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With Klinsmann Gone, What Does U.S. Soccer Need to Do to Right the Ship?

The U.S. Soccer Federation fired Jurgen Klinsmann on November 21, giving it plenty of time to develop a new plan before World Cup qualification resumes in March. So, what should the new regime do? Stay the course in terms of personnel? Mix things up? Play it safe tactically? Graph your position below and leave a comment. 

Posted
November 21, 2016 4:36 PM
Bring in Different Players
Keep Klinsmann's Guys
Experiment with Tactics 4-4-2 and Play It Safe
Bench Bradley. — Bill Anderson
...and get rid of Gulati. — Jon
Basic for now, qualify then experiment at this point. Teach the new players, build towards 2022. — Derek
This. — JS
If things need to be shaken up, then shake them up. — Mike Allen
Play a 4-4-2 without Bradley, Jones,Dempsey, Altidore, Bedoya, Zusi, Wondolowski, Beasley, Donovan, Guzan, Timmy, and the rest of the fossils. It is time to pass the torch, their flame has flickered out. — Bill Anderson
Inspiration not formation — PR
u — dub
Use the right players in the right positions. Use appropriate tactics based upon the opponent. Use logic/reason to justify your tactical decisions and be honest post-match with what worked and what did not. This is not that difficult, try not to be a complete a-hole along the way, Bruce. Also, Sunil needs to face increased criticism and be held responsible for his decisions. He should be out by 2018 too. — John
Need to let the young players perform, but notes not the time to go crazy on our identity — Justin
One of the things that made us so difficult to play during the 2000's and early 2010's was the level of heart our players had. Think of Donovan, Dempsey, Bocanegra, etc. who treated the national team as an honor and a privilege to play on it. You would see them give their all for this team. I supported Klinsmann in the beginning but it seemed apparant that he felt German-American players were the only players with enough quality to play. With all his changes and experimentation of tactics, he took the heart out of this team and I don't know how long it will take to get it back. — Lou
Bruce Arena needs to first and foremost bring players who will go through a wall for this team. I believe once we have our heart back, we can be a team other countries don't want to play again. — Lou pt. 2
Some 442 but if we bring in a few new guys we would have flexibility to change it up — C dub
Did not mean to click here! — Marcus
If things need to be shaken up, then shake them up; otherwise we should have left JK alone to do his thing. — Mike Allen
4-4-2 is our best formation, but Bradley needs to go and we need to start trying out some new keepers. — Joshua greene
fire Gulati next — TGA
yeah — matt
Fire Sunil Gulati — PJW
Morris--Agudel--Puli Bradley--dax---zusi Besler-mshl-zim-fab go with the creative forwards we have, put in a flat 3 midfield and we have a back four. abandon the American 2 blob forward and fairy 10 narrow diamond that sees our jmidfield over-run. Test out the guys who qualify for the 433 formation. Heck, go 343, if we can find the guys to make it work — Excellency
Fix central midfield — Fredo
Would like to see a new technical director. Someone who will be there for Arena and beyond. — Worth
I think we need to get more from our mid fielders. I think its time to give some diff guys a shot. Sacha Klejstan has to be a #1 option imo. — halfbked
Move into a 4-3-3. We need numbers in the middle of the field and now have stronger wing players. Move on from older players, but core of Brooks-Bradley-Altidore seems like a decent idea for 2018. — Chazcar2
Need to get rid of the Orozco's, Wondos, Beckerman, bring in fresh new hungry blood — Brian W
Need to take a look at players who haven't been called up in awhile, as well as younger players. Only experiment with formations if the personnel calls for it. We don't have a central striker that makes a 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 work. And we don't have the backs to make a 3-5-2 work either. — JC
BRING IN BENNY — Dubs
M — Matt
Be bold while also recognizing that what has already been built doesn't need to be blown up completely. — AWilliams
There will be some new guys and there will be some same guys. There will be opportunities to try some different tactics, but 4-4-2 will remain as the baseline. — KXRTI
Most importantly, have some sense of continuity and use players in roles that fit their skills and personality. Aside from that, a 3-5-2 (with proper time in friendlies for the players to adjust), 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 all make sense given the US personnel and current state of the game tactically. — Pwyll
Small changes needed — Jeff
Bruce needs to bring Feilhaber, Nagbe and McCarty in from the cold and trust Kljestan over Bradley. As far as tactics, it's not experimentation that's needed so much as intelligence. Players need specific instructions tailored to specific opponents. — Robb Rowe
A little dabbling with formation and players, but need to focus on qualifying — Jason
Probably need a few different players, especially at left back. That one change could have a domino effect to improve the whole lineup. Wouldn't go too crazy woth tactics. Jurgen found that our personnel best fit a 4 4 2, even though he didn't want to admit it — Mike22
Just qualify. Any means necessary. Bring up the youth hungry to fight for it. — Rick
Play a 4-4-2, strong spine, get everyone on the same page. A few different call-ups, or guys in the starting lineup, and I think we should be OK, at least through the Hex. — mscottc
The team doesn't necessarily need to change formations, but it does need to have better ideas of how its system is supposed to work during a match. Contrary to what many want to imply, the talent is there in the current group. — Jon Arnold
Don't necessarily play 4-4-2, but these are not the circumstances to experiment with tactics. Why is it so hard to give ALL talented eligible players a call up? — PM
It's a little bit of everything here. We have enough talent to qualify for 2018 - we just need the proper leadership. Hopefully, we will include some aging warriors that still have a lot to offer, and that have a lot of pride in American soccer (Donovan, Dempsey, etc.). Most of all, we should trust Arena's judgement. He is a great choice to lead this team at this time. — dave
