After an 0-2 start to the final round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, US Soccer has announced it has moved on from their vaunted head coach and technical director.
Since July of 2011, Jurgen Klinsmann has been the head coach of the United States Men's National Team. The tenure of the five-year head coach who was also the technical director came to an end earlier today per a release from US Soccer.
Klinsmann leaves with a mixed legacy as USMNT head coach. His overall record of 55-27-16 is fairly solid, there are a number of high-profile friendly wins on the road in Europe and his 2013 calendar year with the US is among the best in national team history. The USA won the CONCACAF Gold Cup that summer and won a total of 16 games that year overall. The number of dual-national players Klinsmann has recruited into the player pool also should not be forgotten as he moves on from the program.
But what most fans will remember are the lofty expectations that Klinsmann himself established and failed to meet. He promised a more attacking style of soccer yet in many high profile games like the 2015 CONCACAF Cup he hardly ever wavered from a preferred group of players nor did he establish a clear identity with the US in terms of tactics and formation.
Now the USSF will likely call on another familiar face, with reports emerging last week that current LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena might be waiting in the wings. Arena led the USMNT to their greatest World Cup finish in the "modern/pro era" with a quarterfinal run back in 2002. The USA resumes qualifying for the World Cup with matches against Honduras and at Panama in March of 2017.