I know you live in Germany (I think) and wanted to know what the word is about Klinsmann in Germany about how he is doing with the US Men's Soccer Team. How serious is he taken going from coaching Germany to the US?
I know I'm not YV (I looked in the mirror to make sure!!), but my tuppenceworth is that there may have been a bit of sniggering at the start, but the USA are nobody's fool. They play some really neat football, are fast, methodical and skillful, and have one of the best players (in my humble opinion) out there in Landon Donovan. They pull off victories regularly against the likes of Brazil, and have recently beaten Spain and Italy.....and they absolutely hammered my lot (Scotland) 5-1 last time around. I think Klinsmann and his US side should be taken VERY seriously, not just in his homeland, but all over.
Blaise Pascal wrote:
Much of his future reputation also depends on the Gold Cup and on the qualifiers for the next World Cup
Of course! But I think they'll have a good run, and also qualify for the World Cup finals. Their position of 22 in the current rankings is a false one, as everyone else around them have been playing and picking up points whilst they've been fairly quiet recently. They're a decent side, easily a top 12 one, if not the top 10!
Well, a 1-0 win over Panama sees stage 1 accomplished as they now have the Gold Cup, which surely enhances their status a little. They should have a better established reputation when WC qualification is ensured.
The opinion about Klinsmann is divided here in Germany. He was a huge and very popular player, world champion, European champion, German champion, UEFA cup winner, Italian supercup winner, Olympic bronze medallist, footballer of the year in Germany and England, world top scorer. He is a very intelligent person with immense will power and an individualist who hates the media and the public interest. After his carreer he moved to the USA to avoid public attention. He coached the national team from 2004-2006 and finished third in the championship in Germany which was good at the time and reconciled the Germans with the national team. He quit after the championship although he was probably the most popular person in the country at the time. Later he was fired as coach from Bayern Munich after less than a year which cost him a lot of reputation because Bayern is the biggest club here and very influential. Imo it was just a big misunderstanding and he is much better off as a national manager in the USA.
I think his best quality is his ability to motivate young people to give their best on the pitch. He is not so much a tactical wizzard but motivation is very important. As a national manager he hired a tactics specialist as his assistent who is now our national manager - Joachim Loew.
I always liked Klinsmann because he is so unwilling to submit to public pressure. As a national coach he refused to move back to Germany but kept flying in from the USA to do his job which was much criticised by the media. It turned out he had it written in his contract that he was not required to move back which caused quite a scandal but all was forgotten after the 2006 tournament :)
As a big football fan and USMNT fan, I was just curious to know what the talks were back in Germany. I'll be the first to admit that USA, although it has come a long way from where it used to be two decades ago, is still not a power house in international football.
It's ironic (I think) that from the very beginning as the coach of the USA, he made it public and instilled that the USA should take advantage of the Hispanic-rooted players available to play for the national team. There was a big controversy about this over here with color commentators in the beginning because the US team is not known for having many "non-whitewashed" Hispanic players. I remember this did not fall well with Alexis Lalas (who is a complete douchebag in my opinion). But I am glad the US team is taking advantage of players from all backgrounds which will make the team strong I believe, thanks to Jurgen.
By the way, being Mexican-American I can say that Germany got very lucky in 1998 against Mexico and in 2002 against USA :)
That's funny that racial background is an issue in the US national team. Looking at basket ball - there are so many African American players in the national team and nobody has a problem. Here in Germany all prejudices are forgotten when it comes to the success of the national team. We have two players from Turkish families, an African-German player, two players from Polish families. This is not so normal here like in the USA because we are not a classical immigration country. We have a lot of hidden racism but when the team is concerned every player is loved as long as they help the team.
I do not remember Germany vs Mexico in 1998 but in 2002 the German team was very lucky in all matches (except vs South Korea). The bad performance of the German team was the reason for Klinsmann's popularity when he formed the new young team for the home world cup in 2006 although the team finished 2nd in 2002 and only 3rd in 2006.
I used to see the German national side as a bit of a bore (sorry Barbara). Sure, they were winning tourneys, or where there and thereabouts, but I saw them as mechanical, lacking flair and there just to be clinical. However, at the last World Cup, they played some of the most exciting football I've seen in a long while. The 4-0 thrashing of Argentina and the 4-2 win over England (feckin sweet!) was nothing but pure class, and I've been keeping an eye on them ever since. Boring? No longer.....
The fact that Klinsmann decided not to take Landon Donovan really makes me question his decisions as a coach.
Donovan is basically the backbone of the US team.
As a player he was a phenomenal striker, though.
Thistleboy1980 wrote:
^ talking of rankings....Brazil NOT in the top 10, and teams like Columbia and Croatia ARE?????? WTF????
I don't really much in FIFA rankings, but Brazil has truly declined in quality, and in all honesty even though they won the Confederations Cup, I wouldn't put them in the Top 5.
The fact that Argentina is on top of the 2014 CONMEBOL qualifiers, and yet Colombia is #3 and Argentina is #4 shows that the FIFA ranking is very unreliable. I'm Colombian and I admit that while they've done a very good campaign this past year, they still don't top Argentina.