After Almost 5.5 Years in Charge, Jurgen Klinsmann is Fired as USMNT Head Coach & Technical Director

After a wretched 4-0 loss in a World Cup qualifier last Monday night in Costa Rica, you had to wonder if Jurgen Klinsmann was done as both the USMNT head coach and technical director. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati was non-committal after the match and after he had a week to think about it, today he made the somewhat expected move: Klinsmann was out in each capacity. By itself, this was disappointing enough but heap on the fact that LA Galaxy head coach (and former USMNT head coach Bruce Arena) is said to be returning once again so I can't help but feel like the U.S. Soccer Federation has lost its common sense.

I understand that it's quite possible many of the key players (Michael Bradley for sure) had begun to tune Klinsmann out, how else do you explain their recent form, but you'll never convince me that Arena or any other American for that matter will be able to match Klinsmann's all-World resume. He was a World Cup winner as a player with Germany and also coached their national team along with Bayern Munich (Germany), one of the most powerful clubs in the universe. Instead, they are at least temporarily going back to a guy that hasn't been in charge of the USMNT in a decade (1998-2006) and who has been coaching in lowly MLS (New York Red Bulls and Galaxy) since then. Ugh. Thanks to Klinsmann, the U.S. was able to bring in many Mexican-American and German-Americans (Jermaine Jones, John Brooks, Julian Green, Fabian Johnson and Timmy Chandler) who have become some of the top players.

The U.S. just doesn't seem to have a realistic view of itself or rather, they are completely mistaken for what is the proper way to go from a mid-tier country (their usual status) to one that can consistently challenge for major titles. Where is that outside the box thinking that brought them Klinsmann? This is all semantics since Arena is still the winningest head coach in USMNT history but Klinsmann is second (55-27-16) since he took over on July 29, 2011. He led the team to a program-record 12-game winning streak in 2013 and their 16 wins overall and .761 winning percentage in 2013 are an all-time record for a calendar year. They also advanced out of an extremely difficult group at the 2014 World Cup before losing to a far superior Belgium squad in the round of 16. Things seemed to have turned stale this year though as they finished a disappointing fourth in the Copa America on their home soil (losing a knockout game to Jamaica, come on) and they lost a heartbreaker 2-1 to Mexico in World Cup qualifying on November 11 in Columbus, Ohio.

The weird part is that the men's national team has never been more popular and therefore also more scrutinized in the United States than it is today. This is of course a good thing. With such easy access to games from all over the world constantly (featuring many of our brightest stars), we are much more knowledgeable when it comes to the beautiful game. Of course, the sad truth is that the men's team will probably never be an upper-echelon program simply because most of our best athletes play other sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey, etc) that pay better and bring far more fame at least in the states. Non-soccer fans never quite understand why the USMNT isn't better but that is the main reason why. As technical director, Klinsmann made sweeping changes to the U.S. youth national teams and the fruits of that are already being seen with an amazing prospect like Christian Pulisic who rightfully got the hell out of the U.S. to test himself at a very high level (Borussia Dortmund).

Arena is just a placeholder, a lame duck coach that is said to only be around through the 2018 World Cup. I know we are all starting to get worried about even reaching that point but keep in mind that Mexico had to go all the way to a playoff (vs. New Zealand) to reach the 2014 World Cup and CONCACAF is still filled with numerous awful teams so the U.S. should bounce back in March when they finally reconvene to face Honduras on March 24 and go to Panama on March 27. The U.S. under-23 men's head coach and former U.S. star midfielder Tab Ramos is apparently a candidate further down the road for this job but he's not ready for it yet.

Even before Klinsmann took over, I've felt for a long time that the U.S. men's national team should have a non-American in charge in order to reach our ultimate potential. I believe it's the exact opposite thinking for the U.S. women's national team since they are the gold standard in their sport so why mess with their immense success? He gave us a certain amount of credibility globally that is suddenly gone and will never be replaced by the likes of Arena, Ramos or any other U.S. lifer that has yet to experience the highest levels of competition that the sport has to offer. I know that many bandwagon fans wanted to see this happen but I'm pretty sure this will be your classic case of buyer's remorse when the U.S. fails to really grow at all in the next few years. Honestly, getting to the 2018 World Cup won't be much of an achievement if they bow out in the group stage.

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Four More Years of Jurgen Klinsmann for the U.S. Men's National Team, Because Why Not?

Bravo to the U.S. soccer federation for acting fast before people are all down on the men's national team this summer at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Today, they rightfully rewarded head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (27-10-7) with a contract extension through the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The key footnote to the deal is that he also becomes the team's technical director.

Odds are that his first World Cup with the U.S. next June will be a forgettable one as they face the formidable task of advancing out of Group G which features Ghana, Portugal and Germany-all unquestionably great squads. Even if the Americans get embarrassed, Klinsmann is still the best man for the job. I'm not saying he's the greatest coach in the world (that's so subjective anyway) but let's agree that the U.S. couldn't do any better.

Changing the culture around the team and youth programs take years and a few cycles of World Cups to see any progress in a sport that usually moves at a glacial pace (hello goal-line technology). Klinsmann is young, full of energy and his coaching and playing resume speaks for itself. So far his players seem to respond positively to him, they have to realize how lucky they are to have an outsider rather than some MLS or god forbid U.S. college coach.

With all the Americans have success around the Globe, we have plenty to be proud of when it comes to soccer these days. Still, I'll maintain that Klinsmann is the best thing to ever happen to the USMNT. He will have as good a chance as any to turn us from a middling team to a powerhouse more in line with our country's size (yes I realize we have a million sporting options unlike most other countries).

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For the 2018 World Cup, Russia was my last choice but I can be convinced otherwise (namely by these two dimes)

If you think NCAA sports or the BCS are corrupt (and boy are they ever), you have seen nothing yet until you witness FIFA award World Cup bids to undeserving countries.

I specifically woke up early yesterday to catch the announcements live. I should have known it was doomed from the start since I couldn't find decent coverage on TV so I was forced to retreat to my computer. Watching it on ESPN3.com, I was annoyed that it was delayed 30 minutes, another bad sign.

Finally, after all the pomp and circumstance come the bids. First up was 2018: (my order of preferences) England, Spain/Portugal, Belgium/Netherlands and Russia.

Of course Russia received 2018 and their committee of stereotypical tall, scary Russian guys and nameless babes celebrated and then made a brief, awkward speech on stage.

Shimer already told you how Qatar received the 2022 bid so I'll let that one stand on its own. Obviously, I was more disappointed with the latter since it affects me in a much bigger way but seeing Russia win was also puzzling.

Clearly, FIFA voters accepted bribes like you read about, it's the only way to explain the curious choices of Russia and Qatar. Both nations are filthy rich with oil money and under the auspices of expanding to new horizons, FIFA can say that they want to see the game develop more in virtual backwaters.

Whatever. Nobody in their right mind can make a logical case that Russia is more into soccer than England, Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands. For the bozos and clowns that get paid handsomely (legally and illegally as my man Lupe Fiasco would say), all that matters is that Russian officials and Qatar officials would line their pockets with all the money they would ever need and by the time these tournaments occur, they'll be retired and on some island.

I am 27-years-old so it's hard to surprise me these days, especially when it comes to matters in sports. However, I will say that yesterday definitely changed the way I will look at FIFA forever. Thinking that the U.S. had a shot was a waste of energy and it's going to take a long time to get over the anger associated with this ignominious day and these laughable decisions.