Association Football

Klinsmann after USA victory of Honduras; image courtesy of Nathan F

What hope does Jürgen Klinsmann’s USMNT have against France on Friday and Slovenia on Tuesday after mixed fortunes in his first five games in charge?

Progress not Miracles

Just one win and two goals is probably not what Jürgen Klinsmann imagined the return would be through his first five games in charge of the U.S. men’s national team. But, as Amy Lawrence described last month, this is a long-term project on Klinsmann has a great deal of latitude to remake U.S. soccer from youth development through the senior squad.

As the U.S. looks ahead to France this Friday and a World Cup rematch with Slovenia next Tuesday, Klinsmann’s first five games underscore that U.S. fans should be looking for progress not miracles. This U.S. squad, when fully fit and available, is deeper and more talented than any previous iteration with highly skilled veterans and some real potential stars. Klinsmann’s task is to take a U.S. soccer system which has produced uneven results over the last decade and move it into the upper echelon of soccer nations – and that task is more difficult than going from the poor performances of the 1990s to the largely respectable return during the 2000s. Here are some key things we’ve learned so far about that project:

Full column at the new Guardian US website

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