- Ben McCormick

Juergen Klinsmann came to the US National Team with some big ideas. He preached patience, saying he was going to need time to experiment with several different kinds of lineups, formations and tactics. If given time, he justified, he would find the right combination of players to play an attacking style of soccer that was uniquely American.

Then what’s all this “we don’t want to shake up the core structure of the team too much” crap?

Three matches into his USMNT managerial tenure, Klinsi has already found the core of his squad. Through five matches, Klinsmann has capped a total of 26 players with only Danny Williams earning his first ever cap for the US national team. Bob Bradley capped 37 different players in just his first four matches.

For someone who seemed to be preaching sweeping changes, a lot seems to be staying the same. While we continue to see many of the same old faces, young guns like Mix Diskerud, and Josh Gatt can’t even get a sniff of camp.

Logically, all three fit the Klinsmann call-up criteria: starting every week for their clubs at a respectable level. Josh Gatt is first XI for the soon-to-be Norwegian champions and Diskerud has amassed 75 appearances for Stabek in Norway since his first team career started in 2008, becoming one of Stabek’s most important cogs. Diskerud and Gatt also are rumored to have clubs in the very best European leagues after them

So what gives, Juergen? These players play at positions with anything but certainty when it comes to the USMNT, so why aren’t they getting their chance?

At first instinct, you might say Klinsmann doesn’t value youth. Not true. To the contrary, Klinsmann loves youth in his squads. 11 of Klinsmann’s German 23 man roster for the 2006  World Cup were age 25 or younger.  Also, on his scouting trip to Germany last month, he took time out to observe and talk to Joe Gyau and Charles Renken, two American youth players at Hoffenheim. Simply, he certainly does not shy away from young players.

When Klisnmann was hired, he said he would establish a new soccer culture. He’s European-ized things about the national team like assigning the starters numbers 1-11 or putting his initials on his coaching clothing. Aside from the fashion changes, though, the biggest change Klinsmann is trying to hard wire into the new American soccer culture is the vitality of the youth national team system.

It’s no secret Klinsmann spearheaded the effort to streamline and invest in the German youth national teams during his time as the German manager. Such efforts on his part resulted in players like Thomas Muller making near-seamless transitions into the full national team. Based on these successes, I pose he’s making a similar effort in the United States.

Skeptical? Wondering why he would spend so much time on the youth teams when the senior team is reeling? You’re in good company. Here’s my best attempt at justifying investing in youth.

The obvious first question to ask is, “why is investing in the youth system important to the full national team?” Let’s take Spain for example. Within 14 months, Spain won the World Cup, the U-21 EURO and U-19 EURO tournaments.  Needless to say, they’re a shining example of what a youth program should be about.

Having said all that, try and guess how many members of Spain’s World Cup winning squad never made an appearance for a youth national team. Go on, guess.

I give up. Zero. Not a single member of their World Cup winning squad went without making an appearance for a youth national team. In fact, the average number of youth national team levels represented by a player on Spain’s World Cup team was 3.5.  Andres Iniesta represented a team-high seven levels followed by Iker Casillas and Fernando Torres with six. Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandez, Juan Mata and David Silva follow up with 5 and three others have represented four levels.

What’s the largest number of levels a 2010 US World Cup player represented? Three. Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jonathan Spector and Jozy Altidore played at the U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. A quarter of the US roster never appeared for any youth national team. Putting that in perspective, only a quarter of Spain’s World Cup roster appeared at less than three youth levels. Four players represented one level and two represented two levels.

There are many excuses for this disparity. The size of the United States makes identifying top talent at the U-15 and U-17 levels extremely difficult. Additionally, Spain has eight total youth levels players can represent whereas the US only has five. It’s unreasonable to expect Klinsmann to establish new youth national team levels, but he can do our YNT system a big favor by synchronizing those levels. This means, ideally, once a player ages out of or becomes too talented for one level, they can transfer into the next level seamlessly.

All of Spain’s youth teams play a similar style, making that transition easier for players. This concept is severely lacking in the US. Since Bob Bradley was hired as national team manger (and arguably before that during the Bruce Arena era), the United States have played a defensive 4-4-2 style with the full national team, attempted Dutch total football at the U-20 level and played a Latin-American 4-3-3 style at the U-17 level, all at the same time.

Given Klinsmann’s sweeping changes to the playing style of the full national team, it’s easy to understand the attraction of calling up a young player who has already gone through the growing pains his new system rather than bringing in a new player who is entirely unfamiliar with it, making a synchronized youth system all the more alluring.

