U.S. Soccer Fires Jurgen Klinsmann: Why it was the right call
The U.S. Soccer Federation fired its coach and Technical Director, Jurgen Klinsmann, on Tuesday Afternoon. Many people were calling for Klinsmann to be sacked after troubling performances in the last couple years capped off with a 2-1 loss in Columbus, the U.S. fortress, and an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Costa Rica.
Klinsmann was hired by U.S. Soccer in July 2011. He was an extremely experienced candidate having been a great player at both the club and international levels and had managed Germany and Bayern Munich since he retired from playing. He struggled at first with the USMNT but led the team to a banner year in 2012 with wins against Italy and Mexico, the U.S. first wins in either country. Klinsmann’s squad ended the year with their best winning percentage in history.
He followed that up in 2013 with a Gold Cup win and a win over a top two team in the world, Germany. In 2014 came the World Cup in which the team reached the round of 16 for the second straight cycle before falling to Belgium. The U.S. started 2015 well with wins against the Netherlands and Germany but that proved to be the beginning of the end as the U.S. placed fourth in the 2015 Gold Cup and the 2016 Copa America Centenaro. The recent losses against Mexico and Costa Rica were the final straw as the team’s prospect of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup grew dimmer.
Now was the decision to fire Klinsmann right or wrong? Some people will argue that he didn’t have the talent to field a top quality team and he did well with what he had. Others will argue that he experimented with the lineup too much, trying new formations during crucial matches and playing his players out of position. Or they say he continues to play the same players year after year without developing younger players. (i.e. 35 year old Jermaine Jones and 33 year old Clint Dempsey) But let’s look at the facts:
- Klinsmann presided over the U.S.’ first three game losing streak since 1997.
- The U.S. had their first four game HOME winless streak against CONCACAF opponents with the 60’s.
- He said qualifying for the 2017 Confederations Cup was a top priority but failed twice to do so.
- Teams that his staff have coached have failed to qualify for the last two Olympics, the first time the U.S. has missed the Olympics in consecutive cycles in the last 50 years.
- While he beat top 10 teams in the world in friendlies, he is 0-5-1 against them in competitive competitions.
- Against Top 20 teams, his team had the worst points per game average since 1991.
- His team allowed Jamaica to beat them for the first time ever in 2012 and for the first time ever in the U.S. in 2015.
- Guatemala in 2016 became the lowest ranked team to beat the U.S. in the history of FIFA rankings with two MLS players who had not recorded a single minute that season.
- The U.S. has been outshot 292-169 in its last three tournaments.
- The 2014 U.S. World Cup team had the lowest possession percentage and fewest shots per game of any U.S. World Cup team ever.
- The 2015 Gold Cup team had the fewest shots of any of the 12 teams in the group stage of the tournament including a goalless Canada team and a Cuba team with a -7 goal differential.
And perhaps most importantly:
- Started the second round of World Cup qualifying, “The Hex”, 0-2 for the first time in U.S. history
Overall, regardless of the reason, the results show that in the last few years the team has performed at historically low levels despite Klinsmann’s best efforts. Sometimes it is just necessary to make a change, to go in a new direction. Klinsmann also continues to build animosity towards him that dismissing criticism of him saying that Americans know nothing about soccer. Well Jurgen, we do know the difference between winning and losing and you lost one too many.
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Categorized:National