That's On Point: The Web Site

So there you have it.

Jurgen Klinsmann isn't going to be the next coach of the USMNT.

Apparently, Bob Bradley is the guy.

Stunning in the fact that this seemed like a done deal for the last few months -- the worst kept secret in sports. Particularly to a certain writer at Foxsports.com who's now pleading for forgiveness with a mea culpa. (Looks like Prof. Jon Satlin was right about him, though some of the venom calling from his ouster is too strong. He's not the first journo to make a mistake.)

Now it would be pretty easy to take the "sky is falling" approach to the story.

Was Jurgen the best candidate for the post? Probably. (I did my part campaigning.)

Then again, just assuming that because he lived in America, spoke English and had a great run coaching Germany at the 2006 World Cup he could immediately transform the Yanks into Die Manshafft.

Could this have happened? Possibly.

Could Jurgen have convinced Bobby Convey, et al to grow a faux-hawk like Bastian Schweinstiger? Perhaps.

Let's not forget, part of Klinny's innovations with the German team was implementing so-called "American" training techniques. He also did a lot to make the younger players believe in themselves. Let's not forget that Klinny's successor -- Joachim Low -- is garnering a lot of praise for being the man really pulling the strings. Though this could be a classic media revisionist history sort of thing.

Would Landon Donovan take better instruction from a guy who's won a cabinet full of major trophies? Probably. (Talk about weird, some kid just walked by with a Landy Cakes t-shirt jersey.)

Jurgun probably could have baked up some beautiful apple schnitzel, too.

But if the guy doesn't want the job,l so be it. The cards looked in order. He was the "perfect" candidate. And there's no saying that in 2008 he couldn't come on board.

What this seven month coaching search has shown most of all is the absolute fiasco that is the US Soccer Federation. There are so many problems from top-to-bottom that hiring a coach like Klinny might have been more of a Band Aid on a bullet wound.

And I don't think these are problems that can be easily rectified by the "right" coach either. Soccer in America is likely never going to be what it is in the rest of the world. There are so many forces both internal and external and pulling the Fed in so many different directions that one man can't possibly be a cure-all.

It'd be easy for me and others that care to heap all the blame on Sunil Gulati for taking FOREVER to ink a coach. But he was in fact in a pretty tough position. Though a lot of the time Gulati seems more like a super-fan than anything else.

Despite his success this summer Klinsmann didn't have enough of long-term track record to give him the keys to the Ferrari and turn him loose.

The power-sharing thing may come back to haunt Gulati and the rest of the federation if that was indeed the sticking point for Klinsmann. It's safe to say there are far too many people meddling at the Federation that are out for themselves and not the betterment of US Soccer.

Obviously Bruce Arena didn't do a great job in Germany in all aspects. From the aftermath though, it seems his hands were tied on a lot of issues. If Bradley's the new guy priority A No. 1 needs to be to find a Technical Director that knows what he's doing.

How we as fans can change the bullshit politics behind the scenes at the Fed is anyone's guess. Line forms behind me, ok.

In any event, there figures to be a huge Gulati backlash. This was posted on Wikipedia at 6:58 p.m. tonight: "On December 7th 2006 after Sunil Gulati (aka miserable failure) lost Jurgen Klinsman, Bob Bradley became the interim US National Coach."

Personally, Bob Bradley isn't a terrible fall back. Yes, people will deride him as Bruce Arena-lite. That's not entirely fair.

Yes, he is an MLS-only coach, but he's done a good job wherever he's coached. Don't forget he took the expansion Chicago Fire to the MLS title their first season. Granted he did have a boatload of foreign and domestic talent -- including current DC United boss Peter Novack. And guiding Chivas USA to respectability this season merits some respect too. (We'll disregard the stint with the black-hole that was the NY/NJ MetroStars.)

Yes, he's never coached or played in Europe. And who know if he'll have the tactics to coach on a big stage. He's not Jose Pekerman, but it's not like Jose didn't totally screw the Argies vs. Germany, pulling off his striking midway through the second-half at the World Cup this summer.

But for me at least, I'll give him a chance. For better or worse he knows what talent lies in MLS and you've got to figure he's at least kept tabs on his son Michael at Herenveen in the Netherlands. He should have learned for the mistakes Brucey Boy made too.

Bradley did at least attend Princeton, so he should be pretty smart.

And brains are something the USSF is sorely lacking on all fronts.

Is this another bad day in what's turned out to be a terrible year for US Soccer?

Undoubtedly.

Is it the end of the world?

Time will tell.

Labels: bob bradley, jurgen klinsmann, Soccer, USMNT