no bearing on the next World Cup cycle and, if the Americans had not stumbled this summer, Klinsmann would be preparing for two friendlies this month instead of the Mexico game plus the Costa Rica exhibition. (The CONCACAF Cup pits the past two Gold Cup champions. If the same team had won both times, the match wouldn’t have been necessary. Until a few months ago, the CONCACAF Cup did not exist.)
There also is the money. Klinsmann is the highest-paid head coach in U.S. history, by a wide margin. Terms of his current deal, which runs through the 2018 World Cup, have not yet been disclosed, but the previous pact carried a base salary of $2.5 million.
If, for argument’s sake, he is now earning $3.5 million, the guaranteed compensation adds up to more than $10 million. The USSF does not want to pay out that kind of cash (or a multi-million dollar settlement) while also paying a new coach.
And then there is this: Klinsmann is Gulati’s guy. Gulati wooed him for years before securing his services. They are intertwined. This is not to suggest Gulati is stubbornly sticking with Klinsmann for the sake of his own reputation, but Gulati is not going to give up on him without extraordinary cause, either.
And Klinsmann would have to do much worse than lose to Mexico before a pro-Mexico crowd to lose his job.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/soccer-insider/wp/2015/10/08/win-or-lose-jurgen-klinsmanns-job-is-safe-with-u-s-national-soccer-team/