Klinsmann Article

[Soccerholic]

Here's an interesting article on Jurgen Klinsmann by Marc Connolly:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=255737&cc=5901

[roarksown1]

Nice read...let the speculation begin: Will little Klinsmann play for the States or for Germany?

[dakotajoe]

Originally posted by Soccerholic
Here's an interesting article on Jurgen Klinsmann by Marc Connolly:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=255737&cc=5901

The article said Klinsmann plays for an amateur side in Orange County. Can you imagine being an opposing defender or keeper pulling up to the game in your car, strapping on the cleats, and there's Jurgen K taking warmups. I don't know if I'd crap my shorts or just get back into the car!

[ferrari77]

i think i'd crap first then run into the car and pray.

[footfetish]

Originally posted by roarksown1
Nice read...let the speculation begin: Will little Klinsmann play for the States or for Germany?

jurgan loves the usa and his wife is an american so it looks like little klinsmann's call. i hope he chooses us... klinsmann-adu front line anyone? ;)

[Soccerholic]

Originally posted by dakotajoe
The article said Klinsmann plays for an amateur side in Orange County. Can you imagine being an opposing defender or keeper pulling up to the game in your car, strapping on the cleats, and there's Jurgen K taking warmups. I don't know if I'd crap my shorts or just get back into the car!

Can you imagine being a midfielder on his team, trying to give him the service he's used to?

[cafrine]

Originally posted by footfetish
klinsmann-adu front line anyone? ;)
no, you are forgetting dontaveous fleming has that spot locked up :)

[panicfc]

Klinsie brings up several great points.

1) Donovan's game lacked confidence - this is what playing in Europe is all about. Had he won a job at Bayer he would have iced those opportunities against Germany,


2) We need to look at ODP and the various ways we are developing players and start again from scratch.

[Martin Cutler]

Originally posted by panicfc
Klinsie brings up several great points.

1) Donovan's game lacked confidence - this is what playing in Europe is all about. Had he won a job at Bayer he would have iced those opportunities against Germany,


Very interesting article. I agree regarding his point about Donovan. Amongst the group of friends who watched the World Cup with me, we made the same comment about the US in general and Donovan in particular during the Germany game. To get that cutting edge a player needs to play at the highest level possible. Except for a few late season games and the playoffs, most MLS matches are very low key and are anything but intense.

At 20 I can see Donovan remaining in the US for another few years tops but if he wants to take his game to the next level then he needs by the time he's 22 or 23 to move to Europe where almost every game is intensely played. It would be even better if he had the opportunity to play in the future for a club competing in the Champion's League. That's the best of the best in club soccer.

A few years back at a US Open Cup game at Fullerton, a friend of mine and I ran into Klinsmann and jokingly asked him if he'd play on our over 30 team! We all had a good laugh about that one but it looks like he's taken some club's offer up!!!!

[mpruitt]

awesome, awesome article. very interesting insight from Klinsman. i think connelly was a little defensive in the article. its not suprising that J.K. feels that Landon's motivations for not wanting to go back to europe are out of lack of confidence. that's a criticism that could be made pretty easily, its a bit cynical, and perhaps a bit arrogant in terms of the level of german futball but i digress...

I thought that his critique of why they us lost was dead on. It's not so much that the us wasn't "confident" enough, its that you have to know how to and be prepared to win. if you look at any sport, especially something like the NCAA basketball tournament there are teams that suprise and outplay people, but the superior and expierenced teams always seem to find a way to win. whether it's catching the right breaks, or taking advantages of opportunities, etc. i as a baseball fan, particualarly of the red sox know this all too well when it comes to the yankees. good teams always find a way to win. period. and in soccer its all about making your chances. donavan didn't, the us lost. that's soccer.

I don't think that him saying that they weren't confident or expierenced enough was a knock, it was just honest.

[panicfc]

No knock at all, just a valid opinion.

In a few years our league is going to catch up to the European leagues, and then it won't matter as much - but until then, I like the idea of our best moving abroad.

[bmurphyfl]

Very interesting article. He is soooooooooooooo German.

His view of LD is perhaps a bit harsh for a 20-yr-old. If LD was riding the pine for the last few years in Germany would his confidence been higher or lower? If LD is 24, still playing in the US and missing chances in the WC, then I think we can focus on his confidence.

Regarding JK's point about playing for many different squads being a bad thing, I disagree. I think it helps a player develop by playing with many different types of players and receiving advice from many different coaches.

There may be a problem if some the coaching/players stink but that is a different problem from playing on too many teams. Variety against quality players makes a player more well-rounded.

Murf

[panicfc]

Hey Murph,

I'm going to side with Klinsie on this one.

I look at Michael Owen back in '98 and that great finish he had. Is he that much better than Donovan, yes - because he plays in a better league.

With Toppmoeller in charge I'm sure Landon would have been given the opportunity to win a job, whether he did or not would have been up to him, but I think he would have done it.

