Hold on a second, mate. Aren't you a dual national with an Italian passport who's lived in Europe and South America? Which NT programs and their managers hold more responsibility for player development than their own domestic league? Do you hold Conte responsible for Italian player development or do you put it on Serie A, who has the players for 10-11 months out of every year? Are you suggesting Jurgen is developing Pulisic instead of BVB? That's akin to suggesting a 6 week summer course is what educates children rather than the Sept-June school year. It's one thing if folks want to argue against Jurgen as the TD but quite another to shift development away from MLS to the NT.
Snipped some of your post, but you're totally right about this. In fact, I posted this elsewhere: "I was watching parts of the US-Colombia match again and I noticed something: -Why is Jurgen smiling when Higuain scores the 4th goal? The camera cuts to Jurgen as the goal is scored and in that exact moment he's leaning over to Herzog with a smile that seems to say "Pfft, Americans, lulz!" -He's also grinning his ass off when he puts Pulisic in. It's a grin that says "There's no way we're getting back into this, so just have fun and don't stress yourself out, ok?" -And of course he made time to kick it with Messi and ruffle his hair after the match. Little fella! In other words, when is the last time a USMNT match against a team of this caliber in a major tournament seemed like a throwaway friendly we had no chance of winning? Because that's the impression I got after the game against ARG. Jurgen's attitude and expression give me the impression he never had an idea we could win it and didn't even bother. Reminds me of Belgium. Anyone else see that?" This has been a routine thing under this coach. He's been amazing at reducing expectations and convincing folks that the best we can hope for out of match like this is the awesome experience our players get from playing next to Messi. Your other points are totally accurate though: Jurgen should've bunkered, but it requires more tactical rigor and organization than I think he's able to impart to the team do it successfully.
Argentina was just a rehash of game versus Belgium in the WC except that Argentina converted their chances and the US didn't have Tim Howard. The same issues are there and they are fundamental deficiencies in technique and a failure to develop and execute a suitable tactical plan. The quality of play of the US was at a conference level (5th level of English football). You could have chosen 11 top notch athletes and done about just as well.
The man wasn't just smiling, he was grinning like a giant Cheshire cat. Whatever he took, it was strong.
If you're going to use those last games to judge where we were then and where we are now, keep these in mind. 1) This Argentina squad is way better than that German squad. I'm a Germerican that follows both Germany and the US. That was probably the worst team to ever make a World Cup final. Their bracket was possibly the easiest road to a final. 1-0 v Paraguay 1-0 v USA 1-0 v South Korea 0-2 v Brazil MAYBE Ballack and most likely Khan make this Argentinian squad and Khan would be the only guaranteed starter. 2) The USA wasn't missing anyone versus Germany other than an injured Jeff Agoos who was clearly the weakest link of the starting 11 and he wasn't missed after he went out in match 3. If they advanced past Germany, they were going to be without both CBs (Pope, Berhalter) or the D-mid (Mastroeni) due to yellow card accumulation South Korea would have easily ran circles around them in the semi-final. 3) The USA would have never made the knockout round if South Korea plays it safe with Portugal or if Brad Friedel didn't save two penalties, the first pk save against SK was huge. If Guzan is the best the US has, then the era of the great American keeper is over. 4) Tony Sanneh absolutely played out of his mind for two weeks in 2002. He and Mastroeni OWNED Figo and Rui Costa. He never played that well before or after Japorea. 5) Claudio Reyna was the clear #10 . . . haven't had one since he left
It is not nonsense. Make excuses all you want. He has talent. He was never going to make an impact against Colombia or Argentina. In terms of Dortmund - who were his games against? He did not play or dress against Bayern Munich.
Do you ignore that Klinsmann for many years had both job titles, manager of the USMNT *and* technical director of all the youth programs? He *was* in charge of developing players. Get informed. The other coaches in other countries don't do it because they have another person as technical director. Here, Gulati gave *both* jobs to Klinsmann. He lost the other job when he failed twice in a roll to qualify our youngsters to the Olympics.
Sigh... for the third time, I was talking about his stint as TD, obviously. The reason Conte doesn't do it, is because he doesn't hold both jobs.
Gotcha. The youth program seems like a waste of time and money for everyone involved. Except Hackworthless, who's raking it in from a post he doesn't deserve at a job that shouldn't exist.
