USMNT Soccer's Coaching Conundrum & Klopp's Decision
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00:00It's great to have the legendary writer Mike DiCorsi from the Sporting News with us every
00:08week on Coast to Coast.
00:09You can also catch him during the college basketball season on Fox Sports.
00:13He's a heavy hitter there as well.
00:15We got a double shot with Mike today, thank God.
00:19So Mike, I want to start with the U.S. soccer situation.
00:23I'm under the impression that Klopp turned him down already.
00:27He's not interested in coaching the U.S. team.
00:29We were just talking about it and it was from Gabe's perspective that he didn't want
00:34that on his resume because even he doesn't think he can fix that team.
00:40He doesn't want it to hurt his legacy.
00:41Do you believe that and what are they going to look for now after they've made this move?
00:49Who could they possibly get to make them look better in the World Cup than they've looked
00:56in the Copa?
00:57The Copa was really kind of embarrassing.
00:59Well, I think Klopp made it clear that he needed a break.
01:05He'd spent a lot of years at a high-end club and he needed time off to just be a person.
01:14And I get that.
01:16And I think what the U.S. thought was that they have nothing to lose by taking that shot
01:21and that they could perhaps convince him that the grind of being a manager at an elite Champions
01:28League level club is much different than being the head coach of a men's national team.
01:33Now every four years or every two years, you're going to have an intense amount of scrutiny,
01:39but that's really it.
01:41It's not like you have to be on the job 24-7, 365 days a year.
01:47Maybe you get a week off a vacation or whatever if you're managing Manchester City or Manchester
01:52United or in his case, Liverpool.
01:55But it's really a grind.
01:58But ultimately, I think that's what dissuaded him is he just had enough.
02:02And I imagine he may come back at some point to manage and maybe the U.S. missed their
02:07window, but this was the only window that they would have had a shot.
02:11They needed to take this chance on Klopp.
02:14They didn't move Berhalter because they were trying to get Klopp.
02:17They were trying to get Klopp because they had moved Berhalter and had every intention
02:22of that after the failure of the Copa America tournament.
02:26Well, the guy that runs USA Soccer is the guy that brought him back.
02:33And now he's left with the keys to the car of having to choose again.
02:39And I mean, what's your opinion of what he did the first time?
02:43It was failure, wasn't it?
02:45And now he's in charge of making it again.
02:48It was a mistake.
02:49But he also hired the best women's club coach in the world in Emma Hayes to coach the women's
02:55national team.
02:56So people kind of want to forget that because they think that the men are the only program
03:01that matters.
03:02Certain people, I should say, he also hired Emma and she's expected to do wonderful things
03:09with the U.S.
03:10I thought that at the time it was the right choice.
03:13But in examining what developed afterward, you saw how the players took advantage of
03:19the situation.
03:21And maybe it should have been anticipated they would take advantage of the situation
03:25because they're all still kids.
03:26They acted like kids.
03:28They're all basically 25 years old and they were handed an inordinate amount of power
03:32because they were the ones who were basically the reason that Berhalter was brought back.
03:39They wanted him.
03:40They thought the culture of the team worked well with him.
03:42And they wanted to continue under him.
03:44And then instead of saying, OK, we got your back, coach, they said, hey, coach, we got
03:48you your job back.
03:49So now you're now we can do whatever.
03:52And you had Serginio Des getting himself thrown out of a game for a minor over over this disappointment
03:57in a minor call down in Trinidad.
04:00It didn't hurt the team ultimately, other than making the other 10 players work that
04:05much harder for 70 minutes or 60 minutes.
04:08But they were able to advance in the Nations League.
04:12But in the Copa America, you saw some physical activity on the part of Panama, which was
04:18absolutely anticipated.
04:20Berhalter told all the players that it's how Panama would play them.
04:23And the first chance that Timothy Way had got, he was found with having shoved an opposing
04:30player in the back and thrown out of the game.
