Who Should U.S. Soccer Pick to Replace Jürgen Klinsmann?

New Coaching Options for the United States Men’s National Team

Oscar Pareja

The Oscar Pareja pick would arguably be the best choice because he is a great tactician and talent scout who plays young players when they are good enough to play. The younger talent in the United States is better than the talent of previous generations, and Pareja is a coach who will select those players for the national team and let them play, if they are ready. Pareja offers fresh perspective and new ideas without those ideas being bizarre. Pareja coaches skill soccer in the Latin American style, and this style of play is a more advanced and effective style of play than the overemphasis on hustle and physicality that the United States has too often played. Beyond all of these reasons, Pareja has a history of winning in MLS, and he has a history of knowing how to build strong lineups who play quality soccer in a more skilled and effective style. A big dose of Latin American style soccer is needed for the United States that only fields a couple players who play soccer the right way.

Bruce Arena

There have been reports and rumors that Bruce Arena might be the coach to replace Jürgen Klinsmann, and the positives of that switch would be that Arena plays a balance of attacking and defensive players and that he knows the American player pool very well. The real problem with Klinsmann as coach was his poor tactics that led to a lack of possession and creativity in the lineup, and Arena doesn’t normally omit skill players and playmakers from his lineups and rosters. Unlike other options, Arena has experience and success as a coach at the international level, but hiring Arena feels like the five years under Klinsmann served no purpose for the United States. Arena could have been the coach again back in 2011, so selecting him doesn’t really qualify as fresh ideas. Klinsmann overlooked a lot of qualified players from MLS, and Arena seems to better at identifying the standout MLS players, as he did when he signed Sebastian Lletget to the LA Galaxy when he was stuck in Purgatory with Wes Ham United.

Sigi Schmid

Sigi Schmid has been a successful soccer coach and scout in the United States for decades, and in a recent interview with Alexi Lalas for the Mutant Gene Podcast, he showcased his tactical acumen and ability to scout and evaluate players. Unlike Klinsmann, Schmid doesn’t have a history of poor tactics and bad player evaluation. Even now, Klinsmann continues to insists that Michael Bradley is a playmaker. Schmid has a track record of winning and scouting, and the biggest issue for American soccer right now at the national team level is fielding more technically-skilled players in their correct positions. One gets the sense with Schmid that he wouldn’t field a lineup without a combination of defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders, and this is the real area where the United States gets destroyed by elite national teams and not-so-elite national teams. The United States loses when the opposing team runs circles around them and keeps possession, and this is less likely to happen with a coach like Schmid who is tactically-sound. Schmid is responsible for scouting and finding many of the most talented American players, and this ability is needed to select rosters.

Tab Ramos

Hiring Tab Ramos to replace Klinsmann would involve simply promoting an assistant coach to head coach, and like the other coaching options, Ramos is a better tactician and scout than Klinsmann. Like Pareja, Ramos believes in coaching soccer played the right way, and he has shown that he balances attacking and creativity with the needed defensive play. As coach of the United States’ youth national teams, Ramos always selected the most skilled players that he had available, rather than going by other unclear criteria. Ramos showed that he made sure to field midfields that combined defending with technical skill and attacking play, and he also didn’t field players out of position in unsuitable formations.

Who Should U.S. Soccer Pick to Replace Jürgen Klinsmann?

With Pareja and Ramos, U.S. Soccer would be showing a commitment to selecting a coach who is looking to field a team that plays better soccer based on skill, and with Arena or Schmid, U.S. Soccer would be picking a coach who selects rosters and lineups better than Klinsmann. Arena and Schmid coach skill soccer, but Pareja and Ramos coach that style even more. Looking to play more Latin American style soccer rather than English or European soccer would be a bolder move by U.S. Soccer.