Actually, I applauded Bruce for switching formations from game to game and questioned Jürgen for being a tad too rigid with his choices. But Klinsmann is far superior to Arena and Bob in how his adjustments vary with the same players from game to game. Wrong on all counts. Bradley was forward of Beckerman and Dempsey slid back to fill the forward gap. There was nothing wrong with the formation. It was the players essentially losing every battle vs. the Argentine squad. They couldn't handle the pressure and it was silly of Klinsmann to believe that Beckerman and Zusi would. However, Bradley and Dempsey had some history on their side but Martino had his holding mids clog up the passing lanes and not a single American player with the exception of Zardes could win his 1 v. 1 duels. And, when you lose these duels all across the pitch, then you're getting into a hopeless territory. As to Wondo playing higher up the pitch than Dempsey, it was one of those "puncher's chance" long shots. Had the US not allowed an early goal, Wondo could have gotten a chance or two. But, with a goal up, Argies was content to just roll the ball around and that kept the US chances to a minimum. Which is why Barcelona does it too and not many understand this better than Martino. Had the US kept the press, it'd be on dead legs and leave gaps open. If it didn't press, the opponent kept the ball for 2-3 minutes at a time. Lose-lose either way, Dempsey and Johansson actually outplayed Jamaica's defense and the US could have had the commanding lead. Where Klinsmann completely effed up was moving Zardez to his left foot and asking Bedoya, who lacks top notch athleticism, to take very quick Jamaicans one-on-one. Since then, Bedoya has been pinching in a lot more and contributing quite a bit at that role. Zardes, meanwhile, also took a major step forward and had a very decent tournament. With that, most of the mistakes made in GC 2015 have been eliminated. The problem for Klinsmann is that Wondo is as "speedy" as it gets. And there's no one even close to the international quality anywhere to be found. (Morris was left with his club because Jordan isn't any better than Chris and because Klinsmann probably felt sorry for Sigi, whose Sounders ain't doing to well at this time ... and, had Morris been selected, he'd probably repeat Robbie Findley's performance from 2010 - which wasn't much to write home about). This had nothing to do with the tactics. The US players couldn't win any duels vs. the Argentine. As soon as an Argentine defender came within five yards of an American player, the ball was given away. For any tactics to work, the players have to be able to execute the very basics. The US players on the field that day was failing to do so. This includes starters - with the exception of Zardes once or twice - as well as the subs. And, even if the tactics weren't optimal, the fact that the US roster is void of the players getting regular minutes on the Richest 50 teams - 'Gladbach may make it with their new TV deal and Pulisic can get more PT with all the rumored movement out of Dortmund - compared to this Argentina roster being stocked with superstars basically means a vast gap in talent. So, ascribe 10% to Klinsmann and 90% to the low quality players base. But the BS anti-Klinsmann brigade places 90% of the blame on the coach. Which is plain stupid.
While Argentina is named by most pundits as the best NT in the planet right now, let's remember: a) Their right-back for the match against us, for the full 90', was Gabriel Mercado, a guy who plays in River Plate, by far not one of the Richest 50 teams. b) Lavezzi, the guy who scored the first on us, plays for the just promoted Hebei Fortune, not even one of the wealthiest teams in China. c) Victor Cuesta, one of the subs and constant feature for them this Copa, plays in Independiente de Avellaneda, in the Argentinian league. d) Sergio Romero has not played for his club since February, and in total he's only appeared four times in Premiership games. e) Augusto Fernandez, the guy who was crucial to their linking in midfield, has only played 90 minutes five times this year for Atletico. It's not about having or not super-stars. It's about having the best team. Martino has found a great balance. Price is not the same as worth, and soccer is a team sport. The fact that many people don't get it in the USA is one of the main reasons we fail to move forward.
Mercado has some big clubs after him. Fernandez actually makes Argentina weaker but Martino likes his twin holding mids. Notice that Messi's hat-trick vs. Panama took place as he subbed in for AF. As to Romero, he isn't very good but when he can pull a lounge chair and a have a light read ...
Somewhere at the start of the tournament I heard in mentioned that players on Argentina's ?23? man roster had collected 28 trophies in the previous season. Martino is doing an excellent job making a great team out of these great players. In addition to their quality, I think it helps they the players individually know how to win and are never overwhelmed by the moment.
LOL! You expect a complete overhaul in five years? Barcelona took a decade to bear the fruits of Cruyff's changing of their system. And who also benefitted from that? Spain. I love MLS but they haven't developed anyone with immense quality. Lots of good roll players, but no true stars. This screams of *unrealistic expectations* from people with no patience because JK's *long term goals* don't match their *short term needs*.
Pffttt.... JK is failing both in long and short term goals. The program(s) is(are) regressing under his "leadership." All that we got under him is an ever-changing line-up, players out of position, poor call-ups, no adaptive strategy during games, some friendly wins and some official tournament colossal failures, and a couple of occasions coming out of groups then falling apart. Sorry, but I won't feel ashamed of expecting a bit more than that.
Both Colombia and the US will likely rest starters due to looming WCQ games. It's said that Brooks and Johnson won't be playing due to mild injuries that JK doesn't want aggravated, and similarly from the Colombian side James Rodriguez will likely not play.
Then you should be miserable for a long time. Holland went from 2010 World Cup final to losing all three group stage matches in the 2012 Euro Championship.Then they went from 3rd place in Brazil 2014 to not even qualifying for an expanded Euro 2016. It happens to a good footballing nation, why would it be any different in a still growing football nation? Your unrealistic expectations are setting you up for disappointment.
What unrealistic expectations? I'm not saying we should be winning the World Cup by now, but at least when you hire a new manager (doubling as technical director) with all the hype and paying him millions, you want the programs to progress, not regress. Is it too much to ask for???
The only long term goal I am seeing any progress is JK extracting $21 mil from USSF. He is over 2/3 of the way there while kicking the can down the road on everything else. Heck, we can't even step on toes any better than when he first showed up.
This behavior just reconfirms what I've always suspected about Klinsmann: He is a major-league, first-class charlatan and snake oil salesman. The only thing this guy is genuinely good at is pulling the wool over Gulati's eyes.