Unfortunately, that's what we get for thinking. If Klinsmann tried lighting a fire under his players, last night's disastrous result is just further proof that his matches are all wet.
In the worst shutout loss in a qualifier since 1957 (and the first loss in a home qualifier since 2001), the USMNT fell to Costa Rica 4-0. The sad part is that that scoreline made it seem closer than it was.
All you need to know about the state of the locker room for the USMNT can be found in this paragraph from Ives Galarcep's article on Goal.com that was posted Monday:
Klinsmann called out Bradley and Jermaine Jones for not playing well enough in the first half of Friday’s 2-1 loss to Mexico, blaming their struggles for the issues faced by the U.S. team’s surprising 3-4-3 formation. Bradley issued some not-so-subtle suggestions that the team didn’t have clear ideas about how to carry out the tactics of Klinsmann’s experimental formation.That's right. Klinsmann throws two players under the bus, saying they didn't play well enough, but one of those players says they didn't know how to carry out the coach's plans. It would help things immensely if Klinsmann didn't feel the need to tinker with the lineup all the time, rather than just finding one that works and going with it.
I used all of those words to say the USSF needs to fire Klinsmann. Today.
As much as it pains me to say this as a proud American soccer fan, the Mexican national team takes results much more seriously than we do. Since Klinsmann was hired as the manager and technical director of the USMNT on July 28, 2011, El Tri is on their sixth coach. Juan Carlos Osorio, best known in this country for his disastrous tenure at the helm of the New York Red Bulls, is the current occupant of the job, but El Tri have a lot more talent than his team in NY did.
Speaking to reporters before Friday's match against Mexico, USSF President Sunil Gulati said, "We've never changed coaches in the [middle of the final round]. No one has started the process and not finished it since 1989 and I expect that to be the case here."
Since US Soccer has so far done nothing to suggest they will terminate Jurgen Klinsmann's contract, which runs through the 2018 World Cup, there's only one thing left to do. The United States Soccer Federation's board of directors must terminate the contract of Gulati.
With Klinsmann serving as both coach and technical director, he honestly answers to no one except Gulati. With all the votes of confidence Gulati has given Klinsmann, despite the unsatisfying nature of the team's results, Gulati's shown he has absolutely no interest in making a change.
I first wrote that I thought Gulati should be fired after the Confed Cup playoff loss to Mexico last October. The following list of people I would like to see succeed Gulati hasn't changed since then and is reproduced for your perusal here.
1. Mitt Romney
People
who know me really well might be a bit surprised that I would suggest
2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney should be given any
job, much less a job running the American governing body of a sport I
love, but I have a reason for it.
He's
done it before. No, he hasn't been the president of the USSF before,
but he has successfully run a large sports organization before.
On
February 11, 1999, Romney was named president and CEO of the Salt Lake
Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in
2002. When he was given the job, the group was running hundreds of
millions of dollars behind its revenue goals and there was talk of
scaling back the games, possibly even moving them altogether.
We
all know what happened next. The 2002 Winter Olympics were very
successful and Romney can claim a share of the credit for it. Therefore,
he's on this list.
2. Joe Biden
People
who know me really well would be a lot less surprised I would suggest
Vice President Joe Biden take over US Soccer. Honestly, there are a few
reasons Biden is on this list.
If
it's one thing he's known for, Biden speaks his mind, even when it may
not be the most appropriate time. You may recall, on March 23, 2010,
right after introducing the president at the bill signing for the
Affordable Care Act, Biden embraced President Obama and said, "This is a
big [expletive] deal..."
He
also strikes me as someone who hates to lose. Quite honestly, some of
the results the USMNT have had in recent months, especially at the Gold
Cup, would have driven him a little crazy, if he's anything like me when
I watch games.
Biden
is also very well-respected around the world. After Georgia's short,
but disastrous war with Russia, then-Sen. Biden called the Georgian
president to box his ears over the ill-advised stunt. As a former
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and now as Vice
President, Biden's used to getting his calls answered in foreign
capitals.
Biden is also out of a job on January 20, 2017, so he's available soon.
Biden is also out of a job on January 20, 2017, so he's available soon.
3. Mark Cuban
Every
list like this usually has one or more names on it that make people
say, "What?!" I'm well aware Mark Cuban would be one of those.
Cuban,
the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, would not be scared of
the amount of money that would be required to terminate Klinsmann's
contract. Quite honestly, he could probably write Klinsmann a check and
be done with it.
Cuban
is also, and I say this with all due respect, a very sore loser. I'm
sure it would be fair to say that former NBA commissioner David Stern
had Cuban on speed dial for those times when Cuban felt his team had
been wronged by the league's referees. I'm sure Cuban treats his coaches
the same way when they fail to perform.
----------------------------
Honestly,
it doesn't really matter to me who ends up succeeding Gulati. The
important part right now is that whoever does, fires Jurgen Klinsmann.
Because if Klinsmann is allowed to continue to run the USMNT into the
ground, the streak of consecutive World Cups is in serious jeopardy. The USMNT is currently dead last in the Hex, behind Trinidad because of a goal differential of -5.
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