On that same note, the common denominator between the 2010 Spain and US World Cup rosters is the players who represented the most YNT levels appear to be among the best the national team has to offer. Sure, some players are late bloomers (Maurice Edu) or come out of nowhere (Jay DeMerit). Heck, David Villa played at just one level of the Spanish YNT system, but the point remains largely the same, exposure to the same system from an early age produces the best players. Remember, Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta lead Spain in levels represented and Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and DaMarcus Beasley lead the US.

With the rumors of Caleb Porter’s hiring as the U-23 manager and Tab Ramos as the U-20 manager with a possible U-18 appointment still on the way, Klinsmann appears to be starting the process of synchronizing the US Soccer system. Like Klinsmann, Ramos and Porter favor attacking styles with emphasis on possession.

Guys like Diskerud and Gatt may not be snubbed by Klinsmann at the full national team level because of lack of skill or whatever other excuse there is, but rather he wants talent at his youth levels. Give Gatt and Diskerud two or three camps at the U-23 level and watch them transition into the full national team like they’d been there the entire time.

With the full national team, Klinsmann is trying to teach an old dog new tricks, and he knows it. Trying to get players already in their mid-20s or early 30s to play a style unfamiliar to them is like pulling teeth. Where Klinsmann is likely to leave his indelible mark on US Soccer is in introducing the new system to players as early as possible in their careers through the youth national teams.

So instead of lumping Gatt and Diskerud in with the old guard, Klinsmann may well be saving them to learn the new system along with the other young, promising and talented Americans. Don’t be surprised to see guys like Juan Agudelo or in some cases Tim Chandler, Jozy Altidore and Brek Shea go to U-23 camps when there is a full national team camp going on. This way, he can bring the youth through all at once after the Olympics, all entrenched in the system and ready to contribute to his style.

All of this requires a tremendous amount of the patience Klinsmann asked for when he was named manager of the USMNT. Given the track record of success for those countries who commit to the youth national team system, I’ll grant him that patience.

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-Ben McCormick

One of the most common questions any US Soccer fan asks is who is going to replace Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey when they retire. They have held the attack together for the past few years and fast approaching is a time when the US will have to rely on someone other than “Deuce” or “’Cakes” for a goal when they need it.

The scary thought is this process might be happening a bit faster than we all thought. Dempsey is still performing at the highest levels and he shows no signs of slowing down, but Donovan on the other hand, is a different story.

Sure, his MLS scoring record this season has been stellar, but I would expect that from a player of his caliber playing on a MLS team that may go down as one of the best in MLS history. Where it has been noticeable his speed may be slowing a half step, though, is in his performances for the USMNT this year.

-Ben McCormick

Admittedly, it’s been awhile since my last post, so I’ll take a brief moment to toot my own horn. Fabian Johnson was stealthily called into the US squad after my piece on him. Is Juergen Klinsmann reading my writing? Probably not, but still, instant gratification feels pretty good.

On to more pressing matters. For the first time since 1980-something, the USMNT is three matches into a new regime without a win.  Oh heavens no, what ever are we going to do? What use is an attacking style that doesn’t score goals?

Slow down. Let’s put this in perspective.

Juergen was hired with precious few days to prepare for a friendly against Mexico.  He spoke of the growing pains that would occur, almost promising fans there would be speed bumps on the road to qualifying, and Mexico looked to be as tough of a match as any US fan could ask for. In the words of a friend of mine, “no good can come of this,” and yet, somehow, it did.

-Ben McCormick

Say what you will about the positives Juergen Klinsmann has brought to the USMNT, there are still some things he can't change, like the US player pool...or can he? Although he may not be able to magically produce eleven world class American players, he is in a unique position to cure one of the US's most painful ailments: left back.

Enter Fabian Johnson, the 23 year old German-American left back at Bundesliga club Hoffenheim. Only a couple short years ago, Johnson was playing for the German U-21 team at the UEFA Championship, having just completed another solid season at 1860 Munich, starting 33 matches, scoring two goals and notching seven assists in the process. He then made the big jump to then Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg where his promising career hit a sizable speed bump.

In his first season at Wolfsburg, he played in ten matches, starting only six. The following season, he played in just seven matches, with Wolfsburg's lack of European competition putting the squeeze on his playing time.

