Jurgen Klinsmann questionably threw Fabian Johnson under the bus despite Johnson’s injury. The United States Men’s National Team boss may be losing control of his team.
Jurgen Klinsmann coming to the USMNT was big news in 2011. This was a the first big deal in United States international soccer in some time. He was a great soccer mind and he saw the potential in the USMNT to make inroads towards international relevance.
It had all been going fairly dandy until recently. In the span of a week, the USMNT lost two winnable matches and Klinsmann sent off Fabian Johnson under bizarre circumstances.
It all started with an injury. Fabian Johnson, as confirmed by his club Borussia Monchengladbach, has sustained a leg muscle injury. It is also known that be missed five weeks of club action with a torn calf muscle. While a USMNT spokesperson said that the injury that Johnson sustained is not in the same muscle group as the one he had previously been dealing with, that does not discount the fact that his previous injury may have played a part in the new one.
The point is, Johnson is hurt. But that did not stop Klinsmann from lashing out at his starting right back for asking to be taken out in the 111th minute of extra time.
"“He just feared to possibly get an injury, but he was not injured in that moment. He got all stiffened up. It’s a muscle issue. It’s normal,” he said via ESPNFC."
Klinsmann went on to say that he had ‘severe words’ for Johnson and sent him back to Germany prior to the USMNT’s friendly with Costa Rica.
All of this bodes rather ill for Klinsmann. He has had issues with throwing players under the bus before, as he did the same with Alejandro Bedoya against Brazil. The defender was forced into a defensive midfield position. Naturally, he did not look so natural. He was then taken off at half and belittled by his own manager, who failed to acknowledge his own mistake in starting Bedoya where he had never played.
This all could be the harbinger of Klinsmann’s demise. It does not breed a healthy team environment when the manager is consistently leaving his players out to dry. Fabian Johnson was not around to defend himself either, as he is getting treated in a much healthier environment with his German club.
It has not been a good international break for anyone associated with the United States Men’s National Team. After dropping the aforementioned CONCACAF match to Mexico in extra time, the red white and blue lost to Costa Rica in a friendly. All of this compiles on the disappointing Gold Cup showing, as the USMNT entered as favorites but were eliminated by an upstart Jamaica. Needless to say, the downward spiral is worsening for Klinsmann.
Johnson is a tremendous asset for the USMNT. He is the only American player that is involved in the UEFA Champion’s League. That is invaluable. For a guy to play 111 minutes that has had leg injuries all year is a stretch and should not be an expectation of Klinsmann. It is unrealistic. To admonish him in front of the press without him around to defend himself is unrealistic and borderline despicable.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s days are numbered. There is a backlash against the USMNT manager and some are calling for his head. Who can blame them? This is not the kind of environment that is needed. Jurgen Klinsmann promised big things when he took over as the USMNT boss and he looked to be en route to delivering them but if he keeps stepping on the heads of his players to elevate himself then he needs to go.