Jurgen Klinsmann Fails on Biggest Day for USMNT Since World Cup
The United States men's national team entered Saturday with the potential to clinch two berths in a pair of important international competitions.
After the matches at the Rose Bowl and Rio Tinto Stadium concluded, neither a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup or the 2016 Olympics was secured.
With the loss in extra time to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup and the defeat to Honduras in the semifinal of the Olympic qualifying tournament, Jurgen Klinsmann failed as head coach and technical director on the most important day for the Yanks since they left the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
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Normally in the wild world of international soccer, a manager like Klinsmann would get the boot from his federation. But before you even bring up the "Klinsmann should be fired" rants, he doesn't appear to be going anywhere.
Despite his team's struggles to gain anything significant in the results column since the CONCACAF Gold Cup began, Klinsmann is here to stay thanks to his lofty, irregular extension that keeps him in charge until 2018.
Falling in extra time to rival Mexico was the knockout blow after sides across CONCACAF delivered a series of punches to the Yanks' gut this summer.
The defeat also highlighted the flaws in Klinsmann's man management over the last year. The Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler pairing tamed the defensive circus a bit, but the chemistry between the defense could have been developed ahead of the CONCACAF Cup if Klinsmann didn't show way too much loyalty to the young duo of John Brooks and Ventura Alvarado.
Klinsmann was too reliant on his young defenders in the buildup to Saturday's contest at the Rose Bowl, and he could not find a backup to Alejandro Bedoya, who has arguably been the best player in red, white and blue over the last 12 months. Bedoya was removed from the squad with an illness on Friday.
If you want to look further forward on the pitch, Klinsmann made an error on that part of the field too as he left Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey stranded up top due to his lineup selection that featured Jermaine Jones out on the wing, with Kyle Beckerman parked in front of the back four.
With Jones originally on the right and Gyasi Zardes on the left in front of DaMarcus Beasley, Mexico exploited the Yanks' weaknesses during the first 10 minutes. The good news, if there is any to take away from the loss to El Tri, is Klinsmann corrected his mistake by swapping the midfielders early in the match, unlike his choice to play Bedoya at defensive midfield versus Brazil. The adjustment held up for the most part, but there were still spaces in between Beasley and Jones.
When it came to his substitutions, Klinsmann struck out as two of Mexico's most experienced players, Rafa Marquez and Andres Guardado, went off in the second half. Instead of exploiting new players with fresh bodies of his own, Klinsmann waited until the 78th minute to make his only change of regular time.
And even that swap was debatable as DeAndre Yedlin, who has been strong off the bench in recent matches, looked like he was overcome by nerves until the middle of extra time. Yedlin entered for Zardes, who didn't have the best of matches, but having the pace of Yedlin and Zardes on the wings would probably have wreaked havoc on the Mexico back line.
Sure, Klinsmann looked like a smart manager when Bobby Wood, who came on for Altidore, equalized for the Yanks in extra time. But that was too little, too late for a United States squad that really should've taken the game to Mexico with its subs around the 60th minute.
Instead, the USMNT fans were once again left wanting more and questioning the tactics of the national team boss who receives tons more criticism than praise these days.
However, the biggest thing that killed Klinsmann on Saturday didn't have to deal with specific personnel moves. From the outset, the Yanks once again lacked an identity and a specific style that suits the players' games in the squad.
There was no possession-based buildup. There was no exploiting weaknesses in the Mexico formation with certain players' skill sets. But there was a lot of lobbing the ball forward and hoping Michael Bradley would deliver an immaculate set piece on every occasion he had, which to his credit, he did. But you can't be reliant on earning set pieces to defeat quality sides across the world, no matter what Klinsmann tries to tell you otherwise.
Those same themes were alive earlier in the day as the USMNT U23 squad put in a terrible 90-minute performance against Honduras with an Olympic berth on the line. At least that squad has a small chance to redeem itself if it wins the third-place game over Canada and then a playoff with Colombia. But given the showing on Saturday, the U23s Colombia will outclass the U23s in every facet of the game if they advance to the playoff.
So if Klinsmann is still around, he has to use new personnel to try and get better results, right? Well, it's not as easy as you think. Outside of Wood, who has only starred as a substitute, no forward behind Altidore or Dempsey on the depth chart has stood out since the World Cup.
There is some sort of a young core being formed around Yedlin and Zardes, but both players are still raw in certain aspects of the game. Yedlin doesn't have a consistent position, and Zardes still has defensive deficiencies he has to work on.
The most productive form of help ahead of November's World Cup qualifying matches against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago could come in the form of experienced international players that are in good form.
The first player who leaps into the minds of the USMNT fans is Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber would allow Bradley to drop deeper in midfield and he would be able to open up the opposing defenses to feed the likes of Altidore and Dempsey.
Sacha Kljestan, Lee Nguyen, Eric Lichaj and Jonathan Bornstein are other players with experience and consistent playing time at the club level that deserve a chance to prove their worth to Klinsmann in the near future. The USMNT boss could also turn toward younger players such as Wil Trapp, Alfredo Morales, Ethan Finlay and Rubio Rubin for the pair of qualifiers the Yanks should earn six points from.
Change must come from the Yanks after Saturday's brutal set of defeats. If the example is set from the top, the program will be able to correct its turn far off course before the Hexagonal round of World Cup qualifying comes around.
For now, the Yanks are forced to watch Mexico relish in its Confederations Cup and Olympic berths. The defeat will sting, and it should, but there is still time for Klinsmann to recover from his massive mistakes because of his contract.
Klinsmann needs to get out of his comfort zone immediately. If he doesn't, we could witness more of the same frustrating performances from the Yanks in the future.
Joe Tansey covers U.S. Soccer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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