In many ways, the new US men's national team manager, Jürgen Klinsmann, has a role never entrusted to any of his predecessors. He must not only inspire and develop a next generation of footballers who have largely punched above their weight for several World Cup cycles, but also translate the tactics, thought process and raw emotions from his extensive playing career to players who did not grow up in a culture consumed by the very sport he is now charged with inspiring. Many players coming through US Soccer today have only seen Klinsmann, who retired in 1998, on YouTube videos and found their inspiration in far different ways than he did.

A New Gold Standard
Klinsmann represents something not before seen in US Soccer: Easily its most decorated figure whose highest achievements vastly exceed the existing pool of players at his disposal. When reviewing the history of its domestic coaches, the last three American national team managers (Steve Sampson, Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley) had but one international appearance between them (Arena versus Israel in 1973). (1) Klinsmann was capped 108 times for his country at the senior level, won the World Cup in 1990 and the European Nations Cup in 1996. (2)

Klinsmann was also in extremely close range of becoming only the third man in history to win the World Cup as both player and manager when Germany was eliminated by Italy in the 2006 World Cup semi-final. But the question remains: Can Klinsmann translate his impressive source language into the targeted tongue of his players, fans and the domestic media? Let's take a look at a few of Klinsmann's current and past declarations.

His Provocative Quote from South Africa
"You are the only country in the world that has the pyramid upside down. That means you pay for having your kid play soccer. Because your goal is not that your kid becomes a professional soccer player because your goal is that your kid gets a scholarship in high school or college. Which is completely opposite from the rest of the world." (3)

Innovations During His Helm with the German National Team
Noted football journalist, Rob Hughes, interviewed Klinsmann in California for the International Herald Tribune during his tenure as the German national team manager. Hughes had interesting observations about the German during a recent commentary for the New York Times:

"He engaged a fresh, young, multiethnic group of players. He instilled an attacking philosophy. He introduced American ideas on fitness and locker-room psychology... As a player, Klinsmann would have been ideal for the U.S. team he now controls. He led the attacks daringly, physically, with enthusiasm to burn. He learned languages and cultures. He earned big money, yet he clung lovingly to his blue Volkswagen Beetle until it literally expired." (4)

Reaching Out to an Underrepresented Hispanic Population
During his presentation news conference at Niketown in Manhattan, Klinsmann intriguingly spoke more about culture than soccer.

"Soccer reflects the culture of a country. Youth teams should reflect the mixture of your cultures. That's why Claudio Reyna (US Youth Program Director) will be so important. There is so much influence coming from the Latin environment in the last 15 years. It has to be reflected in the US national team..." (5)

Rob Hughes also noted the importance of Claudio Reyna and the Hispanic soccer community in North America:

"(Claudio) Reyna and Klinsmann will certainly find common ground, for Reyna was one of the all too few players of Hispanic origin to have enhanced the United States’ hitherto rigid, largely white, middle-class team selections." (4)

Recent Mexican Dominance
Klinsmann made an intriguing comparison in his first news conference and perhaps one that showed his translation abilities. He diplomatically, but adroitly, addressed one of the reasons why the Mexicans have moved past their bitter American rivals:

"The amount of time that kids play the game is missing. A kid in Mexico plays 20 hours a week. Perhaps four is organized and 16 unorganized with his buddies in the street. Passing, instinct on the field, it shows. A lot of work is ahead of this. MLS has come a long way but still a hectic college style. We have to get it on a more comfortable, technical level with the ball. We have a long way to go to break into the top 10 in the world. We have to be realistic that we're not in that group yet." (5)

Klinsmann and The Business Side of Football
During a 2005 interview with AC Cugini Scuola Calcio (An Italian football school) in Great Falls, Virginia, Mick Hoban, who was Klinsmann's partner at the time with SoccerSolutions LLC, described the willingness of his German associate to learn the business side of world football:

"Jürgen is a Vice President and partner in Soccer Solutions, LLC. We first started working together about 4 years ago and Jürgen joined SoccerSolutions in late 2001. I was first introduced to Jürgen by Adidas. They asked me, when I was a soccer consultant with adidas International, if I would meet with Jürgen and give him my perspective on the US soccer market and how he might develop his career in the US. After a few extremely positive and enjoyable meetings we decided that we would join forces and that Jürgen would become a partner in SoccerSolutions. Jürgen wanted to work alongside Warren Mersereau and myself to see how sports marketing and business development related to soccer works ‘on the other side of the table’. For most of his career as a player Jürgen had been engaged as a ‘spokesman’ for various companies and so he knew what the role of a spokesman/endorsee felt like but by working as a consultant he has now been actively involved with why and how companies develop marketing campaigns, business development concepts and entire businesses in soccer, including how they measure the success of such initiatives.

By working on various projects related to event management, market analysis, the development of marketing plans, plans for youth development, grassroots program development and implementation with prominent sponsors, business development plans for diverse companies seeking to capitalize on their position in the soccer market etc., Jürgen has picked up a business skill-set and approach that few soccer managers/coaches can claim to have developed." (6)

New Common Tongue
Klinsmann has worn many hats over the years and his toolbox of skills will be seriously put to the test: World-famous and former great player, innovator, master motivator, accomplished linguist, football businessman and consultant. And many believe that his translation skills may be among the most integral component for his new coaching role. He must take the Tower of Babel that is American soccer and create one common tongue. Like all new endeavors that involve this many moving parts, the test of time will be the true barometer. The US team may not win a World Cup during the tenure of Jürgen Klinsmann. But the US team, its fans, its detractors and admirers may learn to speak another common language. That language may become the most salient and notable achievement of Klinsmann during his American management tenure.



References
(1) "USA: Details of International Matches: 1970 to 1979"; RSSSF; Barry Courtney; 14 June 2003.
(2) "The Player:" Jurgenklinsmann.com.
(3) "ESPN Studio Commentary Broadcast from Johannesburg, South Africa"; Jürgen Klinsmann; June 27, 2010.
(4) "In Klinsmann, U.S. Soccer Gets a Chance at a Dynamic Reboot"; New York Times; July 31, 2011; Rob Hughes.
(5) "Presentation News Conference of Jürgen Klinsmann"; Niketown: New York City; August 1, 2011.
(6) "Interview with Mick Hoban, President of SoccerSolutions LLC"; AC Cugini Calcio Connection; May 2, 2005; Steve Amoia.

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Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, book reviewer and translator from Washington, D.C. He is the publisher of World Football Commentaries and The Soccer Translator. You can follow Steve @worldfootballcm on Twitter.

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