It's no secret that U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati was invested in hiring Jurgen Klinsmann. He tried for years, and when he finally got his man, he went all-in, making him not just the head coach, but the technical director on a multimillion dollar contract.
But it's been a rollercoaster for Klinsmann, with plenty of ups and downs. Here is a look back at what Gulati has said about Klinsmann's job security over the years…
August 11, 2001: Klinsmann is hired
“It's a great thing to have someone who's been on the winners' stand at the World Cup and the European Championship. He's won a bronze medal as a coach at the World Cup. For us, that's a fantastic situation.”
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April 5, 2012: After a rocky start, Klinsmann leads the USMNT to a first win over Italy
“We didn't panic with the senior team when they lost a few games when Jurgen first took over. We don't say, 'Everything is back on track,' after beating Italy in a friendly. Some things we've been doing we'll continue to do. And when there are signals that something isn't working, we'll change it.”
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August 8, 2012: Gulati is asked to sum up Klinsmann's tenure thus far
“The assessment of success ultimately comes from winning, and Jürgen knows that, we’ve talked about it. With that being said, we don’t give mid-term grades and right now, we’re in the most critical part of the qualifying process. I’m pleased with the way that a number of things have gone, and I know we’re anxious to get back into qualifying.”
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December 13, 2013: Klinsmann's contract is extended through 2018
“After the World Cup, lots of things can happen. Jurgen may have other interest. We may have other interest. This is a way, frankly, of making a long-term commitment to each other, one that we're pleased with. Traditionally we've waited until after the World Cup. We've decided not to do that here. Jurgen is a unique coach with unique opportunities.”
Getty ImagesShaun Clark
June 24, 2014: As the World Cup begins, Gulati is asked if the USMNT must advance to justify the long-term contract
“If we needed that, we would have made the contract conditional. That's the reality of it. Clearly there's a difference between going 0-3 and getting hammered in three games than going out in what most people recognize as one of the toughest groups and getting four points.”
JOSH EDELSON
July 26, 2015: The USMNT has its worst Gold Cup finish in 15 years
“Progress is not linear for anyone. There are bumps along the way. This is totally a bump. The team was certainly on a high in the spring. And today's a low. But those are the norms for everyone.”
AFP/Getty ImagesDON EMMERT
November 13, 2015: The USMNT lost the CONCACAF Cup vs. Mexico, but beat Vincy Heat and Trinidad & Tobago in qualifying
“We have certain targets and goals that are different for each of our teams, but I am not sure it would be appropriate to have a specific metric for a game or two games. But it’s pretty well understood qualifying for the World Cup is the specific target and many of our agreements with coaches, not just in the senior team, there are clauses in terms of continued employment if X, Y or Z doesn’t happen, in terms of our desire to make a change. But we didn’t get into specific 'We need to win these two games' or 'We need to beat St. Vincent by this amount of goals.'”
Action Images / ReutersMIKE SEGAR
November 13, 2015: Gulati is asked if he has noticed Klinsmann's tendency to deflect blame and if it bothers him
“Noticed and discussed. Everyone has their own style. In the end, he’s the coach, but we’ve talked about some of those issues, for sure.”
November 13, 2015: Gulati is asked whether long-term or short-term results matter more
“It’s both. The problem is, you can’t measure the second until much further down the road.”
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July 7, 2016: The USMNT loses the opening match of Copa America to Colombia
“Results are what matter, everyone understands that. The results over the last 18 months, overall, have not been what we would've hoped for, especially in the official competitions. … It's the official competitions that matter the most, and we haven't been up to where we'd like to be. We'll look at everything at the end of this competition. I don't get too high or too low based on one game, especially when it's a game against a very good team.”
Getty ImagesAdam Hunger
June 22, 2016: The USMNT makes it to the semifinals of Copa America, and lose badly to Argentina
“Today is a good day to judge where we are in the program overall as a team. We're obviously a long way off. We knew that going in, but we knew we were a long way off when we beat Spain back in 2009 or Germany or Holland last year.”
Action ImagesJohn Sibley
June 26, 2016: Copa America ends, and Gulati summarizes how the USMNT did
“We got to the semifinals which is good. A game that was pretty rough (against Argentina), and today was a game (against Colombia) that could have gone either way. A lot of emotion. But do you take a step back? It's a tough tournament. We didn't lose to anybody in the tournament that's ranked outside the top five in the world. But we need to win some of those games, obviously.”
November 12, 2016: The USMNT loses to Mexico in Columbus for the first time ever
“We've never changed coaches in the Hex. And I expect that to be the case here.”
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November 15, 2016: The USMNT loses 4-0 to Costa Rica for their worst-ever Hex start
“We don't make any decisions right after games. We'll think about what happened today and talk with Jurgen and look at the situation.”
APGregers Tycho
November 21, 2016: Klinsmann is fired
“Many are aware of the historic victories, including leading us out of the Group of Death to the Round of 16 in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but there were also lesser publicized efforts behind the scenes. He challenged everyone in the U.S. Soccer community to think about things in new ways, and thanks to his efforts we have grown as an organization and expect there will be benefits from his work for years to come. While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction.”
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