As for the multi-coaching: I'm going to side with Jurgie again. ODP is a waste of money. Some how we need to have our pro clubs developing our players and then we'll develop more talented players than ODP or these other outfits can ever imagine. Playing on two teams at the same time has to be confusing for kids, especially if they have different roles on different teams.

[Thomas Flannigan]

It is very easy to be confident with Hugh Dallas in your hip pocket. The Germans sure looked confident as they collapsed on the field when time was called early. They had been flopping all over the field all through the game anyway.
In terms of choking, how about Kose having an open net and hitting the post?
What Klinsman says is diametrically opposed to what Beckenbauer said. Franz told the press that the reason some clubs had washed out early is because their starts had played too MANY games in Europe. Beckenbauer said something like: "Look at Juan Sebastian Veron. How many games has he played in the past year? Seventy or Eighty?"
However, I would rather have Klinsman speak his mind and be provocative rather than making bland comments. He is quite an Americaphile at a certain level. There may be a grain of truth to it, but I fully expect Landon Donovan to continue his development and we won't be talking about confidence come 2006!

[ShadowNC]

Originally posted by panicfc
Klinsie brings up several great points.

1) Donovan's game lacked confidence - this is what playing in Europe is all about. Had he won a job at Bayer he would have iced those opportunities against Germany,


No offense, but I think that's wrong.

That left-footed shot he took was perfect...it was heading right for the inside of the post. Kahn just made a super human save on that one, that's all there is to it. I don't see how playing at Bayer could have helped him make any better shot on that opportunity than he did.

[panicfc]

Originally posted by ShadowNC
No offense, but I think that's wrong.

That left-footed shot he took was perfect...it was heading right for the inside of the post. Kahn just made a super human save on that one, that's all there is to it. I don't see how playing at Bayer could have helped him make any better shot on that opportunity than he did.

"Case in point, Klinsmann felt that America's 20-year-old star Landon Donovan didn't find the back of the net on any of his dangerous runs because of his confidence level, not his timing or the fact that Germany's world-beating goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, happened to make one of the saves of his life in the first half when Donovan nailed a hard lefty shot to the far post.

"He failed there because he didn't believe in himself," said Klinsmann.

And it wasn't just Donovan, according to the German legend.

"In Europe, we have sixty to seventy high-profile games each season," he said. "That makes a mental difference. You could see that some Americans did not have that competitive edge yet."

--------
How many games of value do we have in MLS each season? 8 of 10 teams make the playoffs, then we play a best of five points series to advance, we compact of season into 7 months, and the competition for places in the lineup is basically moot in 9 out of 11 positions on most teams.

[jmeissen0]

Originally posted by ShadowNC
No offense, but I think that's wrong.

That left-footed shot he took was perfect...it was heading right for the inside of the post. Kahn just made a super human save on that one, that's all there is to it. I don't see how playing at Bayer could have helped him make any better shot on that opportunity than he did.


huh?


he would have faced much stiffer goal keeping than he does in mls and known that he was going to have to do something special with that shot... like hook it in the air around kahn and in, chip him, or crush it (ala clint)


don't take this as a knock on donovan, it's not... it's simply a critique

and from a player of this caliber, it's probably something to listen to and think about

[ShadowNC]

"Case in point, Klinsmann felt that America's 20-year-old star Landon Donovan didn't find the back of the net on any of his dangerous runs because of his confidence level, not his timing or the fact that Germany's world-beating goalkeeper, Oliver Kahn, happened to make one of the saves of his life in the first half when Donovan nailed a hard lefty shot to the far post.

I definitely take note when Klinsman offers his opinion on a player or topic...I just think he's wrong about that particular attempt being stopped because Donovan supposedly lacked confidence. Hell didn't that shot result from him nutmegging a defender? He certainly didn't lack confidence there. Maybe I am being defensive about it...maybe so :)

I just don't see how he could have hit the shot any better personally.....I guess I'll have to watch the game again and see. I've been meaning to for a while, but I know it's going to be painful :(

Having said all that, I think it's time for him to be playing in Germany. I think he made the right decision to stay in MLS up until the WC, because I don't think he would have gotten the playing time in Germany. But I think he needs to move to Germany now to *really* raise his game. Hopefully he'll have a hard left footed shot in the quarters of the WC again and we'll see if playing overseas makes a difference.

[panicfc]

I think Landon's previous experience was tainted by the fact that he wasn't there enough to earn a job.

He's 20 now, soon to be 21 I guess. He's been in MLS for 2 seasons, so he signed with MLS between his 18th and 19th Birthdays.

While in Germany he was called up for the U20 WC, the Olympics, and WC qualifiers at the end.

He would never have time to earn a job spending all that time away from his club. He had to earn the job, it wasn't going to be given to him like it was in MLS.

The good thing is he was able to participate in all those competitions and that had to help his game.

But as you said, now is the time for him to go back. He has his job on the National team secure, if he goes back and earns a job in the starting 11 - he'll bury shots against Kahn.

[MikeLastort2]

Fantastic article.

Klinsmann has always been one of my favorite soccer players.