Brand Klinsmann At Work Or A Step Forward Built on Mexican Failure?




Beyond The Pitch show

Summary: Now that the dust has settled on another international break for Jurgen Klinsmann and a United States national team that has officially qualified for Brazil 2014, we have a look in the afterglow at whether the Germany legend has exceeded his predecessor, whether he has changed both the style and tactics or whether the US success can be largely explained by the failure of a Mexican national team that tossed Fourth Round Qualification in CONCACAF into chaos. The answers, clearly, are not so easily ascertained and one look inside the numbers - once the 2014 campaign is compared against the 2010 campaign under Bob Bradley - it reveals a little discussed trend in that the offensive production has really dried up three years removed from South Africa and that the US appears to have been a better statistical bet to provide more offensive production. That does not mean to suggest that the United States has less talent or has played less attractive football - what it does illustrate is that the Jurgen Klinsmann has once again affirmed his ability to shape his message better than any other US national team manager in history, even though overwhelming evidence suggests that Brazil 2014 is even more dependent on a less pressure draw than it was in Africa. We examine a couple of test scenarios, question whether the US should expect to find itself seeded for that draw and what this campaign tells us about the United States, a Mexican disaster on the verge of unfolding and whether the US Soccer can take some lessons from this experience. In part two, we open another US Soccer Hall of Fame discussion into a favorite broadcaster of ours on the show and that would be JP Dellacamera who should be considered every bit the institution in US soccer as Vin Scully, Mel Allen, Jack Brickhouse, Jack Buck and Doc Emrick are to their respective sports.