Whether it’s promotion and relegation, or major USMNT players leaving Europe for the riches of MLS, Jurgen Klinsmann has taken numerous whacks at Don Garber’s piñata recently. And Mr. Garber, desperate not to lose any PR or standing in the eyes of the growing American soccer populace, fought back. It does reek of desperation, but would be expected in a battle between MLS and the USMNT; whose aspirations are almost never one in the same. So, are you Team Garber, or Team Klinsmann? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
Major League Soccer is growing rapidly, and the USMNT players like Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey are a major part of that growth. Growth is also coming from players who are not USMNT fixtures, or even American, and that’s the nature of every soccer league in the world. However, Don Garber does need the US Men’s National team to be successful in order to grow his league even further. That’s where Jurgen Klinsmann comes in.
Despite Jurgen being a long-time resident of California, which now means that his sons are playing for US Youth Teams instead of German ones, he’s still married to how he was developed in German club academies, and married to the idea of the European game being the best development option. And he’s not wrong. However, he not only has to juggle the many facets of US Soccer, which include college soccer, lower leagues that often get overlooked, and the many quirks of MLS, but also the top of the game in Europe. American soccer is far more complicated and less streamlined than the game in every other country, especially Germany, so it would make sense that Jurgen would be married to his ways.
So when the two forces meet, it results in a hot take match. Don Garber has every right to be mad about Klinsmann dissing MLS because it does do damage to the league in the eyes of soccer fans on the fence, and he’s looking out for the growth of his own league. On the other hand, nothing in Klinsmann’s contract with the USSF dictates that he has to agree with MLS at every turn. He’s been frustrated and turned back by the league in many avenues, including the league playing games during international breaks so some of his best players are not available to him, not to mention watching some of his best players have a dramatic dip in form when they moved to MLS. Whether those two things are hand-in-hand are up to interpretation.
Both men can do better to improve the relationship between MLS and the USMNT, because a healthy relationship would be the best thing for US Soccer. Jurgen is correct when he says that Europe is the best for many players because of the testing ground it is to play in Germany or Spain or England (even as he called up many new players from MLS, NASL and even college soccer in his tenure), but publicly calling out MLS doesn’t do him any good in terms of good will with a man he needs to have at least some good will with.
The conflicts between MLS and the US National Team are not new, and they will always exist since the goals of both organizations are not one in the same. Flinging verbal barbs and calling sheltered conference calls make both Garber and Klinsmann look weak. MLS has an important role with the US National Team, and the USMNT has an important role within MLS. They can work together, because they have in the past.
But if you’re taking sides, both men are equally wrong. American soccer might sometimes be childish but it doesn’t need two of the three most important men inside it to prove that.
