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German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Deeper_Background, Dec 5, 2006.

  1. Deeper_Background

    Deeper_Background Active Member

    Jürgen Klinsmann will be named head coach of the U.S. men's national team within two weeks according to a number of well-placed sources with knowledge of the deal.

    His appointment as coach was perhaps the worst-kept secret in American soccer: Klinsmann publicly acknowledged that he was interested in the job and there has been persistent buzz since the World Cup ended in July that the interview process for the national team job was essentially a matter of going through the motions.

    Warren Mersereau, who is both Klinsmann's business partner and representative, said "no comment" when contacted for this story.

    Klinsmann, who steered Germany to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup and won the 1990 World Cup as a player, has long been coveted by the Americans to restart a stuttering men's national team program. A star with VfB Stuttgart, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich, the former forward has a reputation for being a pragmatist and displayed considerable acumen and political savvy during his tenure as German national team head coach.

    Klinsmann inherits a program in dire need of fresh ideas. Under former coach Arena, the men's program compiled their best-ever record of 71-30-29, and reached the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals (losing, ironically, to Germany) but Arena took much of the criticism for the team's 0-2-1 performance at the 2006 World Cup. Ranked before the World Cup an unrealistic fifth by the now-defunct FIFA ranking system, the Americans, who have never performed well on European soil, faltered badly despite high expectations.

    In addition, during Arena's tenure, the national team youth programs failed to achieve notable success despite the presence of some young talent, while his abrasive manner left many cold.

    Klinsmann, who is fluent in English and German, is one of the most "American" former European pros out there. Married to an American, Debbie Chin, he has long lived in Southern California and was actually subject to heavy criticism by the German media and Federation prior to the 2006 World Cup for spending too much time in the States.

    Moreover, he was questioned for injecting "American ideas" into a moribund German side. Klinsmann hired American-trained fitness trainers and a sports psychologist and displayed a relentless optimism that seemed to overwhelm the traditionally staid German sports culture.

    In that respect, he seems perfect for the modernist American soccer scene, which has long depended upon the Bradenton-based academy partnership with IMG for top player development.

    Klinsmann enters at a fortuitous time — but also with an extremely difficult task ahead. He has already won over the small core of "hardcore" soccer fans in America (he has been their consensus pick for months now) and is an internationally recognized name in the sport, even to the sometime removed editorial class of American sports journalism.

    In addition, Klinsmann will benefit from a small wave of European-trained players now making their way through the ranks to challenge for positions. Jay Demerit (Watford), Benny Feilhaber (Hamburg), Marcus Hahnemann (Reading), Tim Howard (Everton/Manchester United) and Jonathan Spector (West Ham) are all playing consistently and can provide the badly-needed fills for certain holes. Only Hahnemann and Howard, both goalkeepers, were included on the 2006 World Cup roster.

    Klinsmann will also have to make peace with the players. There's no question that the drawn-out selection process has irked the men of the national team, or rather, the players who feel they will be or should be on it.

    http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6227768?FSO1&ATT=HMA
     
  2. MertWindu

    MertWindu Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    Christ almighty, dude, we even named the thing "All-Purpose Never-Ending Soccer Thread." How fucking hard is this for you?
     
  3. Deeper_Background

    Deeper_Background Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    [​IMG]
     
  4. MertWindu

    MertWindu Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    ok, then. Nevermind.
     
  5. Chuck~Taylor

    Chuck~Taylor Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    Cockdian
     
  6. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    I know that hating D_B is some major fun, but this doesn't bother me, Mert. Not all of us read the ongoing threads because of lack of interest, but we do scan for breaking news. Having separate threads when big news breaks is really an OK thing. And hell, when they started talks with Klinesmann I started a separate thread, and nobody had any complaints.
     
  7. MertWindu

    MertWindu Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    I just expect backlash for any soccer stuff outside of that thread anyway, and I have a petty personal problem with the fact that the guy thinks he's the board's resident town crier.
     
  8. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    Big news deserves its own thread, regardless of what soccer haters want. And yea, Deep_Douchebag gets on my nerves too most of the time.
     
  9. stevenash

    stevenash Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    Looks good for the U.S. national team
     
  10. KP

    KP Active Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    But it's not breaking news, nothing happened.
    When/If it happens it's worthy.
     
  11. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    I half expected this to have the penis trophy that's Photoshopped onto about any celebration pic.
     
  12. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Re: German Legend to Lead U.S. Soccer

    Give it time, Dools. The trolls and Photoshop smartasses haven't had at it. Yet.
     
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