Jurgen Klinsmann denies he wanted Bob Bradley's USMNT job: 'I could've taken it'
Bob Bradley has fulfilled a career-long dream by becoming the manager of an English Premier League club in Swansea and U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann was all compliments when asked about the news. Yeah, Klinsmann got Bradley’s job after the American was fired from the U.S. national team, but each manager has the job they want now and they've surely moved on from anything in the past, right?
Not quite. Klinsmann fired back at Bradley’s accusations that Klinsmann had been “jockeying” for the U.S. national team job while Bradley was still coach, saying if he wanted the job, he would’ve had it – no jockeying necessary.
“It's simply not true,” Klinsmann told reporters on Monday. “I could've taken the job in 2006. I could've taken it in 2010. Then we got together again in 2011 and we figured out a way to make this happen, so I was not jockeying anything."
If Bradley was throwing some shade at Klinsmann with his initial comments, then Klinsmann threw all of the shade back.
"I'm glad that Jurgen said some nice things now,” Bradley said last week when told the current USMNT manager complimented Bradley’s hiring at Swansea. “When he did commentary on the 2010 World Cup, he was already jockeying for the job. I shut my mouth, continued to support the team because I of course want to see the team do well.”
Klinsmann had been pursued by U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati for a while and the German manager turned down the job after the 2006 World Cup. Gulati reportedly approached Klinsmann again in 2010 shortly before Bradley’s contract was extended. But by 2011, things changed for Klinsmann and he was brought in when Gulati fired Bradley after the 2011 Gold Cup.
As a pundit in 2010, Klinsmann was vocal in his criticism of the U.S. team and Bradley’s coaching, despite the 2010 USMNT team becoming the first to win their World Cup group since 1930. It was peculiar circumstance, though – Klinsmann was speaking as a pundit, but also as someone who everyone knew was in line for the job, if he wanted it.
It remains to be seen if this public bickering with Bradley will continue, but it wouldn't be the first time Klinsmann had an extended argument with a major American soccer figure in the press. Klinsmann and MLS commissioner Don Garber have had their share of back-and-forth exchanges over the years, and Klinsmann hasn't been one to let comments from players like Landon Donovan go unanswered either.
Klinsmann added in his comments Monday that he wishes Bradley the best and, "I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for him." Somehow we don't think that's going to win Bradley over.
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