Juergen Klinsmann's First Day on the Job--A Fan's View

Don't expect the US to take Mexico to the cleaners next week in Philadelphia. That was a clear message in Juergen Klinsmann's first press conference as manager of the national team. He told the media, "I spoke to five or six players, and I will call the rest tomorrow. I pretty much have a picture of where they are at right now with their club teams, especially if you look at the overseas players, their personal situations, some without a club right now. It's not going to be easy to form a highly competitive team, but we will get it off the ground."

That's not the most encouraging start, but at least it's realistic. These August friendly games don't come at a great time. Even the managers of European national teams complain that they come during preseason or too early in the regular season. Yet, Klinsmann still sounded optimistic about "getting it off the ground."

After a dismal 2011, a little optimism will be needed. The U-17, U-20, and senior national teams failed to succeed in their big tournaments. The U-17 team actually played for a 0-0 draw with New Zealand, an embarrassment in itself, only to be drawn against Germany in the round of sixteen and get totally blown away. The U-20 team elected to leave some top players out and crashed out at the final hurdle of qualifying. The senior team, gripped by a malaise that sucked its spirit and drive out, suffered a humiliating loss to Panama and collapsed after twenty minutes against Mexico.

When there is such top to bottom failure at the national team level, it is time for a change. Hiring Juergen Klinsmann is a radical change for US Soccer. For the first time since 1995, the US will not have an American coach. Klinsmann paid his respects to his predecessors, "We can build on what has been built by Bob [Bradley] in the last five years, and before that by Bruce Arena and Steve Sampson and so on. I'm proud to get that opportunity." But, once that was done, he put his focus clearly on the future.

Klinsmann has studied the US Soccer scene up close since his retirement as a player in 1998. "I'm not coming in here to be the European guy. I've lived here for 13 years, so I think I know a lot about certain issues. Having studied the U.S. culture over the last 13 years, it's quite a challenge. You have such a melting pot in this country with so many different opinions and ideas floating around there." He also made direct reference to the growing influence of the Latino communities and highlighted former US players Claudio Reyna and Tab Ramos, who will have key roles.

How much can he accomplish in just three years? The United States is a large country with a multitude of soccer constituencies, few of which will want to cede any kind of influence to an outsider. Those political hurdles will be challenging to leap over. Somehow, he managed to change the game in Germany, to make it more diverse and inclusive at the national team level. Players of Turkish background, one of the largest minorities in Germany, like Mehut Ozil and Sami Khedira have been welcomed and have excelled playing for Germany. Repeating that with the variety of ethnic backgrounds in the USA will be challenging.

Winning the respect of the players won't be a problem. All Klinsmann has to do is show off his World Cup and European Championship medals, something no US manager could ever do. He can also point to his successful playing career in Germany, Italy, France, and England. It wouldn't hurt to put up a highlight reel of his goals either. He speaks excellent English and has an engaging personality. That's something not seen since Bora Milutinovic. So, media relations will hardly be an issue compared to the rather frosty relationship his three predecessors had. All that remains is to start selecting players and seen what can be changed on the field before qualifying starts next June.