USMNT: Is Now the Time to Consider Firing Jurgen Klinsmann?

Don't panic. At least not yet.

Wednesday night's ugly 4-2 loss to Belgium was a low point for the United States national team under Jurgen Klinsmann, but with three World Cup qualifiers approaching in the next three weeks, now is not the time to be calling for Klinsmann's head.

Again, not yet.

Before we get to Klinsmann, let's be real about Wednesday. Leaving aside the first-half comeback, Clint Dempsey's second-half penalty and a couple bright spots around the team, the U.S. performed poorly in Cleveland, especially on defense. The 4-2 scoreline reflects that fact, but it also doesn't quite tell how dangerous Belgium was.

That said, the match was also a friendly. As such, it meant nothing for the U.S. in its bid for World Cup qualification. In fact, with CONCACAF qualification resuming next month, the sobering defeat should have taught Klinsmann a few lessons about his team and especially his defense.

The key now, of course, is for Klinsmann and the U.S. to heed those lessons.

Chief among them is that the defense still needs work. It's an issue that has affected the team since the previous round of qualifiers, as John Godfrey outlined at American Soccer Now. With veteran captain Carlos Bocanegra apparently fading from Klinsmann's plans and key players suffering injuries at inopportune times, the defense has been a makeshift unit in recent months.

Klinsmann cobbled together a motley group for the qualifiers against Costa Rica and Mexico—Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson, Matt Besler and DaMarcus Beasley started one or both games—and the U.S. kept clean sheets in both games while collecting four points.

Cameron, Gonzalez, Goodson and Beasley started again Wednesday against Belgium, with Besler replacing Goodson in the second half. This time, individuals made sloppy mistakes and the group looked disorganized in a poor overall performance.

Afterward, Klinsmann reserved judgment for a later time, perhaps in an effort to protect his players. Speaking to USSoccer.com, he said:

"

We want to watch the game first. We want to see how all the goals developed and what mistakes were made because there’s always a series of mistakes leading to goals. We’ll want to analyze that and then we’ll have a better judgment, but I think it’s clear when you have players like Benteke, Lukaku, and Fellaini, the attacking players that have that vision on the field and think two steps ahead, that is the thought process that is so important for our players to learn. I think for them it was really important to see. I won’t go into details now because obviously we want to watch the game and see from the first goal on what was going wrong there.

"

Goalkeeper Tim Howard spoke about "dictating" the pace of the game defensively.

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Most of the teams are going to come up with firepower, so it’s on us to put the other team on our terms defensively. We should be dictating that. Our line of confrontation, our pressure on and off the ball, whether our back line drops or steps up, those are all things that dictate the tempo of the game.

"

All those factors hurt the U.S. on Wednesday, and Klinsmann must work to remedy all of them. Farther up the pitch is the problem of Jozy Altidore, who continues to underperform compared to his excellent club season in Holland with AZ Alkmaar.

Meanwhile, in the Landon Donovan situation, Klinsmann has another potential problem. Donovan recently announced he wants to return to the team, but by declining to call him up, Klinsmann is taking a dangerous risk. Donovan is the best player in U.S. history and can still contribute, and as Dan Levy wrote for B/R, Klinsmann is being short-sighted and stubborn.

Ironically, Klinsmann took the opposite view following the loss to Belgium.

“Obviously you want to win (friendlies) and when you lose them it’s not such a big pleasure," he said, "but I’d rather play Belgium 10 more times than El Salvador 100 times because that’s where you learn.”

He's right about the learning, of course, but by losing in such ugly fashion, the U.S. team also risks losing confidence. That danger could increase Sunday when the U.S. plays Germany, which raced to a 4-0 lead in the first half before beating Ecuador 4-2 on Wednesday.

Play poorly again and the Americans will enter a crucial stretch of qualifying with back-to-back defeats on their minds. From there it wouldn't be hard to see the U.S. struggling in Jamaica or even at home against Panama and Honduras.

If that should happen and the U.S. falls behind in the Hex, then it would probably be time to reevaluate Klinsmann's position. For now, though, despite the angst, there's no choice but to trust the boss.

Changing course now would only unsettle the team needlessly. It's time to see if Klinsmann and his players really are learning the right lessons.