I think this is going to be long because I've been thinking about that during this streak. The results have to speak to themselves at this point. No one will ever mistake him for a tactical genius, but he certainly seems to have changed the culture of the team for the better. I have a few thoughts that are complete conjecture and probably BS but I feel pretty strongly about. First, that Klinsmann had a very poor grasp of our player pool coming in. He knew the big name guys, but he didn't know anything about our depth. He notoriously tinkered with the lineup every game and got to know the player pool, albeit slowly. Any criticism aimed his way about that was deserved. Second, he is still not a tactical, game-plan manager like Bradley is/was, despite the big results. He is more about instilling a system and forcing competition for those spots. He's stuck to the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 and has gotten Dempsey and Donovan closer to goal with more freedom to roam. In my opinion, that is absolutely the best system for our personnel, but what's interesting is that when those guys aren't available, he lets their replacements do the same thing instead of reverting to a more conservative approach like other managers have done. That has worked great vs bad teams but I don't think it would look so hot vs elite teams without 3 of the 4 of Dempsey, Altidore, Donovan and Bradley being available. It was still a mistake to keep Michael Bradley at arm's length early in his tenure because he's probably our most important player vs elite competition. I still have reservations about his strong arm tactics with Dempsey ("hasn't done [expletive]"), Altidore (freezing him out when service was the biggest issue, not effort) and it took him a while to understand that we have to play a counter attacking, organized game vs elite competitors and on the road vs CONCACAF. It's hard to argue with the results though. By challenging those guys' spots and telling them they haven't done [expletive], he's also reminding them who he is and what he accomplished as a player. I think that status and challenge has motivated our best players. Deuce and Bradley obviously responded right away, which isn't a surprise knowing the kind of competitors they are. Altidore showed maturity and just kept plugging away at AZ and showed real composure re: Klinsmann and the adversity he faced in Holland. Landon had the biggest problem adjusting to being challenged which isn't surprising knowing the kind of competitor he is. He's the best American player ever. He always has been. He's just never been a big fan of criticism. He has never reacted quickly to being big-timed. He shied away from competition as a young player in Europe, he butted heads with Beckham initially, I think (this is total speculation) he holds his experience at Bayern against Klinsmann (which is totally fair, btw. JK screwed that up for him) and now, just like all those times in the past, he eventually rebounds and comes back better than before. I think it's a manger's job to know their player and what motivates them. I think Jurgen knew that to get the best Landon Donovan he couldn't defer to him like past managers. He had to hold to a higher standard of performance and humility, which has sometimes been an issue on the national team. Shaking him up was a gamble but it appears to have paid off. Basically I think when it comes to man-management, Jurgen is a high-risk/high-reward manager. He pushes his players relentlessly and so far it's worked great. I think it speaks to the American soccer player's willingness to keep grinding and be humble and because of that, it may work here when it didn't work at Bayern or long-term with Germany. What he's done well is he has opened up spots for competition, specifically he has done a good job trusting MLS players in big spots rather than sticking with the old guard. His motivational tactics, however heavy-handed they are, have gotten results from his best players. What I think has been the most important thing is how he has seemingly gotten more consistency out of the team. In the past, the US team has always felt bipolar. Vs CONCACAF teams, they were full of swagger and confidence. Vs Mexico away and against teams full of world club stars they took defeats when they came like they were inevitable. Now it seems like they play to the level they should play, regardless of opponent rather than down or up to the level of their competition so it means they're more dominant vs CONCACAF and more consistent vs big international teams. Good national teams have to be ruthless. The competition for spots has to be intense. In the past, we haven't had the luxury of being able to foster that. We've always had spots on lock down because our elite talent has been thin. MLS has created an environment where Jurgen can bring that competition to where it needs to be. We have better depth and better players now more than we ever have and I think the Brian Strauss article was indicative of a player or players struggling to adjust to that competition. I'm curious what will happen after Brazil. Yesterday Pep Guardiola said he wants to coach the USMNT after Bayern because he loves living in America and he loves the American sporting spirit. I could see a 3-4 year run at Bayern and then JK moving to technical director and Pep coming in.
