Well, after USMNT’s 3-2 loss in the 2015 Gold Cup against archrival Mexico Saturday night, many soccer fans around the globe are asking this question – Does Jürgen Klinsmann still deserve to be the United States Men’s National Team coach?
My answer, why shouldn’t he be, and if he was to receive the one way ticket back to Germany, who will replace him?
With reports stating that his job is safe despite a bitter loss to El Tri, I completely understand the logic that everyone is expressing, and I somewhat understand why fans want Klinsmann to be dismissed from the USMNT staffing, but then we would have to have the problem with starting all over again. A new coach coming in will not change everything, honestly it will most likely make things worse for the USMNT going forward and could potentially harm the fan base.
There is a famous quote, I am going to be honest, not quite sure where it is from, but it states “The road to success is not an easy path.” Klinsmann is growing the younger talent more than ever, causing a ripple effect throughout the college and pro series. Nevertheless, Klinsmann has created such an emotional attachment to a multitude of new-coming fans, whether it is his hand in the MLS or it be his bold, and sometimes rash decisions he makes for the USMNT.
Trust me, all of us are going to question all of his moves, like why did Brad Guzan start over Tim Howard, why was Brek Shea who has had a phenomenal outbreak streak the past two weeks with Orlando City Soccer, as well as why are we still playing with so much age throughout the game.
If I could answer every question I would, but I don’t have the answers, but what I can tell you is that we are still growing and grooming the youth teams, honestly speaking, do you really think high school kids are even considering going to school for soccer for any other reason than the growth of the USMNT.
As I stated in my earlier article about Klinsmann, look at what he did with Die Mannschaft, that team will be dominant for many years to come because of the youth that Klinsmann has groomed and created for that team. So starting all over is completely a crazy suggestion, why can we not just remember that we are not the best team in the world, and we have made a large turn around for our national team.
Look at it like this, Klinsmann came in to the job stating the World Cup 2018 was his goal and his main focus, because coaching an American team is a CRAZY job that brings so much criticism for a coach. Honestly, how many times do we hear about any other country teams being fired, besides anywhere in the North/Central America.
Now I will state this, if Klinsmann continues to make rash and crazy decisions that do not make sense, and unfortunately continues to lose games that we should win, and then Klinsmann has the potential of being fired. We cannot be quick to judge every coach or every player, the USMNT is playing against amazing world-class players, and we are becoming a great force for the future.
Klinsmann needs to put this game behind him, continue to groom the youth and have the youth start playing in some of the FIFA World Cup playoff games looming in the future. While everyone may not agree with this standpoint, we cannot let our emotions get the best of us and actually support and show Klinsmann that no matter what, we are here to support and help the growth of this amazing sport in the United States.