1.23.13
Morning Read: The Wise Words of Jurgen Klinsmann
The head boss of the American team offers up a wide-ranging interview that features his hopes and dreams; the U.S. kicks butt and takes names against Tijuana; the boys head out for dinner.
BY
Noah Davis
Posted
January 23, 2013
3:14 AM
The Wall Street Journal posts excerpts from a long interview with Jurgen Klinsmann, and the entire thing is worth reading. But, because there's nothing better than an excerpt of an excerpt, here are two of the paragraphs that stood out to us:
On his players’ fitness:
The transition that you are trying to go through from reactive to proactive is also a transition on the physical side, because you have to do far more to play this type of a game than if you react to the game. That’s why Italians work two hours on the field on tactics and they barely move. They just walk. They know to perfection how to play in certain spaces, and they only need two chances to win the game. That is their way of doing it. I don’t think we are made for that here. People are for more. They say, “We want to attack, we want to create chances, we want to score as soon as possible.” But if you get into that aggressive-minded game, then you have to become even fitter than you ever were before.
On what’s missing in U.S. Soccer:
It’s not the accountability environment that we have in these other soccer-driven countries.... My whole talk to Clint Dempsey for 18 months was [about how] he hasn’t made s—. You play for Fulham? Yeah, so? Show me you play for a Champions League team, and then you start on a Champions League team and that you may end up winning the Champions League. There is always another level. If you one day reach the highest level then you’ve got to confirm it, every year. Xavi, Iniesta, Messi. Confirm it to me. Show me that every year you deserve to play for Real Madrid, for Bayern Munich, for Manchester United. Show it to me.
The United States played Club Tijuana in a closed-door scrimmage on Tuesday afternoon. Will Bruin scored twice while Jeff Parke tacked on another one in a 3-0 victory. Not a bad setting, either.
Benny Feilhaber, Brad Evans, A.J. DeLaGarza, Mix Diskerud, Omar, Gonzalez, and Graham Zusi go out to dinner. Benny Feilhaber, Brad Evans, A.J. DeLaGarza, Mix Diskerud, Omar, Gonzalez, and Graham Zusi play credit card roulette. Omar Gonzalez loses. Omar Gonzalez pays.
Howler's new cover is rather brilliant. Luis Suarez as Davy Jones. Damn son.
Want to know where Preki went? You know you want to know what happened to the left-footed maestro.
Michael Janosz/isiphotos.com
