U.S. Soccer fires men's coach Jurgen Klinsmann
U.S. Soccer has fired Jurgen Klinsmann, head coach of the men’s team since 2011, where he finishes with a record of 55-27-16.
In a statement, the organization said: “We want to thank Juergen for his hard work and commitment during these last five years. He took pride in having the responsibility of steering the program, and there were considerable achievements along the way.”
The 52-year-old soccer legend in Germany, where he won a World Cup as a player and coached the national team to a World Cup third place, but he failed to realize anything near that level of success for American soccer.
American soccer officials had high hopes for Klinsmann, and gave him the position of technical director in addition to his head coach title.
As soon as he took over U.S. Soccer, he shook things up, stripping players’ names from their jerseys, saying they had to earn them back, then moving players around to different positions, even openly criticizing his star players and the way Americans play soccer in general.
His leadership style often rubbed players and fans the wrong way, but flashes of success, like the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup win and the 2014 World Cup escape from the “Group of Death,” helped him keep his job.
However, falling out of last year’s Gold Cup early, as well as two recent World Cup qualifier losses in a row to Mexico and Costa Rica, left many critics feeling like he wasn’t well-suited to lead the Americans to the next level in soccer. That sentiment appears to have echoed by the announcement of Klinsmann’s departure.
In discussing his departure, U.S. Soccer said in a statement: “While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction. With the next qualifying match in late March, we have several months to refocus the group and determine the best way forward to ensure a successful journey to qualify for our eighth-consecutive World Cup.”
