Bob Bradley Out, Juergen Klinsmann In As U.S. Soccer Coach

The firing of Bob Bradley was unexpected and a bit unfair if you ask me. From what reports indicate, he had lost the respect of some of the top players on the team, including the two regarded as the best on the team, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. Bradley had a 43-25-12 record as coach of the United States from 2006 - 2011. Bradley's tenure included a thrilling run in the 2010 South Africa World Cup and an upset of world No. 1 Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup to stop Spain's 35-game unbeaten streak. Since that game more than two years ago, the Spanish national team has lost just three times. 

Juergen Klinsmann takes over U.S. soccer.

But the recent developments at the Gold Cup, and Mexico's recent domination of the United States led to Bradley's dismissal. I think it's unfair because to put it simply, Mexico's team is stocked with more talent at this point than the U.S. side. For one thing, Mexico has some of its brightest and youngest players playing in some of the best soccer clubs in the world, including Javier Hernandez (23) for Manchester United, Carlos Vela (22) for Arsenal, Jonathan dos Santos (21) for Barcelona, and Giovanni dos Santos (22) for Tottenham Hotspur. 

Where are the U.S. players plying their trade? The majority are playing in Major League Soccer, where the MLS All-Star team that included David Beckham and Thierry Henry were dominated by Manchester United 4-0. The top players that do play for top overseas clubs are aging stars like Dempsey (28), Carlos Bocanegra (32), Tim Howard (32), and Steve Cherundolo (32). Donovan is 29 years old and plays for the LA Galaxy. There are young guys like Jozy Altidore, Juan Agudelo, Freddy Adu, Maurice Edu, and Eric Lichaj that are coming down the pipeline, but they're a largely unproven group. In essence, for the past year Bradley was coaching an aging team without a core of young talent coming up behind the veterans. By all accounts, U.S. soccer is getting better with the MLS leading the way in youth development that wasn't there a mere 10 years ago, but the national team now finds itself at a crossroad.

Enter Juergen Klinsmann, by all accounts a different kind of coach from Bradley, which means that Klinsmann is more inclined to an attacking style as opposed to Bradley's more conservative approach. Klinsmann is widely regarded for leading a beat-up Germany squad to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup, but flamed out as coach of Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga. That's fine, since many successful national team coaches don't quite do as well being club coaches. 

U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati has twice previously tried to hire Klinsmann but the German-born coach twice turned down his offer. Gulati is widely respected and he must believe, maybe even stake his job on it, that Klinsmann will be able to somehow reshape the U.S. soccer system from the youth level on up, and take the national team beyond the Round of 16 in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. It's also expected that under new leadership the United States will take over Mexico for regional dominance, but for that to happen the U.S. needs to somehow get younger and better.

Bradley made the U.S. soccer brand more respectable around the world, building on what predecessor Bruce Arena had done in taking the U.S. soccer team to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea. By all accounts Bradley left the U.S. soccer team in better shape than when he found it, and now it's up to Klinsmann to bring in his coaching expertise. Klinsmann also becomes the first foreign-born coach to head the U.S. soccer team since Bora Milutinovic (1991-1995), who led the U.S. into the Round of 16 in the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Just wishful thinking here, but imagine if Klinsmann doesn't work out, or if he decides he's done a fair job of elevating U.S. soccer, would Jose Mourinho be a candidate for the U.S. team three or four years from now? Mourinho has expressed interest in coaching the U.S. in the future, and is widely regarded as the greatest coach on the planet. His nickname is "The Special One." If the U.S. somehow managed to get him, that would be a coup. But I'm hoping Klinsmann is successful and that he can create something special of his own for the U.S.