At the beginning of this summer, he transferred from Wolfsburg to Hoffenheim for €600k, where general manager Ernst Tanner expects big things, calling Fabian a "very talented and very versatile full-back."  And Johnson is already fulfilling those expectations.

- Evan Rosenthal

The demonstrative enthusiasm Jurgen Klinsmann brings to US Soccer was palpable last night from my seat in the second row behind the United States bench at Lincoln Financial Field. For those who felt that Bob Bradley was robotic and displayed little emotion and joy for the game, the first match of the Klinsmann era at least showed that there will be some smiles and fun in the US camp. Seeing the new coach standing prominently on the sideline in support of the players, rallying the team to put higher pressure on the Mexican defense, celebrating the goal, and greeting the substitutes with affection like a proud father, I was heartened by the new direction of the US Men’s National Team, and hopefully the entire program.

-Ben McCormick

August 10 is going to be like leaving for a family vacation somewhere far away.

The bags are packed, you and the rest of the family are crammed into what space is left, and daddy Juergen is going to put the family truckster in gear and leave the driveway, ready for the long road trip ahead. Before the car leaves the driveway you ask him if he needs a map, to which he says, "don't worry, I know where I'm going" and you have no choice but to trust him.

This is a fairly common and often humorous situation, a man not asking for or seeking directions. In addition to being a joke that usually ends with elbows in the ribs of husbands and fathers everywhere, it also serves as a good metaphor for where the USMNT is right now. We know where we want to go (Brazil 2014 with a uniquely American playing style and youth system to match) and who is in charge of getting us there, but the journey itself is difficult to predict.

- Jason Davis

Here we go, the first American Soccer Show of the Juergen Klinsmann Era. How will this era differ from the last era, which was just a somewhat more successful version of the era before it. Klinsmann, bringing the revolution?

Jared and I cover most of the relevant questions surrounding Klinsmann's takeover. What level of control does he have? What changed? What does Klinsmann have in mind for the team, the system, and the future? And how the hell will he get from Point A to Point B?

We go on and on about players that should benefit from the change of coach.

There's a bit of discussion about Bob's legacy - not much, because no one seems to care - and how he'll be viewed by history. Bradley certainly had his moments. Only time will tell if how people appreciate him changes. Jared proceeds to accuse me of "pissing on the parade." Obviously we argue about that for a bit.

The World Cup qualifying draw is done. The US should have an easy time of it their first round of CONCACAF qualifying. The lack of serious challenge should buy Klinsmann some extra time to flesh out his team.

Finally, towards the end of the second segment, we move on to non-Klinsy subjects. MLS All-Star Game, including Jared's plea for an MLS Rock n' Jock, and taking stock of the format. Changing would be...pointless? Needless? Jared makes the argument that things have gotten stale. Is that it? Eh, I don't know.

Red Bulls in New York, and how fans should feel about winning a fake trophy. Congrats?

We close the show with a lengthy 3rd segment that includes emails and various odds and ends, including a bit of #whosmore90s.

Thanks, as always, for listening. Make sure you like and comment at the Facebook page and hit us up on Twitter via the AmSoc account and the CSRN network account.

You can follow me @mfusa and Jared @jrodius as well.

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Visit the show website for other links of interest.

The biggest news of the moment comes to us from Canada, where Toronto FC are reportedly on the verge of signing Juergen Klinsmann as a consultant.  Klinsmann and his California-based company, Soccer Solutions, will advise Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment on everything from the club's next GM down to playing style and academy setup.

With Bob Bradley signed up for another four years, and the federation claiming he's the best guy to take the program forward, Gulati and Co. were made to look silly by the comments of a certain German legend they've danced with before.

With the end of the World Cup cycle for the US, the prospect of a managerial change looms large. A lot of people seem to be asking the questions “who is the best tactical manager for the US talent pool” or “who is the manager who will play the style I want the US to play”.

For me, it’s all about timing. The end of the Bradley era may be upon us. I’m throwing my support behind Klinsmann for 2014. But that doesn’t mean what you probably think it means...

There are a ton of things that need to be done in the system for the US to truly be competitive on the world stage. Some of these things will take 12 or more years before they are truly effective, some can be done in two. Let’s run down a quick list of things that I view as needing to happen and my best guess as to the approximate time it will take changes to effect the national team:

1) Build a functional youth system (12 years)
2) Increase the quality of MLS to that of second tier European leagues (12 years)
3) Gut and rebuild USSF (8 years)
4) Change the tactics of the national team (2 years)

In hiring Claudio Reyna to be Youth Technical Director, USSF has taken the first step toward achieving goal number one. The recent CBA moves MLS closer to achieving goal number two. Hiring Klinsmann, if he is given the freedom to do as he pleases, begins the process of blowing up the USSF and rebuilding it, and he would change the tactics of the team, moving the US forward on all accounts.