In the short-term, qualification is the priority. Without being world beaters, the group Klinsmann gathered - i.e. Pulisic, Johnson, Altidore, Wood, Bradley, Gooch, Brooks, Cameron - is good enough to qualify. An experienced hand like Arena to "right the ship" and allow these guys to play is what's needed until a long-term successor is chosen in 2018. — Jeremy
Build the team around a core of players starting now. Leave Bradley out for a call-up so he can feel the heat a little bit. — Chris
even if one is older and the other recuperating, donovan and dempsey could, be a force coming of the bench as super subs. these guys are quality players and that extends their efectiveness. they have scored and can score more than anyone out there young or fit. anyone that doubts just watch marquez send us soccer into crisis with one header. we should of course look foward but lets not waste the chance to see these heroes play together and give them the chance to send us thru to russia. its a mistake to ignore the obvious by getting so tangled in topics of less importance. the us needs GOAL! This is the team i want to see..... Donovan and Dempsey: JK ruined my wish to see them play together. Obviously the highest scoring Americans ever. Bradley because he is the captain. Pulisic because of his youth and talent. Zardes because he plays that position in LA Galaxy under Arena. Williams for his good form and the back line I want to keep like this because you really dont want to experiment to much at this point in the Hex. Plus, this is the closest positionally they play for their respective teams and should help them perform much better. The bench is there for anyone I left out. I will be at the stadium for the USA vs Panama game. in the back line Besler and Gonzalez in central positions, especially for the short term because and unfortunately Brooks has had some terrible games. Its not all Brooks fault, but besides Klinsmans coaching, its what most jumps out at you... the horror! I would keep Johnson in the left back and I would replace Chandler on the right with anyone with passion for the usmnt: Cameron, Yedlin, Lichaj just to name a few posibles. the term bench is used in a positive way, to me it means part of the team and strategy and with jk gone, the door opens for other players to air out a this stale team..... im sure Bruce Arena will do this intelligently tho. Im sure the usmnt will also play more efficient and elegent soccer too. Klinsmans team only offered anxiety and poor results....and thats why we are here now :) — vp
Fire Arena and bring in a real coach. — Fb
Hire someone other than Bruce Arena!!! — Joe
It's a little bit of each, isn't it? Some players need to be let go for good, some new guys need to be brought in. As for tactics, it's more vital that the coach can TEACH the tactics than the actual formation itself (which is fluid over the course of a game anyways). Experiment, 4-4-2, 3-5-2...it doesn't matter if the players don't know how to operate within it. — Lucas
It's a bit of everything. But above all I think it's to communicate with the players and actually have a game plan beyond, "go out and have fun and also try to score." — Mark
We need to change some things not all — Reilly
Think Klinsmann had the right guys, just bad tactics, give it a go... — Tyler
Talent on the roster is not the problem. The way they were used was the problem (ie playing people out of position etc,.) — Matt
For the love of God, play Michael Bradley as a #6 — Justin Arnold
Mostly OK with the personal. Better tactical leadership, and likely move on from 4-4-2. — DP
I think this. — Luke
Gotta bring Mix back in ASAP, he's got a lot of experience riding the bench from this year. — Kensean
We don't need to overhaul the player selection, we just need to the players playing in their best positions. — Jonathan
JK understood that the European leagues are just better than MLS. The wish by others to see more MLS guys and more "real Americans" on the USMNT is foolish. — Damien Veatch
JK brought in some real talent, just didn't know what to do with it. BA should keep the best younger guys, dump anyone over 32, and try to play something at least a little more imaginative than he did in his first stint as USMNT coach. Having said that, building a solid, sound team structure with a tactical plan would be a nice change from JK. — RockOppster
The player pool keeps getting better but it is what it is i.e. not top 5 or probably even top 10. Arena needs to select the right 11 and 23 from this a bit better than Klinsmann did, and he DEFINITELY has to not do some of the dumb things JK did re preparation and formations that the team wasn't ready for. — Danny
I think that we need to use different players in their natural positions. Like kellyan Acosta as a more holding midfielder rather than a fullback. The players that JK brought in I thought were great a lot of young players maybe not ready now but with More expirence on the international side of thing will grow into a world beating team. Capable of playing with Germany or Spain or Italy. This team might not have the one main superstar like Portugal or Argentina do but will have a lot of really good all around players — Tyler
No more wonky formations, no more Bradley automatically starting, and no more Timmy Motherf**king Chandler — Swordopolis
We need to put an emphasis on strong, scrappy, organized soccer but Klinsmann did bring in some good players from the pool. — Noah
Don't shake it up too much - Klinsmann's player selection wasn't the problem - it was his constant tinkering and playing guys out of position . I think Bruce is competent enough to get this roster through the Hex no problem. ( They probably would have qualified with Jurgen too, but he was clearly not a long term option.) — Jeremy
Take away BRADLEYs citizenship, leave NAGBE as the permanent #10 and find CBs who have some chemistry and can pass the ball .. .. to each other .. .. — Sammy Nishi
now — Ralph
Klinsman has the right guys — Carl
How did you find me?!?! Good work — High Ding
Oh hello!! I'm a little sneak. — High Ding
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