1. Jurgen Klinsmann is 2-2-1 as U.S. manager
Yes the gap was vast as the United States ran head first into an Argentine wall on Tuesday. So there will surely be some grumbling over Jurgen Klinsmann; it’s just what we do now with this U.S. manager.
But once the sting subsides, the Yanks’ collective body of Copa America Centenario work really should be seen as a “win” for the previously embattled manager.
He’s been on the job just short of five years now. His actual win-loss record looks decent enough at 52-24-17 . But Ws and Ls for a national team manager don’t always make for good accounting; there are too many meaningless friendlies and, in the U.S. instance, too many matches against small fry CONCACAF opposition.
Honestly, in a more just world, running over the likes of St. Vincent and the Grenadines would count as only half a win.
So what does Klinsmann’s record look like in the bigger reckoning? Using some “boiled down math,” I’d say he’s 2-2-1. That is two “wins” alongside two “losses” with one “draw.”
Here’s how I am getting to that:
Win: The team got through a tough group at World Cup 2014. No, they didn’t look great in that loss to Belgium, a lopsided loss in every way but on the scoreboard thanks to Tim Howard’s heroic afternoon. Still, they were close to equalizing at the end (somehow), and Klinsmann did steer the team through a group that included old nemesis Ghana (as well as Portugal and Germany.) By the way, teams that didn’t make it from group play in 2014: Italy, England, Spain and Portugal, among others.
Win: This gallop through Copa America. Even the defeats weren’t entirely dreadful, a 2-0 loss to a quality Colombian team and Tuesday’s loss in Houston to an Argentine side that was simply too much for Klinsmann and Co. It was nice enough run for Klinsmann, who made a lot of good choices before Tuesday’s comeuppance.
Loss: The 2015 Gold Cup. Narrow wins in the group stage (over teams they can and have dominated at home) and a win over fabulously overmatched Cuba were the high points. Think about that for a moment. Then the United States lost to Jamaica in the semis (booo!) and fell to Panama in the third-place game (Booooo!). It was a stumble-bumble by pretty much any measure, especially this one: Klinsmann’s team was out-shot in that raggedy group stage, 36-17. Yuk. They finished fourth.
Loss: After that tire fire that was the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, all that was left for the United States in 2015 was the CONCACAF Cup final, a berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup at stake as Mexico met the Yanks inside the Rose Bowl. Welp, that one went sideways, too. Not wildly so, but a 3-2 loss was a sad exclamation point on 2015.
Draw: Klinsmann did get the team through World Cup qualifying in 2014. Never mind how close it all came to falling over the edge in spring of 2013, they did arrive safely into Brazil. Then again, Klinsmann did nothing that Steve Sampson, Bruce Arena (twice) and Bob Bradley had not done before. So, yeah … that’s a draw.
You could argue that failure to qualify for Olympics in 2012 and 2016 needs tallying under Klinsmann’s “loss” column. His paw prints are on it, especially on the latter failure given his updated responsibilities as U.S. Soccer’s men’s technical director.
But if you count that as an “L,” it’s only fair to look at a few of the positive results in friendlies, most notably the 2015 highlight wins over Germany and the Netherlands.
All of this misses the bigger point of emphasis, his efforts to generally boost the program, to dislodge it from what looked like a sticking point. But that’s a more nuanced conversation, including some debate about stylistic intent … and one where the outcome is surely still developing.
For quick accounting, the man is 2-2-1. You call that, “Not good, not bad … just nothing special.”
2. Re-lighting the debate on goal line tech
Now seems like a great time to re-light the fuse on the combustible debate regarding goal line technology, as Sunday’s early moment in the Sporting Kansas City-FC Dallas contest will stand as the signature piece of evidence in support of this modern affront to uncertainty. A ball that clearly crossed the line at Children’s Mercy Park was not counted; goal line technology would have undoubtedly altered the score, if not the final outcome.
MLS has essentially decided – as many leagues around the world have, in fairness – that the cost does not support the necessity. Two years ago, MLS commissioner Don Garber confirmed that cost was the overriding factor as MLS punted on the advancement at the time. It would cost about $260,000 per stadium to install, he said, and then about $4,000 for each contest from there.
The math looks like this: about $5.2 million for installation across 20 MLS stadiums and then another $1.36 million for annual operations.
In a day of $5-6 million DP salaries across the league (not every team has one, but quite a few of them are scattered across MLS), the cost doesn’t seem prohibitive. Then again, it’s always easy to spend someone else’s money, isn’t it?
MLS wants to be a leader. MLS wants to be a top league in the world. Here’s a way to get there … a way just begging to be had.