And I’m all for that…

Just not next cycle.

It is well established that USSF is interested in Klinsmann and Klinsmann is interested in the job. We also know that Klinsmann retooled die Mannschaft while he was in charge in Germany. Rumor is that wanted to do the same at Bayern but didn’t have the freedom and that he isn’t the current USMNT boss this cycle because of disagreement over control. In Germany, he wanted to Americanize the system, adding fitness coaches and sports psychologists. In all likelihood, behind the scenes here he would Germanize the American system. But what does that mean?

German success, as evident in this World Cup, has come from their youth development system. Club academies form the basis, with weekly two-hour “tutoring” sessions for about 14,000 youth players by German Football Federation appointed coaches. The players graduate up the line to receive playing time at club “II” teams situated in the German third and fourth flights before moving on to the top flight which is competitive enough to provide world class competition but not so competitive as to deprive younger developing players an opportunity in favor of the newest hot transfer that’s been brought in. For example, Mesut Oezil had 18 Bundesliga appearances for Schalke 04 in the 06-07 season when he was 18 years old and 59 league appearance for Werder Bremen in the last two years.

But, as a national team coach, Klinsmann’s highest priority cannot be establishing a functional youth system. However, I have faith in Klinsmann to do two things as national team coach, 1) fighting USSF to make changes that will help now and later and 2) overseeing a tactically cunning team. The US will be a better position to do both of those things in four years time.

Improving the youth system is an enormous problem and should be the highest priority of USSF. However, it will not show results until the 2022 World Cup at the earliest. There has been some movement on this front with the hiring of Reyna and the diversity of the players recently called into U-20 camp by Rongen. These changes provide a necessary first step, but give USSF cover; excuses to resist the structural changes that Klinsmann would lobby for. Changes led by Reyna and time to determine what is and what is not working in the development academy network would give Klinsmann a stronger foundation to lobby for the next level of changes that will be necessary, those at the USSF level. Because of this, I think Klinsmann will be more effective in making these changes beginning in 2014.

The tactics that can be implemented with a team are determined by the talent on hand. The majority of USMNT players have received some, if not all, of their training in MLS, a league that represents the average American player; long on physical skill and potential, short on technical skill. Even the strength of Donovan’s game is rooted in speed and stamina. Bob Bradley’s tactics squeezed out just about everything possible out of a team whose physicality so severely outweighed its technical ability.

I’d be shocked to find a fan who doesn’t want to the USMNT to play a more technical brand of soccer, whether it’s the tight possession game of Spain or the precise counterattack of Germany. But, while the level of technical skill in MLS has grown and will continue to grow with the league, it currently cannot cultivate a large quantity of technically adept players in each position for reasons that have been well documented, including the talent pool, referee style, and salary caps. Because of these limitations, MLS will not be able to cultivate these types of players in large numbers in the next four years.

That means to raise the technical proficiency of the US national team game, predominately US players in foreign leagues will be the ones that will be counted on. With around 30 players in foreign top flights of various quality, the US lacks options. Like the last four years, the next for years should continue to increase these options, yeilding maybe 50 such players by 2014. Most of whom will still have spent a decent chunk of time in MLS. In all likelihood, the distribution of these players will mean that there will be positions without a player whose technical ability is adequate to run a technically demanding system. Because of this, a physical-technical hybrid strategy will likely be the US’ best strategy in 2014. Something that I’m not sure if Klinsmann is well-equipped to coach.

The US is just now at the point where it is producing more than a small handful of players talented enough to play in the top ten leagues in Europe. But a lack of pipeline from MLS to Europe mean that for at least the next cycle, the USMNT coach will have to do more player development than possibly any other national team coach is asked to do. An open pipeline is critical for the US in developing the depth of talent that is necessary to become a contender. And an open pipeline will take time. Bradley did about as much as he could in opening this pipeline.

Trending out another four year sees more players in Europe and gives Klinsmann a talent pool that is workable instead of developable. To me moving top MLS players to Europe and players in small European leagues into better situations should be the goal of this next cycle. I trust Bob Bradley or a successful MLS coach like Dominic Kinnear with that goal much more than I trust Klinsmann.

