Former United States men’s national team star Tim Howard believes that Jurgen Klopp is a real option to replace Gregg Berhalter. The Stars and Stripes should be looking to make a managerial change following their disappointing showing at Copa America 2024. Despite needing to better Panama (ranked 43rd in the world) and Bolivia (84th), the USMNT crashed out of the group stage.
Klopp is widely regarded as one of the best soccer coaches in the world. He recently departed Liverpool after nearly a decade at the helm. During his reign, the Reds collected five major trophies, including the 2019/20 Premier League title. It was the team’s first English top-flight championship in 30 years.
Howard, writing a piece for Mail Sport, acknowledged the fact that Klopp left Liverpool to grab some much-needed rest. However, the former goalkeeper claims that he could persuade the coach to join the USMNT.
“I know Klopp has only been retired a few weeks and I know he wants a break. But if we sat around his villa in Spain, I think I could lure him over here. 100 percent,” stated Howard.
“The money is certainly there. So, my pitch would be simple: he has a young group of players who can play progressive, front-foot soccer – exactly like his Liverpool teams. And in two years’ time, he can go to the biggest World Cup in history.”
Howard is certainly ambitious. Potentially grabbing Klopp would be a major coup for U.S. Soccer. While it would be a difficult task, there are some indications that the German may be open to joining the USMNT. Klopp himself recently stated on the Willipedia podcast that he is not yet ready for retirement. Nevertheless, the 57-year-old manager also admitted that he does not want to “continue at the same pace as before.”
This admission would seemingly point to Klopp preferring to coach a national team. Managing an international team does not require the same amount of time commitment compared to a club. After all, national teams only get together at certain points of the calendar year.
There have also been suggestions that Klopp would only be interested in two specific national teams. According to The Athletic‘s Simon Hughes, the veteran coach is open to potentially joining either Germany or the USMNT.
“The only national job he’d take would be Germany. Or maybe, USA,” Hughes said. The journalist has authored multiple books about Klopp’s former club Liverpool.
Germany seems quite content with Julian Nagelsmann at the moment. While this could certainly change, the 36-year-old coach is considered one of the top soccer minds in Europe. Germany is also performing well so far at Euro 2024. This could potentially give U.S. Soccer a free run at Klopp.
Assuming for a minute that Klopp would be open to the USMNT job, the next question would be could he be successful? Although the Stars and Stripes had a poor showing at Copa America 2024, they do have a good core group of players.
Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, Giovanni Reyna, and Tyler Adams are all solid stars to build around. Robinson is also the oldest of the sextet at just 26. The USMNT is also currently ranked 11th in the world by FIFA. This is higher than quality teams such as Germany, Switzerland, and Uruguay.
With that said, there does not seem to be very much confidence at the moment in U.S. Soccer to make the right decision. Matt Crocker, the USMNT sporting director, previously led the coaching search last summer. Despite interviewing Jesse Marsch, Crocker and U.S. Soccer eventually re-hired Berhalter at the helm. Marsch, meanwhile, has led Canada to the Copa America quarterfinals in impressive fashion.
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