U.S. Soccer Needs to Fire Jurgen Klinsmann After Disastrous Start to Hex
The United States men's national team have officially hit rock bottom.
After Tuesday's embarrassing 4-0 loss to Costa Rica, the Yanks sit dead last with zero points in the Hexagonal round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The loss that saw a lackluster effort from everyone wearing an American kit—and every member of the technical staff sitting on the bench—helped the Yanks usher in yet another new low under coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
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For the first time in history, the USMNT are pointless after two Hex matches, per ESPN's Paul Carr:
We've gotten used to seeing the USMNT underwhelm in big matches, but usually there's some type of silver lining that can be found after a disappointing result.
There are zero positives to take from Tuesday's defeat in Costa Rica and the 2-1 loss at home to Mexico on Friday. Not even 18-year-old phenom Christian Pulisic could produce moments of brilliance that would get American fans excited for the future.
Klinsmann set his side up to fail in Costa Rica with his selection Friday on home soil against his team's top rival.
It took a conversation started by Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones on the sideline during an injury break to change the dreadful 3-4-3 formation into a 4-4-2. In addition to wasting 30 minutes of his players' time Friday, Klinsmann didn't take responsibility for his mistakes.
A combination of conceding the game-winner to Mexico in the 89th minute and Klinsmann's ineptitude produced the atrocious effort from all 11 players on the pitch at the Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica.
John Brooks, who was thought to be the best center-back in the USMNT talent pool, played like a 23-year-old making his first start on the road in international play instead of the defensive rock he's been for most of 2016.
The Hertha BSC man's fragility was apparent from the start as Costa Rica's Johan Venegas got under his skin in the second minute. From that point on, Brooks produced a reel of calamitous errors, including a few unflattering individual battles against Venegas and Joel Campbell.
Omar Gonzalez, who was trusted next to Brooks in place of the injured Geoff Cameron, used the minimum amount of effort required in the buildup to Costa Rica's first goal right before halftime. The entire sequence that led up to Venegas' opener was a perfect example of how poor the Yanks were over 90 minutes Tuesday.
Gonzalez went for a light jog in the park while Christian Bolanos hustled a loose ball on the left wing. As that occurred, Venegas made a nice run to get in front of Brooks and headed home the first of four punches to the gut of the American psyche.
Simple breakdowns in defense led to each of the three second-half goals scored by the Ticos, the last two of which were easy finishes by Campbell past a helpless Brad Guzan.
The defenders weren't the only players to blame for Tuesday's disaster. Jones, who is still working back to full fitness after an extended injury break, looked gassed by halftime, but he wasn't removed from the pitch.
The lack of production from Jones and the extra effort put in by Bradley making up for the space vacated by the 35-year-old left Pulisic all alone in the attacking half to create.
Since the USMNT had no other playmaking threats on the field, the Ticos marked the Borussia Dortmund man out of the game and killed any chance of an American comeback.
As the final minutes of the match ticked off the clock, the focus shifted solely to Klinsmann, who can be blamed for countless errors over the last week, including the failure to motivate his side after a heartbreaking loss at home.
While his lineup decisions weren't as baffling as Friday night, Klinsmann still failed his team by not injecting fresh blood into the team. When he did, the USMNT boss took Pulisic off for Lynden Gooch, a move that turned heads because the coach simply replaced one playmaker with another instead of finding a way to get both on the field.
Just like after the early CONCACAF Gold Cup exit in 2015, the CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico at the Rose Bowl, the surprising qualifying loss to Guatemala in March and the disappointing end to the Copa America Centenario in June, we've placed the blame directly on Klinsmann for not properly preparing his side to win a big game.
Instead of using the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a steppingstone to get better and challenge the world's best once again in 2018, the USMNT look like a side devoid of options and on the verge of another shellacking if Klinsmann remains in charge for the next round of Hex matches in March.
U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati has been adamant after each one of Klinsmann's shortcomings that the manager's job is not in danger. He told reporters he'd evaluate the situation with Klinsmann, per Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated:
In addition to all of the serious concerns about the state of the program, news broke from Steven Goff of the Washington Post that Bruce Arena was being lined up as a contingency plan just in case Klinsmann was unable to get results out of the matches against Mexico and Costa Rica:
The former Germany international is closer to an exit than he's ever been during his five-year tenure, and for once he took responsibility for his team's failure, per ESPN's Doug McIntyre:
But an admission of that magnitude is too little, too late for Klinsmann. U.S. Soccer has the perfect time frame and replacement in line to finally rid the program of a manager who not only is not good enough with his tactics, but is also losing the locker room. The USMNT showed no fight after going down a goal. Under Arena or Bob Bradley, the lack of effort would be unacceptable, and certain players would've been benched for their transgressions.
We haven't seen any type of action like that out of Klinsmann in his five years in charge.
If the USMNT were to play another game in a few days, the odds are the coach would use the same 11 players and fail to infuse more youth into his aging side. We know that because Klinsmann's done it on countless occasions. His managerial strategy is stale, and there's no clear fix in the near future.
If the U.S. Soccer brass does the right thing and gets rid of Klinsmann, Arena is the man for the job. The LA Galaxy man has plenty of experience in situations like this, and he would be able to guide the Yanks to a World Cup berth with the appropriate tactical and personnel decisions.
During his time with the Galaxy, Arena has put his players in the best position to succeed by making astute tactical adjustments. Every playoff run the Galaxy have had in his tenure has seen a player like Mike Magee, A.J. DeLaGarza or Sebastian Lletget thrive around superstars due to a minor tweak in formation.
The biggest issues on Arena's plate would be seeking out a consistent first-team left-back and developing a young core to go along with Pulisic, Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin. Klinsmann has brought a few stars through the system, but he's failed to build depth with youth at certain positions, specifically defensive midfield.
In addition to tweaking formations to fit the current personnel, Arena would be able to bring more youth into the squad as he has done at the StubHub Center thanks to the development of players in the academy and at LA Galaxy II, the club-owned United Soccer League side.
There are young prospects out there waiting for their chances, and Arena would be tasked with finding the best fits while weaning the older members of the squad out of the picture—something Klinsmann has failed miserably at since the World Cup.
However, there is a chance Klinsmann will remain in charge. If that is the case, the USMNT boss must find a way to win all four of the remaining home games in the Hex as well as earn at least four points on the road. That task isn't impossible, but the next two road trips to Panama and Mexico won't be easy. The USMNT's World Cup fate could come down to the games at Honduras on September 5 and Trinidad and Tobago on October 10 next year.
Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia isn't an impossible task despite the poor start, but the process will be more frustrating with Klinsmann still in charge. No matter how easy some may perceive the road to the World Cup to be, it will be a challenging one for the USMNT.
U.S. Soccer has a perfect cause for termination after the tumultuous week in the Hex. The onus is now on Gulati to do the right thing to avoid any further setbacks.
Joe Tansey covers U.S. Soccer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter: @JTansey90.
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