U.S. Men's Soccer: Jürgen Klinsmann's Impact as Head Coach

Jürgen Klinsmann will be to U.S. Soccer as fresh crisp water is to a dying plant. Not that former U.S. coach Bob Bradley produced a dying product—more like a very stale and stagnant product.

Tournament after tournament the U.S. side would exit with "moral" victories without collecting any actual hardware.

There was the second place finish at the 2009 Confederations Cup where the U.S. beat Spain convincingly just to lose to Brazil in the final.

Then there was the showing at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where once group play concluded, Coach Bradley found his team atop group C—the first time the U.S. had won their group since 1930. Of course this victory was then followed up by a first round exit via Ghana.

Most recently Bradley's team was the runner-up at the 2011 Gold Cup, losing to Mexico 4-2 after blowing a two goal lead.

This eventually led to Bradley being relieved of his coaching duties, opening the door for Klinsmann.

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati has been after Klinsmann for quite a while. He first offered him the position after the 2006 World Cup and again after the 2010 World Cup.

Negotiations stalled both times because Gulati would not grant Klinsmann the control that Klinsmann deemed necessary to be successful. The terms of the current contract still aren't known to the public, but it was a good enough offer sheet that Klinsmann could not refuse.

"I am proud and honored to be named the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team," Klinsmann stated. "I would like to thank the U.S. Soccer Federation for the opportunity and I'm excited about the challenge ahead."

He continued by saying, "I am looking forward to bringing our team together for our upcoming match against Mexico and starting on the road toward qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup."

Jürgen Klinsmann immediately made his presence felt in the locker room by removing the players last names from the back of their jerseys. He stated that he wanted the players to represent their country and not themselves.

It was also a way of telling his team that he did not care what their individual accomplishments were. Klinsmann is going to base his starting 11 on their current performance rather than reputation.

In Klinsmann's debut, he managed to turn a disappointing 4-2 loss in the Gold Cup into a promising 1-1 draw versus the Mexican side.

He is known as a rather offensive coach and seems to be a perfect calling for U.S. soccer, which to this day has failed to produce a prolific scorer at the striker position—with exception of Eric Wynalda.

It probably helps that Jürgen Klinsmann himself is one of the greatest strikers the world has ever seen. He is a hall of fame legend and is to Germany what a Wilt Chamberlain, Babe Ruth or Barry Sanders is to Americans.

He played 108 games for Germany as a national and scored 47 goals. He won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and also the 1996 European Championship. Klinsmann won on every level, whether it was with perennial European powerhouses like Inter Milan or Bayern Munich. He has played with and against the best, amassing 227 goals at the club level.

During his first national coaching stint, he led Germany to a third place finish at the 2006 World Cup. The German media called it the World Cup that revived German soccer, crediting Klinsmann for his faith in the youth system and attacking style of soccer. 

The U.S. Men team's identity crisis should soon come to a screeching halt. Jürgen Klinsmann is a great judge of talent who knows what kind of harmony on the pitch is necessary to produce goals.

It should not be long until he breaks up the midfield tandem of Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley being that they both are defensive minded players.

Steve Cherundolo should also soon see his role in the defensive line reduced due to Klinsmann's impending youth movement. Instead look for Gale Agbossoumonde to take over the reigns.

Also look for Klinsmann to take 19-year-old striker Juan Agudelo under his wing and become a mainstay up front. His future partner should be none other than 17-year-old Omar Salgado who disappointed many Mexican faithfuls when he announced his decision to play for the U.S. rather than Mexico. Many experts tout Salgado as the next Javier Hernandez, who currently stars next to Wayne Rooney with Manchester United.  

During the not so friendly match versus Mexico, American soccer fans were ntroduced to Brek Shea, a player with tremendous upside who could become the next Landon Donovan.

With Jürgen Klinsmann at the helm of U.S. Soccer, not only will interest in America grow but also support. His hiring could quite possibly end up as one of the best in American sports history. Not only will it have a tremendous impact on the U.S. Men's Soccer team, but it will have tremendous impact on American soccer in general.