U.S. Soccer should consider firing Jurgen Klinsmann
United States Soccer is at one of its lowest points in years. Saturday night Mexico defeated the U.S. at the Rose Bowl to win the CONCACAF Cup and earn a berth in the Confederations Cup in 2017. Mexico was the better team. They controlled possession throughout the match, and had way more chances than the United States did. That being said, the U.S. still had opportunities to win this match and did not cash in.
This is the second straight time the U.S. has failed to qualify for the Confederations Cup. The last time they did as for the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. Under former manager Bob Bradley the U.S. upset Spain on their way to the finals, where they nearly upset Brazil.
Mexico has won three of the last four Gold Cup’s while the U.S. defeated Panama for the other one in 2013. Qualification for the Confederations Cup is the winner of the previous two Gold Cup champions. The actual Gold Cup was won by Mexico back in July when they defeated Jamaica. Speaking of Jamaica, they upset the U.S. to play Mexico in the Gold Cup, which was an embarrassment on its own.
Yesterday the U.S. lost to Costa Rica in a friendly match, meaning the U.S. has now lost five of its last six matches. At some point we have to start calling for Jurgen Klinsmann’s job. He was brought in to bring American soccer to another level. A level that could compete with the top nations in the world. In reality, we have not seen improvement when comparing to the last regime, and they are now at the lowest of the low.
In addition the recent failures, Klinsmann called out Fabian Johnson for exaggerating his injury Saturday so he could come out of the game. For those who don’t know, Johnson is probably the United States’ best player. He is a regular starter for Borussia Mönchengladbach, who plays in the Bundesliga in Germany, and also the UEFA Champions League. Klinsmann told the media:
“I had a very severe word with Fabian Johnson, and I sent him home today, he said he couldn’t go anymore and I reacted to it and obviously made the substitution.”
Johnson has been diagnosed with a thigh injury by his club back in Germany, going against Klinsmann. He will likely miss some amount of time.
This is not the first issue Klinsmann has had with players. Everyone knows about Landon Donovan and him not playing in the FIFA World Cup. Donovan was definitely good enough to be on that team, and even start, but Klinsmann left him off the roster because of his age.
Klinsmann also said this about American soccer players playing in Major League Soccer:
““I want my players to strive for the best, not settle for a fat paycheck in a retirement league.”
It is hard for Americans to latch on to one of the faces of American soccer, when he basically wants to outsource our players and not grow the game here. Klinsmann will always be a target, but right now he deserves to be one. A change is likely not coming anytime soon, but Jurgen has to improve soon.
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