Juergen Klinsmann has resigned as head coach of the German National Team.

Considering he lives in California, perhaps he'll be the front runner for the vacant position with the United States?

There's a lot less pressure that's for sure. I mean, the Gold Cup is a great tournament, but no where near the European Championships...so really, the biggest pressure for him would be in 2010.

Any thoughts? (I'm lookin at you Metro)

Wait, did I miss something? Last I heard, Arena was still the coach of team USA and hadn't been fired or resigned. Not that I'd mind Klinsmann as the coach . . .

You're right...jumping the gun abit...I should have said "Soon to be vacant"

If they could find a way around the transfer fee Zidane could become a prospect to play in the USA again. Headbutt or none, that would probably spur interest as much as anything.

Klinsmann repeatedly denied interest in coaching USA during the Germany competition. Interesting to see if his tune changes now.

A former high school classmate had a now-dissolved marriage to a professional euro player who wanted to play in the USA a couple of decades ago. He was mid-thirties and considered too old to compete there, not being a Galactico.

It appears we have a reputation as an extension possibility to twilight careers in Europe because of less competitive play. Hope that one dies soon.

Transfer fee is not needed for Zidane to play for the red bulls at Shady Pines Futbol (I mean, MLS) as zidanes contract is not expired.

the last I heard was that Klinsmann was interested as he lives in Cali. But germany has said they would do "whatever it takes to retain him"

With Arena gone now, I think it might be good to have California Klinsmann to coach the US team.

I think you meant to say is expired rather than is not expired, which is correct. And my assumption that there is still a transfer fee is apparently incorrect.

But Zidane has expressed an intention to retire in Spain, though a few years building a fan base in the USA could change that. It would be interesting to see if even cosmopolitan NewYorkers are ready for a Muslim superstar in a sport where scoring is as rare as cheap rental units in Manhattan.

Back to topic, Klinnsy on the sidelines would get me to a soccer game more than most players on the field (Zidane included), but the average paying soccer fan will come from a group of family-oriented folks who played as kids, have kids who play and need family-oriented staffing (from administration to players) to give those folks what they need to get to games.

That's a complex order with most stadiums in center cities and customers in the suburbs, separated by cultures that are still difficult to meld. It has been done (Philly may be on the verge of making it work. I loved the atmosphere at the Chelsea-Milan exhibition here.) and can succeed well for soccer. But I think a politico-social change in this country would be beneficial, if not required to really make that work.

Klinsmann has left the negotiating table and will not coach the US National Team.

Who now becomes the favorite?

For now, he's left the table...

Bob Bradley will make a good interim coach. He's a smart guy, and though he's close to Arena, his teams do not play the same style.

When the search resumes in March, Klinsmann, Bradley, and probably LA coach Frank Yallop will be in the hunt. No matter what Grinsi Klinsi says, he'll coach the team if he's offered enough money. I think Bradley's a good idea for the coming months, but beyond that we'll see.

Right now, a lot of people are drawing comparisons to Steve Sampson (Sampson took over on an interim basis after Bora Milutonovic stepped down), but I don't think that's a valid comparison. Sampson took over before MLS began, whereas Bradley has coached with success from college all the way through to the professional ranks. There is no doubt that he isn't necessarily the best candidate interviewed, but he was the best American interviewed. He has a couple friendlies and potentially the Gold Cup and Copa America to prove himself. We'll see how he does....

And if he doesn't do so well, you can be sure US Soccer President Sunil Gulati will get rid of him faster than you can possibly think.

I can't see Frank Yallop coaching the US National Team. He didn't like coaching Canada because he missed the constant interaction with the team which you get coaching club not national. Of course, Canada has a ton of problems behind closed doors when it comes to the National Team so maybe that was just an excuse...

The soccer program is almost a mess, thankfully they got 3 years until the next world cup. Hopefully they can start well with the 08 Olympics.

I don't know how I feel about that comment...

I think for sure, the full Men's national team is not where it should be at this point- because USSF President Sunil Gulati pursued Klinsmann for so long. But that's not the only reason the US hasn't played since June- the other reason is that former US assistant Glenn Myernick died of a heart attack suddenly in the early fall. Many sources have reported that Myernick was asked by Gulati to coach the US in two friendlies in November, but with his death, the Federation decided to just try and land Klinsmann. When that fell through in December, Gulati whipped up a deal for his second-choice candidate Bob Bradley.

Clearly, the USSF would have put the US men in a better situation by asking someone (like U-20 head coach Thoman Rongen or even U-17 head coach John Hackworth) to coach the US in those friendlies, instead of cancelling them. For whatever reason, they decided not to, so that has really hindered the team's progress.

However, the entire program is not really a mess. The full US Women's national team finished 2006 undefeated and qualified for the 2007 Women's World Cup. And the youth national teams are always making steady progress- the U-20 women finished fourth at World Championships in August, and the U-20 men are about to begin qualifying for their World Championships.

So, I think the entire program is not really a mess, but because the team with the most attention is not doing well, it seems like it is...