Klinsmann has a lot to offer the USMNT, and I would be disappointed if he is never the coach. But with his ties to America, and his age (45), it seems unlikely to me that this is the last opportunity. With a three cycle coach almost unheard of, hiring Klinsmann now means that he will likely be gone when the US begins to approach being competitive on the world stage.

So, Klinsmann for 2014? Absolutely. But in my eyes, that’s a start date.

To say that fans of the United States National Team are supremely confident heading into next week's World Cup qualifier with Mexico might be a bit of an understatement; an eight year winning streak on American soil can do that for a fan base. Add that recent record of home dominance to the fact that Mexico comes into the match seemingly off-kilter, and American fans may already be planning post-match celebrations.

There are no indications that this over-confidence on the part of the supporters is unjustified; it's hard for many of them to envision Mexico winning a match inside American borders in front of what should be a very vocal, very pro-USA, crowd. That being said, it's clear that Mexico is capable of beating the US, and any shock resulting from a defeat at El Tri's hands would come only from its unfamiliar nature.

So, what if Mexico wins? I don't mean that in the dismissive sense; note the comma. I mean, literally, what if Mexico wins? What will be the fallout? Should any changes be made? Or does the USMNT simply charge ahead, play out what is still likely to be a successful qualifying campaign, and roll the dice in both the Gold and Confederations Cups?

Even if the Mexicans are triumphant in Columbus, there is unlikely to be any repercussions for Bob Bradley, the player pool, or the team structure as it is currently constituted. While Sven-Goran Eriksson's job is certainly in jeopardy (because the Mexico manager's job is always in jeopardy) and he may be forced to manage his team with that fact in mind, Bradley can forge ahead with a grander scheme, comfortable that his position is safe no matter the outcome. Bradley has behind him a strong enough record as the US manager that it would be difficult for Sunil Gulati and the USSF to justify making a change in the midst of the qualification cycle, even if Bradley is at the helm when the remarkable home winning-streak against Mexico is snapped. Additionally, any manager that might be available to the US, as well as amenable to taking the job, could hardly be considered a major upgrade over Bradley. Unfortunately for many who wished it had been him instead, Juergen Klinsmann is tied up at the moment.

If Bradley stays, then his system stays. Without a major shake up at the top, we shouldn't expect any change to the style of play, or the way the team goes about its business. A terrible performance by a player or two could conceivably lead to less-seasoned talent getting a shot; but with young players like Kljestan and Altidore already expected to feature in future hexagonal matches, it would be difficult to determine if any changes were the direct result of a loss to Mexico.

If the Americans do lose, what should be the ramifications? While I wouldn't advocate that Bradley be fired, and I don't want the United States manager's job to be the musical chairs situation that exists in Mexico and other countries, I will say that the heat applied to those in charge of the National Team by the soccer media has never been quite enough. It's not that those who write about the game here aren't critical; it's simply that there aren't enough of them to engender any appreciable reaction. Leadership is allowed to operate free of concern, without the pressure that their peers around the world are forced to cope with on a daily basis. Everyone involved wants to build a winner, and I'm not questioning Bradley or Gulati's desire to do so; I just believe that without the type of oversight we give to coaches and executives in other sports, they are free to grow complacent.

For the American supporters, losing to Mexico inside the US would much more catastrophic. Gone would be their ability to crow to Mexico fans that they simply can't win in this country, and the argument for American predominance in the region would take a serious hit. Not only would bragging rights be lost, but Mexico would have three points in hand to take with them on the rest of their qualifying campaign. While I'm of the opinion that Mexico qualifying for the World Cup benefits the region, and therefore the US, I'm not sure the majority of American supporters agree with me, so those three out-of-the-blocks points in Mexico's column would only make the loss that much more difficult to swallow.

I certainly don't expect a loss on Wednesday, and I know that few Nats fans do; but it's interesting to think about what could (and should) conceivably happen if Mexico does win in the US for the first time since '99. Shake ups occur when results are not consistent with expectations, and American soccer fans have come to expect victory over Mexico when the match take place in the United States. If the team, and the manager, fail in those expectations, I suspect there would be quite a backlash in the National Team's fan base.

None of this matters, of course. When Wednesday rolls around, and the rivalry is renewed once again, the result is likely to be the one to which we've become accustomed. The USA just doesn't lose to Mexico on American soil, so why would this time be any different?