3. Mexico humiliated … but it’s not the shocker of all ages
The knives are inevitably out for Juan Carlos Osorio, Mexico’s suddenly under-fire manager. Headlines were predictable on Sunday morning, screaming of embarrassment over the 7-0 loss to Chile. One headline summed up the collective zeitgeist: “Massacre!”
Yes, it was a terrible result, with Osorio’s endless tinkering now on trial again and questions of whether a certain arrogance had become toxic? But let’s be clear about one thing:
This was not the most shocking result we’ve seen in world soccer lately.
Yes, it was surprising. But one flaw of the human condition is making more of the current moment. In doing so we tend to marginalize history.
This exact same thing happened a year ago when the United States clobbered Japan in the Women’s World Cup final. Yes, that was surprising, too.
But neither of these surprising results compare to the shock wave that went through world soccer in 2014 – literally a shocking scene that reverberated around the world – when Brazil collapsed into spectacular ruin, overrun and overwhelmed by Germany in the World Cup.
This wasn’t just in a World Cup, it was a World Cup semifinal! The stakes being so high, the match being in Brazil and that incredible score (7-1) all left a host country to mourn a humiliating, devastating defeat.
Sorry, but don’t tell me a Mexico loss in a tournament with no history – some have gone so far as to call it a glorified series of friendlies – can even compare to a five-time world champion falling at home in a World Cup semifinal. That is shocking.
4. Talking Benny Feilhaber, dives and mulligans in public opinion
Seems Benny Feilhaber might get off lightly for his naughty dive Sunday against FC Dallas. With so much attention focused on the United States, Mexico, Leo Messi, Copa America Centenario in general and whatever is left over on the UEFA European Championships, Feilhaber’s dive hasn’t seemed to kick up much outrage.
Oh, it also happened hours before an NBA Game 7 that was sucking all the oxygen from the sports viewing room.
The level of attention these things get is always subject to vagaries of circumstance. That’s a fancy way of saying, “what else was going on” when it happened? So when he went down under no – or at very, very least, “minimal contact” as the league’s weekly reffing review put it – it just didn’t register as it would on another day. When Sporting Kansas City’s own fan-generated blog, The Blue Testament, is so candid about Feilhaber’s fall, you can bet it was a pretty obvious attempt at deceit.
Still, there was another bit talking point involving officiating in this one. The goal line error (See Item No. 2 above) is a bigger talker, so that removes a bit more of the spotlight from Feilhaber.
Oh, one more thing: MLS didn’t put the actual foul call on its highlight package. Shame too, because more people should see it. Here’s Feilhaber’s PK conversion, for what that’s worth.
So it seems he may get a mulligan here. But he should know some history on this stuff:
Charlie Davies was gaining a lot of public support in 2011 for his rather valiant comeback bid from that awful injury. But, playing for D.C. United then, he gained a reputation as someone who, well, “went down easy.” Then he dived flagrantly against Real Salt Lake, a match that cost the Utah team points. Public opinion took something of a turn on him that night.
Feilhaber has gained a lot of public support over the last year or so; Klinsmann denial of broader U.S. opportunity put a lot of fans on the SKC man’s side. Any more of this, and that public support is likely to be frittered away.
5. The Little Five
5a. Fox’s coverage of the ongoing Copa America has been … interesting. A lighter touch for this one thanks to Fernando Fiore – a former variety show host who apparently hasn’t gotten that out of his system – is a contrast to last year’s rock solid, more analytical job Fox did on the Women’s World Cup. All of this is quite relevant, of course, because Fox will broadcast the 2018 World Cup from Russia.
5b. The optimist in me says “one obstacle cleared!” in seeing Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrive in MLS. The Swedish star has retired from international soccer. He’s leaving PSG and appears bound for Manchester United. But who knows how long “Ibra” stays at Old Trafford. If he moves on, MLS is more of an option, because the potential MLS stigma is removed.
5c. If you don’t think there’s an MLS stigma with European coaches, then you’ll need to explain Sebastian Giovinco’s absence from Italy’s European Championships squad.
5d. It will be fascinating to see how much gas Clint Dempsey still has in the tank after this ongoing Copa America. He poured a lot into this tournament and into the chase for Landon Donovan’s all-time U.S. goal scoring mark, scoring or assisting on six of the seven U.S. goals along the way. But at 33, you have to wonder if we’ll see in Dempsey what we saw in a few U.S. men two years ago after Brazil, a bedraggled second half to the MLS season?
5e. For that matter, it will be interesting to see if Dempsey even plays in Saturday’s third-place match in Phoenix? You would think more reserves would get the call. Then again, it’s Klinsmann, so who knows? Plus, Dempsey wants that record. He hasn’t outright said so, but that’s the feeling you get from being around Dempsey and the team.