December 06, 2006

Kalifornia Klinsy to manage US Soccer Team: And thus a new era begins.

posted by psmealey to soccer at 08:34 AM - 10 comments

Have they actually confirmed this is going to happen, or are both sides still in the denying stage? Both sides were making a point of saying there was no deal as late as yesterday. Certainly at this point, if this deal doesn't go down, that'd be a shock, but slam-dunks like this do break down in the fine print from time to time.

posted by chicobangs at 08:59 AM on December 06, 2006

Yeah... I should have qualified this is still unconfirmed by either Klinsmann or the USSF, despite how broadly it's being reported.

posted by psmealey at 09:12 AM on December 06, 2006

Klinsmann not all the way in yet. But, if Cherundolo is telling German television that Klinsi is in, I'm trusting Cherundolo to know what he's talking about. Besides, that bastion of honest, unbiased reporting, La Opinion, said Jose Pekerman has already inked a deal.

posted by igottheblues at 10:24 AM on December 06, 2006

If he truly did leave Adidas already, that's a pretty big step towards joining a Nike team- you don't leave age-old sponsors lightly. Also: "Ranked ... by the now-defunct FIFA ranking system"- I had missed that FIFA scrapped their system. What have they replaced it with? [Also, great link- is fox's soccer coverage usually this good?]

posted by tieguy at 11:27 AM on December 06, 2006

They replaced it with a new rating system, which dropped the Yanks to 31st. It's still ultimately meaningless though, because instead of laughably ranking the US fifth, it now laughably ranks the English fifth.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 11:48 AM on December 06, 2006

Incidentally, I think Klinsmann's a great appointment, if the deal goes through, but I maintain my position that the US need to find some promising young buck coach in the MLS and pay him to sit in Jurgen's pocket for the next 4-6 years, while still working in MLS, so that you have a home-grown talent, with real coaching ability and exposure to the national game to take over when Jurgen leaves.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 11:55 AM on December 06, 2006

Does this mean he's now going to move back to Germany and start watching MLS on satellite TV?

posted by afx237vi at 03:17 PM on December 06, 2006

Wow, never thought I'd see it. A German leading Americans into battle. Oh, come on now. I'm just Jurgen.

posted by worldcup2002 at 01:19 AM on December 07, 2006

Dive! Dive! Dive!

posted by squealy at 07:16 AM on December 07, 2006

Or not.

posted by tieguy at 02:09 PM on December 07, 2006

You're not logged in. Please log in or register.