On the latest episode of Infinite Football, Ryan O’Hanlon is joined by Andrew Helms to discuss the USMNT’s 2-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup. Should this performance be remembered fondly? Why was the Jurgen Klinsmann Era such a disaster? And will US Soccer ever learn the right lessons?
Enjoyed this, thanks! FWIW Dempsey and Landon are tied for top goalscorer in usmnt history. Landon had 16 more caps, but he’s also the program’s leader in assists.
It's hard to paint the Klinsmann era as a "disaster" when there a number of positives. They won two Gold Cups, reached the semi-finals of the Centenario, and emerged from the toughest World Cup group they've ever had. That's not to say he was a good coach, but the 2014 World Cup was the hardest I've ever seen the US team play (I believe this is backed up by tracking data, but I would be wrong). Maybe that happened in spite of Jurgen, but I don't think so. I also place more of the blame for missing the 2018 World Cup on Arena as he lost much easier matches, though of course they are both at fault. I don't definite it as great, either, please don't misunderstand me. I expect the team performed worse statistically than under Bradley and tactically they were all over the place. The 2015 Gold Cup was a disaster but Bradley also lost a Gold Cup final 5-0, so it's not like he was amazing either, despite the previous podcast playing up his strengths. The most honest retrospectives define the Klinsmann era as a mixed bag.
I'd like to think that Andrew and I have a pretty honest perspective of this situation, given that we spent six months working on the most extensive postmortem of the Klinsmann Era that I've seen. But we do address most of these points in the podcast. Thanks for the comment, for subscribing, and for reading. Be well.
Enjoyed this, thanks! FWIW Dempsey and Landon are tied for top goalscorer in usmnt history. Landon had 16 more caps, but he’s also the program’s leader in assists.
It's hard to paint the Klinsmann era as a "disaster" when there a number of positives. They won two Gold Cups, reached the semi-finals of the Centenario, and emerged from the toughest World Cup group they've ever had. That's not to say he was a good coach, but the 2014 World Cup was the hardest I've ever seen the US team play (I believe this is backed up by tracking data, but I would be wrong). Maybe that happened in spite of Jurgen, but I don't think so. I also place more of the blame for missing the 2018 World Cup on Arena as he lost much easier matches, though of course they are both at fault. I don't definite it as great, either, please don't misunderstand me. I expect the team performed worse statistically than under Bradley and tactically they were all over the place. The 2015 Gold Cup was a disaster but Bradley also lost a Gold Cup final 5-0, so it's not like he was amazing either, despite the previous podcast playing up his strengths. The most honest retrospectives define the Klinsmann era as a mixed bag.
I'd like to think that Andrew and I have a pretty honest perspective of this situation, given that we spent six months working on the most extensive postmortem of the Klinsmann Era that I've seen. But we do address most of these points in the podcast. Thanks for the comment, for subscribing, and for reading. Be well.
Would love to read/listen. Would you mind linking it? Apologies as my google skills must not be very good!