What a day for U.S. Soccer.
No sooner does Jurgen Klinsmann remove himself as a candidate for the U.S. National team job then we get the announcement of Chivas USA head coach Bob Bradley being named the interim coach for five months until a new USSF search begins next summer.
First off don’t begin to think that Klinsmann will not coach the U.S. National team. In fact word was that Klinsmann did not want to begin the job until 2008.
It is interesting to think about this negotiating process between US Soccer Head Sunil Gulati and Klinsmann. What could have been the sticking point blocking this deal? Klinsmann was genuinely interested……Money maybe. Power, control.
Control is what I think it came down to. Lets hope ego doesn’t get in the way of making the proper hire for the future of the national team. After all alot of what people will remember about Sunil Gulati will be his choice as national team coach not if he can somehow bring together all the different levels of soccer in this country by providing a common thread.
Or maybe this is just a stop-gap measure by Gulati and the Federation to bid time and continue negotiations with Klinsmann. After all it is not imperative he is hired this instance for anything other than to satisfy the many fans that want a high profile coach like the German.
Work it out in five months, let one of your top coaches in Bradley slide in to the assistant role and in comes Jurgen.
By all standards no one has ever had the credentials that Klinsmann would bring as a player(Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Tottenham, Germany) and with his semi-final finish as a coach of Germany this past summer.
Something fresh and optimistic is needed to add a new air to the national team program.
My belief is that Klinsmann is not out of the picture yet.
Game on!