For the past five years, Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as U.S. men’s national team coach was about evolving the program from up-and-comer to elite. But as the German legend overpromised and underdelivered, it turned out looking backward was the best route forward for U.S. Soccer.
Having fired Klinsmann on Monday, U.S. Soccer announced that Bruce Arena — the program’s all-time wins leader — would be returning to the post he held from 1998 to 2006.
In the 65-year-old, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati has turned to a steady hand in a turbulent time. After back-to-back losses to kick off the final stage of 2018 World Cup qualifying earlier this month, the U.S. finds itself with four months to regroup before critical matches against Honduras and Panama in March.
“I didn’t expect to be back in this role the way it came about over the last 48 hours,” Arena said after his contract was confirmed Tuesday. “However, I think any coach in our country will always be thrilled to have an opportunity to coach one of our national teams. So obviously when the opportunity presented itself — and I hate to say this now to Sunil — but I would have done this for free.”
Free or not, it’s a move U.S. Soccer simply had to make. While Klinsmann plotted to change attitudes and implement an attractive, high-tempo style of play, his execution consistently contradicted his vision.
The former Germany and Bayern Munich boss criticized his players for showing elite opposition too much respect, then absolved himself of blame for leaning on ugly, underdog tactics. For all of the talk of possession-oriented soccer, he largely snubbed technical ability in favor of work ethic, speed and athleticism.
There were successes of the Klinsmann era, for sure. The U.S. cruised through qualifying for the 2014 World Cup before impressively escaping the “group of death” at that tournament. Finishing fourth at this past summer’s Copa America Centenario was an admirable — albeit slightly overrated — accomplishment as well.
Yet Klinsmann’s tenure was dotted with historic shortcomings. The 2-1 loss to Mexico on Nov. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, marked the team’s first home World Cup qualifying defeat since 2001. In search of redemption four days later, Klinsmann saw his U.S. squad collapse in the second half of a 4-0 loss in Costa Rica — the program’s worst qualifying setback since 1980.
“None of us expected the two results we got,” Gulati said. “It’s never based, as I’ve said many times, on a single game. You weigh up individual games — in this case, those two games combined with everything else we had — and we felt that we needed to go in a different direction.”
All along, Klinsmann handcuffed his team with perplexing decisions. He cut all-time leading scorer Landon Donovan from the World Cup squad, even though the LA Galaxy star was the team’s most prolific attacker over the 12 months leading up to the tournament.
He started raw center back Ventura Alvarado during an embarrassing fourth-place finish at the 2015 Gold Cup, even as it became obvious the prospect was in over his head. The recent loss to Mexico saw Klinsmann deploy a scarcely used 3-5-2 formation that left his team vulnerable and his players confounded.
Speaking to The New York Times this past weekend, Klinsmann responded to calls for his head by saying, “The fact is we lost two games. There is a lot of talk from people who don’t understand soccer or the team.”
Compare that condescension to the words of Gulati, who emphasized Tuesday the U.S. has “a group of sophisticated, educated fans who are very passionate about our national team.”
It’s growth of an American soccer community Arena has witnessed throughout a coaching career that kicked off in earnest when he took over the University of Virginia in 1978. After winning two MLS Cup titles while coaching D.C. United from 1996 to 1998, he has added three more over the past eight years with the LA Galaxy.
With a contract that only runs through the 2018 World Cup, Arena represents a stopgap of sorts. But between his fresh perspective on personnel and underestimated tactical growth, he’s the seasoned stopgap U.S. Soccer needs to move on from Klinsmann and stop the bleeding come March.
“I know we have a great challenge ahead, but I believe we have a good pool of players to make our team successful and reach our ultimate goal of qualifying for Russia in 2018,” Arena said. “I’m excited about the opportunity, and I really look forward to getting to work.”
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