04:34And that's that's how they repaid Greg Berhalter.
04:36That's how they rewarded Greg Berhalter.
04:38So you couldn't keep him if the players weren't going to respect him.
04:42You need to bring somebody in who doesn't know any of those players, anything.
04:46And who says, look, I'm in charge.
04:48You're great at your club or you're a player at one of the big clubs.
04:51Terrific.
04:52Can't wait to see you in camp.
04:53Maybe you'll get a job.
04:55But no more.
04:56Hey, you do play it.
04:57Juventus.
04:58OK, you're in the lineup.
04:59That's that's got to be over.
05:01Wow.
05:02And I think you're right now, you know, far be it for me to understand who they would
05:08turn to now.
05:09They have to have a list of potential coaches because they went for the gusto.
05:16It didn't work.
05:17Now, where do they go?
05:18Well, there's some significant accomplished coaches out there in a variety of venues.
05:25David Wagner, former USMNT player at eight caps, has coached in the Premier League and
05:30the Bundesliga.
05:31He's somebody that they could go after.
05:34He's been he's been over in Europe coaching at a really high level.
05:37Hasn't always been successful, but has coached at a really high level.
05:40Jose Peckerman, who did great things with Colombia's national team, among others.
05:45He's somebody that they could turn to.
05:47He's I don't believe he has a position at the moment.
05:49Herve Renard, who we saw coaching Saudi Arabia at the World Cup, who has coached in the women's
05:55national women's national teams as well.
05:59He's someone that people have talked about.
06:01Or they could go with somebody who hasn't coached internationally and is mostly coached
06:06at the club level, like Williford Nancy at Columbus, who's done a phenomenal job with
06:10the crew.
06:11He would be an interesting choice.
06:13His teams are really beautiful to watch.
06:16They're very organized.
06:17They're the reigning champion of Major League Soccer.
06:20The downside of hiring Nancy at this point is that lack of international soccer experience,
06:26and they need somebody who has shown that they can win at the World Cup.
06:30I think that has to be the priority right now, is getting someone in who can connect
06:36with the players and make sure they know who's in charge, but also who has shown that he
06:40or she can win at the World Cup level.
06:43Wow.
06:44So the best coach in the MLS, who might be the hottest commodity, has never coached in
06:52a World Cup or internationally in big games, so they can't go with him.
06:57They have to go with someone that has that moxie, that's done it, that's been there.
07:04We had talked about earlier the guy Lowe, wasn't he with Germany for a while?
07:10What about him?
07:11Yogi Lowe.
07:12He's certainly got the skill and the chops.
07:17He's an interesting character, and he would be an interesting sell to both the players
07:21and to the United States.
07:24He's a different guy.
07:25I think if you were going to hire Yogi Lowe, you would have to have an interesting staff
07:29around him, a very experienced staff, an accomplished staff.
07:36Lowe did some wonderful things with Germany, there's no doubt about that, won the World
07:40Cup, and he is available as well, much like Peckerman, currently unattached.
07:46Certainly somebody that I would look at for sure, but as I said, he is different.
07:52He would be an interesting hire based on who he is.
07:58Not a problem, though, if they're foreign to these American kids?
08:04No, most of them play for managers who are not necessarily American, whether it's in
08:11their clubs, both here in the United States we have an MLS, some coaches who are internationals,
08:19as well as overseas, certainly you've got coaches at Juventus or at AC Milan, in the
08:27Premier League or Bundesliga that are not necessarily American, and these players all
08:33respect what they do and have to follow their orders.
08:37I don't think that would necessarily be a problem, and honestly, with a big chunk of
08:41the fan base, being American almost excludes you now.
08:45I don't think the U.S. Soccer Federation will think that way, but I think a lot of
08:52the fans want to see someone who isn't American in that position.
08:55I think that's rather ridiculous, but again, there aren't that many who meet the standard
09:01that I talked about before of having won World Cup or international big tournaments.