Insight in to Klinsmann thinking - reinforces theory into why Landycakes not going to Brazil

A great article on Klinsmann in today's New York Times - click here. Some very interesting looks into the mindset of the German. Lots of which reinforces many of the theories behind why the likes of Landycakes is not on the roster.

The main undertone of the story is that Klinsmann realizes that there is not enough pure home grown talent and that Europe is where his gaze is to attract talent. To me it feels very much like national teams from Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco who focus on French players with linkages to North Africa. A source for Klinsmann's admiration for the European based players is they face better competition year round, and he makes no secret his looking down on both the NCAA and the MLS.

" Put simply, Klinsmann would like to see his players carry themselves like their European counterparts — the way he used to."

This adds to the fuel to the "Landycakes stay home" fire. Dononvan has never been

No fan of the German running USMNT

accused of carrying himself like a European player. His failures in Europe are well documented. And clearly Klinsmann does not look kindly on that aspect of Donovan's game or mental make up. Sabbatical, unheard of for European counterparts. Klinsmann further pushes this thinking:

If Klinsmann had his way, the United States roster would be made up of Americans playing their club soccer in Europe, facing the best competition in the world on a daily basis instead of only a few games every few years.

“The more players we can get playing at the top levels over there, the better it will be,” he told me. “That is one sign of progress.”

Interesting. Makes you wonder why the likes of Bradley and Dempsey came back the MLS, I am sure that both those moves put a real burr in Klinsmann's saddle.  

The other point I took out of the article is the power which Klinsmann holds over US Soccer. It is interesting that the article makes a point that the German did not tell anyone prior that he was not going to take Donovan. And that had some serious commercial implications as US Soccer was already lining up marketing efforts around the US star leading up to the World Cup. Ooops. From that stand point I agree with Klinsmann. This is not about some marketing campaign or how many tshirts US Soccer and Nike can sell.

Finally, even though Klinsmann announced that the US was not going to win the World Cup (I realize most would agree with that statement, but for the head coach to come out and be so blunt...) and that he has a contract until the Russian World Cup in 2018, there are no shortage of those ready to pounce if he fails in Brazil. I was surprised at how blunt Bruce Arena was with the approach Klinsmann was taking. The former US Soccer national team manager does not seem to favor looking outside for soccer talent. I would caution Klinsmann that if the US crashes out of the World Cup and looks bad doing so - see what happened in the 1998 World Cup - there might become a situation where enough influential voices force a buy out and change at the head of the team. 

In international soccer one thing is sure, no coach, no matter what their stature or contract are only as good as the last tournament they participate in....well unless you are Domenech.

Well worth reading the article, how do you take the piece?