USA got bounced from the U-17 World Cup tonight after a 4-1 beatdown from host country, Chile. I was hoping for a more promising result but USA found themselves in the toughest group: Nigeria (traditional youth power), Croatia (supposedly loaded with talent), Chile (the host country, always a tough out). Perhaps it was just bad luck but hopes were high for this squad and they got rolled when they needed to step up.
I'll go ahead and use this as an opportunity to again announce my displeasure with coach Klinsmann. I thought the result in the 2014 World Cup was disappointing and entirely his fault; the 4th place finish in this year's Gold Cup was disappointing; the inability to solve Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup just a few weeks ago was disappointing. Now the U-17 team can't scratch out a single victory in group and has no chance of moving into the quarters. At some point Sunil Gulati has to put the responsibility on Klinsmann.
Klinsmann has re-designed the entire USA soccer pipeline but he hasn't gotten the results from it because (I believe) he looks at the available players and says to himself, 'None of these guys are German!' I think he's generally done a good job bringing young athletes into the soccer world (he has produced more potential for talent), but he hasn't been able to win with the players he's developing. I say its time for him to move aside (actually I thought a year ago was the time for him to move aside!) and give someone else a chance to do something with the crop of players that are out there. I think there are plenty of coaches who see opportunities with this USA team and Jurgen Klinsmann simply isn't one of them.
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